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Gracie’s Journal |
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We have several wonderful grandchildren and a growing number of equally wonderful great-grandchild. Gracie is grandkid number seven. Gracie has “day cared” with us for most of her first 5 years. I decided, or more correctly was told by Thelma sometime back that I should be documenting all of the kid moments that invariably come up when you spend a lot of time with a small person. I started Gracie’s Journal at that time.
Also you can look at these links to see/hear what Gracie has been up to lately: Gracie and the Millhouse story
Entries are in descending chronological order. 12/05/09 Shelli reports: As we sat up in bed this Saturday morning, my six-year-old daughter, Gracie, informed me that Ruby, her invisible miniature weenie dog that has been a wonderful affectionate friend for at least a year, has died. According to Gracie, it was during a game that she and her friend Geoffrey were playing at school during recess. I asked her gently how it happened. It's really tragic. She said a giant robot stepped on her. I struggled to hide my surprise at the humor in her explanation, and then the mom in me offered a Hollywood ending to protect her feelings, "Maybe she was in a hole and the robot missed her, so she didn't get stomped." "No." She was determined that Ruby didn't make it, so I shifted gears. "Did it make you sad?" I asked. "Yes." She looked down and rubbed her thumbs together. "Did you cry?" I hoped she hadn't been so very distressed at school without Mommy and Daddy there to comfort her. "No." She pulled her lips into her mouth and held them. "Did you give her a funeral?" Gracie let her lips out and looked somewhat anxious now. "I couldn't find one." "Aww, I'm sorry, honey." I looked to her eyes to check how this loss was affecting her. She may have switched to trying to comfort me, because she now offered, "Geoffrey said she would be born again." "Oh really?" I wondered if Geoffrey misunderstood something he heard at church. "Yeah, I hope she does it soon." "I did notice there weren't any puppies on my head recently." Ruby had a distinct affinity for perching on people's heads. Invisible weenie dogs love that, y'know. "Well, Ruby was going to have puppies. She was pregnant before she died." I wasn't going to delve into it with her about how the babies managed to survive. "One is named Molly, no - Mollina," after a stray that we kept for a couple of months before someone else took her. "One is Tolly, and one is... um..." "Polly?" "Yeah, Polly, that's it." She pointed up to the top of my head and smiled. "They're all up there right now!" Giggle, giggle. "Heyyyy, how'd that happen?" I reached up and patted them and scratched them. She got up on her knees and scratched them some, then grabbed them off my head and cupped them in her hands. "They're so cuuuuute!" she squealed. Gracie's six-year-old hands were somehow able to hold all three of them. "They sure are small!" I said in wonder. Just then she decided to watch cartoons and we were done talking about it. I'll be looking for Ruby to be born again at school on Monday. 10/31/09 Jim reports: Earlier tonight, Gracie was taking a shower. As I was leaving the bathroom she announced out of the blue, "Dad, did you know that your DNA is in your spit?" I said that, gee, no, I didn't and asked where she had learned such an interesting thing. She told me she just knew it. Later, we were lying in bed reading a night-night story. I always do everything in character & act out the parts with different voices & mannerisms. (It's a pretty big bedtime production.) I guess I got a little too into my role as a character who was really excited about something & I accidentally sprayed a bit as I was talking. Gracie leaped backward and angrily screamed at me, "DADDY! You got your DNA on me!!!" I laughed until I couldn't breathe. 08/18/08 Gracie went to the doctor this morning for her physical checkup before school starts on Thursday. Unfortunately, she also needed to get 2 booster shots, which were administered with two shots in each leg. Pretty painful but she took it like a pro. She shook it off and, after a few minutes, acted like nothing had happened. When we got home, she played and ran all over the place. She started begging for a Capri Sun drink almost as soon as we got back but I told her no, because we're trying to cut back on her sugar intake. A few minutes ago, she came creeping up the stairs, very slowly, one heavy footstep at a time. She came into the office with a pained look on her face, dragging her little feet as she walked. I asked her what was wrong. She replied that because of the shots, her knees no longer worked. She proceeded to demonstrate her terrible injury by hobbling around the room. I sat her in my lap and said, "Oh, no, Gracie! That looks so painful. What do you think would help make you better so you could walk again?" She replied, "Well.... maybe some nice, fresh Capri Sun would work." I was helpless in the face of her Oscar-caliber performance. At that point I gave in and she got her Capri Sun.
