The Bear

I have been thinking a long time about writing a post about our little Mary. I often find myself trying to word it while I'm driving in the car to work or to go get the kids. I can never complete it though. Mary is just so intense that explaining her in words is nearly impossible. However, I want to remember the way she is right now. I want to remember her little attitude and the way she shakes her little booty from side to side when she walks. What I'm going to do is simply write down certain things that Mary does on any given day, sometimes everyday, and hopefully that will describe the way she is right now.

• When we wake Mary up in the morning she immediately gets down on the floor so she can walk over and turn her heater off by herself. She cares about that power bill! She has recently started getting upset if you walk into her room without some piece of clothing on. For example, yesterday Neil wasn't wearing socks when he got her up. She followed him down the hall to our bedroom and made him put socks on.
• She wants to pick her own clothes out. She hates taking advice from her Mama, but will occasionally let Neil pick her outfit out. Sometimes we spend 10 minutes standing in her closet looking at all her shirts so she can decide which one she wants to wear. She always picks her pants, panties, and socks out first. The shirt is what take FOREVER to pick out. However, if her monkey shirt or "EE shirt" is clean then it is always her choice.
• She wants to dress herself, but she wants you to sit there and tell her she is doing it right when she asks. She will hold her panties out and right before she puts them on she will say, "right Mama?". When we say she is doing it right then she will put them on. Then it is socks. She prefers to do one sock while I do the other sock. Same thing with the socks...right before she puts it on she will say, "right Mama?" or "this way?" Then it is her pants and then her shirt.
• She picks out her shoes every morning. She can choose from her black baby doll shoes or "Back shoes", her tennis shoes or "white shoes", her boots (Which by the way if you tell her that her boots are shoes she will very quickly correct you and tell you that they are indeed boots), or her snow boots. She picks them out and she puts them on all by herself. If you look down and tell her, "wrong feet Bear" she will quickly switch them.
• Neil treats her like a little princess and when he puts her jacket on in the morning he holds it out and says, "your coat my Lady". She smiles and insists that "Daddy do it" when I try to do it.
• When we go to get in the car we have to wait FOREVER because she insists on doing it herself. She won't let you pick her up and put her in her chair. She wants to climb up herself, turn around herself, get situated, and then put her straps on and fasten them herself. It takes a really long time and I often get really REALLY frustrated with her because it's taking so long. But, she gets so mad if you don't let her buckle herself. I mean screaming hysterical mad.
• We have a CD in the car that we listen to that has safety songs. The kids get to take turns picking which song to listen to. Mary has her favorites. Her first choice is always "Lifeguard Lisa" which is all about swimming safety. If you haven't been in the car with her and heard her ask you to play that particular song then you would never know what she is asking for. It sounds like "larflarflesa". She also knows what song Tyrus is going to pick so when her song is over she immediately says that song. Tyrus never complains because it's the song he wants to listen to, but I think it's her way of choosing the song. :)
• When she is having trouble doing something she will say, "help me". It is so sweet. The other day I heard her saying that in a very calm voice and when I walked into the den she was hanging upside down from the couch. Yikes! At least she can keep her cool.
• When I drop the kids off she always walks around the van to me and helps me get Tyrus out. She makes sure he has his book bag and then she helps me close the door. Then she says, "It dold" and puts her hands in her pockets and runs to the front porch.
• When I'm leaving Mrs. Melissa's she gives me the sweetest kiss on the lips and then a very big squeeze called a "Bear Hug". She says "Bye Bye Mama wuv you".
• When we get home in the afternoon and I'm cooking dinner she will pull one of the kitchen chairs over to the counter saying "help you Mama? I help".
• When dinner is done she will say "Bubba EEEEAAATTTTT! Daddy EEEAAATTTTT!!" You better come to the table when she calls you.
• She usually is a really good eater when we all sit down to eat. Right now she LOVES her some rice. She likes to put as much as she can on her spoon and then see if she can squeeze it into her mouth. She says "big bite Mama?" She likes it when I applaud her when she gets it all in her mouth. It is a very efficient way of getting her to eat. :)
• When we finish eating it is usually bath time. Sometimes I put the kids in the shower with me. Mary has about 12 little animal bath toys and she will move every single one to the shower or to the bath depending on where they are and what we are using that night. She likes to line them up.
• She likes to use the loofa and clean herself, but she likes for me to spray her off because she can't get her back or the tops of her shoulders. She loves to spray Tyrus off.
• When we get out of the shower I have this little routine where I wash my face, put lotion on, put deodorant on, etc. Well, now Mary likes to do all those things to. I put teeny tiny dabs of lotion on her fingers and she puts them on her cheeks. She also likes to get one spray of perfume on her belly. If I forget to include her in this routine and she already has her pajamas on she will, very quickly, take everything off so she can put her lotion on.
• When we got to bed she always climbs up Ty's ladder so she can give him a hug and a kiss. It's funny because Tyrus is very anti-kissing right now. He's screaming, "Mawy don't kiss me!" and she's going "mmmmmmmm all over his face".
• When it's time for her to climb back down the ladder she has to do it completely on her own. She will tell Neil, "Don't touch me" while holding her little finger up. Neil doesn't touch her and she gets down the ladder all by herself.
• She refuses to let Neil take her night night. Only I can do it. :)
• When I take her into her room we always stand by her bookcase and she takes one last sip of milk and then puts her cup down on the top shelf. Then we walk to her crib and she gives me a kiss on the lips and a bear hug. I tell her that I love her so much and I put her in her crib. As she is laying down she will say "wuy you Mommy". I always stroke her head and say "night night Mary""I love you Mary" and as I'm walking out she says "night night Jenn""night night Mama".

Wow! I came up with a lot of things that our little Mary is doing these days. The biggest deal with her right now is the potty. It feels weird to not have to change diapers anymore. She is getting a little too confidant though. Last night when she got out of the bath she told me that she wanted to wear panties and not her pull up to bed. I know for a fact that she cannot do that. She would most definitely have an accident in the middle of the night and it would just upset her. So, Neil and I both talked to her and basically demanded that she wear her pull up (which was wet the next morning). I'm glad that she has confidence, but I think she's moving a little too fast and is trying to be a little too independent. Which, coincidentally, are two words that describe her perfectly.

Mary, Mama and Daddy love you so much. You are growing up way too fast little Bear. Slow down!