April's End

April Pictures This month we began (for the 3rd time) potty training Mary Grace. She has been incredibly stubborn and willful about the whole concept. Traditional method's haven't really worked or inspired Mary Grace- so after tweaking our approach a bit- we think we've finally made a breakthrough. It took a few weeks for her to realize that we weren't going to give up- no matter how many times she intentionally peed on the floor! Even her teachers supported the fact that Mary Grace was bound and determined to be stubborn about the process. Thankfully I believe we are on the road to success!

Here she is hanging out in her "big girl panties"

Last week Mary Grace and I babysat her cousin Cole. We had SUCH a fun day- a trip to Waffle House (Cole really wanted to go because it is a favorite hot spot for the UT basketball players!), playtime at the park, and smoothies to finish the beautiful day.

Last Friday we also celebrated Brent's 29th Birthday

Brunch at Waffle House

It amazes me how grown up Mary Grace seems all of the sudden. Every day she does something that surprises me and I think 'when did you learn to do that?' At the beginning of the spring she just jumped on her bike and started pedaling. I KNOW she didn't know how to do that last fall. When did she learn this??? I meant to shoot a video a few months ago of her doing it- but here she is last week:

On the other hand, some things never change. Mary Grace is still the biggest drama queen around. This version is actually toned down for the camera. Typically there is a much bigger production, more noises and a very dramatic gagging face.

Two other things I've noticed in April:

1. Mary Grace has started calling me 'mom' instead of mommy or mama. Sad!

2. Mary Grace has gotten very good at answering stranger's questions when they ask her name. She used to say a very rushed "MaeGace" which no one understood. Now she enunciates over dramatically (but effectively) "Marwee Gw-ace." She is always very quick to tell people she is 'two." And usually once she has captured the person's attention, other things will start flooding out of her mouth. There is really no telling what she has on her mind to talk about. Some common ones lately have been "I am tall like my Daddy," "I have a dog. Her name is Maddie" and "did you know about my broken toe?"