Molly walking 2

Here are Molly's crazy walking skills again. :)

Bay-Bee

Molly’s favorite word is “baby.” She pronounces it with a husky kind of voice, drawing out the syllables. Three months ago “baby” meant a doll or her favorite bunny lovey but now her use of the term has broadened to include anything that she wants. If she is sitting in her highchair asking for “baby” and pointing to the counter, who knows what she wants, but chances are it is some exciting food item and not her lovey.

I’ve been trying to get a video of her asking for baby because it is the quintessential Molly moment, but it is surprisingly hard to catch even though she says it all the time. Partially this is because if I don’t drop everything to go look for what she wants when she says “baby” she enters into hysterics. Have I mentioned that mealtimes are sometimes tenuous?

Here is a video of Molly toddling around. She is using walking as a mode of locomotion more and more, switching primarily to walking in the past few days. The video was from a few days ago and doesn’t do total justice to her efforts because her sleeper made her keep slipping.

Molly helps Austin workout

Molly is definitely Daddy's girl, at least lately. On Monday she was so much more content sitting in a stroller watching Austin workout than having my undivided attention inside. Austin took her interest in stride and let her help him pull the sled with weights on it.

Molly rolling around

This video is of Molly rolling around yesterday on the couch, generally having a fabulous time.

My Molly Monkey

I dropped Molly's last nursing session ten days ago, thinking it would be a pretty drawn-out and horrible experience since she was so attached to nursing in bed in the morning. Wrong. She has not been mad or frustrated at me at all, and seems to enjoy her new morning routine as much as the last. So now she watches the news with Austin while devouring one or two bananas. In fact, she is such a Daddy's girl that she probably likes this better because she gets to snuggle with Austin. The actual banana-eating session is pretty funny; she eats them in a trance-like state with her mouth leaning into the banana and eating it in one continuous-pressure mouthful, much like a snake with its prey.

I was getting groceries a week ago Friday and a woman couldn't believe I was buying three bunches of bananas. I told her they might get us through the weekend. Another friend mentioned that her family can't go through a bunch of bananas before they go bad. I live with a bunch of monkeys. Yesterday, Molly ate four bananas, and would've eaten more if we had let her. (We usually try to keep it to 2 or 3!)

In other news, Molly is still crazy. I found her yesterday standing without holding onto anything on top of one of Tucker's chairs. Since she isn't able to stand for more than a few seconds without holding onto anything, this is a precarious situation. As long as she doesn't get hurt, she loves falling. She used to love climbing up the stairs, but now climbs only enough that she can slide down them on her stomach.

Molly likes playing with Tucker's Halloween candy, but I was under the naive impression that she just liked the shiny wrappers and didn't actually really understand it was candy. Yesterday, Tucker was eating Starburst and I let Molly have a second package to hold while I read them books before naptime. Somehow Molly managed to get hold of one of the little pieces I had unwrapped for Tucker from his package and completely ate it in the space of time that I was reading Tucker a book. She was very smart about it--was facing away and apparently absorbed in another task--and by the time she turned around I could just see the red juices around the ring of her mouth. She was delighted and showed me that there was only a tiny sliver left in her mouth. What 12 month-old can chew Starburst? In fact, Molly finished her piece before Tucker did.

Molly is doing things Tucker didn't do at her age. She already takes markers and crayons and draws on paper. She loves puzzles--I keep a puzzle in her crib and hear her trying to put the pieces in during naptime (and she can do ones that are easy shapes like circles). And one of her favorite things is putting things away, organizing and sorting--I think she may have gotten my organizational tendencies. And she also already knows how to jump. I don't think Tucker left the ground like that till he was two!

On a side note, Molly was 20 lbs 4 oz and 30 inches at a year, which is pretty average, though a bit tall. I realized if I don't report that here, I will forget!

Me and the Old Ladies

My new favorite store is Walmart these days. Me and the old ladies love those motorized handicapped carts with the little basket out front. Molly likes them too and has learned how to drive when my attention wavers for a second. She prefers to navigate the store with one hand on the wheel (is she a backseat driver already?). Tucker isn't as enthusiastic as expected, perhaps because he kept falling off. Surprisingly, those carts probably weren't designed for three people. I really should take a picture of the three of us whipping through the aisles. It definitely beats grocery shopping on crutches. (Two more weeks to go!)

Happy Birthday, Molly!

Molly turned one on Saturday, and we celebrated up in Annapolis with a last trip to the Blue House.

