My Good Girl

I just wanted to pause and write about what a wonderful little girl Gracie is. I am so impressed by her desire to be a good, obedient, helpful, and loving daughter and sister.

First, she loves Charlie, and wants to do anything to help him and be with him all the time. Whenever he gets up from a nap, even if it interrupts her Mommy time, she yells, "Charlie!!!" with as much enthusiasm as if he'd been gone for a week. When he cries, she is quick to fix it, either by gently giving him his paci or by instructing me that he needs a change or is "hungee." She always disagrees when I say he is tired, because she doesn't want him to go down for a nap and be away from her. When I lay him on a blanket, I always lay him off to one side now because Gracie wants a spot to lay beside him. She lays next to him for all of Sesame Street and really even in her busy hours she lays next to him, shares her toys with him, talks to him, and checks in on him to be sure he is happy. She is always covering him with a blanket (or burp cloth) to keep him warm, rocking him if he is in a swing or carseat, and sharing her most treasured stuffed animal (Elephant) with him. And, like me, she is thrilled by every little thing he does. If he coos her eyes get wide and she exclaims, "He said 'Oooooh Snuggle Puppy!'" If he flails an arm into her she beams, "He touched me!" If he blows a spit bubble or burps or toots she tells me all the details as if it is the cutest or most wonderful or funniest thing she has ever seen. I am so thankful to have my little best buddy love her brother so much and be so patient while I take care of him.

Second, she is obedient. As much as possible she does what we ask. If we have to correct her she says, "Oh! I'm sorry!" One of the hardest things about having them both sick with two different illnesses was keeping them separate so they wouldn't share germs. Charlie was confined to his room and my room, and we had to tell Gracie not to go in either room so she wouldn't get Charlie sick--really sad when she could see her brother (and sometimes me, when I had to feed him) right there but couldn't come in. I mentioned this on the phone to another mom and she asked, "How do you do that? Do you put up a gate?" But we didn't have to. Our sweet little girl would just sit in the doorway and play. In the evenings we would find clusters of toys lined up in the hall outside both doors where she had sat obediently and played without going in.

She is very mindful of us feeling good, too. When I was sick last week she told me, "I'll give you lots of kisses and cuddles and hugs!" And after a rough night with Charlie last night, I needed a nap today. I fell asleep during one of her TV shows while Charlie was asleep, and when she woke me up and I asked for a little more sleep, she let me nap and played quietly by herself until I came to get her for lunch together.

Third, she is happy. She has always been a little ray of sunshine. I wondered if she would have a hard time adjusting to being one of two when she was used to having all the attention, but she has done wonderfully and might be happier than ever right now. She loves to be cuddled and hugged (she told me today, "I love to cuddle you."), to dance or play with us, and to tell us things she is thinking (today she told Steve a light shines out of his nose....???). She likes to share and gets very excited when we share things with her ("Ohhhh, you're so nice to me!"). She sings all the time, and I love hearing her little voice making up songs about Daddy's shoes walking or Beauty and the Beast. I am so thankful that she forgives me for being cranky and that she knows how much I love her. She is such a sweet blessing and good example to me of how I should be, and I just wanted to share how wonderful she is. We love you Gracie girl!