Miss Gracie Girl

It's so interesting to watch the personality develop of a toddler. I feel like I am more in tune with Gracie's developing personality than I was with Miss Rose's. Probably becuase I find myself comparing the two of them.

My Gracie Girl will turn 17 months in a few days. Almost one-and-a-half years old. The time goes so quickly, yet I feel like I remember so much. These last few months she has changed so much, from a baby into a toddler. She is communicating more, especially her likes and dislikes. Even some of her interests are starting to become apparent.

My girls sometimes seem like night and day in so many ways. Not only their skin color either! Although I still am astonished that I have such a dark child and such a light child. Genes are a crazy thing! While Miss Rose thrives on constant interaction and entertainment, Gracie will wander through the house for hours, quite content with whatever she finds, with the occasional drop-by to where mama is.

Gracie loves playing with baby dolls. She holds them to her shoulder and "shushes" them, pushes them in the doll stroller. Today I pulled out my old doll cradle and she was in heaven putting her baby "night night." She also loves purses. Uusally mine! She'll put them over her shoulder and wave and say "bye bye."

In fact, the kid loves putting on pretty much anything. I cannot count the times she has found underwear (both clean and dirty--yikes) and put them on her head. Even before she was 1, she'd spend 30minutes trying to put a piece of clothing over her head. She was so proud when she accomplished the task.

Sometimes this becomes a problem. Gracie now seems to understand that pants and shorts go on the legs. So she'll sit on the ground trying to get shorts (usually her sister's or mine) on and gets very frusterated when it doesn't work. Most of the time, even if I help her--they fall right off anyways, which makes her more angry.

Gracie loves ice cold water and milk. She usually drinks 2-3 sippies of just water each day. And the girl gets MAD when she's thirsty and her drink isn't coming fast enough. Miss Rose was never a huge fan of milk, so I can't believe how much Gracie consumes. She's finally starting to eat a bit more fruit--up until recently she'd only eat bananas and raisins. Feeding herself has become a huge deal too.

Oh and the girl can nod her head like you wouldn't believe! If she doesn't want something she's being offered, she will shake her head "no" quite vehemently over and over until you get the picture. But, she will also nod her head in the affirmative to answer a question.

I just can't believe, a little more than 5 months and we'll be doing this all over again! It will be fun to watch Gracie with the new baby, especially with her love for her baby dolls. I know my girls will be great big sisters.