Lily's Birthday Party

I'm sure you've noticed we are missing something on our blog- pictures... We seem to have misplaced our camera. We are missing it dearly and relying on pictures from friends. Thanks to our friend Ellen, we have pictures to show you of Lily's birthday party.


The theme was "Mickey Mouse" and Amy did a good job making great cakes for the big day.

Grace had a great time playing at the park with her friends, especially Lily. As usual, she was concerned the entire time with her location- "Where Lidy go? Where Lidy?".

Grace gave Lily a bubble machine and had a great time running with all her friends through the many, many bubbles.

After the bubbles, Grace went back to the playground where she noticed there was an elephant cutout over a tunnel. Grace entertained all the parkgoers with her obsession with "Big Al" and her yells of "Roll Tide!" When it was time to go, Grace had a hard time saying goodbye and got a little upset. She gave herself a self-imposed time out in the corner and after a few minutes felt "all better." It was a great party- we can't wait until Lily turns 3!

Altar Call

I made a brief presentation at church tonight at the end of Mass. What made it really interesting was the fact that I had my little sidekick with me. We made it through Mass with only a few interruptions. Grace kept saying hi to baby Jesus (see previous post as to why Jesus is a baby), usually when the congregation was silent.

When I was ready to head to the pulpit, I asked her if she wanted to go see baby Jesus with me. She said yes and then grabbed her stuffed elephant ("Big Al") and a pen because she wanted to show them both to Jesus. Before I stepped up on the altar, she started yelling "no" and wriggled out of my arms. I had no choice but to leave her.

I started my presentation and Grace started calling me from below. I glanced down and saw her waving her arms at me and yelling "hey Dadda ... Dadda!" I of course did not answer, so she got a little angry and yelled "DADDA!" She then gave up and started dancing around with Big Al. Fortunately, everyone told me the presentation went well and only the folks in the front rows saw the real "show."

Time with Daddy

Michelle is out of town, so Grace and I are spending some time together. Grace surprised me twice today:

1. I found out that she has a sense of humor. We were reviewing some animal sounds. I would ask her what a kitty says and of course she would say "meow." We covered about ten different animals and she nailed every one of them. On a whim, I asked her, "what does Gracie say." Much to my surprise she smiled and said "I want, I want, I want." Again, she was right!

2. Grace now likes to tell Elliot what she did when she goes somewhere. We went to church tonight and when we were coming home we talked about how Grace saw baby Jesus (in Grace's mind Jesus is always baby Jesus. It's what she even calls the adult images of Jesus). She told me that she wanted to tell Ellie. Sure enough, she marched into the study, stood in front of his little house (i.e., cage) and said, "Ellie, I saw baby Jesus ... I saw him." She then turned around and walked out!

Two Minutes

Today I told Grace it was naptime and we walked into her room. She turned around and told me "Mom, come back two minutes, I play two minutes." I just stood there and she said "Mom, you check email, back two minutes" and walked over to her desk.....

"My Paci Go Bye Bye"

Grace has slept with a pacifier in her mouth since day 1. She loves her pacifier. Beginning about a year ago, we only let her have it in her crib and in her car seat. As soon as she gets in either, she asks for two dollys and her paci. Jack and I had decided that when she turned two, we would start to get rid of the pacifier. We've been putting it off, trying to decide the correct way to say goodbye to her longest friend.

Sunday night at dinner, I told Grace that soon we were going to have to say bye bye to paci. I intended just to lay the groundwork for the next few weeks. But, Grace said "oh, I say bye bye to my paci. My paci go on trip." We weren't sure what to do, but Jack got up and got the pacifier, Grace kissed it and said "bye bye paci." Jack took it away and Grace proceeded to talk about saying bye bye to her paci for the next 30 minutes.

And then it was bedtime.... Grace asked for two dollys and her paci. We told her paci went bye bye and her little face just fell. She said "Paci come back?" We had to tell her no and she quietly cried herself to sleep. I think Jack and I had a harder time then Grace did that first night. It was so sad to see her without something she's had her entire life...

Yesterday was a bit more difficult. She had a really hard time getting in the car with it and a really rough nap yesterday afternoon. She just cried for her paci ;o)

But last night, she didn't say a word about it. This morning when I woke her up, she handed me her two dollys and looked briefly for her pacifier to give me but looked up and said "my paci go bye bye." We got in the car for swimming lessons and she looked at me and said "Mommy, my paci bye bye" and asked for a book to read.

So.... the end of an era. It's pretty sad... another sign she's not a baby anymore... :o(

Robbed

Last night, Jack and I had plans for an event at church that was cancelled at the last minute. Since we already had a babysitter lined up, we decided to have a "date night." We had received an Olive Garden gift certificate a few months ago and decided to use it for our date. We knew that the Galleria Olive Garden would be super crowded so we headed to the Century Plaza one. Those of you in Birmingham know it's not the best neighborhood- but definitely not the worst. The restaurant was crowded and we ended up parking at the end of the row of cars. We had a good but interesting dinner- our waiter first didn't know the difference between white and red wine- then, told Jack he couldn't find any cold red wine....apparently he thought Jack asked for a tall glass of cold red wine... ;o)
When we got into our car after dinner, it wouldn't start. Luckily, we noticed it was really trying to start and the "check gage" light was coming on. We walked to a gas station and convinced them to loan us a gas can and filled it up with a gallon. We put it in the tank and the car started right up except our gas gauge was way below empty. We realized at that moment our gas had been stolen! We drove to the gas station to return the can and get some more gas. There was a police officer in the gas station who seemed unaffected by our story- apparently it happens all the time. The only good thing about this story is that on the way to dinner, we passed a Sam's and I asked Jack to fill up and he decided to do it on the way home. So, our gas thieves didn't get nearly as much as they would have if we had just filled up.
For those of you whose gas tanks don't lock- watch where you park!

