play with your food!

This is a group of pictures I took one day while Molly and i were eating lunch. The light was streaming in through the blinds, she had washed her hair that morning, and she was looking so beautiful. Enjoy!



And remember...


...play with your food!

it's the most wonderful time, of the year...

so much happened last month. Molly met Santa, good friends came to visit, we celebrated Zero's birthday, we watched Portland's famous Christmas ship parade, and to top it all off, it snowed!

let's start at the beginning. the day after we got back from our Thanksgiving trip to Arizona we found out that Santa Claus was in St. Johns at our local toy store, Grammy and Nonna's (the best toy store ever!). our timing was perfect and just as we headed out the front door to see him, so did all our neighbors and the Charleston Ave gang went to see Santa. Molly had been talking about it all morning, but when we got to the store, well, she basically crawled into my coat and refused to come out and even look at Santa, much less sit on his lap. honestly, it makes sense to me, i don't want to sit on the laps of oddly dressed, hairy men either. either Grammy or Nonna (can't remember which) suggested we write Santa a letter and come back the next week (Santa came to St. Johns twice, cuz we're so cool!). a couple days later, Grandma Nancy sent Molly a snow glob Santa, and so all week Molly talked to "Santa" and grew more confident. the following Saturday Molly dictated the following for her Santa letter,

Dear Santa,
I would like a candy cane. I would like a panda and a robot.
Merry Christmas.
Molly

and we headed back to the toy store. this time, she was willing to hand him the letter, get her candy cane (which i think was the real driving factor here) and have her picture taken next to him - success!! [please note, our Santa has a gold tooth - you gotta love St. Johns!]

the next weekend our friends the Englehardings came up from Eugene. dad Jim, mom Terri, Skylar and Paige all came and stayed with us (Skylar, Paige and Terri pictured with Molly to the right). it was so much fun having friends come stay and have a sleep-over. we went to the park, we played with play-doh, we all went out to breakfast and Molly showed off her favorite toy store to her friends. it was a really great time!

the next weekend was Zero's birthday, i won't tell you how old he turned, but we'll just say next year is a BIG ONE. we had a nice day together, and Auntie Shani came over for dinner and we had cupcakes. Molly helped daddy blow out his candle, very thoughtful! normally at this point we'd have a picture of Molly next to a 5 pound Hershey bar (see here) but the catalog went missing, so we'll skip 2009. but i think i can safely say, she would totally dwarf that candy bar this year - you know it!

and that brings us to Christmas!

we got our tree a week or so before xmas. we had big plans to go cut down our own but ran out of time, and thankfully there was a lot right down the street. we even got a discount because it was the display tree (and covered in tinsel which we had lots of fun picking off by hand, but $5 is $5!) i totally forgot to bring a camera, but thank goodness for cell phones. i got a quick pic of zero and Molly carrying it home. and here is a little slideshow of tree trimming with Molly, at first sporting her Santa gloves and hat (she loves to pretend she's Santa) and then donning the tree skirt as cape. we wouldn't want the tree wearing anything we wouldn't wear ourselves! :)



you'll remember that Molly asked Santa for a panda bear and robot. i'm not 100% sure where these gift ideas came from. we do have some favorite books that star a panda bear named Stillwater (i highly recommend these books!) and we also have a book on saying please that has one scenario where a small boy really wants a robot. a combination of those two could be it.
or, way back on that first trip to see Santa, I believe our neighbor Mishya (who you'll remember from many past postings) may have said she wanted a robotic panda for Christmas? i don't remember Molly being in on that conversation, but if she heard that that was what Mishya wanted, well she would want it too! but no matter where the idea came from, it's what she asked for from Santa, and Santa being the super cool jolly ol' elf he is, brought her exactly that. check out the photos to the right, this is the scene Christmas morning before and after Molly came out to see what Santa brought - in the top one you can see panda and robot on the arm of the chair next to the tree. she also checked for the cookies she helped make for him (she did all the sprinkles, and cut out some of the shapes) and she was very pleased to see that he had eaten them right up! and we read the note he left her. that Santa is a good guy!

