- Mary loves, loves, LOVES green peas. (Not pureed. Ones she can pick up and put in her mouth herself.) Cheerios are so passe.
- David has been so great about having ointment applied on his burnt fingers and the band aids changed regularly.
- Mary has started to sign! Her first sign ever was "finished," and she signs "more" sometimes too. It's so cute! (And I will admit that I'm surprised--I guess I didn't really believe little babies would do it!)
- David has wide feet. Last year we ignored it and just forced his feet into his shoes. But, as sandal (Crocs) season comes to an end, I have dreams of David putting on his own shoes this winter. So we have to accept the "wide" part, and find something he might be able to put on himself. The search continues.
- Mary had a big growth spurt in September. She seemed to outgrow all of her clothes overnight. I hate it when that happens, especially when I'm not prepared.
- David insists on riding his bike in circles on the driveway before we go anywhere in the car. It's really not a bad deal. I simply get him out the door and on his bike, then I have a couple of minutes to get everyone/thing else loaded up.
- Mary also loves corn, mandarin oranges, graham crackers, and cheese. She also eats eggs every morning for breakfast, for which she can thank her father, who thoughtfully prepares them every day.
- David still takes a nap. I love it.
- Quite often, Mary will take two or three steps. She doesn't quite have the requisite balance yet for real walking, and she knows it. (But she's close!)
- David was supremely well-behaved when I dragged him around visiting teaching earlier this week. I was so impressed and grateful and had to smother him with kisses. He was also incredibly patient when he ended up sitting around the campaign office with me for a long time. Again, lots of hugs and kisses.
- Mary's love of eating magazines has turned into a love of books. She especially enjoys turning the pages, eager to see what will appear next.
- Ever since he was a tiny baby (in fact, ever since the very first night we brought him home from the hospital), I have sung Primary songs to David at bedtime. And now he can sing along.
- Mary is a clown. She definitely has a sense of humor, and loves to get a laugh out of you.
- Right now David likes to hear stories about when he was a baby--like when he was born, or when he flew on a big airplane a long, long way, or rode on a camel, or visited the fire station.
- Mary still has her cute high-pitched squeal of a giggle.
- Especially for how active and intense he is, David has a relatively mild temperament. He is basically compliant, and gets over things quickly. He would rather find something to be happy about than maintain a defiant stance.
- Mary has discovered how much fun it is to press buttons on the computer keyboard, and, happily for her, she is tall enough to reach them.
- David is doing well with potty-training! Bribing worked for #2 too.
- Mary can entertain herself. She likes to put small objects in boxes. She spends much of her day "cleaning up" David's matchbox cars.
- Now that David speaks so much more clearly, I can hear myself so much more clearly when he says, "I'm busy!" or "Be patient!"
- Mary also entertains herself by taking things out--of drawers, of cupboards, of toy boxes, of laundry baskets, etc.
- I think I hear "I do it all myself!" 700 times a day. (Speaking of, David said his first prayer tonight, all by himself, with no prompting or help.)
- The pictures I post on my blog do not reflect what a disheveled little girl Mary is most of the time. She's usually a mess. But still cute.
- David's staple in life is peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Sometimes I feel that if I have to make one more peanut butter and honey sandwich, I will lose my mind!
- Mary's favorite time of day is when David is watching a DVD and she can climb all over him.
- When Mary was first born, David called her "Mar-Mar" (pronounced like Mars), then after a few months it turned into "Mare" (like a horse), and lately it morphed into "Many," although just recently it seems a little closer to "Mary."
- Mary likes games. For example, she squawks, then you squawk, then she squawks again, and then you squawk again, and so on until you are both laughing too hard to continue.
- Richard Scarry books are all the rage around here these days. Heaven forbid we leave the house without a Busytown book.
- Mary is losing interest in nursing--during the day, that is.
- David asks me about 12 thousand times a day, "Speech school tomorrow, Mom?" (It gets really old really fast.) Whether or not he does indeed have speech therapy the next day, he then expects me to tell him hour by hour what the schedule for the day will be.
- Mary can drink from a sippy cup. David is so excited for her that he sings the "Go, Mary!" song when she does. I introduced the sippy cup last spring...for a week. Then I forgot about it until Wednesday.
- David sings a lot to himself. Mostly "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Besides singing, he spends a lot of time banging objects together with much gusto to "make music," as he says.
- Mary folds her arms when we bless the food at dinnertime. We didn't teach her this. She picked it up all on her own. It's very cute.
- A while ago, when David asked Greg what he did at work, Greg told him that he learns things. The other day David kept asking me, "What is Daddy learning at work?" Since I can't explain linear regression or six-sigma to myself, let alone to a three-year-old, I kept answering lamely that I didn't know. But he kept asking, over and over, until finally I asked him what he thought Daddy was learning. He considered the matter, then concluded, "Learning to play trains."
So 34 isn't quite one million. But you get the point.
