A little look at our Gracibug who is 4 going on 14 these days.
Over our Christmas trip, Grace was completely enamored of her girl cousins. They all have names that end in an 'ee' sound. This was dandy by Grace as she loves to be called Gracie. Somewhere in our conversations about this, it was pointed out to Grace that if she wanted her name to read 'Gracie' she would need to spell it with an 'i'. The trend has stuck. She writes her name on
everything and always includes the 'i'.
In other academic news, she continues to push herself. I really cannot take any credit for her progress- these days especially. She counts to 100 for fun. Multiple times a day. She treats addition like a divine revelation. "Mom! Did you know that 2 + 3 is 5 ?! That is all the fingers on this hand!! Isn't that great?" I'm also noticing that she has a very quick memory. As we have worked on her reading, my biggest problem is that she memorizes the early reader books within 2-3 readings. So by the second day with a new book, she isn't really trying to read, she is just reciting. I need to get to the library more often.
But her quick little brain comes in handy. Point in case: Just this last Sunday, I was rushing down the stairs with about 15 minutes to go before we needed to leave for church when I remembered that Grace had been assigned the talk for sharing time. HOW DID I FORGET THIS? Worst mom ever award for me, please. I got on sugardoodle and hastily printed out 7-8 pictures and pasted them to card stock cards. Grace was unfazed by my craziness. As we combed her hair she practiced what she would say. Then, just before church began, she went over it a couple of times with Cori. I've been subbing for the primary pianist and was in sharing time that day. When it was time for her to go up for her talk, I asked her if she wanted me to help her. It had been nearly 3 hours since our meager rehearsal. She shooed me away and said she wanted to do it by herself. She very calmly stood in front of our little primary and recited, word for word, what we had practiced. I'm so grateful this girl has come into the world equipped to survive her mother.
The other day Gracie told me that she wants to be an astronaut. Her reason for this lofty aspiration is that she thinks it would be really, really fun to float in space. I told her that she could be a great astronaut. But that it would take a lot of work. She would have to always work really hard in school, and she would have to work really hard on her exercises. This was nothing but perfect news to Grace as she prizes herself as a good student and exerciser. (oh, it makes me laugh) She does love 'exercising' though. A couple of saturdays ago, Cori was working on the basement project and I went down to run on the treadmill. Gracie sat beside me for half an hour waiting for her turn to run. She loves running (in little 1-2 minute increments) on the treadmill, mostly, I think, for the thrill of shouting, "Faster! Faster!" and pushing the buttons. But by the time she was bored of it she had nearly run a whole mile. She will also drop and give you five anytime you ask.
All of Gracie's artwork for so long had been very free formed. She wasn't interested in drawing representations of things, nor could she be bothered with lines in coloring books. I didn't worry about it and never discouraged the colorfields she loved so well. Like so many things with Grace, she is capable, but will only do something once she has decided that she wants to do it. Sure enough, between school projects and coloring with her cousins over Christmas, there has been a shift in the kinds of art Grace is cranking out these days. She still produces several pictures daily, both from coloring books and plain paper. And now she is always drawing specific objects and people and works very hard to stay in the lines.
Nearly everyday when we come home from school, Grace grabs her umbrella from the mud room and runs outside to make this little snowy cabana. She says it is for any baby animals who might need to get out of the sun. When I remind her that it is very chilly outside and that the animals might like to stay in the sun to warm up, she reminds me that her Ariel umbrella is super great and who wouldn't want to relax beneath it?
Swimming lessons are going a lot better. We still have occasional tears when new things are introduced. But Miss Jenna, pictured above, has been our saving grace. Gracie loves her and does what she asks. By the middle of the lesson, Grace will volunteer to swim with Mr. Brandon and Mr. Michael too. She is getting better about doing her front and back floats and loves dunking her head under. She is still against kick boards and all other floating devices that are not noodles. For a while I was wondering if I should pull her out and try lessons again later. But I'm glad we have stuck with it. I think it has been a very new and good experience for Grace to be outside her comfort zone. Not to mention my strong feelings that all kids should get swimming lessons. It isn't like learning an instrument or another recreational sport- it is survival! Poor Grant asks me every week to put on his swimming suit so he can have lessons too. I wanted to sign him up, but they told me he was too young. :( Next year.
One of my greatest fortunes with this little big girl is that she is a good sister to Grant. Sure, they have their little tiffs throughout the day. But she is very inclusive and considerate. They have great adventures together. They make great messes together. They get to spend a lot of time cleaning up together too. She is sure to give him kisses and loves before she gets out of the car for school. She is also sure to tell me every little thing he is up to.
