Grace-isms

Sunday, Grace walked over to Rachel as she was putting on her knee brace. Grace asked Rachel, "Why you putting on your boo-boo?"

Vistiting the Doctor

On Tuesday, Grace started running a pretty high temperature (around 102*). Since two of her friends were pretty sick (including Strep and Mono), I decided not to wait to take her to the doctor. We went North to the after hours clinic.

After waiting for quite a while to see the doctor, when he finally came in, she looked at him and said, "This is right and that is left." She pointed in the correct direction while she said it. It was really out of the blue - we hadn't been talking about it and the doctor literally had just stepped into the room. He just looked at me and started laughing.

After the exam, she showed the doctor the boo-boos on her knees and said she needed band aids. After that, the doctor left. She looked at me and said, "That's not so bad."

Strep is going around and she has all the classic symptoms, so the doctor ordered both the long test and the short. The short came back positive and the long came back negative. The doctor is treating it as strep and the meds seem to be working.

I'm a Houghton

On the train trip to Shreveport, there were several other children, including some babies. One of the babies was crying and Grace was about to break her neck trying to get a good look at what was going on. I told her, "Grace, you are such a busy-body."

She responded, "I not a busy-body, I'm a Houghton."

Bed Time

Well, it was bound to happen, but my good fortune has run it's course.

Everyone has alway commented on how well Grace goes to bed, how easy it is to put her down for the night or for nap. They are astonished that she actually tells me she needs to go to sleep.

Well, this past week, that has all changed! She still tells me she needs a nap or needs to go to bed, but then it is like she gets a second wind. She decides to milk the attention for all it is worth. She needs to rock ("for just 2 more minutes"). She has to go potty at least 2 times. She plays the "Guess What?" game. She needs 8 kisses, then 3 more, then, "May I have 14 kisses, please?" I have to tuck her in just so and kiss her babies good night.

It is wearing on me...what used to take 10 minutes is taking and hour and a half. Yes, you heard me, 90 minutes last night to put her to sleep. Only for her to wake up at 1:50am and go potty, then start it all again. I finally let her CRY IT OUT! I don't mind doing that, but I haven't ever really had to in the past. She cried for about 5 minutes then there was silence. Blessed silence.

Then at 5am she woke up again....and I had to let her cry again. For about the same amount of time.

Today for nap, she started up again. She only cried for about 3 minutes this time. Hopefully, she will go back to my normal, sweet little girl who loves to go to bed...and soon!

Guess What?

Grace's newest thing to do is to ask me "Guess What?" I ask what and she repeats the question about a million time, laughing harder each time. Finally, she will tell me what she is thinking. Usually it is something like, "Guess what? I'm gonna see Kate and Aubrey tomorrow!" Usually, she isn't. Or, "Guess what? I'm going to ballet school (Kindermusik; shopping; story time; etc) tomorrow!" Again, usually, she isn't doing that, but did it that day so it is on her mind.

Ballet Performance

Grace had her first ever ballet performance on Saturday, March 12. A local elementary school was having a carnival and asked Dance Unlimited to perform. The room was packed and I was a little worried about Grace and the crowd. But, she went to sit down with her dance friends and rarely looked back.
When it was her turn, she followed the other girls up there and did her little thing! I shot a quick video (in two parts because I accidentally turned it off). I wish that I had a camera that I could zoom with, because she was SO cute and the video doesn't do her justice. When the little girl on one side of her was doing the wrong thing, Grace stopped what she was doing and just looked at her as if to say, "What in the world are you doing?"

When she was done, she ran back to her seat, looked at Jeff, Rachel, Rhonda and I and shouted, "I did it!!"

The French Quarter

At night time, we would walk into the French Quarter and look for a good place to eat. We hit Bubba Gump, Mother's, a little cafe that had GREAT breakfast, and Cafe Du Monde (of course). It was great staying within walking distance of most things, even though we were all worn out and tired (with hurting feet) by the end of the night.

Grace was fascinated with everything that was going on in the Quarter. She loved looking at the artist, the vendors, the silver men (pretending to be statues), everything. A mime did a short performance, then gave grace a cute little balloon bear. In return, Grace did some ballet for him!

