i'm so behind...

...and in less than 7 hours we'll be on our way to Northern Minnesota, where there is no Blogger, no Gmail, no Facebook...just a beautiful lake, family and lots of relaxing...not to mention we're getting out right before the triple-digit weather...aaah! but in the meantime, i'm throwing up some pix of Miss Moo from the past few weeks...
this is from when Grandma came to visit 4th of July weekend.
above is a picture of Molly and her friends at our 3rd of July BBQ.

on the 4th, Molly, Grandma and i all went to the Children's Museum and had a blast. here are some pix of that...be sure to check out her super cute 4th of July dress!


and last week our niece Sara came to stay with us for a few days, we all had a great time - Molly really loved having her cousin Sara around! and Sara made her the lovely fairy crown you see in the picture below.
i don't know exactly when these last two pictures were taken, but they are so Molly! here she is jumping and jiving on the slab!


hope everyone finds some time to relax (or jump around if that's their thing) and beat the heat. all our love!

fun in the sun!

our weekend totally rocked! where to begin...

on friday, we started off the day with storytime at the library and picking up our first Summer Reading prize for this year. we got a new book to add to our library!

then in the afternoon, our neighbor friends invited us to join them at the St. Johns Park for some fun time playing in the fountain! so we got Molly in her bathing suit ensemble (see above), we grabbed baby doll (who was naked except for the hat Molly insisted she wear) and we headed out! we met up with our friends (to the right of zero it's Beau, Rachel and Amelia) and had some serious fun! here is a slideshow of the good times!


after the fountain we played on the jungle-gym and at one point Molly and Beau gave each other a big hug, which is of course very sweet, but also hysterically funny - check out the looks on their faces, they're so serious!

so a really fun afternoon! i've said it before and i'll say it again (and probably even a couple more times in this post), i can't believe how lucky we got when we bought our house. we moved into the best block ever! there are five young families living on our block alone with kids aged 9 months to 10 years, most of them being under the age of 2. Molly and Beau get to play together several times a week and it's just so nice! note to neighbors, you can never move!

after we got home from all the fun and frolic, Molly got her hands on the camera and was taking some pictures, mostly of her bangs, and some of her feet. you'll remember from an earlier post that Molly is quite the photographer, and to prove it, she somehow managed to get this shot of herself here on the left! again with the serious face (and kind of caked in snack), but isn't she an absolute beauty! we have titled it "self-portrait".

we woke up saturday and after breakfast we played a bit in the backyard. Molly has a tent we got at Ikea that is super fun to play in, and especially to open and close. here is a slideshow of that, and note the last picture of her and harley pooch. Molly is attempting to give her a smooch. it's so sad, Molly has so much love for harley, and harley wants nothing to do with her. luckily, Molly doesn't seem to notice!


and in St. Johns on Saturday they had the second annual No.Fest bringing music and art to our neighborhood, all day long. so remember how i said we were lucky about our house and our neighbors? well we are also lucky to live in such a kick-butt part of town! every year we have things like the St. Johns Parade, the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, the Pirate Festival, and No.Fest - all right down the street from us! does it get any better? i think not! (see neighbors, you really don't want to move!)

for this adventure, we grabbed "Shani" doll, who happened to be dressed only in a t-shirt and diaper, and stuck her in our backpack. you should hear Molly say "backpack", it's so cute! and a note about "Shani" doll, she is my doll from when i was a little girl, and i named her Amy. but when Amy passed on to Molly, she renamed her Shani - after her auntie Shani. all on her own and also very cute!

we grabbed our shades and some snacks of course, and put them in our new snack cup (these things are brilliant, and i can't believe we went so long without one) and headed out the door. we went to the St. Johns Booksellers who had a great band called Jelly Jar Productions playing and they were awesome. the music was creative and fun and they included puppets! and we were there for a good hour and Molly was totally enthralled the entire time. it was nap time so we headed home, but got to hear some more great music on the way by a group called the Hemispheric Chamber Orchestra. next year we hope to spend more time at No.Fest!

