Miss Congeniality

Dear Molly,

Happy 1/2 Birthday!  In a world of Toddlers & Tiaras, you are our Miss Congeniality: easy-going, affectionate, and you love to make people laugh.  Can you say Daddy's little girl??

In no particular order, here is Molly at 18 months:

• You're a people person.  You wave to strangers, including mannequins and people on tv.  You love to snuggle and pat us on the back while hugging.  You clap and run for the door when you see Daddy's car pull up.  You make a beeline for your Nonno whenever he enters a room.  For the most part, you stay next to us when we're outside (something we have not been accustomed to with other 18-month-olds --not naming names!).  You're a mommy in training, and mirror me at my best and my worst.  Like any good mom, you're very empathetic when someone is sad or hurt, and also very nurturing to your baby dolls (again with the pats on the back ♥).  And...on the flip side, you now put those same baby dolls (+ other inanimate objects) in time-outs, then shake your finger and scold them with jibberish!  Of course you're a dog person too, and enjoy snuggling Reilly, adorning him with mardi gras beads, and sitting on his back before he promptly bucks you :) 

• You're Italian (you love to eat).  Yet still such a peanut!  You eat more than Charlotte during meals.  Favorites include pasta, corn on the cob (very entertaining!), potatoes, fruit (especially blueberries & strawberries), oatmeal, eggs, cheese, and sweet peas from the garden.  You can polish off a juice box without taking a breath.  You effectively communicate what you'd like more of by using sign language (which we taught you) or by sticking your tongue out (which we did not).  You're done nursing but we still give you bottles in the morning and after nap (we originally introduced them to melt butter into and help fatten you up!) No more buttah', but we both still enjoy that time to snuggle, and Mama will be sad to see this phase end :(

• You're a ham.  A super cheesy smile and wicked dance moves to boot.  While you won't really watch TV yet, you do hold onto the armoire like a ballet barre and bop to Yo Gabba Gabba's dancey dances or, more inappropriately(!), Ke$ha's SNL numbers.  You love high heels, fancy necklaces, and stringing multiple bathing suits around your neck in attempts to model your big sis's fashion line.  Monkey see, monkey do.   Oh, and it's not uncommon to find you walking around the house with Charlotte's undies on your head :)

• You're fearless.  You love the water.  You army crawl and hide in the corner of the tub when we start to drain the bath water, as if we cannot see you.  In the pool, you love blowing bubbles, putting your ear in to listen to the waves, jumping or sliding in (and going under) again and again, and you're even working toward an impressive back float.  No need to wipe water off your face; a couple bats of the eyelashes and you're good!  And you're a climber and a jumper --on the playground, on Daddy, and all over the house.  "On your bummie!".  Just today I caught you belly flopping from our bed onto a pile of pillows Charlotte set up.  You're not the most agile, and you run clumsily with your right elbow bent and your left one straight(?), but you are tough and you rebound quickly. 

• You're learning.  You know most of your body parts but point to your nose when we say "knee" :)  You do have your tantrums, and we're working on sharing (you often hoard toys and save your highest pitched squeal for when Charlotte takes something from you).  You test your boundaries but for the most part submit to a stern "No!"...while flashing a devilish grin!  You don't have an extensive vocabulary but you seem to understand us quite well, and answer with an emphatic yes or no shake of the head. And sometimes Charlotte can decipher your babbling before we do, and will relay your message (or at least her take on it)-- very sweet ♥.  The words we can make out:
• aye-o (i don't know), complete with adorable shrug and palms in the air
• baw (ball)
• ba-oo (balloon)
• baba (bottle)
• bay (blankie)
• beh-buh (belly button)
• dada 
• daw-done (all done) 
• daw (dog)
• duck, and also some version of "quack" that I can't spell but it sounds like you're coughing up phlegm
• emmo (elmo)
• hot
• ish (fish)
• mmm (yum) 
• mama
• ma (milk and monkey)
• nana (napkin) 
• osh & sha (charlotte)
• oosh (shoes)
• ow (outside) 
• po (pool) 
• rah (reilly)

I'll end with a few pics from your 1/2 birthday celebration.  The s'more cupcakes looked better than they tasted (Mama learned there's good reason why you can improvise while cooking but not baking.  Creating one's own marshmallow frosting with a hint of this and a pinch of that? hmm)  You didn't seem to mind though, and made up for your lame 1st birthday cake smash with at least a few crumbs on your face this time!

That cheesy grin is what gets me through even the most challenging of days.  I feel very blessed to be home with you and to watch you grow from a sweet baby to an even sweeter little girl.

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Molly Moo!  I love you so much!
xoxo Mama