MOLLIE!

OK so I have approximately one million photos from Christmas to go through, 10 loads of clean laundry to fold, 3 loads of dirty laundry to wash and dry (THEN FOLD), 1 very messy kitchen to clean, 4 suitcases to fully unpack, and a massive pile of stuff in one corner of the kitchen floor to put away. Let's just ignore the fact that the playroom is a crazy mess and there are still (MANY) Christmas decorations up. We'll worry about those last two things later.

But before I tackle my huge to-do list, I NEED to say a few things about Mollie. She had tubes put in her ears before Christmas, and I don't know if it's just that or that coupled with her age, but she's all of a sudden got a much larger vocabulary, and her comprehension is sooo great - and so much fun! :) She's even putting 2 words together here and there! I'm not bragging by any stretch of the imagination - I'm just excited to be able to communicate with our littlest one. And, seriously, it's just plain adorable.

Here are her words:
Mommy
Daddy
Na-ee (Natalie)
Bup (Cup)
Dis/Ish (This)
Baby
Casey
Puppy
Shusss (Shoes)
Sosss (Socks)
Kitty
Fish
Peeeese (Please)
EEEEEEE (Cheese)
Day OOO (Thank You)
E go (Here you go)
No
My!!! (Mine)
OOOO (Moo)
AAAAA (Baa)
Woof Woof (the highest pitch, sweetest version you can imagine)
OWWW (Meow)

She's still a huge fan of her babies, so her Christmas presents (stroller, pack'n'play, bouncy seat) were right on target! I'm so glad because I thought long and hard and tried to get something she would for sure play with! She also got a few new babies and stuffed animals that she's having fun with. :)

She's big on giving hugs and kisses too! A few days ago, when I got her up out of bed, she laid her head on my shoulder, then leaned back quickly, put her hands on my face, and gave me a huge kiss right on the lips! hahah! I love it!! She's a great hugger and has started making a "kiss" noise when she kisses you or has her baby kiss you or vice versa. Adorable!

While we were in Ohio, she started using the word "no." Good times. But actually, it was just so cute, especially the first time. Everyone had gone to a movie except Brad, Mollie, and me. We walked in the door, and I said, "Well, Mollie Grace, are you ready for your nap?" She stopped walking, her face fell, and she said, "Noooooo." lol I let her stay up a bit just because she was so sweet about it. :) When Brad tickles her, she says, "Nooooo, Daddy!" Another really *FUN* word she's using is My!!!! Ugh. If I could delete even just one word from a toddler vocabulary, this would be it. I am not looking forward to the big "MINE!" arguments!

Possibly Mollie's favorite word right now is "Bup," which Brad figured out means "Cup." This is a great word for us to know! I'm calling this the Holiday Season of the "Bup" because she's kind of obsessed with it. When we sit down to eat, she'll often go around the table, starting with herself, "dis BUP!" and point to her cup. Then "Na-ee BUP!" and "Mommy BUP!" and "Daddy BUP!" It's too cute. I love the way she says it too. It's like "BBBBBB-UP!"

I don't know if she's truly getting interested in potty-training, but lately, she seems to be aware of when she is going. She grabs herself, and if we say, "Mollie, do you need to go potty?" she takes off toward the bathroom! hahahah! It's like she's on a mission. Then she'll sit on the potty, but nothing happens. I'm actually not really ready to start potty training her, but if she's showing lots of interest, we're certainly not going to ignore it!

Mollie LOVES music! She loves to sing, and she loves to dance. When she hears music, her little body just starts moving. We love the inhibition that she has. It's so cute to watch her dance, and it's so neat that she's not embarrassed about it in the least. She loves to sing and bounce her babies before she lays them in their beds. She loves to sing the "ABC's" and she has the tune down pretty well, but not really the letters. :)

She's pretty ornery - just this morning, I was saying for the millionth time how tired I am of CHASING her. She loves to run from us when we're trying to get her to do something (this morning, it was putting her coat on). It's not even that she doesn't want to do the thing, she just likes to make it difficult. UGH!

Well, I think I've covered most everything I wanted to say about Miss Mollie, here at just about 17.5 months. I guess I better go tackle some laundry. Pictures to come soon - hopefully later today! :)