Housebroken

I can't wait to show Molly's cute Halloween costume, It's too funny. I chose it because she loves to say "woof woof" and because it's just too freaking cute!

Doing a puppy walk with daddy.

Despite her adorable Halloween costume, she isn't housebroken yet, but we have made some small steps in that direction. My original approach of rubbing her nose in her accidents and beating her with a rolled up newspaper isn't working, so I'm implementing my new plan and trying to "catch" her after lunch when she typically goes and put her on her potty in the hopes that she will get the picture and start thinking that it's the cool thing to do. So far we've had one success and a couple misses. The misses seem to occur because she thinks of the potty as a sort of tag style home base. That is to say, if you're touching it, your safe. Unfortunately things don't magically fly into the potty just because you're near it. This approach is definitely not the "done in a week" approach but it's a start for now. Potty training right now might just be wishful thinking on my part and if she doesn't seem to show any further interest I'm probably going to back off until she's a little older.

This morning was a blast. While I was putting clothes in the washer, Molly wandered into the computer room, found a purple sharpie and gave herself a Juvie tat. I hope marking herself up with a sharpie doesn't mean she has a future as an annoying "emo" youth. I actually think that it looks kind of like a Chinese character. Maybe she's been watching too much "Ni Hao Kai Lan" and it says "Share and Care FOR LIFE".

Pa-THETIC!

If anyone has any of their own sharpie related incident, you should know that hand sanitizer works wonders. I'm grateful to the parent that had shared that with me. She of course knew it because of previous experience.

After:

"Graysontime"

So we go to babytime at the library yesterday and it's a completely different experience from the other times we've gone. The only difference that I can find is that Grayson wasn't there. Maybe it was a coincidence and she was just tired, but she was comparatively quiet and reserved. I think Molly might have been just showing off for Grayson the previous times we've gone. She actually sat on my lap a few times without fighting me and when she did venture out into the center, she mostly stood there just looking around. At one point she even went to the door, started to open it and repeated "bye bye..." I guess babytime just isn't the same without Grayson.

Last night Gran and "Pa-pah!" (as Molly says) came over and babysat while Jonny, Mere, Jeffrey and I went to watch "The Big Lebowski" at the Historic Theater downtown. Since it's Jonny's favorite movie, we just couldn't miss the opportunity to see it on a big screen. We even managed to have a good time despite the D-bag who thought he was as witty and clever as the movie, and felt the need to yell out quotes and comments right before they were relevant. I suppose this was his way of showing familiarity with the movie which I guess equaled "coolness" for him. While we were gone Molly had a great time hanging out with my parents and even pulled out a few new tricks, like what we're now calling her "peep walk". While watching "Peep and the big wide world" (think birds) Molly came up with this little crouching walk with her hands behind her like little tail feathers. It's pretty funny to watch. When we got home, Molly was asleep and she hadn't even put up a fight for Gran, maybe I'll invite her over for bedtime every night!

I don't have very many pictures which is sort of surprising, but probably good news for my hard drive.

Rocking out and giving us some jazz hands.

She's finally getting the hang of the lady bug rocker.

Molly Mac: Looking towards the future.

Petting Zoo

I don't know if it's because she thinks she's eating like a dog, but when snacking, sometimes Molly likes to do it pie eating contest style.

When feeding your toddler like this it's important to remember petting zoo rules and keep your hand flat.

Molly's little baby mullet is getting longer and I've been hoping that soon I'll be able to actually do something with it, but I think these pigtails look pretty pathetic. Also as you can see from her hand placement, she has no intentions of keeping them there.

I'm still a fan of the bow clipped bangs but Molly's still not having it. The only way I can get her to tolerate it long enough for a picture is to sit her down in the chair and bribe her with her favorite "toy", my ipod. I suppose in her defense I should disclose that I have actually installed apps for her. Mostly she just likes to scroll through the music. She's kind of like her uncle Chris in that she can't ever finish a whole song before she has to find a different, probably better song. Just kidding Chris :-)

I'm getting her to smile here by doing a sweet, cookie monster puppet show with her cookie monster puppet.