07/28/08 Gracie and I like to jump on the trampoline together. A lot of times when we get kind of winded, we take a breather and lie down on the trampoline, looking up at the sky. One of our favorite things to do is guess what shapes the clouds make. Today, I saw a really great one that looked exactly like the Milky Way. It was really unusual and I wanted to point it out to her. I sat for a second, trying to figure out how to explain what the heck the Milky Way is to a four year old. Finally, I gave up and just said, "Oooh, Gracie! Look at that one. I think it looks like a big swirly spot." Without missing a beat, Gracie replies, "Huh. I think it looks like the Milky Way."
07/27/08 Gracie and I were driving toward Grandma's house, each with our cup of cereal. She says "If you hear how the Fruit Loops taste, the taste like the world." She then digs her hand in the cup and crunches one. "This blue one tastes like sky!"
06/17/08 Today, Gracie and I played "Chutes and Ladders." As usual, Gracie skunked me, as she does in nearly all board games. Seriously, she's like the Minnesota Fats of "Candy Land." Anyway, as she moved her game piece onto the winning square, I said, "Wow, Gracie, you won again!" Without even looking up, she replied, "Yeah, I like to beat old people."
03/27/08 Jim just finished at the bank drive thru when Gracie rolled down her tinted window and noticed the video monitor with her face in it. She waved at herself and was saying "Hi Gracie" until it was time to leave in case somebody else drove up behind us. Jim told her to say goodbye to Gracie and started inching the car away, but Gracie didn't want to leave. Her eyebrows got close together and her lips pooched out as she whined, "No, Daddy, I don't want to leave me As we arrived at the zoo, Jim wanted to whip up the "zoo frenzy" with the family so he called in a high celebratory voice "Who's ready to go to the zooooooo?!" Well everyone was getting out of the car and nobody answered right away. So Jim followed up with "I'm ready!" and then Gracie countered, "Me too!" and I said "Me three!" which I thought was a pretty okay thing to say but Gracie's mood boiled over instantly as she berrated me, "No! I'M three!!!" In fact, she is. Jim took Gracie to the park today and there was another little girl there on the playground. She and Gracie started talking and got into what Jim described as a stream of consciousness discussion where each child wasn't listening but rather waiting for the other to finish talking so she could say what was on her mind. Gracie said something about monsters in her room since there has apparently been an infestation lately. The other girl boasted that if a monster came near her family, she would punch him in the WRONG place! This surprised Jim, but Gracie kept right on talking after the other girl finished. The girl said it another time or two and Gracie finally heard her. At this point Gracie gave out with her heartiest, squealiest laugh and said, "You're funny!! You tell funny stories! I like you!" Then after a breath she said to the girl, "If a monster comes near MY family, I'm going to punch him in the RIGHT place!"
