Grace and Josh...These Days

Grace is loving new vocabulary.  "Pardon me," she says after some bodily function makes itself known.  "Miss Suzy says that 'Pardon me' is another way to say 'Excuse me.'"  I also introduced her to the word beverage.  This was when she was having juice in her sippy and I didn't want Josh to know.  She really enjoyed her "beverage" that day in the car.

She is still quite social, and wants to be with people every waking minute.  Ninety minutes in her room at nap time is still a must, but most of that time is spent reading books to her "students" and attending to her baby.

She just finished her first year of preschool.  She LOVES school, and at home, Joshy often becomes her prized pupil.  I hear her singing "It's time to pick up toys..." when we tell them it's clean-up time, and she does her best to get Josh to sit down and raise his hand.

Grace is developing a greater sense of independence (at times!)...she loves to "Surprise!" us by putting on her jams by herself, and she insists on brushing her own hair, after every square inch of it is covered with detangler.

And, boy, does she love her hair.  Thick and naturally curly, she gets quite a few compliments on it.  If it were up to her, she'd wear it DOWN every day.  But it gets in her face all the time, so we have a rule about putting it up before going out.  Where she used to let me French braid it, her ONLY hair-do choice these days is the "Long Pony." She asks me to tighten it after she wets down her fly-a-ways, and then she watches the pony swing from side to side in the mirror.  Or better yet, she watches the ponytail shadow when we're outside.  Silly girl.

She loves to snuggle still and her favorite wrestling phrase with her daddy is, "You're staying here FOREVER!  I'm never letting you leave!" (Then she leaves and wants him to chase her down).

Other loves:  her baby, her new bike, doing puzzles during Josh's nap time, and playing with anyone who breathes--usually Kalei and Alea, neighbor Kyle, or her cousins

Things she detests:  "adult" music in the car (she'd rather have Bible songs, Disney, or Shrek soundtrack), tight clothes (or itchy clothes or too short clothes or too chilly clothes...), running out of time at bed time and having to skip reading a book

Josh is TWO.  Independence is his life motto, right now.  For the past two months he's been insisting on doing EVERYTHING without help.  Turning lights on and off, getting his bottle in and out of the microwave, brushing his teeth, washing his hair in the bathtub, getting into his car seat...  When he doesn't get to do things on his own he chooses to show his disappointment through physical means (AKA "throwing a fit").  He likes to fall into the splits when he's upset--somehow his legs just lose their ability to hold him up and they simultaneously collapse to the right and left.  :)

...which often leads him to "time-out."  He has a chair that he sits in and he waits for the timer "beep" to get down.  He's quick to put himself in timeout.  He's quick to hear the timer go off.  He's quick to say "Sorry, mama!" and give hugs.  He's quick to be happy after timeout.  So far it works, but we'll soon have to adapt this routine if he becomes too "smart" for it.

Josh has really started talking.  All of a sudden he's really trying to vocalize.  His favorite phrases include, "Movie night?" and his long list of favorite movies.  He also says whatever Gracie says and adds "too!" at the end of the phrase.  He likes to do just what Grace does.

He still likes to wrestle.  And he loves to sing, especially, "Let's Go Fly a Kite."  If it's not that song, he likes to sing, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," from Lion King--and he usually throws back his head to belt out the lyrics, "Why won't he be the king I know he is, the king I see inside?"  It is really quite hilarious.

Other loves:  Kai's house, the farm, and Costco.  He usually asks to go to one of these places at least four times a day.  Oh, and swinging outside.  He shouts, "High-a! High-a!" and then "Sing?" because he loves to sing while swinging.

Things he detests:  nap time, "spicy" foods, half of a string cheese (he wants a WHOLE ONE)