Gracen at 3

***Warning…Really long post to follow.***

I haven’t been the best with updates about my kids as far as the specifics are concerned.  And I’m sure years from now, I’ll probably wish I’d taken a little more time to record all of it.  But somehow the months roll on without it.  But here’s a rather long synopsis of my sweet little girl in her early “3’s”.

• Gracen loves for me to tell her stories, especially princess stories.  Usually they are based on her (because her Mama’s not so creative) and at the end of the story she’ll say, “Mama, the Princess is me?”
• She often says, “Whew, that was close!” sometimes after closing a door or putting away her shoes or any other funny time.  I do believe she’s heard Dora say it.
• When I started making this list closer to her birthday, she was a huge Mama’s girl, but right now we’re kind of transitioning to a Daddy’s girl.
• DRAMA! DRAMA! DRAMA!
• Whenever I put her to bed for a nap or at bedtime, she’ll usually say, “Mama, I have to tell you a seepet (secret).  Go tickle my Daddy on the farm.  Come back to my house.  Then go to my ballgame, Daddy’s ballgame, Mama’s ballgame, Jackson’s ballgame, Sadie’s ballgame, Lillie’s ballgame, Jase’s ballgame, etc.
• Gracen calls Jackson “Buddy”.  Apparently, I call him this more than I realize because she does it A LOT. 
• She gets very excited whenever Jackson wakes up.  She wants to be the first to go in his room to get him.  She says, “Buddy’s awake.  (in deeper/baby talking voice) did you sleep good?”
• She loves anything Princess.  I find this very interesting because we don’t own a single Princess movie.  I didn’t even talk about princesses before she fell in love with them.  She can name them all and occasionally quotes from one of my old Sleeping Beauty books…”she pricks her finger on spinning wheel, and die.”  Lovely, so glad that’s what she remembers.
• Any time either of us wears a dress she says we look like princesses.
• Whenever anyone’s leaving our house she says goodbye, lets them leave, then panic stricken, must give them one more hug and kiss.
• She’s very tender hearted and caring whenever someone’s sick or hurt.
• Reverse psychology is working like a dream right now. . . “Gracen, do you need to potty?”  “No.”  “I’m going to go potty.”  ‘ No, I’m going to go potty.” 
• She loves to sit on the potty with her pants on and says “like this, Mama?” just to get a reaction out of me.
• She loves to steal our seats.
• She loves to ride her bike and her gator.
• Any time she bumps anything, she needs a Band-Aid and medicine.
• She loves to sing “Happy Birthday” and wants to make Jackson a birthday cake almost every day…this started right after her birthday.
• She loves to hide around a corner, jump out in the sumo wrestling stance, and yell, “Surprise!”
• She notices my haircut, complements my PJ’s and says she loves me out of the blue all the time.
• She loves to play a princess memory on my phone.  She’s very good at matching games and notices patterns and matching things even when we’re not focusing on matching.
• She loves to watch movies and TV.  Her favorites are: Diego, Bolt, and Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue.  She stands with her hands on her knees and says, “I’m ready Mama” whenever I’m about to start Diego.  Then she dances to the theme song.
• She and Jackson usually get popsicles in the bathtub, and she always demands requests an orange popsicle.
• “I help you” are words I hear quite often.  She loves to help me cook, set the table, and carry in groceries.
• She loves to go out in the yard with a flashlight with Jeffrey and look for deer.  Not sure if they’ve ever seen any, but she loves to go anywhere with her Daddy…the flashlight is just an added bonus.
• She wants to hand us our towels when we get out of the shower.
• She wears big girl panties all the time with only occasional bedtime accidents.
• She loves her PJ’s and wants to change into them at naptime.
• She insists on getting in the car on the driver side (she calls it Jackson’s door) and crawling over to her seat even though it’s behind the passenger seat.
• She says thank you all the time.  Our rule about her getting in our bed is that the sun has to come through her window before she can get in our bed.  One morning she called out to me and said she wanted me.  I told her to come on to bed with me.  She replied, “Oh thank you, Mama!  Thank you!  Oh thank you, Mama!  Thank you!” So sweet.
• A few cute phrases…”I can’t need…” & “Yes, it does.”  For example, “Gracen, your shirt’s not wet.” “Yes, it does.”
• She loves to sing the alphabet, “Jesus loves me”, and a hand washing song my mom taught her. “Wash, wash, wash your hands, to make them nice and clean.  Wash the bottoms and the tops and fingers in between.” (to the tune of Row Row Row your boat)
• Gracen Belle is a ball full of dramatic energy, and I can’t imagine my life without her in it.  I love her so much!!!