Pumpkin Rocks

Grace & I made these cute pumpkin rocks together. It was a very fun fall project for us both and we are now ready for autumn to arrive on Monday!

Grace & I went for a walk yesterday morning in search of the perfect rocks that we could paint orange and turn into beautiful pumpkins! Grace loves rocks and she is always very particular as to which ones she chooses. She made some excellent choices!

Grace painted her rocks orange yesterday. We let them dry overnight and Grace added a second coat of orange paint this morning. I added eyes, noses, and mouths to the pumpkins and we later brought them outside to take a picture. Grace thought it was very funny to see her pumpkin rocks sitting in the grass. Grace is very proud of her pumpkin rocks and is extremely excited to give them away to her friends and family.

Look What Arrived Today!

Our baby boy's crib and dresser set arrived today. We are all so very excited, especially Grace! She loves her baby brother's room and was so happy to see the new furniture arrive. Grace ran into the room, pointed to the crib and said, "Look Mommy, book inside crib" (it was the crib's manual). Grace also said, "Gracie girl love (baby brother's name) room!" A very, very, very big thank you to Maddy & Poppy for giving our baby boy these gifts, which he will grow up with and enjoy for a lifetime. You are always so giving & extremely generous and we greatly appreciate all that you do for Grace and our new baby boy.

An Airplane!

Grace loves watching airplanes. This morning we were outside gathering materials for a fun fall project when Grace took a moment to look up at the sky to watch an airplane fly over our house. I asked Grace where she thought the airplane was going and she said, "Airplane going to airport!"

Playground Fun

After Grace's swimming lesson this morning we enjoyed a beautiful day at the park. Grace was such a big girl ~ she climbed her way up to the top of several slides. She didn't even need me to catch her at the bottom. Grace even climbed up three levels all by herself to the top of an enclosed twisty slide. I nearly panicked as I watched Grace climb all the way up to the top. Being nearly seven months pregnant, I couldn't make my way up fast enought to follow her and I didn't think I could fit through the slide either!!!! I did peek my head up the slide where all I could see was Grace's face beaming with a huge smile at the very top. Grace let out a large laugh all the way down and I couldn't help but laugh along with her. It was a fun day for us both.

Eyes & Ears & Mouth & Nose!

Grace surprised me the other day as she was drawing in her notebook. Grace told me she was drawing a picture of a porcupine and proceeded to draw four lines saying they were the porcupine's legs. What surprised me was that Grace drew the legs in their appropriate location. I was then curious to see what Grace would do with a blank face so I drew an oval on a separate piece of paper and told Grace it was a face. I asked Grace to draw eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, and hair and this was the result. Grace drew the approximate placement of all of these facial features! This is Grace's first drawing of a face and I think it is absolutely beautiful (all of Grace's drawings are done in turquoise).

Yellow & Blue Make Green

Color mixing
Grace spent an hour mixing various colors together and wanted to do more but we needed to get ready for dinner! Grace used a small dropper to transfer primary colors of water from two small jars into an empty third jar. The result amazed Grace ~ an entirely new color was made! When Daddy came home Grace told him that, "yellow & blue make green" and "blue & red make purple."

Different Shades of Color

I went to the paint section of our hardware store over the weekend and collected several paint sample papers that had four paint shades on one paper. I cut the paint shades apart last night so Grace could use these for sorting. Grace sorted different shades of blue, green, and orange today. The colors ranged in shade from light to dark. Grace was intrigued by the similar yet different shades of the three colors. Grace easily sorted according to color shade so I introduced her to the concept of light versus dark shades of color. Grace practiced sequencing colors according to their shade ~ the lighter shade first and the darker shade last. I will eventually add more shades of color for Grace to sequence. This was a fun way for Grace to explore a whole new world of color!

Apple Picking

We enjoyed apple picking at Raven Hill's Organic Apple Orchard with Memere yesterday afternoon. Memere was visiting us for the weekend. September is my favorite time of the year and apple picking is my favorite fall activity. I absolutely love sharing this experience with Grace. Raven Hill is such a beautiful orchard. It was full of apple trees that were overflowing with apples. Our little Gracie girl was very determined to find a green apple amongst all of the red apples yesterday. She searched the orchard high and low until she found one! Grace held her green apple tightly in her hands and carried it all around the orchard with her. I can't wait to take Grace apple picking again and to search for the perfect pumpkin with her!

