My Girls at 21 Months

Samantha

Sam has two moods lately.  Super sweet, cute, and fun AND cranky, no changing her mind, stubborn.  Not much in between and her mood will switch in an instant.  Most of the time she is cranky when it comes to meal time.  She MUST have the monkey bib or she will go into full tantrum mode before I even set food in front of her.  You may not put her sippy cup on her tray before she gets food or she will swipe it off immediately.  She must have 2-3 bites of food and then she will gladly take her milk or water.  She only eats peanut butter sandwiches, mac n cheese, noodles, bread, and some fruit.  I get veggies in her by giving her veggie noodles, veggie chips, or a pouch that tastes like fruit.  She will examine every bite of grilled cheese or quesadilla to make sure I didn't hide any meat or veggies in there.  Her vocabulary is increasing.  Her favorite word right now is "No" and she will answer "No" to almost every question you ask because she just loves to say it.  She says "Mawry" (Mallory) "Nunus" (Noodles) Chee (Cheese) Riwee (Ryley) Taytay (Taylor) Doggie (Doggie)  Side (Slide) and lots of others.  She is repeating more if you ask her to say a word.  She still loves her dog pacifier which she gets when she is in her crib and her Dog stuffed animal from Lady and the Tramp.  She likes to fill buckets/baskets and then dump them out.  I think she likes the sound.  She doesn't love baths but she tolerates them and always wants to be the last in and the first one out.  She will stand up and say, "Ness" (next) when Brian is getting the towel ready for the first kid.  She has the cutest giggle especially when it is her sisters making her laugh.  She will sit and look through book after book after book.  And just stack them up next to her when she is done.  She is always the first to fall asleep at nap and bedtime and will sleep through her sisters screaming.  After being down for a while, she becomes the lightest sleeper ever and will wake to a pin drop.  She also enjoys climbing in to the exersaucer and jumping really hard (even though it is too small for her at this point).  She has to have every door shut and every gate closed.  She loves to take a wipe and "clean up" the play room by wiping down the floor or toys.  She helps me with the dirty laundry by gathering it all up and taking it downstairs to the laundry room.  She has been my little helper lately.  Sam is the only one that has figured out how to open the refrigerator and she will just help herself to her milk sometimes.  My little Sam also seems to make her way into my lap while we are all playing.  She loves her Mama and I love her too :)

Taylor

Taylor is our little goof.  She loves to be tickled and loves to laugh.  She is attached to her Nana or her Meme if they are around and will cry if they set her down.  She is normally the last to wake up from nap or in the mornings.  She enjoys her sleep and if she is woken up too early, she is grumpy... really grumpy.  She loves playing with her sisters but sometimes that may involve stealing a toy or taking over something which her sisters don't appreciate much.  Taylor is our biter.  She doesn't do it as often but if she gets really frustrated or if she is wrestling with a sister (typically Sam), she will bite.  We are disciplining her and hoping that this phase passes soon because I do not like seeing her sisters in pain.  Taylor loves buckles.  She buckles herself in her highchair, car seat, and will even climb in to the wagon and snap her seat belt.  She loves puppies and dogs.  And even gets in some kisses with Ryley every once in a while.  Taylor has little knock-knees and she has the goofiest run ever.  The girls will line up at our front door and run as fast as they can down the hall.  Little baby races are so cute.  She really likes to get her teeth brushed and commonly has to pick out what clothes everyone is going to wear.  She still uses her ducky pacifier when she sleeps.  Although she still barely has any hair, she insists on having a pony tail when I'm doing the other girls' hair.   She will tap her head and say, "bow, bow".  She is my girly girl and I can't wait till she has those long locks that I can play with. I can tell her hair is beginning to curl and I love it!  She seems to be the most go with the flow lately.  She is happy playing or reading by herself (unless Nana or Meme are here).  Taylor is my little clown and loves to be tickled.  She plays a cute little game of peekaboo with her Daddy ever so often and she thinks it is the funniest thing ever.  She loves to laugh.  She also loves to cuddle and will gladly give out hugs.  My little Tay Tay always brightens my day.  Love her :)

Mallory
Mal Pal is our leader.  She is surprising us every day with what she can do.  She can get out of her crib (with a sleep sack) and get in and out of the pack n play at her own leisure.  She hasn't tried to get out of her crib in a while since she fell a couple weeks ago.  She says any word you ask her and is commonly combining two words together now.  She knows her shapes and colors and typically has an opinion about what color wash cloth or what color pants you are trying to put on her.  She is such a great eater.  She eats at least double what her sisters do and loves her veggies and meat (contrary to her sisters).  She makes meal time a little less difficult for me.  She loves to be thrown in the air or fall on the couch.  She is a little daredevil and will make anything a challenge.  If she has mastered getting on the couch the regular way, she is going to make it more difficult for herself and climb up over the armrest.  She loves to play outside and go down the slide.  We also have a playset with three infant swings which they all love to do.  Mallory will say "shoes" while she is swinging, meaning she wants you to grab her by the shoes and swing her really high.  She loves to look at books and work puzzles.  She is really good at the name puzzles we have for each of the girls and is beginning to learn her letters.  She is becoming the most interested in tv.  She loves Bubble Guppies and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She will actually sit for about 5 minutes now and watch before getting bored and going on to something else.  Polar bears are her favorite animal.  We will put an animal planet show on the tv with polar bears and she will point and say "bear, bear, bear" over and over again while there is a bear on the screen.  She carries around a Little People polar bear and has a large stuffed polar bear at Nana and Pawpaw's that she loves.  If she wants something, she will repeat the word over and over again until she gets it, even if you have acknowledged her.  She does a lot of fake crying to get attention.  She is super tough so when she cries after "getting hurt" I know it really isn't that bad.  She loves to play in the ball pit, especially going down the slide upside down into the ball pit.  She enjoys going for a "wide" on any of the outdoor toys.  She is a ball of energy and she impresses me every single day.  Love my Mal.

These little girls of mine are just growing and changing daily.  Every day its a new word or a new skill.  One day they love a food and the next day they think I'm trying to give them poison.  They are really enjoying the outdoors.  They will all point out the window and say, "side, side" to go outside.  We play in the backyard on our playset or take the ride-on toys down to the cul-de-sac of our new house.  They are currently interested in collecting leaves.  Most of the time, there are other kids playing down there and we all have a great time.  The girls also love our farm.  They love being free to run around, play on the porch, and see the cows.  Brian will take each of them on their own 4-wheeler ride.  Sam is weary about it, Taylor likes it, and Mallory LOVES it.  Mal never wants to get off.  Our bedtime ritual now is bath, diapers, jammies, brush teeth, brush hair, medicines if needed, sleep sacks, sit in PB chairs for milk while I read to them, a few sips of water, and then to bed.  Sometimes they go straight to bed and other times its a little fight.  They also love to push their shopping carts/strollers around the first floor of our house.  If we are lucky, the timing will work out that Brian and I can eat while they do this.  They love playing with their Little People animals and houses.  They are starting to play more with dolls by giving them their pacifiers, bottles, etc and rocking them or putting them in a stroller.  Its really cute.  They are interacting more and more.  Positively, by giving hugs and having baby conversations that I don't understand and also negatively, by hitting and fighting more.  Although they do love each other and are very concerned when one another is not around, they do enjoy any one on one time they can get with Mommy or Daddy.  They are impressing us every day.  I love them with all of my heart.