Chi-town

On Ryan's current rotation, when he's on call...he is ALWAYS WORKING.  Unfortunately, he has two weekends on call in a row so this weekend we galavanted off to downtown Chicago to visit Auntie Kelly (Elle, as Molly calls her) and Uncle Jimmy (who Molly calls....wait for it....)

Mimi!

We got there Friday afternoon and Molly helped Elle finish up her work for the week.

Then we hit the town with some sushi and cocktails.

Saturday AM we took the choo choo (SO EXCITING!)

to the Shedd Aquarium.

Molly saw stingrays

an aquatic show,

a lot of different kinds of jellyfish,

dolphins,

and even got interactive, petting the starfish and sliding like a penquin.

But easily Molly's favorite thing was the Molly's cupcake shop a few blocks from Elle's house.

Sledding: An Alternative Method

Our first weekend at home with no work/call in what feels like months + much snow = SLEDDING!

I'll start out by saying it was a much more exciting experience than last year, though she was still far and away the tiniest sledder.

The before shots.

(She looks ready to go!)

She looks like she's having fun right?

We thought so too until she insisted that she RUN down the sledding hill.

Every.  Time.

Crazy kid.

Cute smile.

...toooooo excited.

Still too excited...

She's Basically An Adult

Amelia Bedelia is her "light reading" - obviously she needs to decompress after the stress of reading "Win One for the Gipper" and "Amelia Earhart"...

You would too if you made your Mama read you books where the main character dies.

And she makes me read them over and over and over.

I've hidden Amelia Earhart.  I couldn't take it anymore.  

WHERE DID SHE GO?!?!?!?!?!?

WHY DID IT CRASH?!?!?!?!

WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!?!?!

Or as Molly says, "Go?  Go?"  And then she picks up the book and looks at the back cover.  Like she's going to find her there....after all this time.

She looks at me like I'm supposed to have an answer and I'm all like, "I DON'T KNOW!!! NO ONE KNOWS!!!!  SHE'S JUST MISSING!!!  CAN WE JUST READ GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE?  PLEASE!!!!"

I know we've done the pictures of her in her glasses but...I just keep taking them.  You see, I put my glasses on whenever we leave the house because I like to use them when I drive.

So, Molly likes to put her glasses on when we leave the house.  And also whenever she happens upon them laying around.

I also basically don't have to remember anything anymore.  When we're getting ready to go, she reminds me of everything.  Juice?  Nack?  (snack)  Shoes? (or boots depending)  Auk?  (coat)  Hat? (And she is always concerned that I need a hat on.  If I tell her I wasn't going to wear one she either tells me "Brrrr" - meaning that it is cold outside - or refuses to put hers on.  Most of the time I put mine on and then take it off in the car cuz me and hats...we just don't get along.)

Thanks to cousin Allie's shared article about the use of sippy cups, I've stopped being lazy and let Mol drink out of big girl cups while at the table.

She was such a rockstar.

Then, this morning, she spilled some on her robe and jammers...

and flipped out.

"Mess!  Dirty!  Mess!  Dirty!"

Even wiping it off with a paper towel wasn't enough.  She insisted I take her clothes off and throw them in the laundry.

But then insisted that she couldn't eat breakfast "nake" (naked).  So we had to go put her clothes on before we could finish breakfast.

Which reminds me...

When she drops food on the floor, she always tells me about it and wants me to clean up the mess.  And, nine times out of ten I tell her I'll clean up the whole mess after she's all done.

Well, she's started to give me this look when I say that...like she doesn't believe me.

I think she's on to me.

So there you have it.

Molly is not only running the show here, but running it smarter, cleaner, more efficiently, and with better style.

My job is - apparently - done.

Tough, Classy, AND Smart

TOUGH

This past weekend we trekked to Chicago to attend my cousin Jenny's husband's funeral (RIP Dave).  While there Molly walked into the corner of a desk, did some sort of falling to create a large bruise on her knee, and had a Funcle Jimmy fist pound go horribly wrong.

