How is she like Josiah? Let me count the ways...

This post was a draft I found from early 2009, when Grace would have been 3 years old.

August 2007:  Grace (17 months old) and Josiah (5 years old)

April 2009:  Grace (3 years old) and Josiah (6 years old)

It is well established, I think, that Grace is a lot like Josiah. But in case you were wondering, here is a partial list of the more humorous or bizarre ways they are alike:

1. She will complain that she can't go to sleep "because my eyes hurt." (Josiah did this when he was about 4...Grace does not know this history, yet she repeats it.)
2. She is just as fearless as he is...which is not always a good thing, especially when she is following his lead.
3. She loves medicine and will make up ailments to try to get a dose. Josiah stuck to reality a little more, with some dramatization for effect (cough cough "I think I'm sick"); Grace will come up with strange conditions and doesn't bother masking her intent ("My cheek hurts, and I need medicine to make it feel better." [big grin]).
4. She will follow up many meals with, "You a good cook, Mommy!" and say things like, "You make the best French toast!"
5. She is genuinely a sweetheart. She wants to make you feel better when you are sad, either with hugs or with "It's gonna be OK," and she will (sometimes) apologize without even being prompted.
6. Grace and Josiah love peanut butter on a spoon, at any time of the day.
7. She will draw you into her imaginary world and then refuse to let you leave. Josiah became a mild-mannered "Cute Dog" who wanted to eat dry cereal from a bowl on the floor; Grace becomes a very insistent "Gan-ma" [Grandma] who wants to give you piggyback rides to take you from room to room. "Piggyback rides?!" you ask? Yes, piggyback rides. And she has the script for everything, too: "If you want a piggyback ride, you have to say, 'Gan-ma, would you give me a piggyback ride?'" (And then she will tell you that you want a piggyback ride.)  

Incidentally, Josiah had an imaginary friend named "Grandma" who lived in a hole in the ground with garage doors and a pet dinosaur.

February 2007:  Cute Dog/Josiah (4 years old) with Grace (11 months old).  Grace was bouncing from happiness because of Cute Dog.

And, oh, how they love dogs...

December 2007:  Grace (21 months old) and Louie