Singing Diva

Grace has really gotten into singing this week. She started a little while ago with Old McDonald. She sings the "E I E I O," and the "Old McDonald" parts of the song. What is great about it is that she can sing the "O" on key and if she is off from the rest of us she will raise or lower the note accordingly. This week she also started to say "Happy and know" which is of course her request for the If You Are Happy and You Know It song. She can clap her hands, touch her nose, touch her ear, splash the water, stomp her feet, turn around, wave, and kick the water when prompted to during this song. She can even stop and start the activity when you actually say "touch your nose" she will and then do it again again for the next phrase. She was singing in the water during swim class too. She was saying "town," and "up and down" during the wheels on the bus and "hehe and haha" during Kookaburra.

Her ability to talk and mimic is great. Just the other day she said a whole sentence that I understood "oh no, bow-wow barking." She has said other sentences,but that is the one that stuck. She can currently say around 100+ words. She can also recognize letters. She calls them ABC's. And she understands that there are words, but thinks that they all say "dad."

Swimming Mania

I still remember when Grace was not yet one when she climbed into a bounce house without me and walked and jumper around. It amazed me how brave and physically capable she was at such a young age. Well, swimming is no different. Before we were sick for the whole month of February, Grace had wondered out by herself a few times during the independent play time at the YMCA swim. So, I knew that she would take off soon, but I thought we had a few more sessions before she really went for it. Boy was I wrong. Monday the 8th started rocky with Grace letting go of the wall and falling in. I swept her out but not before she had water up her nose and was coughing. When I tried to put her swim belt on and she pushed it away, I thought it was going to be a clinging night. However, once I told her we were going to play with the rubber duck, already floating in the water she let me put on the swim belt. As I pulled her into the water I readied myself for the death grip around my neck and started to pull her in close. However, I got a big "no," followed by a shove with her hands and she started floating by herself. The next thing I know she's swimming along 3-4 yards away to see Colby and her dad. What a great night! Russ got it all on video with his phone.

Hodge Podge

So, I've been very busy lately stressing over my solo art show in June. So this will be a highlight of all the things Grace has been doing these last weeks.

Slumber Wars
Accept for a few brief weeks before her teeth came in, Grace never slept through the night and has always been a fighter when it comes to sleep. My husband and I got into the habit of nursing her to sleep because she would cry bloody murder otherwise. Then when she woke up in the night we would wisk her into bed with us which was great for a while. Then she got big and wiggly. After we started to wean her night nursing became painful and so she and I were up a lot more. So I figured if she was already up so much at night I would start sleep training her. I bought her a new monkey to snuggle with and turned her bed into a toddler bed on a Thursday the last week in February. She loved the bed!! she got in and out and played on it. This was good since it had been her time out space and I liked that it changed to a more positive space for her to be in. We now use a "naughty step." The other great thing about changing her bed was we could talk about how this physical change meant a psycological change for her as well. I told her that we were going to learn to sleep like a big girl and in some way I think she got it. I thought sleep training was going to be horrible, filled with long sleepless nights and lots of screaming. No. The first night there was a little crying (less than 5 minutes), and she woke up 10 times. But the next day there was even less screaming and she woke only 4 times. We now have had nights were she sleeps all the way through the night. In fact some nights she wiggles in my lap until I put her in the crib. She actually likes it. We still snuggle at 6:30 when she wakes every morning though:)

Potty Success
So I have been off and on potty training Grace since her first birthday. I would let her off if she was sick or grumpy, but now I have decided to stick with it. We got a sticker chart about 5 weeks ago. She loved that and still does although I am not above bribing her with whatever she wants at the time which can be anything from toilet paper rolls to her favorite book. the potty sticker chart also gave me the feeling of progress since it charted her increase over time. We started at 9x in the potty the first two weeks and moved to 15x the third, 16x the fourth and now 25x in the fifth. Go Grace!! Not only that she is starting to wake up from her naps and sometimes in the mornings dry.

Talky talky
Grace is now saying crude sentences about her favorite objects. Like "dancing doll," "run bow-wow run," and "I said no." And no the last is not learned from me. Apparently she didn't want to do something Grandma said she had to do and she used it on her own. I swear it is not a staple of my vocabulary. She has even taken to bossing the dogs around by telling them no bow-wow and sit bow-wow.

Grace continues to be a surprising adventure. I feel that there is nothing that she can not accomplish if she really puts her mind to it. I am so happy she is turning into a feisty girl who loves to talk to everyone, shows empathy and manners and can't help giving kisses and hugs to every baby she meets.