Our little Grizz Bear is two years
old!!! She is still tiny as ever, and we love all the comments we get
while we are out about how darling and small she is. We couldn't agree
more! Here are some things about Gretchen we always want to remember...
*At two years old,
Gretchen is off the weight chart, in the negative direction! Gretchen is
20 lbs. 15 oz. and 31.8 inches long. Height wise, she is in the
10%. So there's that! And in true Toney form, her head is in the
95% at 19.7 inches around. So it seems that most of her weight is in her
darling head.
*Following in the
footsteps of her sisters, she is a picky eater. I seriously feel like I
feed her the same ten foods every single day: apple juice, toast, yogurt,
granola bars, z bars, nut bars, cheese pizza, and grilled cheese
sandwiches. Fortunately, she does like milk and drinks it every
afternoon. The only consistent fruit it seems she will always eat are
plums, but sometimes she also eats strawberries, blueberries, raspberries,
grapes, and bananas. Though she actually does eat celery, cucumbers, and
carrots; however, these are all very hard for her to chew, so it seems I
eventually end up scraping them out of her mouth hoping that she is gaining
some nutrients from them! She also likes nuts...so maybe she is not as
picky as I initially thought! Yesterday she ate an entire chicken nugget
and that alone made my day. :) She used to eat pasta of any kind,
but stopped doing that months ago and that is actually very frustrating.
:)
*Gretchen has made
SO much physical progress in the last year, and it has been so fun to watch her
learn. Last year at this time she was scooting to get around, and would
not/could not stand even with support. In the last year she has learned
how to stand, how to pull herself up to stand, cruise along furniture, walk
with push toys, walk unassisted, crawl up stairs, go down stairs on her tummy, jump,
run, and step up and down a curb. All of these things are huge
accomplishments and we have celebrated them all. I will forever be
grateful to Early Intervention and her lovely therapist, who I came to love and
still miss!
*Gretchen is
talking so well! We love to hear her little voice. She sometimes
strings three or four words together, and it is a delight to hear. She
can say all of our names. Some of my favorite things to hear her say
are: rocking chair, baby shark, hi mama, stop it mama, Elmo poopy, be
naked, and sleepin' :)
*Speaking of
naked, Gretchen has gone most of the summer in just a diaper. Drives me
NUTS!!! So many cute clothes hang in her closet, and while it makes my
laundry life easier, gosh I wish she would wear clothes! She has mastered
zippers and snaps, and can wiggle out of anything with a button, so even if she
starts the day dressed, by the end of the day, she is usually back to a
diaper. I am desperately hoping that the change in weather will bring a
change to her opinion of clothing!
*To my
recollection, Gretchen is the only one of our kids who says, "Carry
me" instead of "Carry you". Smart girl!
*Gretchen hates
being laid down for a nap or for the night. She cries 95% of the time I
lay her down. She has been doing this her whole life! She never
cries for long, usually less than one minute, but every time I lay her down and
she cries I think to myself that I can't believe she is still doing this!
That being said, Richard is winning her over at night and they have a great
routine going. He rocks her for a long time and sings primary songs and then
she just lays down, without even a whine. He is soaking this up. :)
*Gretchen LOVES
the Baby Shark song on YouTube. She asks all day long for Baby Shark, and
as I mentioned earlier, I love the way she says Baby Shark and I could listen
to her ask for it all day long. She can also frequently be found dancing
around in a room while singing Baby Shark. She also loves I Am A Child of
God, Twinkle Little Star, and Shall We Dance.
*One of Gretchen's
current favorite activities is playing spa with Bridget. :) Bridget
puts her up on her bed, tucks her in, and then pampers her and Gretchen just
soaks it up.
*Gretchen loves
babies, bottles, and the Tickle Me Elmo she got for her birthday. She
also loves walking around in the high heel dress up shoes. She loves
putting on other people's socks, but not her own socks.
*Gretchen had a
terrible six day stomach flu right before her birthday and during that entire
time she was so hard to handle. Rightly so, I am sure she felt miserable,
but it was so hard to handle. None of us were used to so much crying from
little Gretchen! I am happy to report though that since she recovered,
Gretchen has been completely delightful and I am soaking her up!!! My
goodness, she brings me so much happiness hour after hour. She is happy,
she is talkative, she is sweet, she is snuggly, she is so tiny and cute and has
big brown eyes and the cheesiest smile. We love, love, love this tiny
girl!
