Tantrums & Dum dums & Unicorns... Oh, my!

So today I took my brother in law, Aaron, to a doctor appointment. Everywhere there were signs of "Please remain quiet. Healing in session" or something to that effect. Yeah, Grace was quiet... so long as I let her do what she wanted to. Which wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. She wanted to wander & run around & crash into every open physician's office she could find. If I picked her up, or tried to point her in another direction, bounteous screaming erupted. She did a really good job of reminding me how big her lungs are, and where they came from. Yup, she inherited my lungs. My big, fat, projecting to the back of the theater, getting your attention across Main St Disneyland lungs. Needless to say, I was pretty red... and not from the fever I've had all weekend. It was really embarrassing toward the end. I'm pretty sure EVERYONE in the facility heard her. On our way out, one of the secretaries approached me & asked about the crying. I told her Grace was angry I wouldn't let her do what she wanted to. "Ohh, sweet baby, is we spoiled?" the secretary cooed at Grace, asked if she could have a treat, and I obliged. She took her into one of the offices and gave Grace her very first sucker. I don't think Grace had ever been happier... and I don't think I've seen so much drool and slobber. It rivaled the dribble of a St. Bernard... the resulting stickiness was equal to the enormous slobber capacity. The sugar induced, glazed over expression on Grace's face when we were in the car was of some consolation.
Why does no one warn us young, first time parents of this tiny little thing called a TANTRUM? I've been around kids when they've had tantrums in the middle of crowded stores, it was no big deal. It wasn't my kid. It didn't matter. Nobody tells you it's 100x worse when it's your own. How could I have been so naive? Of course it's worse when it's your own! Everything's different when it's your own. Changing some random kid's diaper? Gross. Changing your own kid's diaper-- no sweat, no second thoughts.
However, the Secretary taught me a valuable lesson:
CARRY DUM DUMS!
I think it did the trick since we are weaning Grace off her binky. Well, she had been semi-weaned for a while. She only got it when she slept or if she was having a major meltdown. Now we've gone cold turkey. It is equally NOT FUN for both parties involved. I realize now that it was a crutch for me. It's going to take some strength and perseverance to get through this.

On a bright and comical note, Grace's Halloween costume arrived yesterday. It's a Pegasus unicorn get up. She looks ridiculously cute in it. It's so funny. I used to be the mean lady whose door you did not knock on when it came to Halloween. I hated it, loathed it, despised it; yelled at kids that I hoped they enjoyed freezing their butts off. Of course, having my mom force me to stop trick or treating when I was only 10 and subsequently do candy duty thereafter, had absolutely nothing to do with it... at all... yeah. I wasn't bitter. Nope, not me. Then Grace came along. My little living, breathing dolly. For being such a tomboy all my life, I sure did like to dress Grace up! So now it's fun, of course. I can dress Grace up in a ridiculous costume, and take her around to our neighbors where she will look up at them with her big, Caribbean blue eyes, offer up her little candy tote, and say "Tooka tooka!" Of course all neighbors will swoon, "Awww!" and perhaps, just perhaps, give double candy! Yes, it is the perfect equation for world domination.

On the Grace milestone front, and in case you've lost track, she is now 15 months old. She had her checkup just this past Friday and weighed in at 22 pounds, 30 inches. She got 4 shots, and even made Mommy & Daddy (who was working from home that day), be brave enough to get their flu shots.
Grace has picked up new words: Bah (for ball, her favorite toy-- she carries them everywhere when she finds them), and Tooka. We have no idea what tooka means, but she says it alot! When she gets excited, a whole stream of them come out. "Tooka, tooka, tooka, tooka!" We are trying to get her to say Trick or Treat, but we will be just as happy if she says "Tooka tooka!"
She did not hear the phrase Trick or Treat before she started saying tooka.
She also knows at least 7 ASL signs, much to my mother's chagrin. She is very concerned that Grace just babbles, and isn't using real words yet. Honestly, I'm in no rush for Grace to reel off sentences. The sooner she can talk, the sooner she can give us lip. For what it's worth, her pediatrician said that knowing 7 signs in addition to the 4 she actually says (Mama, Dada, Nana, Ball), is phenomenal. The signs we've taught her are eat, milk, cheese, more, juice, all gone, and please. She picks them up pretty quick. I'm also working on apple, cracker, water, Mama, and Dada.
Also she seems to really enjoy the Your Baby Can Read DVDs we got her earlier this year. I don't know if she can actually read anything yet, but it's given us helpful prompts like "arms up" (very useful for changing clothes).
Anyway, time to tie this post up. Ciao!