Marie

Look at this little smiley face!
Playing with the basketball post after knocking it down. Apparently, they think it's a see-saw.
She's in her big girl seat with a yellow bow in her hair. She only tolerates the bow for a little while, though. Then, she tries to eat it.

She has gotten into accessories lately. Marmie must be teaching her all about it. In this picture she has a faux purse-it's actually a bib on her arm.

These two pictures were taken in the morning when the light was coming in the family room. They make her look so serene...don't be fooled.

Oh, little Marie! She is so adorable...I just want to eat her up sometimes. We call her Bear and Oso/Osito (Bear/Little Bear in Spanish). Sometimes, it's Ree-ree or Reezers. I often call her Tiny because she was the tiniest one of the bunch at birth (in length and weight). She's still the shortest. What she lacks in height, however, she makes up for in personality.

She got the name Bear because of her sleeping habits. We always kid that she is like a little hibernating bear. She sleeps 12 hours a night, and she does not skip a nap. She's a thumb sucker, and as you take her up to her room for a nap or at night, you can gage how tired she is by when the thumb goes in the mouth. Some days, we are only on the second stair going up, and the thumb is in the mouth. If it's not in there by the time you get in the room, she'll definitely get it in once you put her in her crib. The girl is all about her beauty rest, and we are so grateful to have one baby who is a good sleeper!

Marie also has a secret obsession/eating disorder with paper and/or cardboard products. She likes to eat her books, little scraps of paper she finds, really anything that's made out of some sort of paper. She's incredibly sneaky about it. She'll confiscate her little piece of whatever, crawl (or lately walk) away to a corner, turn her back to the adult in the room, and munch away. Typically, whoever is with her thinks that she's being such a good baby playing in the corner alone. Then, when she is approached, and you say "Marie!," she quickly throws the item to the floor and moves away from it as quickly as possible. She obviously knows that paper eating is off limits, but it doesn't stop her from trying to get in little here and there.

Bear is quite the mama's girl. If I'm in the room, I have to be holding her or giving her attention. If someone else tries to hold her, she's reaching for me and crying bloody murder. However, if I'm out of sight, she'll tolerate others. The minute she sees me, though, her mommy-itis starts up.

Miss Ree is our best eater. The child gobbles down adult-sized mouthfuls of food. She shovels handfuls of food into her mouth, and I swear she doesn't chew some of it. In fact, I know she doesn't, because sometimes there are whole pieces of vegetables in her poop when I change her diaper.

Marie is knows how to play the innocent victim. She'll often start a fight with Will by stealing one of his toys. Then, he'll come over and hit or bite her, and she'll scream and cry and look at me like she has no idea what she did to deserve this. At first, I didn't notice that she was instigating the violence. I mentioned to my dad that Will was always torturing her, and he said, "Don't let her fool you-that little girl is sneaky. She's probably doing something to him before he does something to her." I started watching more closely, and I realized that he was right...Marie usually gets Will worked up.

I would have to say that out of all of them, Marie has the worst cry. It is so sad and heart-wrenching. It makes you just want to go pick her up and squeeze her.

That child got a mouth full of teeth before Abby had 2. It was crazy. She now has her molars. She's like a little shark with those teeth, too. When she bites down on something, she shakes her head back and forth viciously and giggles. It hurts!

Marie was the last to take steps, but once she got it, she got it. She quickly had a good sense of balance and was walking around taking tiny little steps, while holding her arms up in the air. She now walks 100% of the time-no crawling at all.

She is hilarious with her signs. Her favorite sign is "more," and she does it all the time. She'll just look at you and sign more, but most of the time, I have no clue what she wants more of. If I just start singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider when she signs more for no reason, that usually makes her happy.