of course, Molly has a ton of "Santa's" in her life and as you can see in the above pictures, prezzies from friends and family were overflowing out from under the tree. she got stuff for her kitchen, art supplies, books, puzzles, clothes and so much more. here is a slide show of Molly opening, playing with and listening to some of her presents. notice how in some of the shots she is completely surrounded! it took us four days to unwrap everything!


on christmas day, after a couple hours of nonstop unwrapping, we all stretched our legs and went for a family walk. we could not have asked for better weather. sunny, crisp and dry. here you see Molly taking Harley for the walk. she does a very good job of holding the leash. i sometimes wish Harley was a bit younger, so that she'd maybe feel more like playing with Molly, and they could be friends for many years to come. but at times like these i'm kind of glad we have a 16-year-old, 20 pound dog for our daughter to learn with. not only has Harley taught Molly to be very gentle with dogs (because Harley has very little patience at her age) i also find it works well in learning how to take a dog for a walk. i've seen kids dragged down the street by exuberant labs and giant retrievers - with no control over the pooches. and though Harley can still be quite sprightly when she wants too, there is very little chance of dragging Molly down the street when she outweighs Harley by close to 15 pounds! they are a good team!

we even managed to get in a nap, though it was much later in the day then usual. but that's to be expected on Christmas day. we had lots of lovely invitations from our friends on that day, but after all the hustle and bustle, it was a bit too late for much visiting. so we put on our party clothes and ran down for a quick visit at our neighbors house where i had a delish lemon drop and the kids (this includes Zero) ate christmas cookies and danced around. what fun! check out the party clothes! you'll note that we are wearing our Fancy Nancy tutu and ruby red slippers from Grandma Nancy, and that Mr. Bacon and Monsieur Tofu are coming with us. Bacon and Tofu were a favorite gift from the Feeney/Hancocks.

we made delish homemade Mac and Cheese for dinner (two kinds!) and steamed some green beans. forget roast beef or turkey, this was the perfect Christmas meal! after dinner, on our way to bed, i remembered we hadn't taken our annual family Christmas photo! so we pulled it together and gave it our best shot after our big day, with Molly already in pjs after her bath (she got lots of fun bath toys, and we had to play with them!). as in past years, it can be hard to capture a good shot with a young person and a dog in the mix. not to mention that i'm sometimes still in motion as the timer takes the picture before i can fully run back and get settled. because it was evening and i dislike using a flash, the lighting is a bit odd in these. and then there was Zero with his melancholy expression. he assures me he was not bummed-out, he says he was "content". those of you who know him well, get it. :) so with all those caveats, here are our attempts at family xmas photo 2009...

the one that turned out looking almost sepia, was probably the best one of the four of us, but the color was terrible. the first two we took were really the best, and this one, the very first one, is probably what i'll go with for this year. so, Merry Christmas everyone!


shortly after Christmas, we got our snow! last year we had a very white Christmas and i was worried we wouldn't get any snow this year, but then Mother Nature came through. unfortunately for me, she came through while i was at work, but Zero and Molly met up with the neighbors and made snowmen, had a snowball fight and topped the whole thing off with hot cocoa and marshmallows. what could be better!

so as you can see, December was a fun-filled month! we are very fortunate and thankful, and we are excited about 2010 and what it holds in store for us. of course, in the case of the smallest member of the May/Feeney clan, ms. Harley-poochie, it's all very exhausting!
happy new year everybody!

gobble, gobble!

this turkey day we took a "jet plane" (as Molly likes to refer to it) down to bright and sunny Arizona to be with the Feeney half of the family.

