Twenty-Three Months Old

Our sweet Gracie girl turned twenty-three months old yesterday. It is hard to believe that this time next month Grace will be two years old! Here are some highlights of Grace's most recent achievements:

• Grace can recite many nursery rhymes in their entirety. Some examples include: Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Beep, Little Boy Blue, Hey Diddle Diddle, Ring Around The Rosey, See Saw Margery Daw, It's Raining It's Pouring, Little Miss Muffet, Pat-A-Cake, Rain Rain Go Away, Rock-A-Bye Baby, This Little Piggy, and Wee Willy Winkie. Grace has an amazing memory. After reading nursery rhymes for only one week, Grace had all of these rhymes memorized. It always brings a smile to my face when I hear Grace recite her favorite nursery rhymes out loud just before she falls asleep for her nap.
• Grace knows her address.
• Grace can state her age in months.
• Grace can name and identify 14 states & 15 countries on the United States and World map.
• Grace will say a word and name 2-3 additional rhyming words.
• Grace can independently state the date including the day of the week, month, day of the month, and year by looking at her calendar.
• Grace's drawings are becoming much more detailed.
• Grace is reading many words. She does an excellent job sounding out letters in words.
• Grace knows her left and right. She can identify her left & right hand, arms, legs, and feet.
• Favorite things: Ella, books, letters, music group, swimming class, playing the piano, animals, making patterns, sorting, the post office, playing at the playground, Mr. Potato Head, calendar time, dancing, reading her Animal Baby magazines, naming nocturnal animals, measuring items with her measuring tape, painting, writing & drawing in her notebook, building blocks, being outside, pretend play, lotions, clothes, and giving big hugs.

Happy Birthday Cousin Rose & Cousin Kimberlee

Today we traveled to Massachusetts to celebrate cousins Rose's 4th birthday & cousin Kimberlee's 1st birthday. The birthday theme was Mini Mouse and all of the girl cousins looked so cute together! Grace was very excited to see cousin Rose. Grace ran right to her so she could give Rose one of her big hugs.

Grace then ran over to cousin Kimberlee and gave her a birthday hat so that she could properly celebrate at her party.

Grace continued to distribute party hats to many of the people at the party. She took a brief respite to show Memere the mouse whiskers on her face. Grace was the cutest little mouse with her whiskers and in the beautiful mouse shirt, skirt, and tights that Maddy made.

Grace took a four second nap toward the end of the party to re-energize. The rest worked and Grace then resumed spreading cheer and birthday hats to the rest of the guests.

Our Day Together At The Maine Wildlife Animal Park...

Grace Is A Silly Goose!

Gracie girl was very excited to see her geese friends today at the Wildlife Animal Park. We enjoyed watching the geese walk across the path to the grassy area where they searched for food then foraged heartily on the barely green grass.

After the geese ate their lunch they settled down for a nap, just as Gracie girl does each day. We pointed out the sleeping geese to Grace.
As we walked closer to the sleeping geese, we noticed Grace was not by our side. We turned around to see what Grace was doing. Grace thought she would show the geese how she lays down for a nap after she eats her lunch too.

"In this picture the Mainer genus of the homo sapien species tries to infiltrate the family Anatidae, known to the common man as a "geese". The Mainer homo sapien clearly is trying to convince the lead gander that she is worthy of joining the family for its forthcoming flight to the warmer regions of the continent. This is common behavior for older versions of the Mainer homo sapien family. To attempt such a voyage to a more temperate climate at such a young age is a distinct sign of above average intelligence."

Happy Halloween!

Gracie girl was SO excited today because she was all dressed up for Halloween as her beloved pink elephant, Ella. Grace looked absolutely adorable in her Ella outfit! Grace & I spent our Halloween morning at home painting pumpkins. Later, we visited Daddy at work where Grace was excited to give Daddy one of her pumpkins. Grace loved showing everyone there her cute Ella outfit and she said, "Happy Halloween" to everyone she saw. We spent the remainder of our Halloween afternoon at the park. An extra special thank you to Maddy, who made Grace's shirt and hat ~ how absolutely perfect for our Grace! We hope everyone had a fun-filled day.

Grace Is Reading!

Grace has started to sound out words in her books with great accuracy. Grace also enjoys playing letter/sound word games. One of her favorite games is to think of words that begin with a specific letter. Today, I asked Grace to think of all the words that begin with the letter "f." Grace responded by saying, "Fffffffff, fish, ffffff fox, ffffff fisher cat, fffff fawn." Grace demonstrates a very strong understanding of letter names and sounds. Grace has recently started to read consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words! Today, I put the VC combination -at on a tray and put different consonants at the beginning to create words. Grace carefully sounded out each letter and read all the words including: hat, mat, bat, cat, and sat. I then put the VC combinations of -it and -ut and Grace read all of those words too. Grace also loves to sing the alphabet song and is able to tell me which letters are uppercase versus lowercase.

Fall Fun!

Fun At The YMCA!

We attended our local YMCA's Family Fun Day today. Grace enjoyed playing soccer, going down the slide, rolling balls, jumping in a bouncy house, and playing basketball with Mommy & Daddy. Grace also enjoyed socializing with the other children and did a great job sharing all the toys. Grace loves the book "Hey, Wake Up!" by Sandra Boynton. One of her favorite passages involves a little bunny being told, "You're too small for basketball, unless you play with someone tall." Daddy played the role of the tall helper but Grace was clearly the basketball star.

