Our Growing Girls – Molly (22 months)

Next up – our fun-loving & adorable dare devil!

Molly is just shy of 2 yrs – already! And Livy asks me on a daily basis – “Is Molly a baby or a big girl?” To which Molly always replies, “I big girl!” And she is, really, but I still refer to my “babies” as it is hard to admit how old Molly’s gotten. And she has grown into a really adorable toddler. In fact, there were so many things I wanted to write down about her right now that this post just kept getting longer and longer and longer! I think it’s partly this age where their little personalities come out and they are so sweet & curious about the world. It’s just priceless. And some of it is just Molly and the beautiful way that God made her.

When JR started redoing Violet’s room, we moved the little white Ikea crib into the big girls’ room and turned it into a toddler bed for Molly. She was so proud! And she’s really doing great with it. It only took her about a week to start taking naps in it and she never had a problem going to sleep in her big girl bed at night. I think she really enjoys having her own space that she can get in and out of all on her own and we find her there reading books or talking to her “Poly” (a little dalmatian puppy named Roly Poly) and other stuffed friends. She is very attached to her pacifier, which she calls “chuch,” “chu chu,” or “chuchi” (Spanish pronunciation on all of the derivations – it comes from the Spanish word for pacifier – chupon). We have decided not to push her to give it up, at least not now. Though I have started telling her I can’t understand her with a chuch in her mouth and she will take it out to repeat what she’s said and in general doesn’t usually ask for it unless she is tired. Molly LOVES reading books and especially enjoys books in Spanish, which has been fun. Even JR can be found reading Pato Esta Sucio!  She is a very independent child and reminds me of stories I’ve heard of JR who could always do things beyond his years. For example, Molly is quite adept at putting on her own sandals, getting into her seat & buckling herself in, and climbing anywhere and everywhere. In fact, Molly’s feet are rarely on the ground these days as she is more often than not hanging from something and swinging wildly! You have no idea how many places there are to hang in your own home, and especially in a store! Molly is definitely adventurous and has convinced us that we need a swing set – ASAP. Twice now, Molly has sat on the potty chair before bath & gone both #1 & #2 so perhaps she will train herself soon. If there’s one thing I learned with Olivia, though, it’s not to make any guesses about how long these things will take! The biggest change with Molly, though, is her blossoming language. She is growing so articulate! I had some notes from a few weeks ago and had listed all the sentences/phrases we’d heard from her at that time (and I will paste them here for posterity’s sake) -

“It is a dog, Mama.”

“Whoa!” (appropriate for falling, being scared, being excited – truly a multipurpose phrase!)

“Mama, I see yellow.”

“Where are you, Mama?”

“I did it, Mama.”

“I love you.” (which she typically said when doing something naughty and/or dangerous)

“Upperballs!” (here she is trying to say SuperBalls, a brand name of tennis shoes)

For awhile, almost everything she said ended with “Mama” and that was very sweet. But now just a few weeks later, she is really talking. I couldn’t possibly list all her sentences anymore. She repeats everything she hears. She is definitely a girl who knows what she wants and we hear “I do dat.” and “I no want.” a lot, but her most frequent question lately is “What do Daddy?” (what are you doing) followed by “Why?” and “Why?” and – well I think you get the idea. She is a very curious little gal and has been known to lay flat on the floor to get a good look at something. JR says she may not be the smartest one, but she will be the most like him – I definitely see a resemblance (and smarts is one of them)! In fact, it is rare that I serve Molly something to eat that I know JR doesn’t like and she actually eats it (and when I’m doing this, JR is usually nowhere around). They have this unspoken understanding about things. Oh, and Molly can sing, too. So far, she’s gotten really good at the ABCs & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but she will frequently chime in with the last word or two in a phrase when Livy is singing as well. She is also trying to count and just tonight she counted all the way to 10!! That seems pretty advanced to me. She still loves playing with baby dolls & is just adorable when she is shhhing them to sleep and then lying them down in her bed – complete with a blanket to cover them up! Molly LOVES animals, and really enjoys Curious George books – or “Georsh” as she calls him. For now, Molly is mostly just Molly, but we also use Smallz, Mollz, & I’m thinking Molly Jo will eventually take off. I also refer to her as Ms. Piggy to go with my Piglet.