Mardi Gras Molly

Of course that isn't for a couple weeks, but Jonny was in New Orleans this past week and so he came home with lots of fun "pretty necklaces" for Molly to play with. In case you were wondering, he got them all the hard way...that is of course if you understand that to mean that they gave them out at the meetings that he had to sit through all week.

The game for the night was put them on, take them off.

Even Dink and Riley got in on the fun.

I'm relieved that Jonny is now home for at least a month before he has another trip for work. He says his schedule is about the same and maybe it was just the three consecutive weeks that have thrown me off, but I swear he's going to be traveling more than usual this year. Hopefully after August he'll be able to keep close to home for awhile.

The other day Molly insisted that she have her bear with her for her snack.

Some for me,

some for you.

She's really into pretending with her animals and babies, it's really kind of cute. I just hope she doesn't think she can treat her new sibling like she treats them. She's been known to put her baby in the microwave.

She actually let me put pigtails in her hair and she even left them in for a few hours. they were so cute. Hopefully she'll get into them soon.

Today it's raining, so we bought Molly some rain boots and I chased her around while she went puddle crazy. In the end, we were both really wet and pretty muddy. It's of course already sunny out.

Probably won't get much use out of those boots.

I realized I haven't written about one of my favorite "Mollyspeaks". It's one of those things that's so inventive and cute, we haven't bothered to teach her the real words to use. When eating, she loves dipping her food in any sort of sauce, condiment, yogurt, whatever is handy. When asking for it, she asks for "near". It started because she would point out places on her plate where she wanted the stuff while exclaiming "near!" (here). She's been doing this for several months now, but I do think that she's starting to outgrow it since she asked for ketchup the other day by name. She did however point out the places she wanted it on her plate. I suppose it's for the best that she doesn't talk like a two year old forever.

Bubbles

Since we've been staying close to home the past week or so I've had to try and come up with things for us to do around here. Of course she loves being outside and I do too, but I get tired of chasing her around our hazardous areas trying to prevent injuries. She likes sidewalk chalk (In case you didn't already know, Crayola is far superior to Rose Art) but the other day I remembered we had a bubble gun. She LOVED it. She loves for us to blow bubbles while she's in the bathtub so I don't know why I forgot we had such an awesome toy. I will say that trying to take her picture while operating the bubble gun was a little difficult. I gave up trying to get her with her eyes open since the bubbles popping all around her were making her blink so much.

Keeping with the bubble theme, backstroke in her bubble bath.

Today I decided to try making her some play dough. For Christmas she got some of pre-packaged stuff, but when we were at the Morris' and she was first introduced to the stuff, she had a hard time remembering not to eat it. It probably isn't too bad, but even their commercials on T.V. have the disclaimer "fun to play with! not to eat!". Since I really don't want to call poison control for the 3rd time in her life (how many times before they take her away?) I found a recipe that was really similar to one I remember making when I was a kid. The only difference was the inclusion of Gelatin which I think made a huge difference in the consistency, from what I remember anyhow. I did see her sample it once, but the insane saltiness of it made her spit it out right away...perfect! Dink did the same thing when she tried sampling it too, serves her right! Here's the recipe I used.

play dough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
3 1oz pkgs unflavored gelatin
Mix all ingredients together and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until consistency of mashed potatoes. Let cool and knead on heavily floured suface with floured hands until dry.
Then of course I kneaded it with different food colorings.

The spread.

She liked it when I made little ball for her...

So she could smash it. She's all about destruction.

Her masterpiece!

She looks so proud!

Other than that, not much is going on here. I'm glad that my parents made it home through all of the snow and ice almost completely unscathed and that we are half way through the 3 weeks that Jonny is gone this month.

Annette had mentioned that I should write about being pregnant while corralling a toddler and for me, it's just about the toddler right now. The 1st trimester was practically non-existent to me since I didn't even know about it and I really don't feel much different (although I have had to break out a few maternity clothes since nothing fits anymore). I suppose I'm a little more tired here and there but when you've been sleep deprived for 2 years, who notices anyhow? The real action for me is going to start in August. Yikes! I hope I'm ready.