Making Wrapping Paper

All this week Grace has been making her own wrapping paper for upcoming birthdays and for Christmas. This has been a great opportunity for Grace to express herself. Grace chooses her own colors and materials and decides who the wrapping paper is for. Today, Grace decided to use paint along with bubble wrap and dot markers for her wrapping paper. I am hoping that Grace learns that some of the most special gifts are the ones that we make ourselves because of the time, love, and care that is involved in making something for someone. I also hope to teach Grace that the best gifts in life can't be bought. Grace has such a kind heart and seems to have already learned that it is better to give than receive. Each day Grace continues to ask to go to the post office to send a family member or friend something special she made....such an amazing life lesson!

"Gracie Girl Is A Busy Bee!"

Grace & I spent a wonderful afternoon at the Children's Museum. On the car ride home we talked all about our time at the museum together. At the end of our conversation Grace enthusiastically added, "Gracie Girl is a busy bee at the Children's Museum!" Grace enjoyed everything that the Children's Museum had to offer today. Some of her favorites included: taking money out of the cash register to purchase food at the "grocery store," climbing through tunnels, gathering a variety of toys to see which ones were light enough to float above the wind tunnel, and taking time out to relax and read several books. Thank you, Maddy & Poppy, for renewing our annual membership to the museum. It is a terrific place for Grace to play, learn, and explore!

Grace's Handmade Apple Tree!

Since apple picking season is coming to an end, Grace & I thought we would keep the season going by making our own apple tree. Yesterday, Grace painted a paper towel roll brown to serve as the trunk of an apple tree. She also painted cut out paper tree tops green. We let the tree trunk and tops dry overnight. It was an exciting morning today as Grace was very ready to finish her apple tree!

Grace worked extremely hard to peel off tiny apple stickers and place them on her apple tree tops. Grace did a wonderful job counting all of the apples on her tree tops once she was finished.

Once Grace was finished with her apple stickers, we taped the green tops onto the paper towel roll to complete Grace's tree. Now we can all remember the fun times we spent at the apple orchards this fall all winter long because of Grace's beautiful tree!

Playing The Piano

A very special part of my day with Grace is spent playing the piano together. Grace is showing a great interest in learning all about the piano. Each day she puts piano music on the stand, pulls out the bench from under the piano, and sits and plays for me. After some time, Grace asks me to join her and we play together!

Maine Audubon Society's Apple Festival Day!

We went to the Maine Audubon Society's Apple Festival Day today where we enjoyed making apple crafts, listening to music, learning about different varieties of apples, and going on a nature walk along the ocean.

Grace had a great time making yellow and red apple prints ~ the perfect fall craft!

Grace peeked inside this tree to discover it was hollow and filled with yellow apples! Grace was delighted by this unexpected surprise.

The most special part of today was our walk along the Audubon's nature trails. There was so much for Grace to see and learn along the trails, especially this time of the year. We are so glad Grace loves everything that nature has to offer. Grace enjoyed watching the leaves fall from the trees along the nature path. Grace collected several red leaves from the trail to bring home with her. They will serve as the perfect remember of our beautiful day together!

Color & Shape Patterns

Grace has been learning about ABAB (repeating) color and shape patterns. Grace really enjoys making patterns. She has been using a variety of manipulatives to make patterns and her favorites include using Unifix cubes, colored blocks, crayons, and bear counters. Today, Grace enjoyed using her Unifix cubes and blocks to make colored train and tower patterns ~ she did an excellent job and we were both very proud of her accomplishments!

Such A Big Boy!

When I went for my doctor visit this past Monday my obstetrician said that I was measuring on the large size so she recommended that I have an ultrasound to determine the size of our baby. I had an appointment yesterday afternoon and our baby boy looks very healthy and in the words of the ultrasound technician he is "a mover!" I was thrilled that the technician took these 4D pictures of our baby's face (his hand is on the side of his face & on his forehead in these pictures). I think our boy looks a lot like Grace in these ultrasound pictures. The surprising news is what a big boy he is already. A baby at thirty weeks of age is typically approaching 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. Our baby boy measured in at 4 pounds, 10 ounces!!! He is at the 99th percentile for all measurements. It looks like we could possibly have a ten pound (or more!!!) baby boy in December. We can't wait to meet him. The date for his arrival has been set for December 15. We are counting down the days until we meet our beautiful baby boy.

Made With So Much TLC...

Maddy has sewn so many beautiful clothes and blankets for Grace since she was a baby. She is so talented! On this visit, Maddy surprised Grace with this adorable outfit. Maddy sewed this very cute skirt for Grace, which has a little apron and ribbon & pom-pom trim! Maddy also made Grace's shirt using a freezer paper stencil.

Maddy also surprised us with her handmade blankets for our baby boy. I have them hanging on peg hooks in his room and can't wait to wrap him up in them! Each side is made with a different soft fabric.

Maddy also made our baby boy several burp cloths. Maddy used cloth diapers and sewed different fabrics onto them to make them extra cute! Maddy made our baby boy this triangle cloth banner for his room. It extends the entire length of the room ~ from one corner of the ceiling to the other. The fabrics match the colors of the crib bedding and it definitely makes the room! Maddy will also be making the curtains for the two windows to match.

Thank you so very much, Maddy, for all of the love and care that you put into making these beautiful clothes and blankets for Grace and our baby boy.

Making Music With Maddy & Great-Grandma!

Grace, Maddy, Great-Grandma, and I went to music group this morning where Grace showed off her dance moves and her great love of music. Gracie girl had a great time showing Maddy & Great-Grandma what fun music group is!

Sadly, after music group Maddy & Great-Grandma had to leave to go back to Vermont. Before their departure, Gracie girl gave lots and lots of big hugs and kisses!

Gracie girl has been talking about Maddy & Great-Grandma's visit all afternoon. Grace keeps telling me that Maddy had to go back to Vermont to see Poppy, Willie cat, and Lilly Pye & Great-Grandma had to go back to see Pop-Pop. We all can't wait to see Maddy (and Poppy) again next month!