06/07/2007 I was sitting at my computer and Gracie was playing with a little combination dollhouse/busy box. I had two club reports that required my undivided attention on the computer. Gracie decided to divide it, my attention that is. “Grandpa, let’s play hide and seek.” I agreed to play not really listening too well. Seeking to divide my attention further, Gracie said, “I’ll hide while you count.” I didn’t respond as she stepped into the closet six feet away from me. She opened the door to the closet, peeked out and said, “GRANDPA! You’re supposed to count.” Well I should not have teased her but I couldn’t resist so I started counting as she receded into the closet and closed the door again. I counted and counted until I got to about 35 and again the hider peeked out of the closet toward the seeker and with some authority pronounced, “GRANDPA! You’re supposed to say ‘ready or not here I come’ then come find me.” Well I feigned ignorance and said, “Oh, I see. Well then ready or not here I come. Where is Gracie? She’s not under my computer desk. She’s not under the table. I wonder where Gracie could be.” From deep within the closet a barely audible voice speaks, “I’m in the closet, Grandpa.” I suppose you could say she doesn’t quite grasp the concept that is basic to a game of hide and seek. I prefer to think she was just having pity on her Grandpa who she imagines is the one who doesn’t quite get the concept. 06/05/2007 Gracie wanted to go outside to the back porch freezer for an ice cream sandwich. I told her she was over doing it on sweets and that I would set the oven timer for one hour then we would reconsider it. Well she puffed up as if to begin a long session of whining then just as quickly she changed to another line of thought. She had this new toy with a series of paddle wheels and chutes that was apparently designed to sift sand in a fun way. Gracie was told that it was a good toy for the beach. She unpuffed from the last grandparent denial-inflicted trauma and with the new toy in her hand and a smile on her face she asked, “Grandpa, can we go to the beach?” Well I explained that we had no beaches nearby. She continued with, “We could drive to one.” I countered with an explanation that the nearest beach was probably a ten hour drive away. She countered with a blank stare that said volumes about her doubts as to my knowledge of the space-time continuum. Feeling I needed to explain even further, I told her that the timer on the oven would have to ding and be reset ten times before we even got to a beach. I must have shown my frustration a bit with a slightly raised volume as I spoke because it was at that point Gracie came closer to me and gently raised her hand up toward my face and said, “Settle down Grandpa, settle down.” The crisis was abated and we went on about our business. Then about an hour later I heard the oven timer go off. I let it continue to ding just to see Gracie’s reaction. It went on for about 15 seconds when a sudden ear piercing yelp rose up though the rafters followed by the easily audible sound of an excited 3.875 year old coming from the other end of the house to announce that ice cream sandwich time was here. No mention of beaches at that point as I recall. 04/23/2007 Thelma was trying to explain something to Gracie who at the time was pre-occupied with the latest rerun adventure of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Thelma says, “Gracie we are going to have to leave in a bit to go get flowers for Grandpa Hershel’s funeral.” Explaining further, Thelma says, “Gracie, you know that Grandpa Hershey was real sick and he died.” A minor head nod from Gracie confirms that she is listening even if her eyes remain aimed at the TV. Thelma continues, “Gracie we will need to get ready in a little bit. Are you going to be ready?” Gracie responded with another nod of confirmation and apparently having heard all she needed to hear she said with some finality, “I think that’s enough talking now.” 04/23/2007 Monday is quilting day at the church. When she’s here with us, Gracie goes with Thelma. At the appointed time Thelma says, “Gracie, it’s time to go, what do you want to take with you to quilting? (Thelma thinking toys.) Gracie jumped to her feet and on the run she answered, “I’ll go see what’s in pantry number two.” (Gracie thinking food.) 03/22/2007
We (Gracie and I) were seated comfortably in my chair watching yet another episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Thelma was busy making good use of a borrowed quilting frame. Her first project was the Flower Basket pattern quilt top that was made years ago for Shelli by her Grandma Maxine Poole. I was able to momentarily pull my attention away from Sponge Bob and in so doing I was treated to an image that in many respects reminded me of that famous painting called Whistler's Mother. Of course the subject in my view was much younger and more beautiful but beyond that many similarities persisted. I was moved to capture the sight on film (somehow saying "data stick" instead of film doesn't quite have the same ring to it). I said, "Gracie, do you know where my camera is and will you go get it for me?" Gracie knew where it was and answered, "Yeah, I know where your camera is. I'll get it for you Grandpa - no wait, I'll get my camera and I'll take a picture." She bounded from my lap and picked up her camera which was lying on a table nearby. I started to caution her on how to see if the flash was on and how not to cover the lense with your finger blah blah blah... I was being ignored. Gracie switched on her little Vivitar, took two steps toward her Grandmother, aimed the camera apparently with one eye (I know at least one eye was still following the TV drama unfolding with Sponge Bob and his friend Patrick), then FLASH, she took the shot. Pretty good for for a 3.75 year old kid.
