3 1/2 Years!

Hello long lost blog. I'm back. (At least for the moment. I tried to come back yesterday but blogger and I have been in a battle over this post. Apparently it's too long. They didn't know I had some catching up to do.)

Grayson "turned" three and a half this month. This girl likes to talk. Wow. It's amazing to me how they can go from babbling (which we also hear so much of right now, Finley's update will come later) to full-on talking in such a short time. This girl can "tell you a story" that will involve anything and everything from princesses to pirates to bears to "Laura and Mary and baby Carrie and Pa and Ma and Jack" (we just finished reading aloud On the Banks of Plum Creek). Almost all of her "stories" are seasoned with a "song" that she makes up which usually includes verses about "baby Jesus and Glory or Glorious" (we listen to a lot of worship music around here!) or a rendition of numbers "one one one, two three five, ten...one one one, two three five, ten ten ten". You get the picture. Hilarious and cute as pie. It's safe to say that she has a very extensive imagination.

She is very inquisitive. Which I'm trying to celebrate, but to keep it real, it can be exhausting! We talk all. day. long. Often she asks "Why?" with curiosity. As in, "Mama, why is that daffodil yellow?" The other half of the time she asks "Why?" with questioning authority. As in "Why do I have to clean this up?" Whew. Love her. But yes, exhausting.

These types of conversations happen multiple times a day. Here is a sampling:

We are driving in the car...
Me: "I need to write down to remember to look at the calendar for consignment sale dates and swim lesson dates".
Grayson (five minutes later): "My window is dirty, will you write down to remember to clean it?"

Grayson: "She was all open tears. Open tears, do you know what that means?"
Justin: "What?"
Grayson: "Open tears is a fancy word for crying."
Yes, she could write for the Fancy Nancy books.

I put pigtails in Finley's hair.
Grayson: "It's so cute mama! You made her look like a girl!"

We go to the science center and this big turkey follows us around. She was not a big fan and cried for a while about it. Very upset. Understandably, as he was as big as she was (And ugly. Amazing but ugly). We have not talked about the turkey for a solid 15 minutes and we are on our way home in the car.

Grayson (very matter of factly): "Mama, I think we should just cook that turkey".

Me: I could not say a word I was laughing SO hard and trying to keep quiet. I think I mumbled out a "mmm hmmm". We never even talked about how those turkeys are the "same" ones we cook for Thanksgiving! Smart girl.

She is big enough now to open the fridge on her own and get out her sippy cup of milk from the door. Which also means she's big enough to use a big girl cup. Which we do at mealtimes. Sitting down in the chair.

She still loves books. It borderlines on an obsession, which I am perfectly ok with. Especially now that I have another child who would rather climb on things than look at a book. She is especially fond of her Big Picture Bible these days, along with the latest library book, or magazine.

She is such a good big sister. She loves Finley and hugs her around her neck multiple times a day (as I'm pleading, "Easy on her neck, try her shoulders!"). We are venturing into the real world of "sharing with your sister" now that Finley can reach and take anything she wants.

She's starting to understand what it means to be kind and loving. Occasionally, without any prompting, she will say "I love you mama or I love you daddy". The other night she said a heartfelt prayer for a child that made me tear up. This is good news for the child that also says she wants to be a "shot nurse" when she grows up. Yes, she wants to be a "nurse that gives shots". She clams up a bit when you ask her why but let's just say that so far it doesn't seem to be because shots help people not to get sick!

When we see friends or she enters a new setting, she is still shy and hides behind me. After a few minutes of warming up, she starts talking their ears off.

Even though it can be tiring, we sure do love all of this talking and imagination at three and a half! Justin and I constantly look at each other and say "when did she become such a person?!"