Grace is very smart and more than a little stubborn. This is not always a terrifically fun combination for her dad and me.

Case in point – we thought Grace did not know her own name. We were convinced of it, in fact. I was worried that there was some reason that Grace did not understand that her name was Grace. I mentioned it to my friends, and then I mentioned it to my sister.

My sister, Amanda, laughed at my incredulously. “Yes, she does.”

“No, she doesn’t. She never says it.”

“Yes, she does. Grace, what’s your name?”

Grace looked at her, shrugged her shoulders, put her palms in the air, and said, “I don’t know!”

Later in the same day, Grace and my sister were riding in the back of the car when I heard Amanda say, “Who’s that?”

I assumed (correctly) that they were looking at a picture on my iPhone.

Grace replied, “That’s you.”

Amanda said. “Good! Who’s that with me?”

“That’s ‘racie!” Grace said. This conversation happened over and over, each time they looked at a new picture.

Until Grace thought I was paying attention, and then her answer changed back to “I don’t know!”

The same thing played out a few times when we were talking about Grandma or about some other person.

Plus, we can’t tell the difference between “nana” when it means Nana and when it means Amanda.

So Joe used Grace’s bath crayons and drew some portraits on the wall of the shower. For the most part, they look like the members of our family.

Each night, at bath time, we talk about all of the people, their names, and what they were doing when we last saw them. My other sister, Ginny Rose, is missing, and so is my niece, Devin. My sister, Amanda, has been so loved that she has sort of rubbed off. And I don’t understand why my head is the biggest one on the wall.

Nonetheless, Grace likes to talk to all of her people each time she takes a bath. She says hello to them, she says good bye to them, and she blows them kisses.

And best of all? She says all of their names.

Happily submitted to Tackle It Tuesday, Talk to me Tuesday, and Talk About Tuesday

Don’t forget to stop back on Thursday for Grace’s Kitchen!