01/09/2007 Gracie was sitting in Thelma’s recliner early this morning and she and Thelma were catching up on all her doings since we last saw her. Suddenly Gracie began waving her hand in front of her face and then said with some irritation,”Grandma, you need to kill the bugs in your house. Thelma deduced that since she had brought in so many plants for the winter that there must be some gnats flying around to pester a little girl. Gracie continued swatting at something. Thelma says her old eyes (not that old) finally focused in on the “bugs” in question. As it happened there was a strong beam of sunshine in front of Gracie’s face that lit up the dust as it floated through the beam. Thelma then explored with Gracie the scientific fact that dust is everywhere and we usually just don't see it. She giggled and quickly forgot about the bugs. 12/27/2006 From Shelli, Gracie’s Mom: Gracie got up before everybody else one post Christmas morning. Mommy finds her at the dining table with her chalks and homemade chalkboard. "Well, hello baby girl." I said in a sleepy, yet chipper tone. She excitedly blurted "Hi mommy!" I'm curious what she's been up to while we were sleeping. "Whatcha doin, Punkin?" She's happy to report: "I made a xylophone!" "Huh? Oh, yeah! I guess you did! You're so smart! Can I take your picture with your xylophone?" "Okay!" Gracie replies, "he he he!" I walk back to get by her side at the table, and sure enough she's sitting there dressed like Donald Duck - nothing on the bottom. What a stinker!
05/08/2006 Gracie was watching “Dora the Explorer” on the living room TV. Her program ended and the satellite recorder went into a pause view waiting for user input. Gracie doesn’t like it when the TV does that. She came stomping into my computer room and stopped just inside the door. She looked at me and did an exaggerated uppercut sweeping motion with her little arm and clenched fist. At the end of this gesture she said something that sounded like “thing it”. I asked her to repeat what she said. She gave me the same sweeping motion punctuated again at the end with “thing it!” I said, “Gracie, are you trying to say dang it?” She said, “Yeah! Thing it!” I asked her, “Gracie are you cussin’?” Gracie said, “Yeah, I cussin’ cause my TV is broke.” 04/27/2006 Gracie was in the final stages of begging for an ice cream cone. This included the pitiful frown, the puckered lips, the whiney voice, and the general stomping about. Grandma Thelma decided that if Gracie wanted one bad enough she, Thelma, might use it as a bargaining tool to get Gracie to more readily go to the bathroom before and not after her diaper got soaked. Given the choice of go potty or no ice cream, she went to the potty. As they came out of the bathroom next to my computer room Thelma told her to ask me if I wanted an ice cream cone as well. Gracie bounded into my room and asked, “Geeps, you want an ice cream cone too?” Who could refuse such a sweet invitation? I couldn’t so I said, “Yes, Gracie, I want one too.” To that Gracie responded, “You have to go potty first.” 12/12/2005 Shelli was sharing her McDonald’s fries with Gracie. She would take a fry and go away to eat it only to return in a moment and ask for another. Eventually they were all eaten. ”French fry, please, Mommie?” “Sorry, Gracie, they’re all gone.” Gracie accepted this answer but as she walked away she said matter of factly, “Okay, put them on the list.” 12/07/2005 Shelli was enjoying some left over cold catfish from Denton’s Trotline for breakfast when Gracie walked in and asked her, “What ‘chu eatin’, Mommie?” “Some old fish.” she responded. “Can I have some of your goldfish?” Asked Gracie. 10/24/2005 I was driving Ian to school this morning and Gracie was in her car seat in the back. Ian was asking Gracie various loaded questions. His ploy was to get her to voice her sometimes humorous 2-year-old slant on things. He was not having too much success. Gracie was not playing his game. I whispered to Ian that he should ask her if she had a bone in her leg. That may seem to be a question out of left field but it has some standing as a running joke in many juvenile circles of days gone by. (Example: Teen #one asks, “Are you going to school today?” Teen #two responds, “No I can’t make it, I’ve got a bone in my leg.”) Now back to Gracie. Ian dutifully passed on my question. “Gracie, do you have a bone in your leg?” Gracie responded without hesitation, “Nope, I feeded the dawgs.” 10/06/2005 From the monkeys see, monkeys do category: In the Eddie Murphy movie, “Trading Places”, Eddie pointed to another character in the movie to identify him and he said, “He’s right-tare, over derrrr!” That phrase, “Over derrrr! Over derrrr!”, became one I have used often when pointing to most anything. We were headed to Questers meeting and we needed to drop Ian and Gracie off to Shelli at her place of work. We had Carolyn Moseley with us since she was also going to the meeting. As we got close to the Arkansas Highway Department building where Shelli works, I believe Carolyn asked Gracie where her mommie works. She looked up in time to see the building from our approaching side street and said, “Over derrrr!” Now where could she have heard that? Totally baffles me.
