Happy Half-Birthday, Molly!

Molly hit the 18-month mark this month. We had a great visit to her pediatrician for a well-child visit, and here are her stats:

Height: 31 inches - which puts her in the 30%tile

Weight: 22.6 pounds - which also puts her in the 30%tile

She looks great, according to the doc, which we of course already knew:) Hopefully we won't have any reason to see him again until her birthday. The kind doctor commented on her sweet curls, which makes him just like almost everyone we talk to when we are out and about. I've got to say (with obvious modesty:), I'm not a particularly vain person. I've got my sins, but vanity isn't the worst. And I am also not a vain mama, too much;). But this girl's soft, flowing curls are just lovely. We get so many comments from strangers about her cuteness/sweetness/prettiness and her beautiful hair. I don't ever want to cut it!! Gotta love sweet little baby curls!!

And as for Molly being in the 30%tile, it is SUCH a different experience than with her brother. Ben weighed 22 pounds at 9 mos! She is healthy and growing well, so there is no problem with her being on the smaller side, and if I had to bet, she's probably right around where my mom (Granny) was when she was at this age, so Molly does have the genes for it. But it is sometimes hard for me to remember that she isn't a baby, though she can feel like one in my arms.

Aaron and I have admitted that we are in some ways the classical parents...we expected SO much more of Ben at this age. He was so much bigger and had such a huge vocabulary that we always treated him as a bit older than he really was. With Molly being so sweet and little, its hard for us to stay on top of her and not let her get away with things just because she's cute.

In fact, we have recently begun really stepping up our consistency, because she has finally really started to test us and test the rules.

But in our defense, she really has been so mild and pleasant for these past 18 months that there was no need for us to enforce the rules...she never tried ANYTHING. I still remember the first time I ever told her no (around 11 mos) and she burst into tears. She just generally goes with the flow and has a great time!

I need to post pics and stories from our trip to the Rocky Mountains soon, but I will just say quickly that, despite being the youngest kid on the trip, she did, by far, the best all week. That's Little Miss Moose Mouse for you!

Random Thoughts

BFF:

Molly is still my BFF. She loves me with all her little heart:) And I love just about every minute of it...really I do. But occasionally, her totally dedication to loving me can be a little much at times. Even Ben has noticed, and he tries to help her "share" me from time to time.

Like today, Aaron and I were standing in the kitchen right before dinner. We were chatting and laughing about something and we gave each other a quick hug. Well, Miss Moose Mouse immediately noticed and, as she often does when Aaron and I snuggle, she tried to squirm in between us so that she could be hugging me instead of Aaron. Ben saw this and piped up, "Molly, they are married...they HAVE to hug."
Thanks for clearing it all up, Ben!!

And on vacation last week, we came up with a new nickname for Molly. First of all, I should say that she did an amazing job on our trip! She was a great traveler and really enjoyed the hiking. But, with so much going on, she did get a little clingy from time to time, of course wanting only me. It started to feel like she might as well have been something I was wearing rather than a separate person from me, and now that she is so fidgety, she sometimes felt more like an animal than a person. So, her new nickname is...MONKEY VEST! And it fits, really. Holding her felt more like I was wearing a monkey vest most of the time:)

Ben also traveled really well. I will try to figure out how to post a picture slide show, but of all the pics that I would love to share, my most favorite is the one Aaron took as we were sitting on the Georgetown Loop Railway train, waiting for the train to depart. It is a pic of Ben sitting on his seat, staring ahead toward the engine, and he is wearing a look of pure excitement and happiness. It was such a treat to get to take him on that train ride!

SLEEP:
Both kids are generally sleeping well these days. Bedtime is between 7:45 and 8. Molly sleeps until 7ish, and Ben until 7:30ish. Molly also takes one afternoon nap at 1 p.m., for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours.

They both do have certain things that they like to sleep with:
Molly pretty much only needs her pacifiers. She only uses them to sleep, and the pacifiers stay in her bed at all times, so when she gets into bed, she lunges for her little sleep aids:) She has one in her mouth, and at least one in her hand most of the night.
Ben, on the other hand, prefers a greater variety of things for sleeping. Tonight for example, the contents of his bed include: several stuffed animals including a camel, zebra, horse, bear, frog, dog, and chicken; a train that Grandpa bought him from the Georgetown Loop gift shop that he currently can't live without; a water bottle; his pillow; his blanket; and his Batman ring:)
Sweet dreams, little man!

Miss Moose Mouse

Without any exaggeration, I can honestly say I just witnessed the worst tantrum that I have yet seen from one of my children. We're talking full out back-arching, red-faced-screaming, ear-piercing-volume yelling, previously-undiscovered levels of hysteria, total emotional meltdown.

I'm afraid that it might be a hint of things to come. Yikes!

Molly, in general, is so sweet, calm, and wonderful. But I remember that somewhere between 18 mos and 24 mos, Ben went through one of his most difficult phases, and I feel that today's meltdown is an indication that Molly is on the same path. It is the time when, developmentally, all trace of baby is gone, and there is only a toddler left. The sweet, little one who used to placidly enjoy whatever you brought into her life, suddenly realizes that there are some things she wants and some things she DOESN'T want...or, rather, would prefer to die a thousand painful deaths rather than be forced to tolerate. No matter what.

Like today...she wanted cheese, but I wasn't quite ready to serve her, as I was already busy cleaning up some stickers that she had put all over the floor. So, rather than wait 20 more seconds, she felt that I left her with no other options than a mind-blowing tantrum.

We're in the time of development when language and speech are improving rapidly, but not nearly as quickly as cognition. So, essentially, she KNOWS now more of what she wants and feels, but can only say it clearly maybe 20% of the time. That...and she has the patience of a toddler. (Though, in the interest of honesty, it had been a long day already by that point for all of us, and she is almost always the picture of excellent patience in a toddler).

Until her language catches up with her brain, I fear we may be in for some rocky times! Though she is generally really sweet and easy-going, when she has set her mind to something, she is unstoppable.

Just for my own memory, here is a list of words that I know she has mastered now: (I included the way she pronounces things for some words in paraenthesis)

mama, dada, ben, nana, papa, granny (neenee), anna, riri, curt (cu), grandpa (gupa), jacob, gigi, water (wawa), banana (nana), cream cheese (tee teese), cheese (cheese), pop corn (pop pop), blueberry (beebee), strawberry, m&m (nemenemenem), no way, all done, okay, please, bear, elephant, monkey (oooeeeaaa), dog, cat, quack quack, baby, lion (roar), tiger (growl), bird, cow (moooo), teeth, poop (poopoo), ball, mine, no, away, up, down, eat, milk, balloon, air plane, car, bus, bike, swing, bed, more, shoe (fwoo), bow, hair, nose, eye, teeth, toes, arm, leg, night night, bye bye, hi, hello, help, juice, hot, dip, hot dog, noodle (noo nle), hat, book, bed, Lauren (lo lo), choo choo, wash wash, bubble, slide, good guys (guh guh any time she hears a siren of some sort), boom, sit, in, out, on, off, chip, bell, alley, ball

I will probably need to add to the list over the next day or two, as I think of things I have missed, but at least this is a start. These are words that she uses independently, or with only the littlest amount of prompting. Not too bad for a 17-mo-old...as if, being a speech-language therapist, I should care or anything:)

Hopefully, while her speech and language catch up to her understanding, we can make it through these next few months without too many repeats of today!