On Saturday night, we went to Cafe Du Monde after supper at Mother's. I hadn't been there yet this trip and you can't go to New Orleans with out getting a beignet. On the way there, Grace saw the St. Louis Cathedral and was so excited to see a real castle!

I wanted to get a photo of Grace and I together at the cafe, but she was so into the beignet and the powdered sugar that I had to, um...focus her attention on the camera!


Grace had to go to the bathroom, so we left the cafe. On our way, we got side tracked at the horse and carriage tours. Mom had always wanted to do a tour and Grace was begging to ride the horse (meaning the carriage). So, we decided to go for it. I don't know who was more excited, Grace or Nonni. We petted the horse, then climbed on in. The tour was interesting for us and Grace had a blast. She kept telling everyone to hold on. She was fascinated with everything!

About 10 minutes before it was over, she started squirming and I remembered she had to potty. About 5 minutes later she wanted to get into my lap (a sure sign she needs to go). I started assuring her that the tour was almost done and that she could hold it just a bit longer.

I was so relieved to see the end of the tour, but nervous about the 5 minute walk to a bathroom. I knew Grace had to go! By this time, she was squirming and almost in pain. Right as the driver pulled into his spot and told us we could get out, Grace wet her pants. She was quite upset...as was I!! She was in my lap!! I started laughing really hard and couldn't hardly talk...because from the way she was sitting, her urine stain made it look like I had wet my pants! My wet stain was lined up exactly as if I had wet MY pants.

In this photo, she had just wet her pants and was still upset...I was still giggling. I don't know who was more tickled, mom or myself. Thankfully, I had a sweatshirt I could tie around my waist and could carry her to hide it. Did I mention it was about a 6-7 block walk back to the hotel?We didn't let the soggy state of our night effect our ability to shop and we stopped in a couple of tourist traps on the way back. One of them had Grace kicking up her heels to the Zydeco music!

The New Orleans Zoo

Saturday, we went to the New Orleans Zoo. I couldn't believe how nice it was. It was really well planned, with the attractions close enough together to not have a long walk with nothing to see; it was was really well shaded; clean and very entertaining for Grace (and me)! It wasn't as big as some zoos I have been to, but I think it is my favorite one!

One of the first things we saw were the elephants. Grace was more interested in the smell than the animals. She kept asking me, "What's that smell?" Finally, I said it was elephant poop...and, of course, she asking could she go see the poop really loudly. Later that day she told me she needed to poo-poo like an elephant.

She kept asking to see a camel (I think because of a song named Alice the Camel . Thankfully, we stumbled upon some. She was quite impressed with them.
Of course, they had a petting zoo. It wasn't as good as some (like Houston's Zoo), but she had fun getting up close and personal with a "climbing goat."

Her favorite part of the day was the "sandbox." Inside the South American section of the zoo, they had a giant sandbox filled with artifacts from the Inca Indians - or, maybe, the Mayans. She LOVED digging in the sand, getting completely dirty...she even laid down in it and rolled around. The only thing she didn't love about it was leaving it.


Shortly after leaving the sand pit, we changed Grace's clothes and left the zoo. She wasn't in a good mood any more (the lack of nap mixed with not wanting to leave the sand pit). We saw a few other animals, then took off.

On the way out, you have to pass through a gift shop. Nonni told Grace to pick out a souvenir. We kept showing her all these animal items (stuffed animals or games). She picked out a sister for the twins (the purple ballerina's). This one is also a Groovy Girl (the brand of the ballerina's) and is a pink princess. I asked Grace what her name was and she thought for a while, then named her Cassie. I have no idea where she ever even heard that name.

After leaving the zoo, Grace was plain tuckered out. She fell asleep while eating animal crackers. She stayed asleep through valet parking, elevators and all that - slept for 3 hours!

IMAX and Aquarium

On Friday morning, I took off for some work-related meetings, while Nonni and Grace hit the French Quarters. Nonni introduced Cafe Du Monde to Grace - she loved the "square donuts and sugar." While there, a mime gave Grace a balloon shaped like a bear. To pay for it, she did a little ballet dance for him! Nonni and Grace then did a little shopping. They found a cute little toy store, where Grace got to pick out a present. She chose a wonderful purple ballerina.