A very special thank you to Memere who helped us this weekend. Memere watched Grace on Saturday morning while Bob & I worked on getting our baby boy's room ready! This is such an exciting time for our family.

Enjoying Blueberry Pancakes on a Rainy Sunday Morning

"E. E is for Ella."

Grace has started to write the lowercase letter 'e.' I initially thought it was a coincidence that she kept drawing a shape that resembled an 'e,' however, Grace has continued to write 'e' over & over again for the past two weeks. After writing all of her 'e's' Grace says, "E! E is for Ella." Today Grace was looking at all of her e's in her notebook and said, "E is for egg!" Grace continues to amaze me every day!

"Hi animals! My name is Gracie Girl."

As always, Grace loved her time at the Maine Wildlife Animal Park today. She ran up to EVERY animal at the park and formally introduced herself. Following her introduction, Grace then danced for the animals too!

Where's Maine?

Grace loves looking at her map of the United States. Grace does a wonderful job locating the New England states on the map. Here, Grace is pointing to her home state of Maine!

Wheeeeeeee!

Grace's Color Journal

I don't think it is ever too early to start a writing ritual. Even though Grace is at the pre-writing stage, I feel as though I can help to shape her writing habits now. I believe that all children's drawings tell a story. That's the idea behind an activity we created. We call it "What color was your day?" I bought a tiny blank journal for Grace. At the end of each day we turn to the next blank page and Grace considers what color her day was. Grace then picks a color and draws away! Sometimes her lines are fast and energetic, sometimes they are faint, and sometimes they go in all different directions. I want Grace to realize that all of her marks have meaning. This is a sweet and happy ritual which Grace has really taken to. I hope Grace always reflects on the colors of her life and has her own way of documenting them. For now, her drawings say so much!

Feet Painting

Making Bath Paint!

Grace & I had a great time this morning making two different textures of paint designed especially for the tub! Grace mixed together corn starch and dish detergent to make a thinner texture of paint. She later added yellow and red food coloring.

Grace also made a thicker texture of paint using shaving cream and blue and green food coloring.

Grace was very proud of her paint and she asked me to, "Take lots of pictures of paint!"

Grace painted our tub using her paint with her hands and with a variety of paint brushes during bath time. What a fun morning we had!

Fun at the Playground

We took Gracie girl to a playground today at Fort Williams Park, which is the home of the Portland Headlight. The lighthouse and ocean provided a beautiful backdrop to the playground. Grace loved absolutely everything about the playground! Grace climbed the stairs to the slide and slid down all by herself today. She also had a great time swinging on the swings and walking along a balance beam. Grace befriended another little girl there whose name was ELLA! Grace thought it was funny to introduce Ella to her beloved pink elephant with the very same name. Grace, Ella, & Ella greatly enjoyed each others company. They all shared a fun ride on the see-saw together.

Happy Grandparent's Day!

The first Grandparent's Day was proclaimed in 1973 in West Virginia by Governor Arch Moore. In 1978, five years after its West Virginia inception, the United States Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparent's Day. The proclamation was signed by President Jimmy Carter.

Grace is so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents whose love for their grandchildren shows no boundaries. Grace's grandparents are such an integral part of every aspect of Grace's life. From calling every day to discussing Grace's newest accomplishments, to sending the newest toddler book, to swallowing their pride to appear on a very early impromptu Sunday morning web cam so they can see their favorite little girl! Happy Grandparent's Day.

Go Pepere Go!

We went to Massachusetts today to see Pepere who has been on the DL since injuring his knee in a gardening accident in June. Pepere has shown incredible perseverance working to regain the strength and functionality of his knee and shoulder. We enjoyed our time today with Memere, Pepere, and Aunt Denise. Grace entertained everyone with her spirit, her stories, and her dancing. Gracie enjoyed her wheelchair ride with Pepere so much that at dinner tonight she asked "Gracie girl have wheelchair ride with Pepere again soon?" We think of Pepere every day and admire the wonderful attitude he has kept throughout this ordeal.