The way she works the ipod is really impressive to me. She knows how to unlock it, find her apps, use her apps, find music, play the music, skip to the next track, change the juxtaposition so that she can look at the album art and flip through that, even search google for "aeeeeekklllllaaajjjbelkwpdkkkkkk" which every mother knows is of the utmost concern for babies today. I now turn off the wifi before I let her go crazy on it so she's not able to go into facebook and "like" that someones hamster died...or worse. Of course it's only a matter of time before she figures out how to turn it back on. In about 5 minutes she's going to surpass me in technological knowledge. Really I think her ability to figure it all out so quickly is a testament to how intuitive these things have become. Still, I have visions of creepy techie babies getting ready to take over the world.

Tunnel Vision

The other day I had this genius idea of making a little tunnel with a blanket between the ottoman and the couch. I really had high hopes for how awesome this was going to be for Molly. I was convinced that this would place me in Molly's eyes as "the coolest person ever". I know that I'm Molly's favorite person, but I'm not always the coolest person, so this was going to be something. Well, I tried. She did get into it a tiny bit, but she mostly wished that she could somehow sit on top of it, which she tried once unsuccessfully.

It would be WAY cooler if I could jump on top.

I don't really get it.

Lately the cute thing that Molly has been up to is getting her See n' Say (which sings "Old Mac Donald") and "singing" "Ee-I-Ee-I-Oh" over and over. It cracks me up mostly because this is something that she came up with on her own. I have never sang this to her or even accentuated it when her see n' say was singing it. Actually I find that I even go out of my way when playing with the See n' Say to avoid all of the music since I find it kind of annoying.

Another cute thing that she does (there are many) is how she eats raspberries. She like to put them on her fingers and now she even does a little dance before she eats them. This video showcases her talent.

Today we went to babytime at the library with Grayson. I again had to ask myself if she could possibly belong to Jonny and I. Jonny is pretty much socially anxious and while I'm a little better I'm never trying to be the center of attention. For the entire first song of babytime, Molly stood in the middle of the room (while everyone else sat with their parents) and enjoyed herself while everyone sang to her...or so she thought. I'm conflicted most of the time, on one hand I don't want to crush her spirit, on the other hand I'd rather she didn't believe that babytime and the world revolved around her. They said in the rules of babytime that I should feel free to let her wander...but maybe I should have made her sit with me, even if she protested.

I recently bought Molly a Fisher Price record player. I bought it mostly because I had one when I was little and have vague memories of it. We also found a long lost record deep within the pockets of the pocket doors of this house when we were fixing things up. I guess I had inserted it in there when I was a toddler. Maybe I believed that the house would play the music in some grand fashion if I put it there. I think I may have over estimated her abilities to play nice with it though because she probably only needs about 10 more minutes with it before she breaks it. I've since hidden it from her because it was sort of expensive for a toddler toy and let's be honest I mostly bought it for myself.

Here are some pictures of Molly being Molly in her playroom. Having a playroom is the best thing EVER! There is a significant reduction in toys in the living room. Since Molly doesn't sleep through the night (she has been taking epic naps though...awesome!) it reduces the chance that I will die tripping over something with wheels onto something that is surprisingly sharp for a baby toy.

Molly also wants to wish uncle Chris safe and pleasant traveling on his big trip! Hopefully this blog will kill 10 minutes or so on one of your many, probably lengthy layovers! Take Care, we love you!

Secret Weapon

The battle for sleep continues here, but I now have a secret weapon.

Yep, you're looking at it, the back of Molly's head. When I'm putting her to sleep, many nights she resists and squirms and sometimes even bites, scratches and hits. However, the other day I discovered that this all goes away if I simply stroke the back of her head. I'm not sure why this has a hypnotizing effect on her, but I'll take it!

Last night we had the Morris' over for dinner and Molly and Grayson had lots of fun in the playroom and the other rooms of the house as well.

