Saturday

 

Reluctant Duck

 
 
 
 

She really did have a good time. Mike took her around our neighborhood, they just went to like five houses. She was so cute and self-satisfied when she got home. She had some Teddy Grahams and milk and went to bed. Next year she'll understand it all more. And hopefully have a later bedtime than 6:30.

Dancing

 
It's blurry because she was dancing and having a HECK of a time, as you can see. We went to a playgroup today and she did very well. She even got out there on her own a little bit, even though a lot of the kids were bigger. One kid, the host, was almost three and he was so mad that Maria was carrying around a DVD of his like it was hers. She thinks they're books. So as soon as she knew he wanted it, she was gripping it with both hands and he kept saying, super threateningly, 'drop it'. It was hysterical. I gave her a real book and she was over it, and then, of course, so was he. :)

Coffee Shop

 

Maria and Veronica and I walked to our new neighborhood coffee shop the other day. Maria was, I am HAPPY to report, very, very good and well behaved. She had juice and a cookie. She was super cute and nice and not even too peeved when we had to walk home in the rain.

cute outfit

 

This skirt is from that bag sale that I went to last year. She is cute and I'll say it as long as it's true, thank GOD because I don't know what would happen to an ugly child that behaved the way she does. I literally spend all day long putting things away that she has taken out. She hands me EVERYTHING in the house. I can't put it up high enough to get it away from her, I don't have enough room! It makes me want to get rid of everything in the house. There are piles of crap everywhere, things that have to go upstairs, to St. Vincent de Paul, to be sold on Craigslist, ugh. I have to put her coats in the closet because if I leave them out on the hooks (purchased for just this), she points at them all day long and says "Car! Car! Car!" until I think I'm going to go insane. She takes the salt and pepper shakers wherever they are, just to spill them everywhere. Every time I say "no" to her about something, she claps her hands at me and cries. It's so, so funny. She looks like she's doing some dance of rage or something. Hysterical.

I Can't Stop!

 

she's too cute!

Stay Classy, Maria

 

Ha! Doesn't everyone wear a wicked wet diaper, a turtleneck, and Uggs right before a bath, while flower picking? Thank God we have a fenced in yard!

Flower!

 

Slide

 
Getting ready to slide.

Peekaboo!

 

Maria, in the hideout part of the swingset. She's having an okay weekend. She's talking a lot more recently. She said "Bless you!" to Veronica the other day when she sneezed. She'll bring you everything in the house and say "here you go" when she does it. The other day I was using Pledge from under the sink on the bar and woodwork in the livingroom and while I did it, she brought me everything else from under the sink. "Here you go! Here you go! Here you go!".

You Mess with the Bull...

 

...you get the horns. :)

Isn't she pretty?

 

Isn't she? This picture makes me want to cry. She loves to get up on the swing set/slide thing and play peekaboo, it cracks her up.

Bread

 

Oh, she was driving us crazy with that damned piece of bread! It was making her balance all funky, she kept falling down, she couldn't use her hand to climb up anything, but she wouldn't a) drop it or b) eat it. She is crazy!

What's So Great About Maria?

What isn't? Ha! No, really. Here are the things that are so great about Maria, brought to you by the courtesy of both the girls napping at the same time:

She's gorgeous
She loves to go places
We can just drop her in her crib and she goes to sleep
If you don't understand what she wants at first, she'll gladly repeat it. And then sing it. And then get louder about it.
She loves to dance
She is pretty good at sharing
She loves Anthony and Veronica a LOT
She has beautiful eyes
She is a good runner and climber
She sometimes will say HUG and give you one. Ditto for kisses.
She truly loves to laugh
She's a good signer
She knows a lot of words
She's very determined
She has an excellent memory
She will do what you say - lately we ask her to go throw something away and she does it. This is amazing, to us!
Oh, there are truly one million great things about Maria. We are working on a new way of dealing with the tantrums and freakouts and it's going okay. We stayed at our class the whole time this morning, and she was really sweet and a good share-r with the other kids. We're getting there!

She doesn't know she has that headband on

 

... or else she'd rip it off!

Reaching

 
She's always reaching for something. Here she's on a chair that she pulled over to the island. She was up early this morning and I am finding it very challenging to keep her up, especially as Veronica took a good nap. It would have been nice to be without both of them. But we are trying to get her to one nap a day, hoping it will help with her overall attitude. We'll see!

Cute

 

Cute. Right? I'll say it again, Thank God.

I Have No Idea

Ha, I started to post this picture hours ago. Maybe it's Maria with a broom? I am losing my mind! We've had a good day today, mostly. Maria is getting acclimated to taking one nap a day. We went for a walk today but she is too bad, she wants to get out of the stroller and run in the street. But once I strap her in she's fine, mad but fine. Anyway, hopefully this is a picture of Maria with the broom. :)

21 Months

 
Mike noticed yesterday that her one canine tooth is coming in, so maybe that explains her mood? For the last 21 months? Ha! Mike's home today and they are about to go out for a walk, she loves to go places. I have never seen anything like it. From the time she gets up in the morning until right before she goes to bed, she wants to go Outside! Outside! She's crazy.

 

On the stairs, in an outfit from my Mom. She is determined to walk down the stairs standing up. She is also determined to drive me crazy by the end of year, it would seem. We are trying to get her to one nap a day but today I had to put her up there by 9:30 or so, she just screams and screams. It's beyond unpleasant. Then she gets up and says "mo cookeeee?" and all is forgiven. :)

Outside, today

 

I got that fleece at my grab bag sale last winter, I am having a great time pulling out these 24 month clothes! Maria and I went outside for a while today, even though I am still in my pajamas. Anthony is home sick today, it's the first time in quite a while that I've been home with the three of them. Sweet Veronica has been napping for a while, but she's in the bedroom so I can't get dressed up there yet. But Anthony and Maria are dressed so I'm claiming a victory for the day!

More Potatoes

 



She calls potatoes "toes", so when she runs out she says "Mo, toes? MO TOES?" It's hilarious.

Breaking Bread Together

 



...well, potatoes.

Colts Sunday

 
Maria, who can totally open that door to the downstairs now. "Dest! Dest!", she says, when she wants to venture down there. Ooh she gets up early, but she is having a much better day today than yesterday, so I can't complain. She was wretched and ugly yesterday, all day long.