About that time, my meetings were over, so I headed to the Quarters to meet them. As soon as I got there, I looked at mom with a confused expression and asked if the ballerina was Grace's. She said that yes it was. I said, I thought it was in the hotel room. Mom replied that she had just bought it for Grace. Apparently, Grace saw it and HAD to have it and just pleaded for it. I looked at Grace and said, "Honey, you already have that same purple ballerina!" (Her Nandy sent it to her for Easter).

Grace said, "I have TWO!!" Hard to argue with that! We named them Milly and Lily - Grace calls them "The Twins!" She is so cute when saying Milly and Lily.

From there, we took a trolley ride to the IMAX. The 3D movie named Dolphins and Whales was a little bit too old for Grace. It was a documentary, so it wasn't very interesting to her little 2.5 year old mind. However, she looked so cute in the glasses - and looked even cuter when she would reach out and try to touch the whales and dolphins when they would swim really close to us. She kept telling me, "I can't reach it."

After the movie was over, we went next door to the New Orleans Aquarium. Grace had a wonderful time looking at all of the different animals. I think her favorites of the day were the penguins (one of which was standing with it's back to us by itself...she said he was in time out). She was able to pet sting rays and a little baby Nurse Shark.

Journey to New Orleans

Grace and I went to New Orleans for the weekend with my mom. We had a wonderful time visiting and seeing the sights together.

On the way there, Grace road a huge charter bus, a train, a shuttle and even a police car! Not to mention our truck and my mom's car! It was a long and busy day.

We went to catch the train, only to discover that it was so late they had hired a bus to get us to Ft. Worth in time to catch the next train. Grace did a lot better on the charter bus than I expected her to, thanks to Granddad and Mimi's Christmas gift (a portable DVD player) and Aunt Kim's gift of a Barbie DVD.

At Ft. Worth, we caught the train and I felt like I was a day care director! There were so many kids in our car and since I didn't want Grace wondering off, I let the kids come play with us at our seat. We sang songs, read books, colored, and had a great time....I was SO exhausted by the time the train pulled into Longview 2 hours late!

From there we caught the shuttle to Shreveport - but the shuttle drop off location was being used in an upcoming Michael Douglas film being shot in Shreveport. So, the police loaded us up in their car as we waited for my mom to come and get us!

While in New Orleans, we also rode a trolley and a ferry - If Grace had been put on a plane, I think she would have been able to have said she rode every form of transportation that weekend!

My Fashion Forward Diva

So I got this cute little outfit for Grace the other day and gave it to her, thinking how much she would love it since she ADORES playing dress up. I tried to put it on her, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She snatched the wand from me, ran to her room and got dressed like this:

As you can see, she has a mind of her own when it comes to fashion! She loves to dress herself and everything has to match. In her opinion, that is. As long as there is some shade of yellow in her out fit (even if it is a tiny spot no bigger than a fingernail), she wants to match it with yellow undies and socks. Or whatever color she is into that day.

Two-Year-Old Molars

Grace is finally getting her two-year-old molars! On Thursday of last week (March 27th) Grace walked up to me and said, "It hurts!" and pulled her cheek back and opened wide. I looked in and saw her new tooth cutting (bottom right). The other teeth feel like they are about ready to pop through, also. I told Jeff, "So that's why she has been so cranky!" I was beginning to wonder what was going on with my little angel!

Today, the bottom left broke through! (April 1)

Easter Egg Hunt Take 5

Cab you believe that we had FIVE egg hunts this year? I am telling you, Grace is a professional now! Our fifth (and, thankfully, final) egg hunt was the Thursday after Easter with our play group. Koran and Tova hosted it in their back yard. It was a beautiful day, and all of the kids were in a great mood.

In addition to searching for eggs (and eating all the candy in them), the kids had a great time playing together. Tova's grandparents were in town and they hid the eggs, provided wagon rides and car rides for the kids and took our first play group photo that included all the kids and the moms!