When I think of Molly, I think of what a force she is. She is like a whirlwind, so intense and ACTIVE. I joke that she can levitate by sheer force of will. I think of unsuccessfully pinning her down for diaper changes--I really cannot change her diaper alone sometimes. Of crawling up the stairs as fast as she can, while looking back to make sure we're chasing her. Have I mentioned she is fast? Tucker never liked being outside before he could walk, Molly doesn't let a little grass stand in her way. Every pair of pants she owns have dirt stains on the knees. She loves the sandbox, driving the Cozy Coupe car, and crawling as fast as she can to the electric fence near the chicken coup (after all, what's better than electronics?). She has never fallen back to sleep in bed after nursing--not once this whole year--and instead prefers to shout at us until we get up. We are not going to get lazy on her watch.

I think of her huge smiles, and the best laugh ever. Of giving her kisses on the soft part of her neck which gets her every time. I think of her perched in Austin's arms, supervising the meal-making process (because it's always better to be in someone's arms than down on the ground).

I think of ridiculously early bedtimes, cheese as a separate food group, and sucking on bunny's ears as a pacifier. Three words: "Mama" "Dada" and "Baby" (for her bunny lovey). I think of her watching Tucker in the car, and looking at him like he walks on water. Of putting things on and off (like beads), in and out of containers, puzzle pieces--all with focused intensity and a pause to make sure she has an audience. I also think of leaving a swath of destruction... taking every plastic bag out of the sandwich bag box, and the ziplock boxes, and unrolling the foil and the plastic wrap... and then moving on to the CD drawer to chuck every CD on the ground.

I think of screaming during loud car trips, crawling up to the piano to bang on it, meals that last 30 seconds in her highchair because it's more fun to eat in our arms, and every mealtime ending by chucking everything she can find off her tray with as much force as possible.

I love you, my baby bug. I just hope we can keep up! Happy first birthday!

Vermont

A few videos from our time at my mom's house. Her connection is so much faster than ours, I need to post videos while I can!

Molly picking blueberries:


Tucker blueberry picking:


Tucker and my mom doing a dress-up parade (there have been a lot of parades this week at her house):


On an unrelated note, I was a bit surprised at lunch yesterday that our waitress didn't know that wheat was in all bread. Hmmmm.

Where does milk come from?

Yesterday, on the second day of our drive to Vermont, we started passing a lot of dairy farms. I told Tucker that those cows give us the milk we buy.

Tucker: Where does the milk come from?
Me: People milk the cows....
Tucker [interrupting]: I think they put buckets under the cows and catch all their poop. Cows' poop is white, and that is how we get milk.

We have since cleared up the confusion. It turns out milk is NOT cow poop.

In other news, we arrived at my mom's house in Vermont yesterday afternoon after a relatively good (but long) car trip. We were concerned Molly might scream for hours on end like she did on the way to Chattanooga, but we thankfully managed to avoid endless screaming. Of course, she barely slept. What other 9 month old only naps for 40 minutes on a 8 hour car ride? That is a LONG time for her to entertain herself. I went to the thrift store last week and got a bag of items that she had never seen before so I could give her new things in rapid succession. The list included: my little pony, baby doll that talked, kaleidescope, bracelets, light up squishy ball, etc. It was well worth $6.93.

We spent the night at a Days Inn in New York on the way. We splurged on two rooms because there was no way anyone would sleep if all four of us plus the dog were in one. Plus, what in the world do you do when the baby needs to go to sleep at 6 pm but it's a wee bit early for the rest of the family to retire?

Tucker and Molly were thrilled by the hotel. Molly chased Tucker around the rooms, and Tucker wanted to go to bed right away (at 5:30 pm) because he was so excited about the bed. Tucker was also thrilled that he'd be in the same room as Molly. She went down a little after 6, and was quickly out like a light. We sent him in somewhat after 7:30 pm. For the first half hour he was totally silent and we thought he was asleep. But then the excitement got to him and he started making a bit more noise, and woke Molly up (she's a very light sleeper). Then he spent the next hour making faces and hamming it up for her while she sat up in her crib and grinned at each other. Silly kids.

Today is our first full day in Vermont and we had gorgeous weather this morning to pick a ton of blueberries and take a ferry on a 20 minute ride across Lake Champlain. I think I can get used to this vacation thing.