Dancing Queen

Last night we went to the Lebanese Food Festival. Grace invited her friends Anna and Little Tad to join in the festivities. Last year, Grace LOVED the food. This year she LOVED the music. We were eating when the band fired up. It was very loud and we all thought we would have to leave but the kids loved it. They were clapping their hands and Grace had her own head and shoulder moves. We let Grace out of her chair and she proceeded to dance for 20 minutes straight. She didn't want anyone dancing with her- it was her own show. We captured a little on video for you to see (sorry you'll have to turn your head).

Playing in the Park

Yesterday our next door neighbor, Ella, had her 2nd birthday party at the park. We had a rough morning waiting until 11am for the party to start. Grace was just so excited and wanted to go to "Ella's party" as soon as she got up. It was a long morning... Finally it was time to go to the party and Grace looked for Ella as soon as we got there. Grace wasn't used to sharing Ella with other friends so she constantly wanted to know "where Ella go?" and wanted to find her to play. Ella was a gracious hostess and played with Grace as much as she could ;o)

As you can see- Grace really enjoyed the birthday cupcakes!

Happy Birthday Ella!

Yard Work

Jack was doing some yard work yesterday and Grace wanted to "helpie." She did a great job helping for about 30 seconds....

4:30pm Playgroup

We are very lucky to live next door to Ella who is two weeks younger than Grace and to have Addison, who is 6 months younger than Grace, stay with her grandmother right across the street, during the day. We have two friends to play with at the drop of a hat! Since the weather has been nice, we've all been meeting outside after naps to play. The girls have such a great time together and Grace looks forward to 4:30 everyday.

The Potty

About a week ago we bought Grace a "potty" so she would start to get used to the idea of it. The first few days, she was obsessed with it. She talked about "her potty" like it was her best friend. When we were out, she wanted to go home to see "her potty." When we were home, she wanted to sit on "her potty" all day. But, when she wanted to sit on it, she wanted to be totally naked and alone.. It was too funny to see her sitting there saying "bye bye mommy, Gracie potty." And then she got creative. I found her a few times in different rooms of our house, naked, sitting on the potty- the living room, the hallway, our bedroom, etc. She actually used it a few times but I guess when you sit on it all day, it's bound to happen. She was completely awed when I would point it out to her "Wow!" This week the novelity has worn off... Not much interest except yesterday I put her in the tub and instantly she asked to get out and sit on her potty and she went! But then she got so excited she didn't want to get off... ;o)

So- not quite potty training- just spending time with our new friend.

Bilingual? Not really what we had in mind...

Everyone that knows Jack knows that he loves languages. He studies foreign languages in his free time. As soon we found out we were having a baby, Jack was making plans for our child to learn many languages.
The other day I was fixing Grace lunch and I heard "Make sandwich- rapido! Rap-i-do! Rap-i-do!" as she was banging on her tray. So, Grace's first Spanish word, learned from Dora, was yelled at me as she was banging on her tray for food. Not really what we had in mind for our bilingual child.... ;o)

Swimming Lessons

Grace started swimming lessons at the YMCA this week. She will have two lessons a week for 4 weeks. She had a great time at her first two lessons. She has learned to wait on the edge of the pool until we ask her to come in and learned how to climb out of the pool. We have also worked on kicking and blowing bubbles. She really likes that her friend Quinn is in the class and spends a lot of time making sure he is doing ok and doing what he is supposed to be doing instead of paying attention herself ;o)

Fun Times with Bella

Grace was very excited to learn that her cousin Isabella can now sit up. It made playing with her much more fun. Grace read books to her, played ball with her and even took her first joint bath with her. She loves her cousin Bella!

Grace 2nd Birthday Party

Last Saturday, some family and friends gathered to celebrate Grace's 2nd birthday. Despite the 90% chance of rain during the party, the weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time. Grace loved playing on the playground, eating her Dora cake, opening her presents and playing in the bubbles. Thanks to everyone who made it such a special day, especially those who traveled so far. (And thanks to Sarah Grace who served as Grace's personal assistant ;o))

MS Walk

Last Saturday morning, "Maintaining Stride" headed out to the Birmingham Zoo early to participate in the MS Walk. We all had a great time walking for a great cause and seeing the animals.

Grace had big plans to carry the flag the entire walk...it lasted about two minutes and at least half of us got wacked in the head...

The Cakes...

Last year for Grace's birthday cake, I thought it would be really special if we made the cake. Sarah and I worked all night last year to make the Elmo cake.

This year I picked Dora and a Backpack cake. We thought Elmo was hard last year..... Sarah and I started it and by the end it was an entire family affair. It took 6 adults, 1 trip to the store in the middle and 3 hours to complete. We all had our specialities- Sarah, Laura and I did most of the decorating but we called in Jeff with his strong muscles when the icing was difficult to squeeze, Jack when we needed free-handed drawing and Craig, well, I guess he did a good job stirring the frosting and making us laugh.

It was all worth it because all Grace talked about was her Dora cake and asked us all day if it was "Dora cake time yet?"