after nap we got ready to go to our friend Nate's 2nd Birthday party!! we had such a nice time. Molly and Nate are only 5 months apart and played really well together. well, there were a couple tense moments over the animal crackers and Nate's cool cash register he got for a present, but all in all, well done for two toddlers! the sand box was especially fun, and it was very sweet when Nate pushed Molly around on his bicycle. plus the spread was delicious! Nate's mom and dad really know how to host a party! here are some pix...


seriously, this marathon post is almost done! couple things. first, back to the awesome neighbors! on Saturday night the monthly CMG (Charleston Mom's Group) met at a local pub to chat it up a bit. i mentioned the five young families on our block, well here is a picture of the fabulous moms of those families. they are (from left to right) Cosette (mother of Adriana, almost 15 months), Ingrid (mother of Vincent, almost 9 months), me (mother of the amazing Molly, 20 months), Diana (mother of Mishya, 7 and Keeton, 10) and Rachel (mother of Amelia, 6 and Beau, 20 months). i hope i got everyone's ages right! they are a spectacular bunch of ladies!

and then i just had to share this picture of Molly. she's imitating people all the time now, and in some cases, we're not sure where she really gets it from. for instance, lately she likes to sit down, very purposefully, and cross her legs and arms. then, she proceeds to kiss her bicep. what?! where does she get that from? i dunno, but it's pretty funny!




and lastly, here is a little picture of all of us playing around before bed one night! happy family!!

i want to ride my bicycle, i want to ride my bike!

so, you may remember a post i did a long, long time ago on the fact that we blew part of our economic stimulus check on a Burley bike trailer - with the hopes of me getting into shape and biking molly to-and-fro (ha!). well, it only took me a year (and a few days) but i finally managed to take the 10 minutes i needed to get the Burley hitch hooked up to zero's bike and ready to rock-n-roll! molly even helped me (she's quite the handywoman). and on June 13 we strapped on our helmets and went for our maiden voyage! [if you haven't already, check out that first posting of molly in the Burley - scroll to the picture at the bottom - and then check out the picture above, she's getting so big!]

where did we go? we biked around our lovely neighborhood and specifically went to look at a house for sale nearby that i want my mom to buy. i'm trying desperately to convince my mom to leave her family and friends in the lovely, sunny Bay Area where she has lived for 39+ years and move to Portland. a girl can dream, can't she?! :) so here is a slideshow of our trip to see "grandma's house" (you can see it behind zero in the pic with him waving).


this past weekend i took Sunday off (Happy Father's Day to all you guys out there) and the family went to the City of Portland's Sunday Parkways event in North Portland. what a blast! they close off streets to car traffic in between three parks here in NoPo and people can bike, walk, anything but drive between the parks. and at the parks they have music, food, and booths with fun things like, get a free bike tune-up and helmet check (we took advantage of that to get molly's checked out). they even have bike valet parking! it was so much fun - this will definitely be a family tradition!

molly even got a balloon, her current obsession. i myself am not a big fan (too many childhood "traumatic events" around the popping of balloons i think) but while i was down the way getting a delicious mango-on-a-stick (covered in chili powder and lime - it was amazing!), daddy got her a blue balloon. you can see it attached to the Burley on the left. i have to say, getting to ride around on the closed streets was pretty awesome!

and here is molly and daddy playing at the Kenton Park while listening to live music!


a really wonderful Father's Day was had by all!

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!

the wonder that is uncle scootie

our good friend Scott (a.k.a. Uncle Scootie) worked his amazing magic again and took these beautiful pictures of molly a few weeks ago (i had to wait to post them because we were using a few of them as a bday present for me mom). but i thought everyone would enjoy! the Easter dress was made for molly by her Grandma Nancy - she looked like a little Alice in Wonderland. so beautiful!


and here are some of the outtakes!

harrison ford thinks our baby is cute

ok, in all honesty, he didn't get a chance to actually tell us our baby was cute, but you could tell. and my god, look at this picture, how could someone not think she is the most beautiful baby in the world! she's in her parade outfit!