Molly was, once again, an amazing traveler. we got up at 4:30 a.m. to make the flight and ended up having to sit in the plane, at the gate, for an hour while they decided about the safety of a dent in its side. Molly played and read and pretended to be the pilot and never once complained. did you know those buttons on your armrests do more than just move your seat back? Molly explained to us they actually help the plan take off and land - maybe that's why they don't want people messing with them during takeoff and landing. Molly of course is an experienced pilot so everything was ok!

as a special treat, we got her a big bird as a surprise for the trip and the minute she laid eyes on him she lit up like i've never seen before. she explained to him all about the airport and the jet planes and going to see Grandma and Erin and Ryan and on, and on. big bird was filled in and ready to go! here they are relaxing on the plane together...

Molly had been asking for weeks about "going to see Grandma Mike?", so when we arrived in Phoenix and she actually got to see her, it was very exciting and there was much waving at Grandma's car.

we stayed that first night in Phoenix at aunt Erin's and when we got to the house we saw cousin Sara (who Molly kept calling aunt Erin, but it all got worked out eventually). Sara is almost 16, has her learner's permit and talks about which colleges she's going to apply to...this freaks me out. i knew her when she was smaller than a bread-box, and now she's talking about college majors. where does the time go? i know that too soon Molly will be wanting to drive a car and go to a college on the other side of the country and i just can't handle that. nope, i've decided, she will live with us forever! :)

that evening we got to see our friends Dan, Mary Jane and Faith again. we went to their house for dinner where Faith was a most fantastic hostess! she is a beautiful, smart, gracious little girl with a wonderful imagination! i wish Faith and Molly could see each other more often. Molly and Faith played, us grownups talked, and it was a really lovely time. and to top it all off, Molly had her first ice cream sunday with sprinkles. delish! here are the girls smiling for the cameras (plural).

the next day we took our time getting started for the day and Molly got to see cousins Ryan and New Year - whom she adores! Ryan showed Molly around and let her play with all his toys. Molly especially liked the little playhouse in the backyard (to the right). and when we took Ryan to preschool later that morning, Molly was very upset she didn't get to stay and go to school with him - there were many tears! back at the house New Year played with her and helped her make a sticker book. she is very good with kids and Molly really enjoys playing with New Year (and i feel safe knowing i can step away and do some things and Molly is in good hands).

once everything was re-packed, dishes were cleaned and we were all dressed - it was time to drive up to Payson to Grandma's house. it is a beautiful drive to "Rim Country" with many saguaro cactus along the way. the minute we arrived in Arizona Molly was shielding her eyes and exclaiming, "bright! so bright!" her daddy and her have an aversion to sun (which is why Portland is the perfect place for them to live!) but personally, i was loving it, and the drive was breathtaking with blue skies and desert landscape. but in Molly's case, we were very glad to have a pair of Ryan's sunglasses (with spiderman on them no less!) to help with the brightness factor. plus, she looked stylin'! check out the shot to the left of our arrival in Payson...what a cutie!

by the end of the day, everyone had arrived. Grandma Mike's house is so spacious that we all had a room to stay in and our own bathroom. plus the kitchen is big enough to handle all of us in there chatting and cooking. it is the perfect place for holiday get-togehers! (and it's for sale, so if you know someone looking to move to the desert, let's talk!) that night we stayed up late, catching up, and i went ahead and threw together sweet potato casserole for dinner the next day (Zero's favorite). i really enjoy being part of the Feeney family, they are really, really good people. people make jokes about in-laws, and i just thank my lucky stars that i hooked up with the most perfect guy and his totally awesome family. and i am very thankful that these are Molly's people! to the right is a shot of Molly with most of her cousins (Declan and Sara were elsewhere). you've got Sinead, New Year, aunt Erin and Ryan all surrounding Molly on the couch. what fun!

