15(ish) months

It seems like we ran out of those little month stickers, and suddenly I couldn't keep track of time anymore. But here we are, a little past 15 months, and I want to be able to remember what a funny fireball this girl is.

Every once in awhile, something happens to remind me that I'm a total novice as a parent. I thought that all babies learned to walk on their own by trying to get to their parents' arms (spurred, no doubt, by their filial love). So Will and I tried that. And tried. She'd walk and run holding onto things, but as soon as we took away her supports she'd wail and flop on the ground. This went on for more than a month, when one day I caught her walking across the kitchen to get something that caught her eye. I clapped and cheered and tried to get her to walk to me...and she pulled the same sad baby seal stunt. It turns out she'd been able to walk for some time (no idea how long), and simply refused to do it with us. SUCH A PILL. 

Anyway, a few days of hanging out at the playground did what we could not, and the toddler peer pressure resulted in a fully mobile Mollie. It takes longer to do basically everything these days, but the happiness and pride on her little face when she does something on her own helps me slow down and appreciate the innumerable ways she's growing up. 

She loves guacamole, noodles, yogurt, smoothies, and eggs above all else. She's started scolding Darcy when she follows her around, hoping that Mollie will drop her food (but she balances out the chastisement with a lot of hugs). When strangers say hello, she smiles and tries to bury her face in something, in a very cute, shy/flirtatious manner. She's super enthusiastic about doing animal noises, especially elephants, dogs, and monkeys. Her most frequently used words are "shoe," "up," and "bubble." The first two are used correctly, but I have no idea what "bubble" means to her, because it's said twenty thousand times a day and only occasionally for actual bubbles. Maybe "happy"? Maybe "I love you"? Maybe "sunglasses"? I only know that I asked her to say "mama" (which she can), and she smiled and whispered: "bubble." Again.

We love you, bubble-girl!