Our Lil' Lovebug: Whew....living with a toddler!

Living with a toddler is the most exhausting but rewarding thing in the world. Gracie definitely keeps us on our toes! She is so energetic it isn't funny but I can honestly say I love it. It still amazes me that she is almost 18 months old. Each day that passes I get more and more excited to see what kind of girl she is going to grow up to be. Now don't get me wrong, I cherish each day because I know she is getting so big. There are things that I already miss about her being an infant. She doesn't like to cuddle as much, she is more independent which is bittersweet, and she didn't have an attitude when she was a bit younger. Yep you read that right, attitude...with a capital A! We throw temper tantrums like there is no tomorrow...they are getting more frequent too. I am sure that is because she is starting to hear "no" a lot more but hey, she may be our princess, but we are still the king and queen of this house! :)

Let me tell you a little story about little Miss Grace. She is a monkey. She climbs on anything she can. (Remember the bruise story from last week.) Well, since she doesn't believe in the word no, she continuously gets on the couch and runs/walks across it. I honestly let her do it with in reason (until she gets out of hand and almost falls). She has to learn when to settle down and so forth. Well, lo and behold, she got a little to squirrely on the couch and I said to her:

"Grace, sit down please."
"Grace, sit down on your bottom."
"Grace Anna, you are going to get hurt, sit on your bottom."

Little Miss Attitude with a capital "A" looks at me with a look that says "Mom, really, do you think I am going to listen the third time if I didn't listen the first two times, yeah right." THEN SHE PROCEEDS TO ROLL HER EYES AT ME!!! It was so funny and cute I had to laugh. I know, I am encouraging the behavior but tell me what 17 month old rolls her eyes!!!! At least she hasn't made a habit of it....YET!

We have been up to our normal busy schedule. Matt is going to BNOC Phase 1 right now. (Army school for E5's). He goes to phase two in Ft. Lee in July. This will be the first time in over a year that he is going to be gone longer then 24 hours. We will be good though. I know he is looking forward to the break. Although he has to get up so early...earlier then I do for this school now and he is not liking it. Neither am I, once he is up I have a hard time going back to sleep so I am exhausted hence why I haven't typed a blog in a bit.

I had a conference with Gracie's teacher today. Gracie is doing really well and is getting ready to transition into the Toddler Room. I told you in my last blog that her vocabulary is getting bigger, but we are hoping that it gets a bit bigger before she transitions. She already eats VERY well with a spoon and fork. She also drinks out of a glass with help, but she tends to spill it on her. Gracie gets the cutest shocked face when it goes down her shirt! I think she is in the very early stages of wanting to potty train. She is playing with her diaper a lot. I think we might be getting a potty chair sooner rather then later.

Well, I should go to bed, 4 am is going to come EARLY! Here are a lot of pictures from the weekend and this week. Enjoy and have a good Thursday!

"Look what I found Mommy."

"I found another rock, just for you!"

Gracie is such a helper. She helps Daddy bring in water from the garage! She even puts it on the shelf in the fridge.

Yes, we have already discussed her love for shoes, she loves playing with my heels. Last night she was actually walking around in this one...she isn't ready for both of them but we'll take it one shoe..er step at a time!

I love this picture. She has this look like "Really Mom...REALLY? It is 5 AM do you think I want my picture taken? I haven't gotten my hair to calm down yet!"