Grace... my little 22 month old...

Gracie bear... she is a bundle of energy and IS her own person.  She will TELL you that she is her own person and that she CAN do it herself.  What can she do herself you may ask... well

• pee and poop on the potty!  That's right, she is potty trained!!!  And honestly, I have NO idea how the hell it happened.  She was interested, she became proactive REALLY fast.  If she has an accident, she gets REALLY mad at herself and will look at her underwear in just disgust it's almost funny cause she is just soooo little.  She has definitely made this process MUCH easier than it was with Elijah.
• get dressed on her own.  Don't DARE TRY to help....until she ASKS in her very cute tiny voice, "help, pease."  She also has definite opinions on what she should wear.  She loves this one particular dress that my mom found for her.  It is super cute and really comfy.  She loves that it's swishy. 
• sing at the top of her lungs...a made up song that has no words except "Ahhhhhh!!!"  Seriously considering signing her up for some voice lessons... hehehehehe.
• hold her own in a fight with Elijah.  And MAN can they fight.  I honestly thought that I would have at least one more year, but this little one is starting to exert her independence.  If she does not want to play what Elijah wants her to play, she lets him know... and not quietly.  Elijah has something in his brain that makes him want to take certain things out of Grace's hands...no, not take, snatch.  This drives me up the wall... BUT Grace is starting to anticipate these snatchings.  She doesn't catch all of them, not even a lot of them, but she is starting to get it....so a word to Elijah... watch it!
• go to sleep on her own.  This may not seem like a huge thing, but it really is!  We do our little nightly ritual of reading books and having 5 minutes of special playtime and then it's lights out.  Again, it went much faster than it did with Elijah.  And maybe this is because Elijah is the bedroom with her, but she goes to sleep at night and nap on her own.  This is a big step in the right direction, so WAY TO GO BABY GIRL!!!
• pretty much ANYTHING she sees Elijah do.  He brushes his own teeth, SHE want's to brush her own teeth.  If HE puts on his boots, SHE wants to put on her boots.  If HE goes to the bathroom, SHE wants to go to the bathroom.  This is both cute and annoying.  He has learned that he can get her to do anything.  He'll start spitting (knowing that it is a BIG no no) and then SHE'LL start spitting.  BUT she also follows suit on hugs, helping clean up, saying sorry.  So I will take the bad because there is the good...and right now the good outweighs the bad.

So my little independent girl is turning into an amazing child.  In two months she will be 2 years old and that is just incomprehensible to me.  They really do grow up too quick...