so here is the story, zero and molly bumped into him as he was coming out of Bombay Cricket Club, where we were having a belated bday celebration for my mom who was in town last weekend. zero and molly had decided to take a walk around the block, as molly was getting a bit antsy, and on their way back in the door, mr. ford was coming out with his take-out. zero said that he looked at molly and as zero tried to be all nonchalant about the fact that Han freakin' Solo was right there, mr. ford hurried to his giant, white, chauffeured Lexis and right before he hopped in, he took a moment to look back at the adorable miss moo! of course!

now that i type this up, i wonder if he was really looking at molly? perhaps he was looking at my fine husband and thinking to himself, hey, that guy has got real hollywood potential! well, mr. ford, my husband is a professional actor and is also free for work! molly on the other hand, is not ready for "the biz", but if you just want to come hang out with her, that's fine by me. she's super fun to play with!!

we had a great weekend with mom that included pedicures, the 74th annual St. Johns parade, and seeing the latest Star Trek movie (which is AWESOME!). molly loves her grandma, who she calls "mama", which can get confusing but you just have to remember that i'm "momm-y". they had a ton of fun reading books, drawing, going to the park, snuggling, cooking up some "stir fry" and so much more! and the weather was perfect! we totally [heart] grandma!

speaking of the parade, here's a slideshow of some of the highlights, including a float for the St. Johns Bachelor Club, the Royal Rosarians, and pirates (cuz what's a parade without pirates!)...

and there are more pictures of here, including some of the Bizarre (yes, they spell it that way on purpose) that takes place with the parade. it's definitely a good time! you should come next year!

our sweet little baby girl...

...is eighteen months old. her half-birthday was this past wednesday, the same day as Grandma May's real birthday. and my what a big girl she's become!

she has so many new words. she can point out a "plane" or "car", "truck" or "train" (and says "choo-choo"). she also shows us "trees" and "birds", "flowers" and the "moon"! she talks about her "diaper", she knows all the parts of her face, and most of the rest of her body. she wants us to sing "e-i, e-i, ooo" and "round and round" (for wheels on the bus). at the doctors today they said she should know between 3 and 50 words. i'd say she's easily pushing 50. and as you can see, she really likes words for things that move (planes, trains and automobiles) and to prove it, here she is in her truck jammies! (thanks Sam!) being able to communicate with her is so much fun, and she is thrilled when mom and dad get what she's talking about it.

she draws now too. she especially loves sidewalk chalk and we head out often to the big slab and draw. here's a slideshow!

she runs and jumps and climbs and swings and slides. speaking of slides, tonight was the first night she climbed all the way up to the slide herself, and came down completely on her own, sitting up the whole way like a big girl! i was so proud! of course all this physical activity also means she falls a lot. i'm not sure if she's got the May-women klutziness, or if it's just because she's a toddler, or both. we get bumps and bruises often, and most recently we scraped the side of our nose off running down the sidewalk (see right). and just when it was almost completely healed, we went to the playground this evening and wham, hit her poor nose again. i could very much do without any bumps, scrapes or blood for a while. i'm not sure how moms survive this, but i suppose we do.

and she's really starting to play with her friends. this i love to see! as you saw in an earlier post, one of her bestest buds is our neighbor Mishya - here's a shot of them hanging out on the back porch together, having a little refreshment after some serious play in the back yard.

and here are videos of some of the shenanigans that go on with molly and Mishya! they're like the human beat-box duo!


so our baby is growing up, faster than i'd like really, but it's also a ton of fun. she is a fantastic and amazing little girl!

bestest friends!

molly has many friends, she is a very lucky girl, and one of her bestest friends is our neighbor Mishya. Mishya is a bit older than molly (ok, a lot older, she's 7) but she is always super excited to hang out with molly and have play dates. she comes over and helps me give molly a bath. she sings molly songs and makes up games for her. she reads to her. i think it's nice for Mishya because she gets to have a part time little sister. and i know it's fabulous for molly because she worships Mishya and always has a blast with her and she gets to have a big sister influence, which is awesome. Mishya and her brother Keeton are some of the nicest, most respectful, smart, funny, beautiful kids i've met - and they are exactly the kind of folks i want molly to know and look up to. we're very lucky to have them as neighbors! and their parents rock too!