Molly's Unusual Eating Habits

I was nursing Molly before she went to bed tonight; like usual she was totally distracted. The world is very interesting and new when you're nine months old. She has a habit of eating for a few seconds, then arching her back and looking around, then eating some more. Tonight I noticed a new variation on the theme: she would nurse for a few seconds, then come off and eat her toe for awhile, nurse for awhile, then eat her toe some more. She seemed equally pleased with both of her eating options.

Climbing Stairs, Throwing Food and More

A day in the life of my kiddos....

Tucker singing "Patty Cake" to Molly... though for some reason he has turned it into "Peavey Cheek" instead of Patty Cake.


Molly crawling up the stairs and feeling very pleased with herself. She's only 9 months old, I can't believe she can do this already!


Oops... did I throw that? (Molly eating.)


Tucker explaining why it's necessary for Molly to swing with Ducky. I listen to these explanations all day long (and they are usually much more elaborate!)

Molly pics

Molly loves to smile for the camera so I get so many good pictures. She's a cutie!!!!


This is her doing her favorite activity: organizing our CDs/DVDs. It's Austin and my favorite activity too, because she doesn't ask to be held.

Videos: Molly Crawling and Molly Shouting

Molly's Accomplishments

Molly is taking off right now and I am running behind, trying to keep up. She has been scooching around a bit for several weeks, but yesterday she perfected a true let's-chase-a-ball-across-the-room crawl. A few days ago she also learned how to pull herself up. Yesterday I watched my little baby crawl over to her brother playing at the train table and pull herself up next to him to play with him. How can she possibly be that big already? It is amazing.

I've spent today trying to make our house a little bit more safe for her now that she has access to everything knee height and below. It's a challenge with Tucker around too. I sequestered all his tiny toys and removed the balloons Tucker loves to play with (choking hazard if they pop), and then vacuumed everything is sight, especially the bugs that somehow come into our house and die on the floor. Molly apparently finds them fascinating and tasty.

It's so fun watching her enjoy her new abilities, but it is a tough stage for me. She pulls up, but she has no sense to hang on. She pulls up but she's wobbly and falls backwards or forwards. And she has radar for little shiny objects like coins.

Her other amazing accomplishment is four new teeth that have poked through in the past week, all at once. She is celebrating this accomplishment with no longer wanting baby food. Her skills at regular food are a bit lacking at this point, so mealtimes consist of her yelling at us, not wanting to be in her high chair, and then trying to grab our food and fling it onto the floor when we hold her.

Wishing you a belated Happy Fourth of July! Here are pics from the neighborhood parade that Tucker and Molly marched in in Annapolis.

Warrior Princess Shouting

Today we were pondering the meaning of names on our ride back from spending the Fourth of July in Annapolis. Molly spent most of the ride home yelling at us, loudly. That girl is feisty! At 8 months old she is starting to crawl, can go from lying down to sitting up, and is generally about ready to conquer the world. She likes to yell during mealtime, regardless of whether she likes what she's eating or wants to continue to eat. Austin was speculating in the car that maybe "Molly" means "little lion ready to devour daddy" or something like that. The actual meaning is "bitter" (or, if you want to be all positive on us, "of the sea"). I don't think our Molly is bitter, I think the meaning really should be "warrior princess emitting blood-curdling screams" or something like that.

As for the rest of us...

Tucker: Derived from the Old English verb "to torment", for someone who softens freshly woven cloth by beating and trampling it under water. Hmmm... I'm not sure what else to say.

Jacqueline (female version of Jacques, which is a version of Jacob): 1) May God protect or 2) Supplanter (ie Jacob supplanted Esau's birthright). So I guess I'm a protector and poser at the same time.

Austin: Great or Magnificent. Boring (not you, sweetie!).

Sleeping in a bucket

Tucker has taken to napping again sometimes if I tire him sufficiently out at the pool. Of course, the boy does not nap conventionally. He burrows under sheets and blankets and falls asleep in "caves" or, even better, falls asleep with his head in a bucket. Hmmmmm....

He also enthusiastically wears one of my shirts to bed sometimes. Since the shirt "fits" him, he is convinced that he and I are the same size. The pic below is him making dried bananas with me first thing in the morning. Whenever I ask what he dreamt about, he always says "I dreamed about making ____ [insert whatever fun food he wants to eat]."


Here's Tucker with his first face painting. A yellow shark on one cheek and a green fish on the other. Whenever we go to a place where there's face painting the line is sooooooo long. I decided to buy face paints so we could do it at home and dissolve the mystery behind the activity and hopefully skip some long lines in the future. We'll see how it works.

