Picture it...

My favorite stress reliever during the workday is to take a short walk and watch my girl play or sleep or eat in her classroom. I feel so lucky she's right around the corner.

This week has been rough. I walked over today for a break and got to see her and a classmate dressing up in kid-sized safety glasses/chemistry lab goggles and fire fighter hats. It's just what I needed. Sorry--no picture.

Thanks for the laugh, Shorty.

18 months old!!

Mary Lawton started this milestone day off with a big bowl of oatmeal and a trip to see Dr. M for her 18 months well visit. She continues to be "long and lean" according to the doc.

Weight: 22 pounds, 6 ounces (25th percentile)
Length: 33.5 inches (90-95th percentile)

Don't get me wrong when I say this--she's not exactly chubby (but she does have cute thigh creases and dimples at her elbows)--but I can't imagine that 75% of kids her age weigh more than she does.

More and more she makes us laugh out loud. For example, last night in the bath, we had this conversation. She was a mess.

Me: We have a very dirty girl.
ML: Yes, you do.

She just moved up to the Toddler 1B classroom, even though technically her birthday falls too late to be in that room. Her teachers thought she was developmentally ready to move up and would be bored staying with the young one-year-olds. We were thrilled. I'd rather her be the youngest kid in the class than the oldest.

She continues to be sassy, willful, and stingy. We have to remind her more and more to say please and thank you and to use her words, rather than whine and demand, and that not everything is hers.

She's stringing together more and more phrases and sentences like:

• Where's Daddy?
• I do walk. (which means I want to walk.)
• No more
• What's that?
• Open this. (Yesterday she tried out, "open top.")
  

She loves to sing. Her favorites are:

• Wheels on the Bus
• Itsy-Bitsy Spider
• 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
• Thumbkin
• ABC song
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I think because it's the same tune as the ABC song. She merges them into "A, B, C, D, up above..." and that's about all she knows.
  
• If You're Happy and You Know It
  
• Here's a Ball for Baby (one of our family favorites that was passed down from my great-grandmother)

She can only sing a few words of each song. Usually she initiates it with the hand movements, and we have to sing while she moves her hands.

Love you, Shorty Shortcakes! We look forward to finding out what each new day with you will bring. We can't wait!

Car conversations

I've been enjoying the conversations Mary Lawton and I have had on our drives home lately.

Tuesday, August 10
Me, noticing that Mary Lawton has taken off one of her shoes. She has only done this once or twice, ever: Did you take off your shoe?
ML: Yes.
Me: Can you put it back on?
ML: No.
Wednesday, August 11
ML, said in a sad voice: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daaaaaddeeeeeee, etc.
Me: Where's Daddy?
ML, after thinking for a minute: Home.

Thursday, August 12
Me: What's your name?
ML: [points to self]
Me: Is your name Mary Lawton?
ML: No.
Me: Is your name Shorty?
ML: Yes.

From the 4th of July

Taken by a kind stranger

Mine!

Mary Lawton is going through a serious "Mine!" phase complete with grabbing, snatching, hoarding, etc. (Lord, please let this be a phase.) If you even come near her when she is holding something, she starts screaming "MINE!" She was screaming in the bathtub the other night while Sweet LJ was bathing her, I looked in, and she was crouching over a bath toy so he couldn't get it.

I've read this is normal for her age and that we should model sharing and encourage sharing and taking turns. We do, but it really doesn't seem to be helping.

Today when I dropped her off at daycare (and lately she walks into the room yelling "MINE!" and making a beeline for the first kid she sees with a toy), it popped into my head that this seems to be causing her some anxiety. She is so happy and cheerful at home, but at school she seems distressed and anxious. She can't enjoy what she has because she's so worried about what she doesn't have.

Maybe I'm over-analyzing this, but moms out there, please weigh in if you have any suggestions.

First fortune cookie

"You have a friendly heart and are well admired."

I thought that was pretty appropriate.

July 16, 2010

Me and my little buddy

June 30, 2010

Sick

Last weekend Mary Lawton was a mess. She was a fussy, whiny, crying, irritable, tantrum-throwing, not-eating, sad mess. I thought she was teething. Sweet LJ suggested taking her to the doctor, but I was convinced she was cutting some teeth. Skip to Tuesday.

Daycare called me at 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon to come pick up Mary Lawton, whom they suspected had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. (Another child in her class had come down with it the day before.) I took her to the doctor the next day, and not only did she have Hand, Foot, and Mouth, she also had strep throat. Poor kid. Our sassy, funny girl is back after a couple days on the pink medicine.

My maternal instinct failed me last weekend. It wasn't teeth--it was a mouth full of sores and a sore throat. I guess we'd better rely on the paternal instinct from now on.

Independence Day!

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. Biffy and Granddaddy hung out with us on Saturday and treated us to a delicious dinner at Farmstead 303. On Sunday I ran the Peachtree Road Race and finished in a respectable 55:53. My biggest fans were there cheering for me.

Alas, I missed them and this fabulous sign.

