School Photo and some odds and ends

We need naps.

The new, gently used dolly -- Thanks, Janet!!!

Self-portrait

[Let me know what size you want, mom and dad!]

Really, we did bake....

Proof, even if the cookies never made it in the mail. Sorry. They were yummy.

Merry Christmas!

I need a new camera.

Mmmm, raisin cookies!

Taken during same sitting.

Flash killed the pretty tree lights.

Finally, a smile! Well, not from the dogs. They can't have raisin cookies.

More pics to come but here's an attempt at posting a video. Taken at preschool performance. Grace is in the blue dress, spinning like a pro! Happy Holidays to all.

What does Grace Like?

Books: Fox in Socks (arrrgh), Goodnight Moon, a Sandra Boynton counting book with dogs -- title escapes me -- which I swear she is READING (or at least reciting from memory), Head to Toe (loves all the Eric Carle books -- she wore out Brown Bear, Brown Bear), and starting to like
"Win in in poooooo" (Winnie the Pooh).

Music: She is a You Tube junkie. ACDC, Jimi Hendrix (Let me Stand Next to Your Fire, or, as Grace calls it, "ooh ooh ah ah"), and several videos of children's songs including ones about rhinos, elephants, monkeys.

Toys: PLAY DOH all the time, and her toy kitchen - best when used together, tea set, bike

Also enjoys playing pretend (meals, mostly, or bathing her babies and stuffed animals), tunnels, forts (under the kitchen table); loves the 8 year old girl up the street; loves fish, birds, horses, butterflies, and dogs. Her placemat that she made for Thanksgiving at preschool gives "thanks for fish."

Kids say (and do) the darndest things...

Last month it was "Knockee off, Harris" (Knock it off)

Last night it was "Chicken boodie" (Shake your booty).

That last one was followed by a big grin and nod when I finally decoded what she was saying.

"Who taught you that, Grace?" I asked. "Lauren," she said immediately.

Ah, Lauren. Cute kid, new to preschool, could be Grace's twin but for an inch of height.

Harris, also of the under-three set, sticks his hand in the fishtank and pulls the fire alarms.

I think at least one of these new commands may come in handy at school.....

Final note: as I reached for the pajamas tonight to get Grace ready for bed, I turned back to see her looking at me with the widest eyes -- she was purposely opening them as far as they would go.

Just in case I didn't get the hint, she said "AWAKE, mommy." No doubt.

One little, two little, three little....

I will add more later. These are from the preschool thanksgiving feast (day before the holiday).

Brilliance

Grace and Christmas Pooh in the furniture department.

A bird in the hand is worth more than a sippy cup....

Hall Sprints.

Bedtime sillies.

Begging for crackers.

Grace is a truly incredible child. Here is what happened today in preschool:

According to her teacher, all the children were sitting in "circle time" listening to the plans for the day. The teacher mentioned that the storytime book would be about gingerbread men. Grace reportedly got up from circle time, walked over to the bookshelves and pulled out ALL of the books (randomly filed) that had gingerbread men in them, and brought them to the teacher. (We didn't even know she knew what a gingerbread man was!)

The other night before bed, she collected all the stories with rabbits in them for me to read.

Her favorite book these nights is "Moon" (really, "Goodnight Moon"). She enjoys looking for the mouse in every picture. She has a mouse in school (a real one) and its name is "Eee eee."

Today, I asked her to tell me her name. She did. First, middle and last. I am completely in awe of her brain.