I will call her, "Mini Me"

17 months old today! :)

Sometimes I seriously stare at Grace and the mini me line from Austin Powers runs through my mind.  She is my little shadow and it is becoming more and more obvious how closely she watches D and I and tries to imitate our actions.

Grace is a complete girly girl. Her favorite things in no particular order:
1. Puppies
2. Babydolls
3. "Make-up"
4. Real cell phones (don't try to get all baby phone on my girl, she will reject it.)

On the puppy front. We go to the park/dog park almost every weekend. D will take the dogs to their play area while I coax Grace onto the playground and we do swings and the slide and whatever else I can get her to play with while clinging to my leg. No joke. The girl is SUPER shy around new kids and clutches me like a koala when one runs by. After about 10 minutes (if we are lucky), you know where she wants to play? In the dog park area. So we go and she giggles and runs and meets new friends. When it is time to go she waves goodbye to all of her furpals and doesn't even look in the direction of the playground. This is cute...but girlfriend needs a sibling, right?! Even at daycare she prefers the new dog over the other kids. (Sigh.)

She loves babies. At daycare I noticed that she goes for the more life-like looking dolls, so I picked up one for her a week ago. I was shocked at how gentle and loving she has been with her baby. She feeds it a bottle and THEN...this is the part where I am convinced my child is a genius...she gently turns over the baby and pats her back! I die watching this. Her baby has become a new staple around here and she spends more time taking care of it and being attentive then any of her other toys. Ever.

In the mornings Grace and I do our "make-up" together. Her favorite parts of the routine as of late include putting on deodorant (I leave the top on) and rubbing on lotion. She will ask for a hair bow and to brush her teeth. She follows me everywhere to the point where she will rip off pieces of toilet paper for me in the bathroom and flush the potty too. (TMI?)

When it comes to talking, on my iPhone she constantly is trying to swipe, or in person, Miss G is stubborn. She knows words, but prefers to use her non-verbal communication to get across what she wants. I mean, the girl can literally sign to me that her teeth hurt and she wants Tylenol. It's ridiculous. Then randomly she will flash us a mischievous smile, shout "ME-OW!" or "Major! (the dog's name)" , or whatever random word I've been trying to get her to say, and then refuse to say it again. I'm sure in a couple of months things will start coming together, but for now she has her set of words and sounds that mean things and that is pretty much all she is interested in saying. I even attempt to bribe with chocolate chips. It works about 50% of the time...

Last thing, and then I'll stop bragging on my kid (for now...muahaha). The newest development with Grace is that she will tell me when she goes to the bathroom and needs a diaper change. Like right away. She has even gone as far as handing me a diaper and laying down. She has this signal where she looks at me, says "Ma?" and pats her booty. I'll ask her if she went poo-poo and she will say "Mmm hmm" or "Yeah" and nod yes.

Genius, I tell you. Potty training will be starting in the very near future. For now, we are STILL trying to get rid of the bottle. Any suggestions would be fantastic because right now we experience meltdowns of epic proportions when there is no bottle on hand during key periods of the day- BUT, she will drink water out of her sippy. Baby steps...

xo,
H