10/06/2005 The contractors had finished their work and made their exit only minutes before. Thelma made a pass through the building with a leaf blower. It was all cleaned up and shiny new. We took a walk through to get a feel for space and to contemplate the best use of that space. Gracie walked around with us taking in all of the newness and potential of this freshly crafted effort in steel on concrete. Gracie’s assessment of the structure was short and to the point and was three words long. As she looked upward and moved her gaze over the interior of the building she pronounced simply, “This is nice.”
09/28/2005 Gracie was squatted down in front of the big plastic dollhouse that sits against one wall in my computer room. She was whimpering kind of sadly with her head down so I asked her what was wrong. “I want my mommy.” She said. “Where’s my mommy?” I tried to explain that her mommy was at work but she would not be consoled. “I want my mommy.” She said again. Again I explained that her mommy was working and would be back to get her in the afternoon. Then one last time she said, “I want my mommy.” Then with a complete turn around of emotion she leapt forward and reached through the living room and out to the back porch of the dollhouse where her little hand scooped up and retrieved the object of her search. “Here she is. I found my mommy, I found my mommy!” she repeated. As she hugged the tiny missing dollhouse mommy I breathed a sigh of relief to know this little girl knows the difference in a real and a play mommy even if the adults around her get them confused.
07/13/2005 Gracie had just arrived this morning and was anxious for Grandpa to finish dressing so she could go play. She saw me struggling to clamp on my military style belt buckle and in an apparent effort to hurry me along she said, “Fasten your seatbelt, Geeps!” There was only one thing left to do after fastening my seatbelt. Gracie recognized this step yet undone and started her chant as she said, “Gasses, gasses, gasses, gasses!” I picked up my glasses and explained to Gracie that I needed to clean them before I put them on. She watched intently as I rinsed them, dried them with a bath towel, wiped the smudges with a paper towel, and then finally I put them on. Gracie’s response was, “Good girl, Geeps!”
05/24/2005 Today Thelma bathed the dogs. We used a large wash tub with about 12 inches of water in it to give Daisy and Benny the benefit of a good dipping. This was one project that Gracie could not help but get involved in on some level. She wanted to spray water on the dogs. Gramma says nope. She wanted to soap them. Gramma says nope. Brush them? Gramma says nope again. They compromised. Gracie got naked and climbed in the tub with Daisy. I think both of them are now flea and tick free. Gracie asked for popcorn today. She saw that we had brought home a new supply from Wal-Mart. I was at my computer when she came in clutching a plastic coffee mug full up with a fresh load of popcorn. Apparently given a choice between either sharing just the sight and smell of her popcorn or sharing the actual popcorn itself, Gracie chose the sight and smell option. She offered not one kernel to me but she allowed me to hold her cache while she negotiated the climb to situate herself upon the extra office chair next to mine. With a quick snatch by a tiny hand, she wasted no time in reestablishing possession of the popcorn. I reached for a kernel from her cup and she very forcefully pulled the cup out of my reach and yelled, “No, no!” Then she took a large kernel and put it in her mouth. I held out my hand and asked, “If I can’t take one for myself, will you hand me one?” Her generous response was immediate. Punctuated with a loving smile, she plucked the moistened morsel from her mouth and placed it in my open hand. She watched to make sure I ate it. Her Grammy would have downed it without a second thought. I on the other hand am weak and I only pretended to munch it down when in fact all the while I was slipping the offering into the trashcan under my desk. She was happy. I was happy. But she had popcorn and I still had none.
