Ten on Tuesday

Here are 10 things Gracie loves...

1. Dogs - Gracie loves dogs. In fact, one of her first words was "woof, woof". She loves her Granny and Papaws dog, Duke, a Golden Retriever. She loves the babysitter's dog, Maggie who is much smaller than Duke. Maggie always gets a kiss before Gracie goes home. Gracie gets excited when she sees a dog in a car beside us when we are driving. She loves stuffed dogs and books with dogs. The girl is a born dog lover. I am sure some day she will have her own.

2. Singing - It is part of our nightly routine to sing some songs. She doesn't seem to mind that neither mom or dad has much of a voice. She loves to sing songs with motions. Her current favorites include "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Five Green and Speckled Frogs". Her love of singing also helps to keep her occupied in the car.

3. Handy Manny - Gracie has definite love of this show. It is always her choice to watch Manny and nothing else will do when she has the chance to choose. I am not sure what it is about the show, but not much will drag her from it. She has a Manny toy complete with his tools. She likes to hit everything with Pat, the hammer. I think I smell our Halloween costume coming together.

4. Cookies - We have our own little "Cookie Monster". It doesn't matter what the type, she loves cookies. Every night after dinner, she requests her cookies.

5. Ice Cream - Gracie also thoroughly enjoys her ice cream. Any time the word is mentioned she makes a slurping noise to indicate that she knows what we are talking about.

6. Crocs - Our little girl loves her crocs. No other pair of shoes has ever made her so happy. She asks to put them on. When I came home with a new pair this week, she immediately started saying "Crocs, Crocs". One of her favorite things to say when we are getting her dressed is "Crocs on." I love these shoes too!!!

7. Baths - Gracie has recently discovered that she enjoys laying down in the bathtub. She finds this to be a lot of fun and laughs a lot when she does. She gave me the most pitiful cry, complete with the lip, when I told her "No bath tonight." So I gave in and let the kid have her bath.

8. Bailey - This is so evident in the way she tries to immitate anything she can that Bailey does.

9. Mindy and Chris - She loves to see her aunt and uncle. She especially loves to play with Mindy's phone, because she wants to see the picture of Chris. It is just amazing that Chris, the guy with a fear of small children, has taken to Gracie and become one of her favorite people. I think Mindy is going to disown her if she doesn't say "Mindy" soon. She says Chris all the time which is the main problem for Mindy.

10. Daddy (and Mommy) - Gracie loves her daddy. Nothing makes her more happy than seeing him. However, she is most content when both mommy and daddy are with her. It is like all is right in her world. When one of us is gone, she spends much of her time asking for the one who is gone. I love that Gracie enjoys her mommy and daddy so much.

Wordless Wednesday

My Fabulous Niece

My niece is wonderful! She is smart, funny, and adorable. Here's the proof...

1. This picture speaks for the adorable part.

2. As for smart, this week she made the academic team and was invited to be a part of the Distinguished writer's club at our school. She works very hard at school.

3. And funny, well here's a story...

One night during the Olympics, we were having dinner and my sister and my husband were having a discussion about the build of the American gymnasts versus the Chinese gymnasts. My husband said that the legs and butts of the American gymnasts were so much more muscular. Without missing a beat, Bailey looks at him and says "Gluts, Uncle Eric". We all cracked up laughing at the quick-witted comment by a 9 year old. - (See smart and funny.)

She is just turning into such a beautiful young lady and although it is hard to watch her grow up, I can't help but be proud of her. Next to having my own daughter, being a part of my niece Bailey's life is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Bye Bye Pacifier (Pass)

O.K. so we did it. We took the pacifier or "pass" as Gracie called it. She is such a great baby. We are so blessed to have a child who adapts very well to change. We decided to take the pacifier and the opportunity presented itself one day when she didn't have it for nap. We put her to bed without it that night (Friday). For the next couple of days, she asked for it, but we didn't give it to her and she went to sleep. After Sunday, she did not even ask for it again. She has now been paci free for 2 weeks. The best part is there was no reasoning with her. We didn't have to make up some story about giving them to Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the little babies.

Coming soon (October), we will try our hand at potty training...

Wordless Wednesday

One Last Hoorah...

Well, today was the big day. We went back to school. I am not going to linger on that for now, maybe another day. Instead I'll share some pics from my last fun day with my Gracie and with Bailey, my niece.

I took the girls to Build-a-Bear. Gracie brought a monkey to life, complete with the same monkey sound she likes to make. Bailey created Elle (pronounced Ellie) the Elephant. Gracie wanted nothing to do with clothes for her monkey, while Bailey accessorized her elephant from head to toe (complete with a High School Musical messenger bag). I had a lot of fun seeing how both of the girls loved their finished product.

If you haven't done it, I reccomend it!

Wordless Wednesday

Serious concentration requires the tongue to be sticking out!