In Gigi Heaven

NEWS FLASH:   I have arrived in Alabama, which I am now referring to as "Gigi heaven", because I get to spoil my TWO grandbabies!  Baby Oliver (3 weeks old) is sweet, snuggly, easy-going, and has already stolen my heart.  His little cry is the sweetest and I'm eating up every snuggle I can get with him!    Lucie (2-years and 3ish months old) is spunky, talkative, and may be the most fiercely independent toddler I've ever met and I've had a few pretty feisty ones myself.   Oh, and did I mention that she likes to test boundaries and pull hair when she's feeling overstimulated?   

In other words, it's a party over here, but I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else in the world right now. 

Reading books together is one of the ways Lucie and I connect and she currently is obsessed with "Bill and Pete" and "Caps for Sale," which were two of my kids' favorites back in the day!  It's so fun to see these fun books delight another generation and I have to laugh at how she giggles at the same parts my kids did.    We recently discovered, "Serious Goose," by Jimmy Kimmel and it has quickly a new favorite, especially since her nickname has always been "Goose".   

Some fun(ny) things Lucie has said or done since I've been here: 
--She LOVES her dinosaur dress, which she calls her "disonaur" dress and wears it every day it's clean
--She declared that she loves football (after seeing a BYU cup)
--She follows me into the bathroom every single time  I need to go...not to watch me...but to turn off the lights and use the flashlight on my phone for a minute.   
--She likes me to sing, "Blue Sky" and "Child of God" for her every night.  
--She sleeps with her "Bear Friend" and kitty cat stuffed animals every night

--She is a little smartie pants and learns things very quickly
--She patted my chest and asked me if she could see my nipples--clearly the curious toddler of a new breastfeeding mom.  Haha !  
--She has literally potty trained herself in 2 days flat.  One day she fought using the potty tooth and nail, the next she woke up and hasn't had an accident since....even while out running errands and during nap time.  She even happily peed outside when there wasn't a bathroom around.  

--She is the sweetest big sister to Oliver and her love for him is fierce, though she is still learning to be gentle with him.  
--She calls the baby wrap Cami uses, "a wrapper" and she asks us to wrap her baby dolls up and attach them to her.   
--She totally says things like, "That's unfortunate," and  "Goodness...gracious." 
--She loves to have some of my smoothie every day and somehow manages to make quite a mess of them.   Today she was dipping her lollipop (a reward for going #2 on the potty) into the smoothie and it made me giggle!  

Oliver doesn't do much yet other than sleep, eat, and fill diapers, but those newborn days are so darn short, it’s hard not to just sit and stare at how perfect he is!  And we’ve seen the first glimpses of his smile the last couple days, which is a newborn delight that never gets old! 

It's kind of a wild experience watching your own baby become a mother and  I am loving being here and getting a front row seat for a time, especially since I remember all too well how precious and fleeting these days with young kids are.   Blink and before you know it...they're all-knowing teenagers, and then blink again and they're scattered and living all over the country, so I'm trying to slow down and drink it up while I can.   

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