16 Months

In a nutshell, at 16 months Mallory is a rascally handful. She never ever sits still. Not while she's watching a snipet of Elmo, not while she's "on" the computer, and certainly not while she's reading a book. As a result, *I* never sit still or really sit at all. If she's not getting into one thing she's getting into another - or climbing it. And boy oh boy is it ever funny to grab something she knows she shouldn't touch, look to see if I'm watching, then make a break for it when I go to get her. "Redirection" has become the word of the day - every day ;) The other mom's I hang out with marvel at Mallory's energy and my having to constantly chase her around. Ah to have one of those "laid back" kids...

Let's see, at the moment Mallory is absolutely obsessed with babies. "Aw, baby!" is one of the things she says most frequently. She prefers live babies or pictures of herself and will call any non-adult a "baby", much to the chagrin of many a school aged kid.

In the realm of all things girly, she likes to put on chapstick and then smack her lips, rub lotion on her hands - and help me put it on my legs ;) As far as gross motor skills go, she love, love loves to scoot around in her friends' cozy coupes - a monopolization that doesn't always go over well with said friends ;) And if she's not in the little car, she prefers to push her friends around in it - at breakneck speed. Again, something that doesn't always go over well with said friends ;) She still likes to walk backwards, "jump", and look at things upside down and has also added twirling around in circles to her repertoire. In the fine motor skill arena, she has become interested in sidewalk chalk and crayons and is overall becoming more and more independent. At mealtimes, she prefers to feed herself with a fork or spoon - though she's not very adept at getting food on the fork or spoon and thankfully accepts help. She's saying more and more words everyday, including "touchdown" like every good little Texan :)