Matching According to Length

I made Grace three sets of towers out of unifix cubes, each set being a different length so she could match them together according to their length. I initially made all six of the cube towers the same color, which Grace easily matched. Next, I made the towers with a random selection of colored cubes in order to provide some visual distraction to make the activity more challenging. Grace absolutely loved this activity and she independently matched all of the towers according to their length. She also identified and expressed to me which of the towers were the longest and shortest. Way to go, Grace!

Grace & Ella

Grace & I went to the Maine Wildlife Animal park this afternoon. Grace fell asleep in her carseat along the way. I couldn't resist taking this picture of Grace sleeping with her beloved Ella ~ they are both so sweet!

Books!

Grace enjoyed looking at her books in her "big girl chair" after lunch today. Grace has a large basket filled with books next to our recliner. I was amazed to hear Grace tell me the title of all of her books as she looked at each one. I was even more amazed to hear Grace read me several of her books from beginning to end! Here, Grace is enjoying a book called, "From Caterpillar to Butterfly." It made me smile to hear Grace say, "Here the caterpillar comes out of cocoon and is a beauuuuuuuuuutiful butterfly" when the butterfly emerges at the end of the story.

Milkweed Leaves

Grace & I went on a walk this morning with a specific mission in mind ~ we were searching for milkweed hoping to find several monarch caterpillars on the milkweed leaves. I would love to find monarch caterpillars so Grace could observe the lifestages of a monarch butterfly. We were very excited to find several milkweed plants this morning, however, we did not find any caterpillars. Despite the lack of caterpillars, Grace collected several milkweed leaves in her bucket to bring home in order to examine them more closely. Grace was fascinated by the milky liquid that oozed from the leaves onto her fingers. Grace & I will continue on with our search for the monarch caterpillars!

Twenty-One Months Old

Grace turned twenty-one months old today. Here is an update about our Amazing Grace:

Grace has really been enjoying calendar time and she has learned so much as a result. Grace can now count to and identify all numbers up to 29.

Grace can recite all seven days of the week in their correct order.

I added the Pledge of Allegiance to calendar time, which is Grace's favorite part. Every morning Grace asks to, "sing the Pledge of Allegiance." She can recite nearly all of it by herself now!

Grace knows her first, middle, and last name.

Grace can identify the United States on a world map. She can also identify the states Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island on a map of the United States. Grace refers to Rhode Island as the "teeny tiny state." Grace is also able to name which family members live in the aforementioned states (The exception is Rhode Island - we don't have any family members there! I think Grace just likes the small size of Rhode Island).

Grace can verbally sequence common activities up to 4 steps. For example, Grace is able to tell me the process involved in washing her hands or how to make a scrambled egg. Grace says: "First crack, crack egg. Mix egg in bowl. Cook egg on hot stove. Eat egg!"

Grace has a strong love of animals. She can name so many animals including more unusual ones such as a kookaburra, emu, flamingo, lynx, elk, armadillo, and grouse.

Grace can read several words including Grace, Mommy, Daddy, Ella, cat, and Uncle Adam. She can also read many other words if the initial sound is accentuated. Grace continues to love all books and enjoys "reading" to Ella.

Grace continues to have the best sense of humor. She is always smiling and full of the best giggles. Grace makes Bob & I laugh every day - especially when it come to Grace imitating the beep of our microwave! :)

Ready for Baseball!

Gracie girl went to a Sea Dogs game today with Daddy. The Portland Sea Dogs are the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Grace was very excited to go to the game.

Prior to arriving at the baseball stadium, Grace practiced her cheering on the swings at the park.

Grace made friends with a man playing the banjo outside Hadlock Stadium. The banjo player was a former student of Edson Hadlock Jr. who taught physics and coached baseball at Portland High School from 1950-1978. The stadium is named after Mr. Hadlock. The banjo player has seen generations of baseball fans pass through the gates at Hadlock field.

Grace loved all of the people inside the stadium. She said "hi" to everyone she saw! Grace and Daddy then went inside the stadium where they enjoyed a mix of baseball and dancing in their seats!