Snack

 
 
I don't have anything nice to say about any of these people.

Dress

 
 
 
This pretty dress. She is crazy, I know I say it all the time but man, it's true! Yesterday she napped really well and although she was still pretty cranky while she was awake, at least we were free of her for a while! Ha!

Note the Shoes

 
They are MUCH too big on her. They're just a little bit big, size wise, but they're bigger than any shoe she's ever worn, just the way that they're made. She is ca-lumping around in them this morning because she WANTED to wear a pair of baby slippers that I have IN A BAG of stuff that I am giving to my friend Marita's sister. "Shoe!" she keeps saying, and then sticks her fat foot out at me. "SHOE!" I try and try to explain that these are BABY shoes, that they WON'T FIT her, but the screaming is such that I have to do something, because I'm holding sleeping Veronica.

Mike and I were talking about it and we just have to get through the next few weeks. Ha, then we will have something completely different to worry about, I'm sure. But in a few weeks, hopefully Veronica won't be so fussy, Anthony will be in school, and I can pay some attention to sweet Maria and maybe she'll stop being ... the way that she is. I am hoping we can do a Toddler and Me class at the park, like I did with Anthony. In the meantime, she can just clomp around in those big shoes!

I don't know what to say

 
How do you solve a problem like Maria, indeed.

Anthony's Pajamas

 
She's in Anthony's pajamas, these are 24 months and they fit pretty well but only because pajamas are cut so snugly. She loves bubbles but she wants to blow them and of course, she can't. It's frustrating for both of us.

Happy

 
Ooh, she was happy to be outside. All day I kept having to tell her no, that we couldn't go out, because of the rain.

Side!

 
We went outside last night in the rain. It was a light rain and we were about to get them in the bath so I figured who cared. We had a lot of fun.

Hi!

 

Sitting in a Box

 
She's crazy but funny. Annoying but cute. Screamy but gorgeous. She's an enigma wrapped in a riddle, clouded in a mystery. Ha. Not really. She went to bed early tonight, she is the clumsiest thing ever and fell right before bed, just tripped over something and boom! She gets it from me, that grace,I told her. Poor stupid baby. :)

Poor Maria

 
 
I bought her these new shoes, they are so cute but a little bit big. I was still going to let her wear them but she was tripping all over in them so I had to take them off. I put her other shoes on, but she was still mad, she wanted to wear the new shoes OVER her old shoes. Good God.

Dancing

 
Chair Dancing! Maria had her 18 month appointment today, hence the band-aids. She weighed 27 pounds and some ounces and was some height but we are fuzzy on the details. I didn't take her. I guess she was so bad during the whole visit that Mike couldn't even tell when she got the needles! Ha! She's been fine ever since, her regular self, that is.

Oh are you KIDDING ME?

 
CUTE! Laura came over today to help me and we cracked up so many times at her. I told her 'no' about something today and she did this thing - it was like - picture a movie Italian American teenager, in a fight, saying "are you talking to me? Do you know who I am?" and that was Maria. Good God. She is so beautiful and so, so frustrating. That's kids, I guess, though.

In Anthony's Hat

 

Pantsless

 

Mike took this, too

 

Mike took this

 

Eighteen Months

 
Ugh, I just realized today is the 12th and so she was 18 months old *yesterday*. I don't have a picture of her on the actual day, sadly. We have had a hard week around here and I guess it's not been a priority to know what day is what. Anyway, Maria at 18 months - she walks and runs and climbs. She answers 'yeah' to questions. She goes to sleep amazingly well - when she is getting tired in the morning, one of us will say, "do you think you need to take a nap?" and she'll say 'yeah', and walk toward the stairs. She is constantly teething and is pretty grumpy about it, most of the time. She is not much for books - she loves to look at them, but in the same way Anthony did, which is FAST. She will not wait for you to turn the pages. She says a lot of words, all of a sudden. It has been a very interesting experience for Mike and me, these last few weeks, to really see a vocabulary appear and improve. She says Daddy, yeah, nuk, milk, juice, drink, eat, outside (side), shoes, bye, hi, pants, shirt, brush teeth, cookie, cheese, fruit, Grandpa, dog, cat, and lion. She says 'yeah', but she'll say 'se' for yes. Lots of times she just says the ends of words for words, like she'll say "pee!" for clap. She is a funny duck. She can be so, so unpleasant because of her teeth but lately, more and more, we see her charming personality and it's very comforting. It gives me great hope for Veronica! :)

Dirty but Cute

 
 
That's her.

Tee! Tee!

 
That's what she yells when she wants to be put up in the tree, it's super cute.

She's always kind of angry

 
about something or other.

Loony Bin

 

Teeth

 
She's still getting teeth, she has really been a misery. Join the club, I tell her.

Fourth of July

 
 
We didn't do anything for the Fourth, except we grilled out - well, Mike grilled out in the rain.