13 Months

I was lazy and waited until the weekend to take Mara's 13 month photos. I liked the month cards so much (they gave me incentive to take the pictures) that I ordered some new ones for 13-24 months (thank you, Derica!). Mara actually didn't destroy this month's card!

I've kind of run out of places to pose her, though.

I'm still working with my new camera, and Liz's kit lens since mine crapped out on me (boo...) and Liz is borrowing my 50mm. It's hard to believe that Mara is over 13 months old and well on her way to walking! She has a total of 8 teeth showing (4 top and 4 bottom) and still eats almost as much as we do. She's doing better with sign language - she'll sign "more" and "binky" and I caught a "water" once or twice. She's quite good at waving bye bye (or hi) and knows the difference between Endo and Arson when we say their names. You can ask "How big's Mara???" and get this response:

Sooo big!!!!

She's super ticklish and loves to pull off her socks to help you undress her.

She loves pushing her Retro Rocket around the house and has learned how to steer it (to a point) while walking. I've witnessed her run into something, lean back and pivot the rocket, and then proceed. If she needs a big turn (say, 180 degrees), Mom or Dad have to swoop in. If not, we may be subjected to the Glare(r). Yes, she inherited the Mischinski Glare(r). This is only a preview of the Glare(r) to come:

Anyway.

She will bring me a book to read if she's in the mood. She can put together and take apart her giant Legos and she finally stacked her wooden blocks 3 high! (The best she could do was 2 before). We have a nice collection of binkys and she'll do the binky swap over and over, giving each one a few good sucks:

This cute monkey is from Uncle/Godfather Adam and Aunt Marianne (and Bumble Bee Butler to be). Mara will cuddle with or hug the monkey (which is adorable):

Daddy taught her to push its belly button to get a "WOO HOO!" sound. She'll sometimes echo the sound if you push HER belly button. And she'll push her own belly button, too, although sometimes she gets it confused with her baby nipple. :( I hope that doesn't last long.

No binky? No problem.

I tried out my camera remote control, which she was VERY interested in and she actually took a picture. I don't know which one it was, though.

She does not like when Arson interferes with her photoshoot...

I don't think she's feeling well again since she took almost a 3 hour nap today (I had to wake her up), and Zack got a 99.5 reading under her arm, and he put her back to bed around 5. Oh, and he's in bed, too. Long hard day of clay shooting will just wear you right out.

The most steps we have seen her take has been 5-6 when we picked her up from daycare last week. It's coming along!

And last, but not least, my helpful window cleaner...

Thanks for reading!

One small step for man... and we're not quite to leaps...

Mara has discovered that her Retro Rocket is good for many things, including:

She also pushes carts around the gym in daycare for a full 25 minutes, so we're told! She's very diligent about her workouts. I've caught her doing squats and she pulls up on everything.

I also realized that she may be telling us she is ready for potty training... or at least ready to get used to the idea. She will go get a diaper and hand it to us about 5 minutes before she crawls into another room and poops. Coincidence? How about after she's done, she speed crawls to the bathroom and tries to do this:

So, I went out today and bought her a kiddie potty. I'll keep you posted on how this event goes. It should be interesting... (take note of the brave step from the toilet to me!)

She's doing great in her toddler daycare class and I got a laugh when we were talking with the teachers about her appetite. The dad of one of the bigger boys in the room (Archer) who is also several months older than Mara said that he'd trade us eaters (meaning Archer eats a lot). The teacher promptly stated that Mara eats as much as Archer. HA! I THOUGHT she ate a lot - I'm constantly feeding her and she eats as much as I would/should if I didn't stuff myself. (Such as 1 piece of pizza, or 1 eggo waffle plus something else). You wouldn't know it from looking at her, though, she's lean and still in the 5th percentile. (Except for the 75-85% head). She does have a ton of energy, though, so I guess she burns off everything she eats or poops it out 3x/day.

So, I thought I noticed towards the end of the week last week that she was getting brave and letting go of things (see the toilet flushing video). She's also started being very good at this!

And just to show you how proud we are of our little Mo Mo:

When I grow up...

In a year or two or three!

I'll be happy as can be!

Like a birdie in a tree!

 When I grow up,

There's a lot I want to do.

I will have real dollies too,

Like the woman in the shoe!

When I grow up!

I will have a big surprise,

For I'll bake the kind of pies,

That'll make you roll your eyes!

And if you see

That you need some company,

You can call me up and I'll come down

When I grow up!

When I am sweet sixteen I'm going to a ball,

Of all the ladies there I'd like to be the best of all.

,

I'll wear a dress of silver and lace, they'll call me Princess Mara,

I'll be like Cinderella 'cept I won't run home so early!

I want to meet a handsome prince with a uniform of gold,

But I won't lose my slipper 'cause my tootsies might get cold.

I'll talk with queens and dance with kings like a little princess would.

If I could only do these things, I'll promise I'll be good.

Anyone recognize that song???

Here's my sweet little princess.

My little lady.

My sweet love bug.

Thank you, Heidi, for the inspiration and whimsy!

Hello!

Hello? Anyone there? Oh, I have so much to tell you! Sorry we've been slack about posting, but we've been in PA for the last week and then some. Hope you don't mind if I gab a bit... First off, I turned 12 months old and celebrated with boogers and a fever. Here's me sick:

So Mom tried to wait a few days to take my 12 month photos... but this was the best she could get.

 Not even my spiffy Retro Rocket could cheer me up...

But being the sport that I am, I decided to put on my game face and move on.

 So, you still there? Hello?

Ok, just checking. So we packed up our car... and just when we were about to leave, a giant truck eating princess with a sleek and long mane crawled into the story and gobbled up the vehicle!

 Oh! Wait, wait, my bad. You caught me reading to Mommy and I criss-crossed my stories.

 So, like I was saying, we packed the most important things for our journey!

You got that right, baby!

So, okay, we got there safely and had a wonderful time with Pop-pop and Grandma, and Aunt Kelly, Aunt Susie, and Uncle Mike! We even had some other visitors over to play.

It was pretty chilly up there, so I made sure to stay warm. Here's me in my snow suit keeping Daddy warm.

My warm clothes came in handy since it snowed and we were staying on a farm and all the animals needed my attention.

My schedule stayed quite busy, I might add.

 I held a private viewing of my artwork:

I even gave some music lessons!

I played the drums, too, but my photographer was not available at that time.

It's amazing that I don't get paid for this.

We did take a quick Christmas photo of our little family:

 All in all, we had a GREAT Christmas and a wonderful visit.

I definitely scoped out the presents and claimed the biggest one!

 What? I figured it was a new dog or something.

 I made sure to give all my family great big hugs since I know I will miss them and won't see them for some time.

I even built a message!

Ok, I may have had some help.

Ok, I may have only contributed in the destruction of the message, but whatever.

I'm sure we left behind quite a mess... because Mommy says my table manners need some polishing...

 

 We made it back home, safely, dear friends.

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My resolution? To not show Daddy SO much favoritism so Mommy feels like she stands a chance.

HA!

It's been great chatting with ya'! Call me!