so a few weeks ago now (i'm a bit behind) we met up with them and our other fantabulous neighbors Cosette, James and their daughter Adriana (who turned one on April 9!) at the local McMenamins. and then molly, zero, Mishya and i headed down to Cathedral Park. Here is a slideshow of molly and Mishya playing in the park - this is what fun is all about!

now don't you just want to get outside, pull up some grass, throw it up in the air and run around? i sure do! and the weather has been nice enough to do just that. yay! happy spring!

pigtails

so, i finally managed to get molly's hair into pigtails. it's been long enough for a while now, but she really doesn't go for anyone messing with her hair. well, she let me a few days ago AND they stayed in for about 15 minutes. pretty sweet. i'm pretty darn sure that molly is the cutest human being to ever walk the earth, and i'll think you'll agree after seeing these pictures. (and be sure to check out the t-shirt)

aloha grandma, and mahalo!

zero's cousin Alana recently got married on the beautiful island of Kauai and zero and Grandma Mike went to partake in the festivities (lucky!). Grandma Nancy came up to Portland while zero was gone to help me take care of the wee one (and so i could go to work and not lose any of my precious vacation time which has all been carefully dolled out for 2009 down to the last hour). it had been a while since molly had seen Grandma Nancy (since January) but i think she recognized her pretty quickly, and by the time i saw them together (zero and molly had gone to the airport to pick her up and then swung by work to get me) they were like old friends squealing and laughing and throwing their hands in the air (i had to shush them in the library!)

so that night Grandma Nancy was put on book-reading duty while molly sat in her lap, and she did a very good job! molly was obviously impressed with her talent! I am a bunny by Ole Risom was never so riveting! (see above)

Grandma brought an early Easter basket from some of molly's friends in California and amongst all the wonderful goodies there was a "doodle-pro" that hangs on the fridge and where molly can draw something, erase it, and draw something else. she caught on immediately and she loves it!

we also had a ton of fun playing with the ball while Grandma was here. the ball is indeed one of molly's greatest obsessions. everywhere we go, whenever she sees something that is even remotely ball-like (anything round really) she will shout out, "ball!" and if she can get her hands on it, look out! she's got quite an arm on her! she loves throwing balls to dogs, she loves throwing balls to people, and her latest is kicking balls around too. she likes to watch basketball and kickball and i think we may eventually have a jock on our hands! which would make me proud, being that i was a jock myself. here is a picture of her about to really launch her pink ball!
another thing we did while Grandma was here was go to Kelly Point Park, where the Columbia and Willamette Rivers come together. it was a bit cold and wet, but we had a lovely time. and molly had a reason to wear her super cute yellow rain coveralls! molly of course spotted a "ball" in the water (one of the round floats, this one was bright red) and she had some fun watching a couple dogs chase after a ball. she did a lot of pointing and was fascinated with the birds. here is a slideshow of our time there (most of the pictures are of molly of course!).

we also had a lot of fun eating! we went out some (which is always fun) and Grandma made us some most excellent meals, which we loved! Ollie the duck loved it too!

and whenever dad would call, we'd all say hi and hear about the wonderful time he was having in Hawaii. this is a man who had a pretty extreme dislike for the place, but he really enjoyed Kauai and is already talking about when the whole family can go back and spend the night sleeping in a hammock in the canopy (not sure i'm really down with that, but it's fun to see him so excited!).
after a few days he came home and when molly spied him coming up the driveway, she stopped, pointed right at him, and screamed like the bloody Beatles had come to town. it was hysterical (and i'm sure very reassuring to daddy who was worried she would forget who he was while he was gone - such a silly!).

and, zero and i got to go on a date thanks to Grandma, which was really, really nice. though it is very odd for the two of us to be somewhere together and not have the baby either right with us or asleep in the next room. very, very odd.

below is a picture Grandma got of all of us right after zero came home. we really can't thank Grandma enough for coming up and spending time with us and taking such wonderful care of molly. we had a fantastic time (even with the major bonk on the head and subsequent trip to the doctor) and we ate so well, and things actually stayed clean while she was there. basically, Grandma Nancy ROCKS!