15 Months

Today marks 15 months for Miss Mallory, and boy has this little girl grown since just her one year birthday. Not so much physically (other than more hair filling in), but mentally she is learning and figuring things out so much quicker now. Every day it's something new. Whether it be a word/phrase that she says or an action that she does; it's already time for us to start watching what we say and do around this little monster. Here are some of the developments that have occurred over the past few months:

• She is a talking fool. Talks to us, talks to herself, talks to the TV, talks to the pets, talks to other people's pets, talks to her dollies/toys; talks, talks, talks. However, she becomes silent as soon as a stranger or someone she hasn't seen in awhile comes close. Then she freezes as though she's pretending to be a statue. When that person is a safe distance away again, she's back to talking and it's usually saying "bye, bye" to them.
• She is starting to understand you when you ask a question and she recognizes key words very well. It's so nice to get a "yeah" or a "no" answer from her when I'm trying to figure out what she wants. I've even been able to use my multiple-question-tactic to calm her down faster when she starts to throw a tantrum. It doesn't work all the time, but I still try every time now. 
• Speaking of tantrums, she's very good at throwing them. That tint of red in her hair is there for a reason. And she doesn't just scream and cry; she gets violent and if you're standing too close, watch out. I can't even tell you how many "Incident Reports" we've had to sign when picking her up from school. I'm almost afraid that if she gets too many they'll kick her out and we'll be known as "that family."
• She's a total mommy's girl. If she knows I'm around, she's my little shadow. It's cute and I love the attention, but there are times when it's not so cute. I've gotten pretty good at dancing around her when I'm in the middle of doing things and she's right at my heels, but every now and then I'll bump her with my leg and down she goes. She's a trooper and gets right back up, but whines out loud to let me know her patience is wearing thin and I better start paying attention to her soon. My favorite mommy-daughter time is rocking her to sleep at night; I soak it up with a big fat smile on my face.
• She has a love-hate relationship with Leo, or "Yo" as she calls him. She loves to play with him and cuddle with him, but she also loves to taunt him and push/hit him. They both get incredibly jealous of each other when we're giving one attention and not the other. I can imagine that if we have another child, Mallory would act the way she does with Leo to her sibling. We're teaching her to be more gentle, but it's not totally sinking in yet.
• With her personality becoming more strong and unique to her, Mallory has picked up a couple of new nicknames: love bug and monster. While they are names that you would see on opposite ends of a spectrum, they totally fit Mallory to a T. As Jody best put it, she is a child of extremes and you will always be able to tell what emotion she is feeling at that moment; heart on her sleeve kind of kid.
• While she started out as a garbage disposal eating anything and everything, she is now much more picky. And not only is she picky about what she eats, she changes her mind about what she likes/dislikes constantly. She totally likes something one day and if you give it to her again a couple days later, she might not like it. Sometimes I end up making three or four different dinners just to figure out one that she'll eat. I know that eventually she'll need to learn to eat what I give her the first time, but right now I'm more focused on getting food in her tummy. Her go-to meal if other options aren't working are Dino Nuggets and PB&J. Foods that I'm surprised she doesn't care for: McDonald's cheeseburgers, Oreo cookies, Cinnamon graham crackers (but she likes the regular kind), mashed potatoes (even if we loaded them up with butter or cheese), strawberries, and cheese quesadillas. Items she can't get enough of: bananas, yogurt (especially the Greek yogurt), apples, Cheerios, and scrambled eggs.
• She loves music and she loves to shake her booty. Her favorite "band" is the Fresh Beat Band and if the tour coming to Stockton next month wasn't absurdly overpriced, I would totally take her (and I'd be the mom dancing right along with her). She knows some of the lyrics and does little gestures for "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and Row, Row, Row Your Boat." At my mom's house last weekend we shared a room, and at 5:00am she woke up and started singing "Row, Row, Row..." to herself. I had to try hard not to laugh out loud, it was so cute. 
• While she shows signs of being totally girly (loves to carry her purse around, is gentle with her dollies, is very dramatic), she also is such a tomboy. Lately she's obsessed with diving and free-falling into piles of pillows or blankets or stuffies. It's all fun and games unless she does it and almost falls off the bed or couch. And her red chair is now either a tool to step up onto higher things, or a trampoline for her to jump on. No black eyes yet.
• I'm sure she's not the only kid who is fascinated with herself, but it's so funny how vain Mallory can be when she's watching herself in the mirror. Right before I put her in the bathtub I'll stand her on the toilet so she can see herself. She'll stand there and just act like she's the cutest thing she's ever seen; flirting and laughing at the baby staring back at her. Hilarious. I also saw her kissing herself in her closet mirror. And if she sees anyone at the computer, she wants to sit on your lap and watch videos and look at pictures of herself. Nothing else, just her. What a ham she is.

Jumping

Making a mess at Mamaw's house

Rolls are slowly disappearing :(

Taking over Papa's computer

Bananas aka "bambis"