Thanksgiving day was a blur (though it was the first day we got Molly to take a real nap, which was nice). everyone was hustling and bustling, cooking and caretaking and having fun. Molly got to watch part of the Thanksgiving day parade. when she saw Kermit the Frog floating by she totally knew who he was and screamed it out. very cute. and she like Pokemon, though she kept referring to him as the bunny. and whenever they showed a marching band or singers or dancers, she of course danced around. Sara, the young lady who is growing up way too fast, is an amazing cook. she made several things for Thanksgiving dinner including an amazing (vegetarian!) roasted pumpkin and leek pasta dish with goat cheese, and some amazing desserts (pictured here). her goal is to become ridiculously rich, but i think she should become my personal chef instead. the pay is bad, but i'd be very, very appreciative! :)

we also got a visit from the Thanksgiving superhero, Super Molly and her sidekick, Bikini Panda. here is a little slideshow:
the mask was cousin Ryan's, the panda belongs to Sinead, and the little bed is for New Year's American Girl dolls. what a combination that made!

after Molly managed her second good nap in a row, we took some time to walk around and check out the beautiful views from Grandma's house. here is one spectacular view from deck leading out from the front door. did i mention the house is for sale?:)

dinner time came and the table looked amazing. friends and family came together and we had a wonderful feast! there was butternut squash soup, the most amazing potatoes you've ever eaten, and for the meat-eaters, a beautiful turkey with cornbread stuffing. for dessert there was pumpkin torte and chocolate-covered cookie dough balls (my new obsession). and so much more! we were all very happy and very thankful!

the next day aunt Beth, Erin and cousin Sara were brave and got up to face "Black Thursday" at the Payson Walmart, and we all went and toured some houses in Payson that Grandma Mike likes. the day flew by and before we knew it, we were back in the car heading to Phoenix for our flight back to Portland. uncle Sean and New Year drove us back and we had a great time singing together in the car. if only i had a recorder to capture the entire car singing the theme song to Sesame Street with a certain special inflection of the word sweet in the line "where the air is sweet" - kinda reminiscent of sa-weet! what fun!

we got to the airport with time to spare and got to watch the planes taking off and landing, one of Molly's favorite past times! Molly was such a big girl, she walked up to the ticket agent and handed her her ticket, and marched down the jetway. she even stopped to chat with the pilot! and once again, she did a great job on the plane (though we have to remember lollipops next time, because her ears seem to really be bothering her on landings). we got in early this time, and made it home without a hitch. tired, but so thankful for our wonderful trip.

we hope your Turkey day was wonderful and that you're enjoying this holiday season. big hugs to everyone!

on the farm

a couple weekends ago we headed out to Sauvie Island with our friends Monica and Moebius. Sauvie Island is right down the road, and is covered in farms.

leading up to Halloween, Sauvie Island's "Pumpkin Patch" is a hit with animals, a corn maze and hayrides. we went the weekend after Halloween, so the corn maze and hay rides were no more, but there were still some animals to see and lots of beautiful scenery and fresh air. Molly and Moe checked out the chickens, rabbit, ducks, llama, goat and miniature horse. Our second stop was Kruger's Farm and there we met Mathilda, a beautifully huge hog who was dining on pumpkins. Molly and Moe were fascinated. here are some pictures from our adventure:


we picked a day that was sunny one moment, and pouring down rain the next, which made it all the more adventurous. thank goodness for rubber galoshes! we packed a picnic lunch (Monica brought homemade bread and pickles - delish!) and watched hundreds of geese taking flight to head south for the winter. we climbed haystacks and hung out on old farming equipment.

i love that we have farms so close by, so Molly can see where her food comes from (both vegetable and animal). i think that's important. and of course, Molly always loves the chance to hop on a tractor!happy fall everyone!

turning two!

can you believe Molly is two? it's crazy but true! we took a week to celebrate this year, starting with a small bday party with some of the neighborhood families the saturday before her birthday. we've never had that many people in our home - luckily, a lot of them were under 3 feet tall. of course that doesn't include our own daughter who at her 2-year dr. appointment measured in at 37"! check out all the people in our tiny house - wahoo, party!


