19 Months

Mary Ella one year ago at 7 months.

Now I'm 19 months!

She loves to twirl!

And carry a purse!

Love this one!

This is her favorite spot in the new house, playing on the brick fireplace in the kitchen. She loves to step up and down it and cop a squat on the ledge. This is also where she goes to perform. It's so cute, but it scares me! I'm afraid stitches are somewhere in our future.

Freshly painted rocking chair, one of my projects while Mia was here. I have since added a pink crown on the top rung.

This may result in stitches too! She can rock so hard that she turns it over! We are definitely in the climbing/acrobatic stage.

"Uh-oh" face

Mary Ella,

ALOT has changed this month! We are finally settled into our new house and our new life in Mississippi. You have a beautiful new room with lots of space to play and a new yard to explore. I couldn't be happier to hear your feet pitter patter on the wood floors every morning. You hit the ground running! You are talking up a storm and are busier than ever. Here's what you've been up to:

• You weigh 30 pounds (95th percentile) and are 33 inches (90th) tall. We had a great check-up with your new doctor. We have scheduled an ultrasound to check on your kidney since it's been a year. I am praying that everything looks good. I also asked the doctor about taking you to a dentist, and he said I could schedule an appointment now because you were so well-behaved. We'll see about that!
• You are wearing 24 month or 2T clothes.
• You eat much better now that we are back at home with our routine and high chair. Still picky about veggies, so we started a Flinstone vitamin a day.
• You sleep like a champ at least 12 hours a night! You have not gotten up one time since we have been in our new house. We have totally switched to one afternoon nap a day. You sleep from 2-3 hours. Works great!
• I have surrendered to the mess of letting you feed yourself with a spoon. I was told at your 15 month appointment to let you do this, but I wasn't about to let everything fall into your lap with the booster seat we have been using. But now that we have the high chair back, I let you go. You get very excited and are doing very well!
• Your vocabulary has exploded this month! I know there is no way I can remember all of the new words you can say, but here are some that I have written down: "me," "Tole" (Cole), "Me---A" (Mia, sometimes), "Joe," "Bad" (Brad), "Anna," "Tay" (Trey), "I" (Eli), "Pa," "Oma", "sky," "water," "peese" (please), "hey" (very Southern), "yay" (even more Southern with 2 syllables), "Minnie," "cheers," "duck," "yellow," "chihuahua" (I have no idea where this came from) and you have tried to say Jessica. You sometimes yell "Ma" for me, and I have heard you refer to your daddy as "my dada." Between my Texas twang, our families' Arkansas' accents, and the Mississippi drawl, I cannot imagine that you will sound like anything other than a country bumpkin. But I love it! You are not talking as in putting sentences together yet, but you will try to say almost anything. I think we are just around the corner from having a full-blown talker on our hands!
• You now know the difference between a pig and the Razorback hog. I was calling everything a pig, but when you see a Razorback you yell, "Go Hogs Go!" And for some reason you think a regular pig says, "moo." Oh well, you got the most important one right! :)
• You love anything that moves, and think everything goes, "choo choo." You especially love spotting airplanes and can hear when they fly over when we are inside.
• Favorite books at the moment: anything with ABCs, "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" "Are you my Friend?" and "It looked like Spilled Milk." You love all of your Karen Katz, Leslie Patricelli, and Sandra Boynton books. I cannot resist stopping to read a book you bring to me, no matter what I'm doing. It melts my heart. I think you already have that figured out.
• You know that Daddy is Brad, and Mommy is Jessica. I had no idea you knew this! One day I was rattling off names for you to say, and you were able to say Brad. I said, "Who is Brad?" And you said, "Dada." You can also point to Brad and Jessica in person and in pictures.
• You know when you are in trouble, and you have started running or coming up to me with your arms up for a hug and lips puckered for a kiss. You use this as a distraction method. The other day you ran around the corner and came back like an innocent angel trying to get a hug and kiss. It cracks me up! You know how to turn it on!
• You came back from Disneyworld with a sassy attitude and a nasty, "No!" It took a couple days, but we got you all straightened out!
• You have a funny new face where you scrunch up your nose and poke your lips out. It is quite comical.
• You still like to be clean and will you a napkin to wipe your hands and face, but you blow your nose at the same time. Ha!
• You like to practice running. I say, "1, 2, 3" and you take off running as fast as you can. You stop, turn around, and do it again. You like to hear me say how fast you are. :)
• On most days you can be seen pushing your baby and stroller through the house with a purse on the handle or on your shoulder, and a cell phone up to your ear. You are a priss! OR cooking in your kitchen and serving food and drinks at your new table and chairs.
• We love you so, baby girl! Happy 19 months!