Gingerbread men in pictures.

Grace had her first experience painting Gingerbread men this Christmas. 

I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Do you think she enjoyed it?

Waiting for Daddy...

A certain little girl of mine LOVES her Daddy. I don't blame her. He is pretty awesome.

She loves to look out the window, and will sometimes whisper "Dada" over and over. 

Today, I let her look out a new window that never really has the blinds up. She loved it...and she stood there waiting for Dada until I took her outside. 

Too bad it was just 2pm. A few more hours to wait, dear one.

Really?

Yesterday I was shopping, and as usual, I get stopped for some comment about my little girl and her red hair.  This time, however, it was a new one.

This man stops me and asks, "Is she a natural red-head?"

No, sir...I dye my one year old daughter's hair. 

Really? Did that just happen?

We need a little clarification.

Last night, as a family, we went out to deliver some goodies to some friends.  By the time we left the last house, it was past Grace's usual bedtime so we were a little worried how the ride home was going to be.  Stephen began to strap her into her car seat, and in order to distract her I pulled the Ensign magazine from my lap, and showed her a picture of Jesus. 

"Who's this, Grace?" I asked (obviously, not really expecting an answer)

She smiles really big and points to the picture.

Then, she loudly proclaims, "DaDa!!!"

I think we have a little explaining to do at our house.

I have a climber on my hands.

This morning, I pulled Grace's toy basket off the shelf and let her start to pull things out.  I walked away to do something, and then when I came back into the room, I found this.

Thinking she was stuck and needed help, I pull her out. Grace screams bloody murder. So, I put her down, and proceed to watch her hike her little chubby leg up, and boost herself BACK into the basket.  She played contentedly in the basket for a while. Occasionally she would drop something out, lean out to get it, fall out of the basket, and then turn around and climb in again.

This is after, I was washing my hands in the bathroom, and Grace crawls in, pulls up on the bathtub, and jumps her back legs to projectile her headfirst into the tub. Luckily, I saw it coming, and I caught her inches from the tub bottom. 

And yesterday, I put up a baby gate in the nursery door so I could take a shower while Grace played. I've done it before, and she really just plays nicely taking all the toys out of her chest, or opens all the doors on her  little kitchen, or pulls all the books of the bookcase...you know...the usual.

Well, I'm in the shower rinsing the conditioner out of my hair, when I hear a weird crash on the baby monitor. I wait for a cry...nothing.

Then, I call our her name.

She answers with a little squeak, and I notice that she sounds closer.  

As i'm getting out of the shower  to investigate, Grace just waltzes in the bathroom grinning at me.

She had somehow pushed the baby gate down, and decided to come see me.

Really? Prison Break, already??

Guess what we did this week?

yep....we put up this beast.  And then we vacuumed for like an hour trying to get up all the needles. 

I don't know if you can notice, but there are only three ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. The three ornaments are: a plush Grinch, a sock monkey, and a soft snowman.

I bet you can't guess why! haha

Grace has been instantly drawn to the Grinch.  In fact, the first morning she came out and saw the tree, she beelined for the Grinch, and it did not leave her hand the entire day. 

And the days since it has been the same. Every morning, she crawls over to the tree, picks the Grinch off the tree, and carries him around with her.

Guess we need to watch the Grinch.