her auntie Shani made her a beautiful banner and delicious chocolate cupcakes with creamy frosting. throughout her party, Molly would occasionally ask, "cupcakes?" and i would ask her to wait. eventually, it was time. she pulled out a chair, climbed up, looked around at everyone as if to say, "ok, it's time to start singing now", so we did. if there was ever a moment i wish i had on video, it was that moment (thankfully Diana and Denise got some pictures!). she gazed lovingly upon her cupcakes, swaying to and fro to the singing - man that kid LOVES to dance - so beautiful and so happy! once the singing was done, she knew right what to do and blew out her candle. then she grabbed a cupcake, got down off the chair, sat right down and licked off the icing! too cute!! here she is with her cupcakes...


for her actual bday, my mom flew up and we all went to the beach. we went to Long Beach, WA and stayed at our favorite place, the Lighthouse Resort. this is where Zero and i went on our honeymoon (exactly three years before!). they have these lovely condos right on the beach, and they have a salt-water pool and hot tub. it's a great place for families to stay. as we drove into town we stopped by one of the local kite stores and got Molly her first kite. the kite looked like a lovely frog (a poison dart frog i believe, but so pretty!). after we unloaded all of our stuff at the condo, we immediately went down to the beach and flew our kite! we also brought along a bucket and shovel for the beach. the next day we went back to the beach and built more sand castles and Molly ran straight into the water at one point. no fear. and she wasn't bothered by the cold either. amazing! Harley the pooch also had a wonderful time, she ran around like a puppy - and she really wanted to get that kite! we all had so much fun!


and here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the beach. here is Molly and Grandma the first day we got there - Molly still strikes this pose sometimes and says "grandma"!

and here is the whole family at the beach!

on her actual birthday (10/29), we went swimming, we went to the beach, we had all her favorite foods (omelets for breakfast, mac&cheese for lunch, chili for dinner) we opened presents (here is a slideshow of Molly with her new toolkit):


and per Molly's request, Grandma made apple pie for birthday dessert. look how happy she is!

we came home to a box from Grandma Mike and in it was a "very hungry caterpillar" extravaganza. she made Molly a quilt with the hungry caterpillar theme, and she sent the book, a little stuffed caterpillar and a board game (which Molly asks to play with almost every day!). here is Molly in the box everything came in, all cozy with her new quilt!

Molly got tons of wonderful things for her birthday, books that she loves (we all love SkippyJon Jones!), puzzles, a flashing toothbrush (which really helps her with brushing her teeth), a stuffed bison and so much more! but on Halloween we went to see auntie Shani who once again gave Molly the piece de resistance. last year it was baby doll, Molly's constant companion...this year, a stroller for baby doll. i swear she's gonna run those wheels right off of it! and because her imagination is in full force right now, we are constantly putting baby doll (or whoever else she can find) into the stroller and either "going to work" or "going to market" or "going to beach" or "going to airport" and off she goes. a few minutes later, she's back and there is much discussion of how the trip was and how her day was. it's the coolest thing ever! here she is with baby doll in the stroller.

it was an awesome week - i'm thinking "family tradition" myself! this tradition will of course have to include that upon our return to Portland from the beach, Grandma and Molly have a sleepover and Zero and I get to spend an evening together at the Heathman Hotel. Grandma graciously offered to do that for us this time. we ordered room service and watched Terminator! do anniversary celebrations get any better? i don't think so!

happy number two my sweet, sweet girl! you are truly the light of our lives. to think a year ago you were barely walking and only saying "daddy". now you run, jump, climb, swim, twirl and dance. you say "may i have pancakes for breakfast, mommy?" and read books to your baby doll. you easily count to ten (and know all the numbers to twenty, they just get rearranged a bit), and remember the words and tunes to songs, and have the best darn rhythm i've ever seen! you make jokes and your laugh is beautiful and contagious. sharing may not yet be your strong-suit, but you are kind and obviously already feel deeply for others (as we witnessed in your concern for the porcupine who was scared by mice in Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library). and the other night, when you walked up to Zero and i, threw open your arms and said, "mommy, daddy...both hug", it was the best moment of my life so far. you rock my world Molly-moo! i love you!!

