Gracie: 2 years and change.....Exuberance defined...

Sweet Gracie.  You are nearly 2 months past your 2nd birthday.  And, wow - have you changed!!! Since your second birthday, your words have been tumbling forth at an ever increasing rate. Now you are forming complete thoughts, pretending, engaging, and.....of course, not to be missed my many a 2 year old, throwing tantrums as a point of holding firm on your position. And hold firm you do!

You are exuberance defined. You bubble. You giggle. You belly laugh. You dimple. You smile.  You rage (but not mostly). You entertain. You cuddle.  You love. You create.

You are everything we could have hoped for, and more than we ever dreamed for our 4th and final child.  You bring us all together in peals of laughter...much to your delight.

And, did I mention how  you are?  Oh, yes.  You are quite busy. For all of the things you are, there are equally as many as you do......

 - Coloring on yourself (and objects such as your clothing, furniture, walls, and floors....frequently
 - Playing in the toilet
 - Carrying the dog dish FULL of water....and spilling it
 - Opening the refrigerator and helping yourself to anything messy....
 - Eating sugar by the handful, straight from the container
 - Eating whole packs of gum (by spitting each piece out after a couple of chews)
 - Carrying tangerines to the garbage, one by one, and tossing them in
 - Eating chap stick
 - Swallowing pennies
 - Wearing Mama's makeup
 - Pushing around carts full of dollies
 - Playing in your kitchen and bringing me things to "eat" and "drink"

And all of the words
 - Going potty "Bee Guhl" (Big Girl), and telling Mama to "Sit down!" as I wait for you. (And this sometimes is a fruitful exercise, and sometimes it is simply to angle for a piece of chocolate (your reward), I'm sure....
 - Scawy Monstoh coming!!!
 - Oh! [insert any word]??? (This is the cutest thing ever! Every word is preceded by an "Oh!" when you are repeating something back to us.
 - Sometimes you just confirm something to yourself in a very resolute voice. "Oh! Papa coming?" "Yes, Gracie - Papa is coming home soon."  "Oh. Papa coming home soon." 
 - "No! Me do it!" (This is very popular at present. :-)
 - Couds (clouds)
 - Singing, singing, singing.....especially Jesus Loves Me...