Zilker Park

On June 24th, we took off for a family day at Zilker Park. Grace had such a wonderful time chasing the pigeons, riding the train and playing. While we were waiting for the train to pick us up, Grace saw some pigeons. She was content to sit with us and just watch them...until she saw some bigger kids chasing the birds. All of the sudden, she was off. She wanted to catch one. I don't know if I had more fun watching her chase the birds or watching Jeff chasing her trying to get a good photo!


Jeff and I look back at the photos and are so amazed at what a big girl she is becoming. We look at her and are amazed at the person she is becoming. Her personality shows more and more each day. I love her humor and her sensitivity. I enjoy watching her as she tries to figure things out. I love to watch her get all excited when her daddy comes home from work. It brings me such joy when she looks at me, takes my hand and tells me to " 'mon" (come on).


Grace lives her life with such exuberance and zest. To quote her uncle, she is such a pistol. I don't think that Jeff and I ever imagined how much joy and happiness she would bring into our lives.

Open Gym

Grace loves to go to the open gym at a gymnastics center on Mondays with her best friend, Kate. The 2 of them run and jump all over the place and totally wear themselves out. They jump on trampolines and in the air tent; they swing from bars and ropes; they play on balance beams and in the foam pit. But, most importantly, they wear themselves out. And us moms.




We have been several times, and with each visit, I can see that Grace is becoming more coordinated and more fearless (and she wasn't very fearful to begin with!).

The thing that I love most about open gym, is that Grace and I get one-on-one play time. She plays with her friends, but most of the time, she is happy to play with me. We jump together; we play on the bars; we giggle in the foam pit. All in all, we have a great time.

Dora, Boots and Backpack

Grace was blessed on her birthday to receive many things that she loves. Among her long list of favorites include her new Dora and Boots couch and her Backpack.


The morning of her birthday party, she found her stash of presents, where the couch was hidden under wrapped packages. She started throwing things to the side to get to it. I caught her and got her attention on something else. Later that day, when it was time to open presents, I thought that she could sit on the couch while opening her gifts. Boy, was I wrong.

She almost wouldn't even look at any of her other gifts. She just would fold and unfold her couch. She would lay and roll all over it smiling. (I hope to get some photos soon from the grandmas!). She didn't even want other presents touching her new couch. She would push them (or throw them) off the couch. Well, except her Dora beach towel...that she decided to cover the couch with. And when she saw the backside of the towel - she started crying because "it broke" (the back was solid white!).

She even cleans her couch on a regular basis:


She got her Backpack later during the day. But, she didn't seem too interested in it, which surprised me. I think she was just overwhelmed. However, this week, she has fallen in love with that Backpack. She wears it all over the place...including in the car seat, the high chair and for her nap time. She puts her toys in it and then she can't hardly stand under the weight of it. If it isn't already on, as soon as her Dora show comes on, she starts yelling, "baa-pack, baa-pack!" and if it doesn't materialize in seconds, she falls apart!

Tickers (AKA Band-aids)

Grace got her first "bad" bo-bo last Monday (7-2-07). When Grace and I go for walks, I always try to talk her into her flat sandals or a pair of tennis shoes, but she has a favorite pair of shoes (white dress sandals with a little bit of a heel - and "fowers" on them) that she ALWAYS wants to wear.

Well, she and I went for a walk and she decided that she wanted to turn the walk into a jog. Because her shoes weren't made for jogging, she fell and skinned her knees. She cried, but wanted to continue her walk. Well, technically, she wanted me to continue the walk while carrying her.

When we got home, I had to clean the bo-bo to get the dirt out of it. Well, she wasn't happy with me at all.



Since there was a little bit of blood, I decided to put some ointment and a band-aid on it. She exclaimed, "Ticker!" (Her version of the word sticker). She was delighted to have a sticker on her knee and let me know she needed another one on her other knee (which was barely scraped).

Over the next couple of days, I would have to reapply the stickers after each bath. Here is a photo of her with her favorite shoes and her first stickers, I mean band-aids.



On Friday, I decided that I had enough of the band-aids. So, while we were playing with her friend, I pulled it off (thinking that she would be to happy and busy to care). All of the sudden, she started crying and limping and saying, "I hurt!" and "Ouch" - apparently the stickers were keeping the pain away. Kate (her friend) and I got her attention off of her life threatening bo-bo and soon she forgot all about the band-aids.

That is until we got in the car when she spotted her stickerless scraped up knee.

Grace and Bentley

If you would like to see some funny video clips of Grace and Bentley, please e-mail me! I don't want to put them where just anyone can see.

Aimee

Grace's Best Friend

Grace's best friend is a little girl named Kate! They are so cute playing together and having conversations that only they understand. The other day, when I was putting Grace down for bedtime, she kept asking for Kate! Then, the next morning, I told her we were going to the pool. She got so excited because she thought Kate was going. When we got to the pool, she kept looking around for Kate...saying, "Kate? Kate? Mama, where go Kate?"

Lately, we have been going swimming with Kate. They have a great time playing and mimicking each other! After swim time, it is bath time! The girls love bath time! Especially, if there are bubbles involved!

Silly Grace

Grace is totally trying to figure out her place in the world. And, while she is learning her boundaries and testing us, she definitely KNOWS my place in the world: to satisfy her every need and desire! She cracks me up. She totally has my number, knows just what to say/do to get her way.

The other day, she was being naughty, so I placed her in the time out chair. She kept trying to get up, so I stood near her and placed my foot in her lap. I was trying not to look at her, because all the books say to ignore them. All the sudden, I felt these little fingers brushing against my feet and heard her sweet voice say, "Tickle, Tickle, Tickle!" Needless to say, I got really tickled and her minute was over.

Today, I stopped to get fuel. Thinking of the long day of errands ahead, I decided to run in and get a drink for the road. As we passed the beef jerky, Grace snagged one. When I tried to put it back, she looked at me with those sweet eyes and said (while hugging the stick to her chest), "I want it. Pleeeesssee, I want it." And, yes, she ate the entire thing. She got her love of beef jerky and pickles from her daddy.

Speaking of pickles, the other morning she woke up, asked for her shoes and then ran to the fridge and asked for "Pickles, peese."

Yesterday, she opened the door to her room for the first time (she just has a plain round door knob). Then she ran to the fridge, opened it, climbed the shelves to her juice. She brought the juice to be in bed. (Nothing as sweet as breakfast in bed, but more along the lines of, "would you get your lazy bum up and fix my juice for me?" Yes, a trip to Babies R Us is in our future to get more safety items!

While the above stories show her sassy personality, she also has a sweet and tender side. The night that my daddy died, I was holding her while crying. She wiped the tears from my face and kept saying, "alright. alright. alright." She later did the same thing to mom.

If I hurt myself, she will come and kiss my bo-bo for me! Even if it is a blister on my foot! I have to hide my injuries from her! She is obsessed by bo-bo's. She will say, "Ouch. I hurt." And runs to me for kisses. It doesn't matter if the scratch on her knee is 2 weeks old, she still wants it kissed each time she sees it! Yes, I love it.

Aimee