Tennis!

I've been terrible at taking pictures lately, so I don't have much to post. Part of the problem is my camera battery. A pro and a con of my camera is that it take AA batteries. This can be really convenient if you're prone to forgetting to charge things (I am) but since I use my camera a lot (usually) I can blow through them pretty quickly. So I decided to try rechargeable batteries, which really blow. Ramsey told me that hers work pretty well and I read up on why mine suck and hers rock, so I have some on the way so I can be back in the picture taking business. God forbid we don't document every single little piddly thing that Molly does :-)

We've been hanging out with the Morris clan lately since she's still on maternity leave and we could both use the company. They generally play pretty nice together, but there is still the whole toddler element, so they have their fights which we have to break up occasionally. Of course it always revolves around what belongs to who. "MINE" I pretty sure it's impossible to go through childhood without going through that stage. Despite their problems, they still manage to have a good time together and are actually getting better at taking turns which is kind of cute. I also like that Molly is very concerned with Grayson's well being when he's upset or if he falls or something like that. She always says "Grayson are you okay!?!" Of course sometimes I sure that she is part of his problem.

Here's Molly at Grayson's the the other day she was having a good time with the tennis racket. Aunt Meredith is so proud!

I know that the whole language updates are probably getting old, but it continues to crack me up. As Annette wrote in her blog, Molly likes to talk about things being broken. Anything might be "broken". Crayons, an empty cup, her face (after bumping her head). She's also really concerned with "fixing" the broken things and then exclaiming after she's successfully fixed something that it's "much better". So say her hair is in her eyes (a frequent problem) she'll say "Oh-no! eyes broken!...I fix it...(rubs hair frantically)....oh! It's better! much better!"

Well, that's all I have! maybe I'll be better in the next few weeks, but for now I'm out of pictures and stories.

Pea in the Pod

Well there it is! The pea in the pod. On the left of the photo the little blob shaped like a woman's restroom symbol or possibly a corn husk doll. This time it was surprise for us, which honestly was kind of fun. I didn't know until the beginning of January and by the time I made it to see my midwife earlier this week, I was already 11 weeks in. The official date is August 10th, but of course we'll have to wait and see if that's really when he/she is ready. One thing is for sure, it will be too hot. It is slightly disturbing that this is all going to take place THIS YEAR! It just sounds so soon and I feel like I have so much to do to get ready.

You may have noticed I changed the name of the blog from "Molly Mac" to "Mac Attack", I decided that soon enough, not everything will be about Molly.

For now though, it still is for the most part.

Today Molly was helping Jonny out in the garden. She isn't so much a help as a destroyer, but we were able to keep the damage at a minimum.

The other day I attempted to get Molly into some practice panties. I gave up and did a load of laundry before nap time though. She has been known to let me know in time to get her to the potty, but not enough.

She does look pretty cute in them though.

Her new favorite activity is drawing. I really shouldn't say new because she's been into writing "Molly" as she says, for a long time. She has now expanded her pictures to include circles. I love how she gets into it and lays down on her belly.

Well that's all of the news from us, I'm sure in the coming months I'll have lots to post about!

Adventures in Pottysitting

We've been back for almost a week now, but I haven't been able to get it together and write a post. I'd like to say it's because I've been accomplishing lots of other things, cooking, cleaning, taking down the Christmas stuff. Unfortunately I've only cooked and cleaned the minimum amount allowed for someone like me and the Christmas stuff is glaring at me harder and harder every day (I swear I'm going to do it tomorrow, quit looking at me that way!) I'd also like to say that I've made some great effort into potty training, but I haven't done that either. We did have one epic night on the potty though. If you're not interested in disgusting things, please feel free to look at the pictures and leave, I understand completely. The other night She told me she wanted to use the potty after her bath. I set her up and was then shooed away by the suddenly shy Molly. First she did her "Stand by the potty and pee" move but after being reminded that you have to sit on the potty, she got to work. Without getting into the gory details, I'll just say that 6 times I went in to clean out the potty, only to be shooed away for her to go at it again. I'd like to say that they were all diminutive in size, but that was not the case. The only explanation is that for some reason she had saved it all up for this one potty adventure. Gross I know, but I thought it was a story I should remember.

