August of 2008: Random Stuff

As of Aug. 2008 Gracie...

Knows all of our first, middle and last names

Knows mommy's phone number (Loren made up a song and she memorized it that day)

Counted 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, etc. up to 49 all by herself...we've never counted that high with her. She's been counting to 20 since 20 months but just now is venturing onto other numbers, making up her own, etc. It's fun to hear.

Understands road signs...red= STOP, green = GO and yellow = Slow Down

Preschool:
We are trying to decide if we want to do preschool or not.
Most of the preschools are geared towards sitting them down, doing flash cards and just learning book type stuff, when that's not what a preschooler needs (they learn best through play and exploration). So, we may not go that route, but we are going to do some research with in our local area (we have 7 months so there's plenty of time LOL) and hopefully will find a place conducive to what we know is important for Grace. Plus she would LOVE it. She loves to be around other kids and loves to take on the world and soak up as much as she can. I really pray we can find a place right for Grace.

My Sassy Pants:
She is getting mighty sassy LOL
Has always been independent but it's coming out more and more as she gets older.
Most adults would view it as a 'bad' thing (not that kids can be 'bad' at this age) but I love how independent she is. She has her own views, ways of wanting to do things and we would never want to squelch who she is and take that away from her. Yes, it can be frustrating but that just makes Loren and I pray more and more for wisdom on how to handle those times with Grace and how to interact with her and discipline her the way that SHE needs vs. what worked for our friends kids or our parents, etc. It's been fun and exciting; hard and painful and so wonderful!!!!
Every day we are learning how to be better parents for her and she is learning how to have fun and listen to mommy and daddy all at the same time. We are trying to teach her that there is a difference between "Play time" and "listening time". She likes to run away from us when it's time to get dressed, etc. so that is one of the main things we are working on right now.

The other area we are trying to work on is sharing, which is hard to work on at 2 because kids don't really grasp the concept of sharing until their over the age of 3. Plus, she doesn't have any siblings so we clearly can't expect her to be ok with sharing her toys and sharing mommy and daddy with out some practice. We have a ton of play dates scheduled for her over the next few weeks so that she can have that much needed social interaction and that time to learn how to play and allow someone else to play with her toys. It should be fun. We are having Movie "Nights" which will take place at 3pm on Thursdays. We'll show the movie in the playroom so that the kids can play if they don't want to watch and the mom's can chat. I hope it goes well. Today is our first one...Yippee. Everyone should be arriving in one hour. We are watching "A Bugs Life" and I am serving Bug Graham Crackers.

Off to get the monkey up from her nap.
Well, she's up, she's just waiting patiently in bed for me to come and get her.
I love her to death!!! I hope I get a big snuggle and Little Mermaid kiss when I go in.