Mary Grace @ 15 Months

I realize all my posts have been about Nathaniel recently, so here's a catch up post about what Mary's been up to. Mary turned 15 months at the end of September and quite honestly I don't know what happened to months 12 to 15. It seems like we were just celebrating her first birthday! When I think about it, though, I realize she's really different than she was three months ago. She's now walking and even running all over the place. Her personality has really blossomed. She doesn't have many words yet, but she understands almost everything, and follows direction much better than Nathaniel did at this age. About 50% of the time she will actually walk over to me when I ask her to come, whereas Nathaniel immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction. She knows exactly which cabinet doors in the kitchen have broken safety latches and whenever I'm preparing a meal she will open it up and start rooting around for something interesting to discover. She is testing us a bit lately, and loves to chuck food on the floor or right at us, in the middle of a meal, and then giggle. She adores Nathaniel and will attempt anything he is doing, including ROARING like a dinosaur, pushing cars around on the floor, and coloring with crayons. She gets very jealous if she thinks she is being left out of something, and is already starting to develop a little temper. She screams if something is taken away from her, and occasionally when frustrated she throws herself onto her belly on the floor and cries. It's very short-lived, but it makes me worry for when she's 2 and they turn into all out kicking, flailing, and screaming tantrums!

Mary is usually very cuddly and sweet, and if she swats at Nathaniel or me and we ask her to say sorry, she immediately gives whoever it is a kiss. She's still nursing and I really cherish those moments because the rest of the day she is so active she doesn't want to sit down for anything! Right now she's in a very friendly phase, and says "hi" and waves at anyone and everyone. She can really turn on the charm, especially with elderly ladies in Mass. She had several of them oohing and ahhing over her last Sunday! She's changing and growing every day, and I'm perfectly happy with my role of just trying to keep up!