We had a great time in MO my only complaint was that it was too short of a visit. Molly of course had a fantastic time demanding and receiving every one's attention. She actually did really great on the plane. We used all the tricks we could think of: endless "dados" (crackers) and fruit snacks, writing Molly and drawing circles, and the main event~unlimited use of the ipod which had been loaded with entire seasons of both Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba as well as several new exciting apps. The best part was how she thought take-off and landing (potentially unsettling for even some adults) were super fun. She kept saying "WEEE, WEEE!" It also helped our image that on the way there, there was an 18 month old who screamed almost the whole time. The mother commented to me how well behaved Molly was and I of course said "oh, well you just caught her on a good day" of course part of me thought I should tell her that it's probably due to our superior parenting and our superior child who was created from our superior gene pools...well it could be true.

Here are the photos from the trip in no particular order.

Molly didn't warm up to Chris and Stephanie 100% although she did like talking about them when they weren't around. Such a gossip. They decided if they were going to get pictures with her they were going to have to take a "wildlife" approach and just sort of hang in the backgrounds of pictures of her.

Don't feed the animals

After they left, we said Chris' name and she said "Need find Chris"

Chris got Molly some cute outfits while he was in India.

Aunt Stephanie probably gets to take credit for the fancy purse, it's her new favorite for when she wants to step out.

Gran got her this hat to keep her warm. I thought for sure she would tear it off, but it seems that when there is an actual need to keep her head warm, she'll wear hats.

An Elephant change purse also from Chris' trip.

Another favorite, Red from Fraggle Rock.

My mom surprised us all with our own fancy needlepoint stockings for Joplin (Thanks to Land's End, not her lightning fast needle pointing skills). None the less, it was a fun addition. I love Molly's stocking, it's perfect for her.

Well it's a little late, but Happy New Year to everyone. Hope 2011 is filled with only awesome things.

Behind closed doors

Today I decided to resurrect the potty, again I'm not going to push the issue too much, but if she's ready I don't want to ignore that either. So after lunch while we were doing our typical nap time rituals, I asked her if she wanted to use the potty. She said that she did and so I got her all set up in the bathroom with her potty. I sat there trying to read a book to her while she sat, but she was not interested. Finally she looks at me and says "bye bye mama, you go" So I left the room and watched her through the crack in the door. At first she stood in front of the potty and although I didn't notice at the time, she was peeing next to the potty. I realized that's what happened when she went frantically to the vanity cabinet to get some towels to clean up her mess. I helped her clean it up and then again she asked me to leave, I reminded her to sit ON the potty. I gave her some privacy (sort of) and watched again from the crack. This time there was success! I hadn't really expected her to take to it so easily, and of course I don't have my hopes too far up that we'll be completely done with diapers for awhile, but there was a definite understanding of the process which was fantastic.

I'm also pleased to report some sleep successes as well. She has been sleeping better at night the past couple weeks (all night most nights) which is fantastic. I of course know not to get my hopes up since she's gone back to her insomniac ways before. I'm also super happy that she'll go down for her nap by herself now (most days). I read her some stories and then say goodbye. No fussing, fighting or crying it out...beautiful! We're still in it for the long haul at bedtime, but nap time is a start. I must go pack now! I'm being such a procrastinator!

Since I can't fathom having a blog without a picture, I'll post the picture from our Christmas card for any of you reading that didn't see it.

Baby it's COLD!

It's of course not too bad outside, but lately Molly's been taking Polar Bear baths. I'm not sure why she thinks it's hilarious to set the water to cold and then dump it on herself while exclaiming "IT'S COLD!" over and over in a falsetto, but I tend to agree with her. I think you'll all agree that these pictures are hilarious. Remember, she is doing this to herself repeatedly, I have nothing to do with this, she enjoys the shock for some weird reason. I do have to cut her off since I don't want a hypothermia baby on my hands.

