2 1/2 Years!

Grace turned 2 and a half on April 27 (her Grandma's birthday).  She's such a special little girl and this is such a fun age I want to try to capture a little of her personality.

Grace is a caretaker.  She's not real interested in purses or jewelry (that may come later), but give her a stuffed animal and her sweet, caring nature comes out.  Often I hear her playing with Wolfie, telling him "Don' be sad. G'ace is hewe." as she rocks him to sleep.  She's very caring of Levi too, although the more mobile he gets the more often I hear claims of toys being "Mine!"

The other day, after a particularly trying day with a very fussy Levi, I was having a good cry on the couch.  Grace came running over to me with a very compassionate look on her face.  "Don' cwy, Mommy.  G'ace is hewe.  Is ok, Mommy."  And then she gave me a big kiss.  I explained to her that Levi was tired and that made mommy very tired, too.  She got very thoughtful and said "I tink....I tink you go to your woom and lay down.  Den you feew betteh, ok?"  Oh little girl.  You made me feel so much better then a nap ever could.

One of her favorite things is to have Levi come play in her room.  Her toys are still large enough and her room baby proofed enough that its a great place to put him down and let them just "play" for 20-30 minutes.  I'm hopeful they'll play that well together as they get older.

Her other great joy in life is "soomin'" (swinging).  The girl could swing for hours if we were willing to push her that long.  Thankfully she's learned that when the timer dings its time to get out of the swing and do something else without fussing.

She's kind of a picky eater, but she does eat so I can't complain.  We're also having a hard time with potty training.  I'm trying to be patient, to let it happen when she's ready.  But when you're changing her diaper and she's giving you a verbal recount of all the things you have to do clean her up, it sure does make me wish she was potty trained NOW!

Kurt and I were talking about how verbal she is now-there aren't many thoughts or needs she can't convey to us somehow.  Several days after a bout with upset tummy, we were at Jimmy Johns for dinner.  Grace finished eating, turned to me and said "My tummy owie."  I took no chances and rushed her outside, just in case.  Once there, I kept asking her how her tummy felt.  "Pwetty good.  Pwetty betteh.  Pwetty owie."  Not helpful, kid.  Not helpful.  Fortunately, we were able to finish up our list of errands with no issues.

She's figured out that "going to the restaurant" is a pretty neat deal.  During the day she'll randomly come tell me goodbye and that she'll see me either at the "westaurant" or at the science center (thanks, Sid the Science Kid.)  And apparently her favorite place to eat is Panda Express, where she can eat both "wice" (fried rice) and "sghetti" (chow mein).

She also seems to be understanding more about Jesus, too.  After we discipline her, we always pray and ask God to forgive her sins.  The other night I was getting ready to pray with her and have her repeat the prayer line by line.  Well, she launched into her own pray "Deaw Jesyuv, fogive me fo disobeyin' Mommy.  He'p me be a good he'per to Mommy.  T'ank you for taking away my sins.  Amen."  While I know much of that is just repeating things she's heard us say, it encouraged me that some of it might actually be sinking in.  The other night at bedtime, she even asked if I thought that Jes'yuv would lay down with her and keep her safe from the shadows.  So sweet.

While age two can be VERY trying at times, there are also many moments when I stand in awe of the little girl she is becoming.  She's sweet, smart, funny, and my heart delights in her.  So thankful I get to spend my days with "G'ace Ewiana."  :)