First Haircut

We finally did it! On Friday, we were playing at Kate's house and I looked at Grace and thought about how crazy her hair has become. It grew in naturally with a layered look. Some pieces much, much longer than others. The top was a lot shorter than the bottom, giving her a mullet look. The fact that much of the hair was baby-fine meant that it became frizzy easily and stuck out all over the place.

So, Saturday, Jeff and I took her to get it trimmed up. We wanted it to look the same, just more even and more controlled.

This is her before - notice how the bangs are all different lengths.



She did well during the cut. She didn't want us to sit in the chair, so I had to stand while the stylist trimmed her hair. She clung to me for dear life through the entire time. She didn't cry or make any sort of protest, but you could tell she wasn't too confident that this was a good idea.

Looking unsure of what was going on:


Clinging to mommy:


The view from the back - you can see how uneven it is. She cut about an inch to an inch and half off.



And here is what she looks like now:

Ben-ley

Grace and Bentley love to play together. Most of the time she will call him either Doggy or BB, but lately she has started calling him by his name, Bentley (Ben-ley).

One of the things that Grace likes to do is keep him warm while he naps. She will go get her blankets (or her Dora beach towel) and cover him while he is *goin' night-night.* She will make sure the blanket is perfectly straight. If he tries to move away from her, she will just follow, tell him to stay and start all over. After about 30 minutes of running from her, he gives in and allows her to cover him up. Then she sits on him and watches TV.


She also loves to chase him all over the house while pushing her doll stroller or something else with wheels. She will chase him for as long as she can - usually, I have to put Bentley outside because he gets tired way before she does.

She loves to feed Bentley by herself. Each day, she gets his empty bowl and brings it to me. I hold it for her while she fills it up. She then takes the full bowl from me and slowly carries it back to its spot.

Ouch!

My little girl loves to run - and sometimes her feet can out run her legs.

In the first week of August, she was playing on the sidewalk - running back and forth to me and the house. She is getting quite fast, but sometimes hershe can't keep up with herself!

She fell, skinning her knees, her hands and even her forehead! She had a yucky bruise under all the scratches. She cried for a bit, but only a couple of minutes. I got her home and cleaned her up - she let me know she needed band aids. I think she had like 6 or something before she thought she felt good enough to continue her play.


Band aids are important to her. The other day (Sunday before Labor Day), we were at a friend's house and she was playing with their son. She ended up with a busted lip. She cried for all of a minute...but seeing that there was blood, she started saying she needed a band aid. We gave her one - she put it on her chin and, less than 3 minutes after the injury, she was ready to play again.

Another month!

Another month has passed and I am continually amazed at Grace and all that she can do and say on her own. Just today, we invited over her best friend, Kate, to play. She and Kate play together so well. The two of them will just go off and spend time giggling and sharing and playing...leaving the mommies watching in amazement.

She mimics everything I say and do...which is really cool, but also scary. What a huge responsibility that is. She loves to ask me, "What's that?" Then she will repeat whatever I say and can remember what it is later. Which, even 6 months ago, she couldn't do consistently.

Go in THERE!

This morning, Grace showed me what an individualist she is! I was getting her ready for play date and she didn't like the shirt that I had picked out. So, I let her pick a different shirt. Then she wanted to pick out her shoes, so I let her do that, also. She was trying to put her shoes on, but couldn't quite manage. I leaned in to help her. She snatched her foot away and said, "No, no, no, mine." I told her I was sorry, but the damage was done. She pointed at the door to her room and said, "Away, go in there." I just looked at her. Apparently, I wasn't moving quickly enough, because she came up behind me and started pushing me towards the door, all the time saying, "Go in there." Knowing when I'm not wanted, I left. I watched as she put her shoes on, the wrong feet. I congratulated her and started back into her room. She jumped up - said, "No, in there" and then slammed the door in my face.

After a while she started hollering at me to come let her out (and, yes, I was tempted to let her stay in there). I opened the door - she had changed her shoes and had them on the right feet this time!

Big Butt!

The other day at the store, Grace pointed to a plump lady and shouted, "Big Butt!" She didn't just say it once - she said it over and over and over again until I agreed that the butt was big.

Piggy Tails

Nonni decided that Grace's hair is long enough for piggy tails! We went to the store and bought some really little, tiny pony tail holders. That night, Nonni put her hair up! Grace LOVED it. Since then, daily, she asked for her "pig hair."