Mara is 14 months, 1 week, and 3 days old. Not that I am counting.

She has hit every milestone in stride, early or right on target. She was always alert, looks right in your eyes like she knows all your stories, and laughs heartily. She crawled right on time and is Speedy Gonzales on four legs. She can crawl both up and down stairs. What she does not do is walk.

She travels along the train table. She pulls herself up. She walks with her hands death gripping yours (we do this for 10 minutes a night). She also turns her right foot in. Not 100% of the time but most of the time.

Wednesday we have an appointment with a Pediatric Orthopedist at Vandy. We are not overly concerned, hopefully just a simple brace will get her walking in no time.

Wish us luck. Either for the appointment or for after the walking begins!

When Mara was just older than a newborn, we were at the park and met a dad and his two sons. The boys were no older than five and about the same difference apart as Thane and Mara. They were also wearing very brightly colored (red and white, I think) matching shirts. We started talking to the dad and he gave us two pieces of advice that we have taken to heart:

1) When you go out somewhere big (zoo, aquarium, etc) dress the kids in loud shirts that match so you can spot them easily. (OK, so not the matching, but we do the loud thing)
2) Tell them how they are each other’s best friends and that they love each other.

We do #2 all the time. Wow, in a house with a potty trained little boy and a 6 month old puppy, I should rephrase that last statement. We took the second one to heart and have said that all the time. “Mara loves you” “Thane, who is you best friend?” “Thane loves you Mara” etc etc etc.

Sunday night, Mara was sick. She would not lie down and would certainly not go to sleep. I rocked her in my arms until 10 pm when she finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

Before Thane went to bed, he came in to check on his crying sister. As I held her, he put her tiny hand in his slightly bigger hand and said…

“It’s okay, Mara. I love you. I am right here. I am not going anywhere.” Then he kissed her cheek.

To show you that we always do the right thing, especially when it comes to Mara, here are some pictures to prove it.

Mara found Aesop’s crate open and decided to crawl in

At a friend’s, Mara found the (shut off) treadmill and decided to climb up. This is her trying to get off of it. Apparently she does this at school on the steps sometimes too.

This is Thane, sick at home, with a downgraded fever. Photo is here for his awesome fashion sense (those are shark pj’s with a preds jersey) and the skates he won’t take off. Apparently he can get to the Kleenex faster this way.