20 Months!

Meridy admires the "Ssippi."

We are SO tardy with this post. Notice how I use the royal "we" to deflect blame when an error is made? That conversational gambit, combined with my freckles, gets me out of untold amounts of trouble.

Okay, not really. So Meredith is 20 1/2 months old, and we are quickly approaching the date when sane parents switch to measuring the lives of their children in years, rather than months. But we're going to hang on to the sentimental schedule 'til the last minute.

20 months. Mer's got lots of words and tricks. She says the ABCs: A B C D D D D D D. She counts: twooo, niiine, fowoer. She growls and make pirate noises. Some of my favorites: lifting up her shirt, patting her abdomen and saying, lovingly, "bodyyyyy!!!!!!" Pointing at her Papa's shoes and enunciating as clearly as any linguist: "boots!" Standing on Chris' chest, holding his hands, preparing to fall backwards and saying "Ready? Ready? twooo, fowoer...aiiiiiiiii!" She's putting together some sentences -- whole legions of words pour forth when she needs to make her point. As in "Mer her color now yes." And upon arriving at the car in the parking lot: "There it is!"

She's going through a very clingy stage. Chris stayed in Sunday School with her last week because we couldn't inflict a tantrum on the folks at our new church. She's not thrilled to be dropped off at school lately. She lost it when I went for a run the other day. If Chris isn't there, she constantly asks where he is. I'm afraid this may not bode well for the imprint on her brain associated with the word "soccer" as this seems to usually be my answer regarding his absence. Anyway, we're not accustomed to this, so we're having to roll with the punches Mer throws in this new stage. As exhausting as it can be, sometimes it's nice to be clung to. Speaking of which, Meridy gives the BEST hugs.



So there's the 20 month (and 14 days) post. And here's some random pics to go with it, since I've been taking lots of themeless pics of late. Love yall.

Mer loves her Uncle Mamoo...though she's not too sure about his shoes.



Showing off her Carnival Memphis medallions. Those Bollweevils don't just hand those suckers out, so one of the Lareaus must be a good Memphian. Also showing off one of Mommy's dresses. Generally looking a bit 70's -- in a good way.



Exploring Harbor Town...Where Mommies go when they need a pretend vacation, rather than another trip to the grocery.