With no swimming lesson today Grace and I headed to the gym for a swim. We were a bit later than usual which meant there were people in the pool. Grace said, "No swimming," just being a bit of a pain that she did not have the entire pool for herself. So I told her that we would swim for 10 minutes and if she wanted to get out then, we could go.

Grace can be very picky about music. In the car she is currently loving (and requesting…no demanding) Lollipop by Mika. And recently we received the new season of Glee, and watching the music videos goes like this,

Grace and I go regularly go swimming at the gym, and, like everything, it has its rituals. Most of them happen after the swim. First its the shower to get warm after a swim, which includes "pick up, pick up" so that I can hold her under the spray. Quickly into her towel, then "something eat, drink some juice," but before that some clothes, followed by some hair drying underneath the hand dryer in the changing rooms. Then sit on a chair, demolish a juice, devour a snack, ready to go. Out the pool room, throw the juice box away, and go and stare into the kiddies play area. Off we go, out the door, crunch, crunch, crunch across the pathway stones and back to the car. Music! And we're on our way home.

In the bookstore this morning and Grace picks up some books and starts saying, "Potty, go poopy." Okay, let's go…but it turns out that Grace desperately wants to take the books with her so that she has some reading material.

All watching Dora together

I have a feeling that I am being watched. No, not just watched…..stared at….intensely…..like a young Jedi trying to move a big rock. Except it's not a big rock, it's my food. And the Jedi is a two year old willing it into her mouth. Not that she doesn't have food on her plate, often exactly the same food, but food from daddy's plate is just so much tastier. Of course, being the tricksy parents that we are, we do know how to turn that to our advantage.

Grace and I have started a little mother – daughter ritual.  On hot summer days we go to Vida and share a Chocolate Frio (blended Lindt chocolate, ice and milk).  If you ask Grace how a Chocolate Frio tastes her answer is "yummy, yummy, yummy."  For me I really find that time together very special. 

So after declaring day sleeps over, what would happen but a day sleep. And not just any day sleep, but one that not even marshmallows could wake her from.

It has been a little while now, but we can officially call it – Grace has dropped her day sleep. Getting her to sleep has been a challenge this whole year and eventually she has worn us down enough that it is just way more effort to try to get her to sleep than it is worth. So now she happily goes through the day, makes it to the end okay, and then crashes at night. The spin off is that putting her down at night is really easy.