next up, Halloween cowboys and a trip to the farm with Moe!

chocolate-y goodness

we waited quite a while before having Molly try her first chocolate. her father has a bit of a chocolate problem, it's his only vice really, so i think he was a little reluctant to start her on the habit. plus it's one of those high allergen foods...so we waited.

i was finally able to convince Zero that chocolate would not lead Molly down the road to ruin and we decided it was time. she was a year and a half, and we wanted her first chocolate to be really special, so we made her some homemade chocolate mouse (with a glass of milk of course). my mom was visiting at the time, and we kinda made it this big deal. the mouse was amazing, we thought, she'll LOVE it! but, it was a very so-so reaction (see to the left). so i figured well, she won't be that into chocolate, and that's not a bad thing....ha!

like her father, she LOVES the stuff now. actually, i blame my colleagues at work (you know who you are!) who like to take her out to ice cream every once and a while. the last time they went, she got chocolate, and it's been "chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!" ever since. here she is very much enjoying her ice cream cone (also see above). oh, and by the way ladies, it took her days to come down from that sugar high!

anything chocolate will do. chocolate bunny cookies, chocolate cupcakes (see below), ice cream...you name it, if it's chocolate (or as she sometimes calls it, "black") she'll try it. like father, like daughter!

the May's

yeesh, it's already been a month, but we went to visit the May's in early-September, and we actually stayed for more than just a weekend and it was so much fun. we got to spend some serious time with the family, and Molly loved every minute of it.

we spent our first day there at uncle John and auntie Laurie's place, which is beautiful! once Molly woke up from her nap (she fell asleep on the way over from the airport) we fed apples to the deer, we had a most delicious lunch, and we ran around the front yard with all the dogs. Molly loves her uncle John so much, and they played together lots. i didn't have older siblings growing up, but uncle John was like a big brother to me and watching he and Molly play reminded me again of all the great times i had playing with him growing up (and still do!). the times he would let me wrap my arms around his neck and he'd swim me across the pool under water. the times he would tickle me mercilessly. the time he caught me spraying whip cream into my mouth straight from the canister...uncle John is one the greatest guys out there, and Molly is very lucky to have him as her uncle too! here is a little slideshow of them playing together.


we also got to spend a day at Papa (Molly's great-grandfather) and Sharon's house in San Jose. once again, we showed up with Molly asleep but she didn't stay asleep for long and she woke up to more amazing food (the May's really can cook!). we went for rides in the golf cart and saw ducks and geese and horses. we played with our tricycle in the driveway. and we helped Papa feed the birds. it means so much to me that Molly knows her Papa, and my hope is that someday soon Papa, uncle John, Molly and i can all go camping together - and they can teach her the ropes - how to set up a tent, how to fish, and all that good stuff!!


we had a BBQ at my mom's for Labor Day and the whole family came. Grandma Nancy had decked the place out with a new play kitchen for Molly and a sandbox. Molly loved whipping up some food in her new kitchen (with real working faucet), and she loved getting sand everywhere while playing in the sandbox. so basically, we had "Molly TV" where we all watched her play and run around. Zero got right in the ol' sandbox with her, which was pretty cute. and after more scrumptious food, we had cake in an early celebration of both my and molly's birthdays.


the next day we went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and had such a good time! thankfully Grandma's cell phone takes a pretty decent picture, because we all forgot our cameras. we saw otters, and penguins, and sharks. we touched star fish. we stood under a crashing wave. what a fantastic place!


we also managed to squeeze in dinner with the LAHS (Los Altos High School) crew while we were there. below is a shot of us all hanging out at Sandra and Jason's place.


and Molly was an amazing traveler, once again. that girl is so flexible and ready to have fun. it's such a pleasure doing these things with her and that's saying something because i am a bit of a freak about traveling. so the fact that i can do it with a toddler in tow, and have fun! well, she is obviously someone very, very special!

hip, hip, hurray for the Mays!