Molly hasn't been able to wear this bib for months because she immediately rips it off as soon as I would put it on. Grayson borrowed it for dinner and suddenly she wants to wear it. Just for fun though. I tried to get her to wear it for breakfast and she wouldn't do it.

I get it now, when I want her to do something, she won't. When I don't care, she will. Rocking a sweet headband, but if I want her to wear something in her hair...no way!

hopping with the hippity hop bunnies.

I'll let you kiss me if you give me all of your ice.

Toy boxes are great for many reasons.

If you get lonely you can invite a friend.

Poor Molly and Grayson are constantly being manipulated by their parents so that we may better document their lives. For the record, we practically begged them to kiss.

He's so cute though!

We tried to get a picture of us with the kids, but it wasn't going to happen. Grayson wanted down and Molly wanted to pick her nose.

So we gave up and let them loose. Ramsey and I managed to not throw any fits or pick our noses on camera. Afterwards, that's another story

We had a great time and hope to do it again soon!

Lights Out

Last night sucked, there's no sense sugar coating it. It started at bedtime when the huge storm that August has been waiting for finally made an appearance. Supposedly it hailed in the foothills, but at our house it was all wind and rain. Usually I'm all for storms, the desert needs them and desert people need them too, but this was one of those crazy roof destroying, tree uprooting, electricity outing storms that in the end probably does more damage than good. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, but when your roof starts leaking and the house is hot and muggy at babies' bedtime, it's a little harder to see it from that perspective. At first I thought I would just postpone bedtime and that soon enough the power would be up and running and we could get on with our night, but it just didn't happen. After an hour or so we decided it was time to just get Molly to sleep and hope for the best. We took her out to Mere's front porch where she has a nice little gliding love seat. This was the nicest part of the evening. The wind has died down, the rain has stopped and all that was left was a nice cool breeze. If I hadn't required sleep, I would have like to just stay out there all night. Fairly quickly, Jonny had her asleep and we took her back to our bed since that was the coolest room. Pretty soon though the cool was wearing off and it was just sort of hot and sticky...pair that with a hot sticky baby in your bed taking up all of the space and you start to feel pretty shitty. We tried to get the pack n' play assembled but it wouldn't work and the episode culminated in Jonny drop kicking out the door...no exaggeration. Around 11 we decided that we had had enough and decided to try for greener pastures at my parent's house. Thankfully their power and A/C were working beautifully and we soon attempted to settle in. We quickly found though that Molly's comfort relied heavily on our discomfort. As soon as she started to sense that maybe you were getting comfy and sleepy, she would remind you whose comfort it was that was most important. Thankfully our power is back on (Mere said it was out until 5!) and she is now happily napping in her crib. Thank Goodness!

Lights out! Time for a little flashlight cellphone photography.

Letting her dissemble my purse was my secret to extending bedtime without excess fussing.

She of course thought this was just some sort of exciting adventure.

She's a peach!

Molly's Granny brought her some peaches and she was really into them. She ate the whole thing just like she's doing here. It was impressive, but the kid LOVES fruit! There is no fruit that she won't eat.

Jonny's nose is shaped as such that he can keep his wedding band hanging on it. I'm not sure why or how this was discovered, but it was. Molly thinks it's hilarious and of course wanted to try it too.

It starts here,

Then you put it like this,

Ta Da!

I really wanted to get a video of Molly getting into her closet without her knowing because when she knows that there is an electronic device around, she can't concentrate. Unfortunately that is easier said than done, so she isn't really giving the loud, excited screech that she usually gives when she goes into her closet, her all. I think she must feel the waves radiating off of electronic devices because she always knows where they are. Today at the grocery store there was an old man who thought it was hilarious how she deftly swooped into my purse, snatched up my iPod and started the music without me knowing.

It's also worth mentioning that if it is clean, and hanging up, she will always pick out the same outfit.

This picture is from back in April, but this is her favorite outfit. It's unfortunate that she'll be outgrowing it soon.