And here are my kiddos at the dentist today. Tucker was not interested in sitting in the chair this time, but I told him he could hold Molly if he sat right in it. So yes, he got his teeth cleaned with his baby sister in his lap. She was enthusiastic about everything and seemed very intent on discovering what this teeth thing is all about (I keep thinking she's about to get teeth b/c she gnaws on everything, all the time, but so far nothing but cute little baby gums).

Some other highlights recently include:
*Tucker giving Molly his ducky or Willis and going without one of them himself so that she can have a "special sleep." Wow. That is love.
*A new obsession with blow drying hair. Apparently his preschool teacher Ms. Betty blow dries her hair. It is a great treat for him these days, though he was a bit confused at first about whether a blow dryer was or was not a hair clipper for actually cutting hair.
*Speaking of confusion, I am continually entertained by Tucker's use of hot/cold. He says things like "I am SO hot, let's snuggle under the blanket." or "I am SO cold, let's turn on the fan." Of course, most of the time he is neither hot nor cold and just wants to make a "snuggle-sleep-party-cave" or play with a fan. He also continually misuses the concept of "later." Whenever I say later he immediately launches into a "Will we never do that again???" in quite the sob story voice. I must hear that question 20 times a day, even about things he doesn't particularly like to do.

Recent pics

Kiddos hanging out at church...




Mad baby!

Kite festival





Ben doing some babysitting

Quote of the Day

Tucker runs into the kitchen and says to me, "I was making Molly into a cake!"
Tucker runs back to Molly and says, "I'm going to eat you right up, little cake!"

The pictures below are of Molly as a cake.

Molly is 6 months old

Molly June bug hit the half-year mark a couple weeks ago, so I think it's time to give a little baby update. I've been thinking about how Molly is different from how Tucker was at her age. So far what I've noticed is:

1) Molly is not as snuggly. She tends to keep her head up (not nuzzled into you), and she doesn't like to be held all the time. When she is held, she prefers to face outward so she can see what is going on.
2) She is a go-getter. She lunges for what she wants and is a persistent and clear communicater.
3) She doesn't like to be dirty. Tucker couldn't have cared less about messy diapers.
4) She is more physical than Tucker was. She turned over a lot earlier and the thrill of being able to do that herself makes her like tummy time a lot. I suspect she'll crawl way before Tucker did--she already manages to thump, thrust, rotate, and twist all over her crib (actually, I just ordered a breathable crib bumper so that she will stop getting stuck in the slats). She sleeps on her stomach now that she can put herself in that position.
5) She is less cautious than Tucker. She likes to be swung fast and thrown into the air... this is how to get her really laughing. Tucker was always a bit unsure about these things till he got used to them.
6) She loves to eat. Tucker refused solids till he was almost a year whereas Molly was drooling over our food by 3 months. She leans in and tries to get what we're eating. She has sucked the juice out of a broccoli twig, has gnawed on spiral ham for Easter, mashed up sweet potato fries and insists on three meals of solids a day (in addition to not giving up any nursing sessions). The funny thing is that even with her zest for food, she is much smaller than Tucker--she weighed in at 16 lbs 8 oz at 6.5 months, which is 12 oz less than Tucker weighed at 4 months.
7) I think Molly's not as smiley as Tucker. When she does smile, her whole face lights up; she has a truly beautiful smile that illuminates her. She's not stingy on her smiles, but my memory of Tucker is that he was always grinning.
8) She is not as good a napper as Tucker. Part of this is due to the fact that her naps have to work around our schedule, but Tucker was much more consistent.
9) She is much more focused on other kids. Obviously this is due to having a big brother, but if she has a slightly older child to watch, she will be entranced.
10) She loves TV. Tucker didn't notice TV till a lot older, but Molly has been craning her head around to watch for several months now.
11) She loves Ben. If Ben is around, she has a hard time eating because she just wants to watch him (and he loves to be around Molly during mealtime). I don't remember Tucker having this fascination with Ben so early.

Ways my kiddos are the same:
1) They are both stinkers with refusing bottles. We are trying with a sippy cup for Molly now because at least she enjoys it and doesn't scream.
2) They both love to be outdoors. This is the antidote to fussiness.

Ways Molly and I are the same:
1) We hum when we eat something we like.

We love you, Molly June Bug!

Lots of Videos

We're visiting my mom right now who has a fast internet connection so I can actually post videos without the connection timing out. Here are videos of Molly eating for the first time, wiggling like crazy on one of our first warm days, rolling over, trying desperately to roll over, squealing and generally doing all sorts of good baby things.