the further adventures

it's been a while since i posted, and of course, a lot has happened in the ongoing adventures of miss molly moo.

we had a really nice memorial day weekend where we got out in the garden and played around. i am (not so successfully) trying to grow some fruits and veggies while molly is trying to get into the garden beds with them (she likes to get in there and say "night, night"). so, there's a lot of dirt flying around and puddles played in. we'll see if we actually grow anything, but i figure that molly seeing us try and watching plants grow even a bit, is good for her. and fun for us all! we also belong to a farm share and hope to make it to the farm soon so molly can see how food really grows! it's just right down the street (more like down the river) on Sauvie Island, and is called Sauvie Island Organics. gotta love Portland!


and we've had some warm days lately - too warm really - but that paired with the fact that miss moo loooooves water meant we got some good playtime out of our new water table. you can see from these pictures how fun it is to get wet! and speaking of wet, last night we went to our first "pool party" right down the street at our friends house. the pool is inflatable, with a slide, and some water fountain action. too cool! i forgot the camera but next time i'm all over it. pool parties rock! [note, when i first typed out that last line i by accident typed poop parties rock - ah motherhood, poop is always on the brain]




our budding artist continues to bloom. she loves drawing - on anything! and you've got to watch her...one moment all is fine, the next she has somehow managed to get into a cupboard, find a pen (that you didn't know was even in there), and start drawing on the bookshelves - all without you knowing (and literally in a matter of seconds). i swear there is a super-power in that somewhere. Pen Girl! She also seems to prefer to draw on very tiny slips of paper, as you can see in these pictures.





weekend before last we had a nice breakfast in the backyard...the whole family! delicious pancakes! and zero rigged up a booster seat for molly (a very comfy one in fact). it was really the perfect way to start the day. and look at how good miss molly is with her fork! yay!







last weekend molly and i drove to Eugene for a birthday part for our friends Paige and Skylar - they turned two! we had a wonderful time visiting with old friends and meeting new ones. and Paige and Skylar have such fun toys! swings, slides, and play houses! oh my! and let us not forget the bubbles, which molly LOVED! here are some shots, and the girls at the table with her blowing bubbles are Paige and Skylar!

last but not least, some video. but first, the disclaimer! these were all taken last thursday evening. it was just molly and i - zero had the play - we were both tired, and dirty, and the house was a mess. why i thought it was the best time to capture us on video, i couldn't tell you. but it's done. and getting to hear molly's perfect little voice makes it all worthwhile! the first was when i tried to get her to say hi to some of her friends (because i love hearing her say her friends' names) but she just wanted to say was "hi"...


take 2 was when i would say some of her friends names and she would repeat them. i have to say, the way she says Jasper and Ava just kill me!

so a note on the video above...i wanted to do this because every night for the past few weeks molly has gone through her list of friends, all on her own with no prompting from me, and says "Beau" and i say "Beau is at home going night-night" and she moves on to "Amelia" and i say "Amelia is at home going night-night" and so on until she is satisfied that everyone else is going night-night, so she can too. and this all came from molly, she started this little tradition all on her own. it actually heralded in the no-more-nursing-to-go-to-bed...which she decided on all on her own too. she's growing up so fast! another new thing at bedtime is that she likes you to sing to her. her favorite is "old macdonald" which i was kind of against at first, because it's not really a bedtime song, but turns out you can make anything into a lullaby if you sing it right. and she loves it! speaking of singing, the next videos coming will be of molly singing along to the ABCs and eensy, weensy spider. get ready for some serious cuteness!

ok, now that i'm all verklempt, one more video...for 3 we expanded out to other fun words! every day she's added a handful more to her repertoire, just last night she pointed to a sun in one of her books and very clearly said "sunshine!" this morning she said "thank you" (she's been signing thank you for some time, but this was the first time i'd hear the words). i may have trouble with the constant climbing and falling, but boy do i love the talking part! here you go...


"bye, bye" says bunny girl!