Mary at One and a Half

At 18 months, Mary is proving to be a table-climber...

...very possibly a lefty, like her big sister Tessa...

...and is now part of the back seat gang, often still in her pajamas for the girls' (way too) early morning drop-off.

She's too little to dislike that middle seat just yet, and the twins rotate around her, taking turns with the "pink seat."  Mary's oblivious to the intricacies of these back seat politics.  She just knows that she's got her buddies on either side of her now.  Little conversations float back and forth over her head, snacks and books are passed through her, and she can see Mommy and Daddy now.  What's better than that?

Well, sitting in that same seat on a sunny day is better!

Mary knows what "bath" means, and runs to the bathroom at the first mention of this delightful word.  Actually, she runs to the bathroom with no excuse at all these days, and loves to wreak havoc in there.  The girls know that the bathroom doors need to be closed at all times when Mary is loose!

Other words she's very fond of and responds to in an appropriate fashion are:  milk, eat, park, school, store, candy and hug.  She giggles loudly at mere mention of any of these words.  She also loves helping out, and has been throwing things away for us, throwing clothes over the stairs (our equivalent of a laundry chute) and even opening up her own snacks somehow.   She knows about 10 body parts, and her favorite book is Goodnight, Gorilla.  (She gets way more excited than she should when we read this book to her, and she carries it everywhere!)  She does not say anything besides "Mama" and maybe "Da."  I'm thinking an explosion is coming soon.  She was a late walker (16 months), and apparently a late talker too.  I fully expect complete sentences to start coming out of her mouth one of these days :)

She still thinks she's hilarious and the center of the party when she's in her high chair...

and she is!

Although, she is convinced she doesn't need her high chair, and just this week we dug out a booster seat for her.   What a big girl!  An added bonus is sisters feeding her.  Why didn't we think of this sooner?

Sometimes she gets herself into little pickles, or, in this case, a Notre Dame chip and dip bowl!  She slipped this on before any chips or dip were in there, and while Matt and I were out of the room for a minute.  She may not be so eager to follow in Daddy's footsteps with a scarring memory like this in her formative years.

After a rough morning of eating, playing, growing, and errand-running (she's graduated to the primo spot on my back in the Ergo carrier), Mary now goes down for one nap at the same time as Tessa and Annie.  Hallelujah!  It was a long time coming, and it's so nice to have a solid nap window with all three down!  They go to sleep at noon, and it's a heavenly two hours (at least!) with all three asleep until I have to rouse them to go pick up the girls at school.  If I'm lucky, and I am often, Matt can pick up the girls and the little ones can sleep a bit longer.  This is the scene when all three are asleep, and it is a crime to wake them up early!

When we do have to pick up the girls, though, Mary gets so excited.  She definitely understands what we're doing, and has taken to carrying a little purse with her whenever we go somewhere.  She very carefully places little toys and phones inside before we leave, and gingerly holds it in the car.  Before getting out of her seat, she makes sure the purse is zipped, too.  So cute!

This little girl means business.  She is there to collect some girls :)

Happy 18 months to a happy, happy girl!