Conversation and Empathy

Grace has been adding words like crazy and she can even speak in 3-4 word sentences at times! We even have conversations now :) She has matured so much the past couple months. I can actually reason with her a little bit..... a little bit!!! She has been such a joy to be around! We have had our ups and downs over the past year or so. Good weeks and bad weeks. But I can honestly say the past 2 months have been wonderful!

Grace usually cracks up when someone is crying or screams in pain. She really wasn't getting the empathy thing :) But the past week or so, I've noticed her look serious instead of laugh when I would hurt myself (happens fairly regularly). Well, today we had this conversation:

Grace: "bump" (as she points to the monster size zit on my chin due to stress)
Mommy: "I have a boo boo."
Grace: laughs "boo boo bump"

Grace: kisses my chin and says "all better"
Mommy: "Aw, thank you" as I squeeze her.
Grace: "Your welcome"

Love her to pieces!!!!!!!!

Her Story

For about 8 or 9 months now, I've been telling Grace a bedtime story that we call, "Your Story". It's a very short, kid-friendly version of how Grace came home to us. When I rock her at night I will ask her, "Do you want to hear your story?" She will even ask for it herself at times. I think it is a great way to casually start to talk about how she got here. Grace will even fill in some words as I tell it. The cutest is when she says, "ussia" :)

Here is her story:

"Once upon a time there was a mommy and daddy who so badly wanted a little girl to love. So they got on a plane and flew across the ocean to the land of Russia. There they met a beautiful baby girl named Grace. The mommy and daddy hugged her and kissed her and told her they would love her forever and ever. So the mommy, daddy and Grace got on a plane and flew back across the ocean to America, where Grace met her new brothers, Nate and Aidan. And the family lived happily ever after!"

I use hand motions for the flying parts and I do all the hugging and kissing, which cracks her up! As she gets older, I will add to it little by little. I think it will be a good stepping stone as she gets older and starts to ask questions. There will surely be questions.....

First Bubble Bath

Grace has had her first AND second bubble bath! They definitely won't be her last! She LOVES the bubbles! Luckily the extra money I spent getting her "Dora" bubbles was worth it :) They stink! They really don't bubble well at all. Oh well, less rinsing!

Look at that tan!!! And that is with sunblock!