They were near the finish on the right side of the street. I was on the left. Oops.

But I did get to see it afterward.

That afternoon we headed to Jan and Bruce's for family fun, bbq, and fireworks. Mary Lawton didn't make it through the fireworks, so we took her back to Bruce and Jan's house, put her to bed, and watched the fireworks from their backyard. There were lots of people there--cousins, aunts, uncles, friends--but this seems to be the only picture I took. How embarrassing!

I made her this outfit just for the 4th of July.

17 months old

Time flies when you're as busy as Mary Lawton! This girl is busy, busy, busy, and I can't believe she's 17 months old already.

What she's up to: Saying please and thank you. We still have to prompt her most of the time, unless she really wants something. Then she usually remembers to say please. For awhile she was confusing the sign for thank you with blowing a kiss, and she would blow a kiss when we told her to say thank you. What better way to say thank you than to blow a kiss? Now she can say the words "thank you" (but needs a reminder).

Climbing into chairs and sitting by herself

Picking up a bag, putting it on her arm, and saying, "bye-bye!" We ask her where she's going, but she won't tell us.

Drinking from an open cup and feeding herself with a fork

She's been enjoying watching the Tour de France with her daddy, and she loves to spot bikes on our drive to and from school each day.

New words over the past 3 months:
banana (balala)
Daddy instead of Dada
Mommy instead of Mama
keys
tree
open
bike
Elmo (must have learned this at daycare, since we're not into Sesame Street at home)
train
truck (shuck)
beep-beep (said when she needs to get by and something is blocking her way. Must have learned this at daycare)
knock-knock (said while knocking on something. Daycare.)
my/mine
help (hep)
no
neigh (What does the horse say?)
bok bok (What does the chicken say?)
bok bok (What does the duck say?)
Mike (our neighbor)

And she's putting things together:
All done, Mommy! (ah dah, Mommy!)
Daddy bike
Daddy hat
open this (ahpee dah)
I want mine. [sigh]
no

She secretly grew 2 more teeth between 14 months and 16 months. I'm not really sure when, because I didn't notice them until one was fully in and the other was about half in. They're molars on her left side--one top and one bottom. Her 7th tooth came in between 16 and 17 months--a molar on her lower right side. So, she has the 4 very front teeth and 3 molars.

She's getting quite sassy and stubborn. (See "I want mine" above.) It can be frustrating, but I think I prefer that she is questioning things and using some reasoning skills. She's realizing that no, she doesn't have to do it because we told her to, and what would happen if she didn't do it?

But, for every trying moment, she gives us a thousand loving ones. She gives lots of hugs and kisses. I especially love when she comes up behind me when I'm sitting on the floor and hugs me. She crawls into laps to read books. She gives leg hugs as she's walking by. We have a sweet girl and are over-the-moon in love.

June 16, 2010 - 16 months old

July 16, 2010 - 17 months old

Spaghetti + Watermelon

= long, deserved bath
I forgot to take her shirt off before I strapped her into her chair, and I didn't feel like starting over. This was definitely a no-shirt, no-pants, no bib meal best eaten in the bathtub.

June 24: 16 months, 1 week, 1 day old

Decatur Beach Party

What do landlocked city kids do in summer? They go play in a street full of sand and pretend it's a beach. On June 18 we went to the Decatur Beach Party. In addition to the street filled with sand, there were games, food, beer, jump castles, and bands. Mary Lawton had a blast, but the sweet girl needs to learn not to try to rub the sand out of her eyes with sandy hands.

Each side of the street was shady, but it was too hot in the middle!

Digging

Sandy love

Checking things out

Just the cutest girl in the world!

"Hoppee"

She likes to go shopping or "hoppee." Sometimes she runs over her own feet. She might be checking the damage in this photo.

Dress #4

It's getting more and more difficult to take this girl's picture! She seems to like this dress. She wanted to put it on when I showed it to her.

Father's Day

A little late saying we had a fun Father's Day weekend, and I think the father in our house enjoyed his day! Church, breakfast out, swimming, a bike computer, lots of hugs and kisses...what more could a father want?

Love you, Daddy!

Box rides

Please stop taking my picture and push me around some more.

I could listen to this all day.

15 months, 1 week, 5 days old (May 28, 2010)

Baby porcupine

15 months, 4 weeks old

We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

On June 5 we went to the zoo with Mary Lawton's class as their year-end activity. This was Mary Lawton's first visit to the zoo, and she was wilder than the zoo animals. She just wanted to run around--she didn't want to ride in her stroller or hold our hands and walk. She wanted to be free! We had a good time overall, but Mary Lawton wasn't really into the animals. Maybe next year...

Look at the meercats!

Watching a big bird

She seemed most interested in the kangaroos.

A birthday party

We were invited to Miss Nell's 80th birthday party on Saturday and had a blast. Mary Lawton was in heaven--new toys, lots of space to run around, a little pool just her size, and bubbles.
She even got to meet Yoda.
And on the way home--tired, dress-less because it got all wet and I didn't bring other clothes, just chillin' with her baby.