Graecyn 2.75

You are 3 months away from turning 3!  My how time flies!!!  You are at such a fun age right now - you have such a fun and cute personality and are so sweet.  You are still very shy around people you don't know and don't like to have a lot of attention until you're ready for it.

You love to dance right now and will bust a move anywhere and everywhere (today, it was in the middle of JoAnn Fabric). 

You love to read books, color and do craft projects, and play with your baby dolls.  You're very sweet with your baby dolls - rocking them, making sure they're safe, keeping them warm.  You love all animals, especially dogs. You love jewelry, shoes, and purses - you are definitely a girly girl!

You love to give hugs and kisses and hate to see anyone upset or scared.

Your best friends right now are Evan at daycare and Callie.  You call them your buddies and like to say that everyone is your buddy.

You have weekly swimming lessons and are going so well - you're still not crazy about going under the water and getting your face and ears wet, but are so much better than you were a few months ago.  You also have weekly gymnastics, which you love.  You're getting pretty good at your forward rolls (somersaults) and have so much fun each week!

You say some of the funniest things right now - yesterday in the middle of breakfast, you shouted "rock-n-roll" out of no where.  You say "case in mind" instead of "just in case". You like to say the blessing before meals and do a great job at it.  You call parades "hoop hooray" (likely because we used to march around the house saying "hip hip hooray, it's time for the Graecyn parade".  You love to eat Daddy's biscuits and call them "biksits".  You also love pancakes, waffles, or french toast with "syrsup".

You are growing like a weed, but still as skinny as ever.  You probably weigh about 26-27 pounds and are about 37" tall.  You can still fit into 18 and 24 month skirts, but need 2T/3T pants for the length (which are usually huge in your waist - even with the adjustable waist bands).  I've invested in a lot of tights so that you can keep wearing your skirts as long as possible!

Your "twos" definitely shine through every now and then - testing your independence and "forgetting" to listen.  You also tend to get in a little trouble at daycare during nap time - you tend to talk instead of being quiet.  You are such a great napper when you're home, but a horrible napper at daycare - likely too many distractions.

We're working with you on your manners - you tend to forget them without a gentle reminder - and also on sharing, which you're getting better about.  We're also teaching you to ask for help when you need it - we've taught you about teamwork, so often when you need help you'll say "Daddy (or Mama), let's do teamwork". 

You love to pick-up rocks and most days when I pick you up from daycare, you have both coat pockets loaded up with rocks.  We finally had to have a talk with you about how we need to keep the rocks at daycare to keep from bringing pockets full of rocks home.

helping Daddy read the map

I am so thankful and blessed that I get to be your mama.  You fill our lives with so much laughter and joy.  I love watching you explore and learn and seeing the world through your eyes.  I love you, Monkey Doodle!

A Visit from Nana & Granddaddy

Nana & Granddaddy from North Carolina came to visit last weekend. Since you don't have any grasp of time, we waited until the day they arrived to tell you and we probably should have waited a little longer (for the sanity of your daycare teachers)! You told each and every teacher - multiple times - that your nana & granddaddy were coming.  What we didn't tell you was that your cousins were also coming.  You were definitely surprised and so excited to see them!  We had a lot of fun and kept very busy while they were here.

We went to another pumpkin farm/apple orchard.  You and your cousins had a great time picking apples. We found a new apple called a "Jonamac", which is a hybrid between a Jonathan and a MacIntosh apple. It was delicious - juicy, crisp, and sweet with a bright white flesh. We all ate at least 2 before we made it back from the orchard.  Of course, I had to make an apple crisp with all of the freshly picked apples and it was delicious!!

You also all picked pumpkins to take home and paint.

The girls and Nana watched you at gymnastics and even got to go back in the afternoon while you slept for an open gym, which they were so excited about.

We had gorgeous fall weather, so I set up a scavenger hunt in the backyard; you all thought it was so much fun and did a great job finding everything on your lists.

Sunday we spent most of the day at Jeepers where you and the girls had fun riding the rides and playing games.  You all won enough tickets to get a few "prizes" to take home.  We had lunch at Rainforest Cafe, which you're still a little scared of.  It was a short, but fun-filled visit!