Getting ready

See the little anticipatory smile?

The next three are the cold faces. what's really important to notice in these is that she no longer has any air in her lungs at all. It's most noticeable in the last one.

Pleased as punch and ready for more.

We had a fabulous Christmas and as always I'm a little sad it's over. I am glad we get to extend it just a tad with a quick trip to Joplin this week to visit Chris and Stephanie.

I have a ton of pictures so I'm just going to power through and do it quick and easy.

A few days before Christmas we went to the Santa's village that the city put together. The highlight for Molly was meeting her new friend, also named Molly at the Humane Society booth.

Molly and Molly

The only photo op that she had any interest in participating in was this one. She was a big fan of the props.

Daddy got her totally Frito Banditoed out.

We spent Christmas Eve with everyone at my parent's house. Lot's of fun as always. She stole the hat from my old Jingle Bear. It's cuter on her anyhow.

Jonny would insist that there is no story to be told about what Molly's wearing. I disagree. On Christmas Eve I was finishing up cooking something to take to my Mom's house, so I asked Jonny to get Molly ready to go. I said to him "put a dress on her". Since we only really have 2 winter dresses, I didn't think it would be a big deal. What I didn't count on was that he either didn't care or couldn't distinguish between what clothes are for winter and what clothes are for summer. I know it's Yuma and it's not that cold, but let's pretend and not put her in a tank dress. When we were leaving I could tell it was almost like a test he was putting me through...thinking to himself..."go ahead and say something". I didn't feel like bringing it up and I really didn't want to fight Molly into something else, so that's what she wore. Later I couldn't keep my mouth shut and I had to say something to him about it. He laughed and told me that he had let her pick it out and that she was completely happy so who cares, I suppose he's right, Although her clothes do look a little out of place when sitting next to the impeccably dressed Lorelei.

Christmas was of course a blast with a little one. Even though it will probably be next year before she really understands and can be bribed with the concept of Santa. She loved getting toys and quickly learned to say "presents".

I finished her stocking before Christmas! Can you believe it!?! I think it turned out pretty cute.

Santa brought her a trike, and she's a big fan, except she about an inch or so too short still. I think in a couple months though she should have the hang of it.

Hell on wheels!

She's also very fond of the baby supplies she received from Gran. Her babies did not have enough gear to allow for their proper care, now they're set.

This probably won't be the last time this happens.

Jonny and I got her a little soccer net and ball. She got the hang of it right away, and enthusiastically cheered for every goal she made.

Christmas Molly looking dreamy.

This year I was entrusted to make the St. Lucia bread for our breakfast. It turned out pretty good. If Jonny liked it, I might be tempted to make it all of the time.

Later we went to Cassie's for a delicious Christmas dinner. Granny got Molly an awesome inchworm, which she was able to try the next morning. She's still a touch too short, but she still likes to scoot along on it.

He soccer cones make nice Devo hats. "When a problem comes along, you must whip it."

Today we went to the Morris' for a gift exchange and Molly got some sweet fairy princess stuff. I can't wait to get her decked out to watch "Abby's Flying Fairy School" on "Sesame Street".

Other than the Christmas festivities, things have been about the same. The sentences that she pulls seemingly from nowhere continue to blow me away. My favorite sentences have "please" "thank-you" and "sorry" in them. Politeness in a toddler is undeniably cute, probably because it seems contrary to their nature. When she knows I'm upset with her, it kills me when she pulls out the "sorry mama, I'm sorry mama". How can you resist it? I know it's total manipulation, but it's too damn sweet. I do feel like the Thank-yous are genuine. Upon receiving something she's asked for she'll say "Thank-you mama, Thank-you for blank" and then she likes to add a bonus "your welcome" in there too because she knows they go together, but she's not quite sure how they all fit together. I know she's just getting started, but the whole process is so captivating to me.