MaaaMaaaaa! MaaaaMAAAAA!! MAAAAAMAAAAA!!!

Oh, my beloved secondborn daughter, how she delights and overwhelms me! Little Gracie is a girl of few words, but who needs words when one of the ones she says is SO EFFECTIVE! Yes, that would be mama. Lately, my little Gracie has been quite the mama's girl. The little girl who slept so well through the night came back from Grandma's house waking up at 2:30 in the morning YELLING for mama. I was puzzled (and quite a bit frustrated) that my good sleeper had stopped sleeping. Daryl and I decided that it was because she got use to me sleeping in the room with her at Grandma's house. Perhaps she got up at that time while we were there, but since she saw me sleeping close by, she just put her back to sleep. It took a couple days, but she is back to sleeping again (yippee!) until around 6:00 am when she yells for mama and is ready to start her day.

Grace has really changed over the last month. As I said, she doesn't have very many words, but she understands LOTS! She loves to play the game "run away from mommy or daddy" when we want her to come to us to get her diaper changed or give something back to us. Daryl and I thought we were such good parents in that Hannah was so under voice command... well, God decided to humble us with our secondborn. Obedience is not happening quite so easily with Grace.

Grace LOVES music! At church she enjoys when it is music time during nursery, clapping her hands and "singing" along. She loved the piano at Grandma's house and sometimes tries to sing along with her sister. I would love if she had some of the Olson musical talent.

 

Grace is very active and a climber. Wherever her sister goes, Grace wants to go and go higher. She is almost fearless (much to mommy's concern). While we were out in North Dakota, Grace LOVED going sledding and would have stayed out in the cold much longer than most of the rest of us. 

Ready to go!

Let's go, daddy!

WHEEEEE!!

Snuggled between Daddy and Nell on the Snowmobile for the return trip up the hill!

Grace likes to "go to the potty"... well... she likes to sit on the potty seat. Whenever she sees or hears one of us heading to the bathroom, she wants to go too. A couple times she has actually peed! I was shocked (and I think she was too). I've been down this road before, so I'm not over optimistic to think we are on our way to potty training, but maybe she will be easier than her sister... maybe?

Grace also likes to pester her sister. Hannah is very good at responding (in screams and yelling), which I think is part of the reason Grace does it. She also enjoys wrestling Hannah and chasing her around the house. It is a lot of fun, when they are both enjoying it, to hear their giggling as they run after each other. There are few things as delightful as the giggling of sisters enjoying each other.

BUT don't mess with Gracie's sleep sack! She has adopted the sleep sack she used to sleep inside as her lovey. It is only when she is carrying her sack that she sucks her thumb and the sleep sack is ESSENTIAL as part of her bedtime routine. It is really cute to hear her sucking her thumb and moaning with the sheer pleasure of it.

So whether she is just going through a mama phase or she senses the impending doom of becoming a middle child, I know this too will pass. I grow weary of my name some days, but I know I will miss my little pookie as she becomes more independent and less clingy to mommy. I will try to enjoy the snuggles and not let the MAAAAAAMAAAAAAAs get to me too much!