05/23/2005 Gracie went with us today to work on some grounds keeping chores we needed to do at the church. Being a Monday, it was also Thelma’s quilting group day in the church basement. Gracie likes the attention she receives from the ladies in that group. The outdoor work included some tasks where Gracie was not allowed to participate. Two-year-olds can not be trusted to manage a chainsaw for instance. During those times we put her in the front seat of my truck. She loves to make random adjustments to the vast array of controls scatter all over the dash. I am guaranteed to have flashing signals and swiping wiper blades the next time I start up the truck. Yesterday I also found that my programmed radio buttons had changed. Of the 12 fm stations a few were just relocated to other buttons. The remaining buttons were all dedicated to the PBS radio station.
05/20/2005 Since the kids have moved on and we have both retired, Thelma and I have each taken over one of the two extra bedrooms and made it into a semi-office space. I say “semi” because we also share the spaces with our granddaughter, Gracie, who spends her weekdays with us. Gracie takes a homogeneous approach to the distribution of her books, crayons, and other toys. She has stashed about half of them in my (Geeps) computer room and the other half in Thelma’s (Gamma). Over time the toys migrate from one room to the other but generally the 50-50 balance is maintained. I’m sitting at my computer and a blur enters the room. After a bit I am able to ignore the muted sounds of 5-inch long, hard soled sandals stomping on even harder plastic and cardboard toys to the tune of “If you’re happy and you know, it stomp your feet”. I think that was the song. It might have sounded more like, “If you hop and you know, stop you fit.” As the music fades from my consciousness, I recommit my attention to the brightly-lighted 17-inch computer screen before me. Its beacon beckons and I continue the arduous task of picking letters from a jumble of same to spell words for points in a never ending mind expanding game called “Bookworm” Just as I am about to chain together the word “Xerox” for huge point return, a very short word begins to enter my head. “Car.” My mind rejects the word because aside from having low point value, its three letters qualifies only as the minimum length for valid game words. “Car”. The word comes at me again. “CAR”. This time it won’t be ignored and in addition to increased volume, it punctuates its persistence by poking me in my left arm. I turn in my swivel chair and look straight into the ice blue eyes of Gracie. She has wrested a tiny “Hot Wheels” car from the piles of toy rubble and the wonder of its color and design must be shared with someone immediately. “Geeps! Car!” She placed the bright yellow object in my hand. I assumed from this that she required my opinion of it and I did my best to satisfy her. “Gracie, what a beautiful car. Isn’t it a beautiful bright yellow color? Can you say yellow?” To this she responded with a phonically correct “Yellow!” where most nearly 2-year-olds would say “Lello”. We went on to explore the rest of the little car which was all yellow except for its chrome bumpers and two standout red taillights on the rear. Now it was my “Bookworm” game that was fading as games of car chases, and roaring engines, and death defying leaps from Mount Computer Desk all the way down to the depths of Carpet Valley came flooding in. Gracie has succeeded in gaining my full attention. She is very good at it.
05/18/2005 I was video taping Gracie in the backyard. She decided she needed to go from the veggie garden area to the back porch-patio area to see about something. I followed her with the video camera. She stopped abruptly, spun around on her bare feet, took a few steps toward me and raised her hand for a stop sign. Then in rapid succession she yelled “NO! NO! NO!” After repeating this little dance a third time Gracie then said, “NO! NO! NO! I look.” Whatever it was it was that she had determined to do, she was sure she needed no help from me. I finally made a comical menacing charge at her and she answered my attack with her own giggle infested frontal assault right back at me. The dance was over and I was rewarded with a giggly hug.
05/13/2005 Ian assembled Gracie’s new tricycle. She established immediate right of possession and yelled “NO! NO!” when he touched it while in the process of presenting it to her.
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