Baby's first black eye.

Did you imagine Jimmy punching her in face?

He didn't.  She fell on the way to give him a fist pound and smashed her face into the Iron Throne-esk chair he was squatting in.

Ryan thinks she's uncoordinated.

CLASSY

In an unexpected turn of events, Molly has been eating like a Muslim after dark during Ramadan.  Her newest fav is salad.  Take for example the photo below.  This is Molly chowing down on her second spinach, craisin, and goat cheese salad.  Classy.

And if you're going to eat the part, you best look it too.

She was sporting this outfit today when a woman stopped me at the mall to ensure I had a picture of her.  In the event I didn't she, "will stop and take one for you right now because she is both adorable and hilarious."

It's also pretty save to assume at this point that if you see a picture of her looking ridiculous, it is because she has taken matters into her own hands.

Another great example...all of a sudden she only wants to wear blue socks.

Why?

The world may never know.

SMART

If you weren't aware, Molly's hipster glasses broke...but today we found her another pair!  Thank goodness.  Girlfriend needed to physically reflect her nerdiness.

Because now she can do this:

and a BONUS

I caught an extremely rare occurrence on film.

Most challenge its very existence.

Since Photoshop, the authenticity of photos such as this are constantly in question.

But this is the real deal.

I present to you....

Two toddlers both sitting and happily smiling at the camera at the same time.

No blinking.  No wild movements.

They seem almost....

human.

What's She Saying...

We're going to play a little game I like to call:  What The Hell Is Molly Saying?

1:  "E Mama.  Pate. Boof."

Clue: Also includes chewing motions.

2:  "Moof sheesh.  Bace, Mama."

Clue:  Also includes pointing to the TV.

3:  "Olie Olie Olie Olie Olie.  Blu.  Olie Olie Olie Olie Olie."

Clue:  Also includes rubbing hands on counter.

4:  "Baba bet.  Bank.  Nite."

5:  "yea yea yea yea yea yea Mama.  yea yea yea yea yea Mama yea yea yea"

6:  "Go ee!"

Clue:  Also includes both fists up in the air.

7:  "Di ee!"

Clue:  Also includes both fists up in the air.

Here is a video that might help you with one of the sentences above...

Answers:  (Note, many of these phrases do not have a direct translation into Adult.)

1:  "You should EAT the food I've given to you MOTHER. It's on a PLATE and I've even given you a SPOON to use."

2:  "Perhaps you wouldn't mind putting a MOVIE on the TV for me?  I think I'm in the mood for BRAVE, MOTHER."

3.  "I've really got a hankering to play with some BLUE PLAYDOUGH right now.  Like this instant.  Forget lunch.  PLAYDOUGH.  Now."

4.  "I'm going to go put my BABY to BED now.  She needs her BLANKIE because she is going, as you say, 'NIGHT NIGHT'."

5.  "I"M FINISHED WITH THIS MYSTICALLY FROLICKING NAP, MOTHER.  GET ME THE HULA HOOP OUT OF BED.  NOW."  (Please excuse her language.)

6.  "GOT IT!"

7.  "DID IT!"

In other news, Ryan has started to be successful in his quest to make Molly a wild animal.  She's begun to enjoy being thrown about and chased.

And, we dance.

O yea.  And if you got the phrases I listed above correct and also think that Molly is the cutest baby in the world you win a Ninja.  That is how confident I am in her communication skills.

Calm Before The Storm

Big News!

Big News #1:  Molly peed on the potty 5 times yesterday.

For some time now, we've been putting her naked on her potty right before bath...primarily because she tends to pee when we turn the water on.  Then, three days ago she sat down there like usual but peed before the water started.

Then she did it again the next day.

Then again the next day.

I did NOT want to potty train before New Zealand because I think the amount of extra changes of clothes we'd have to carry with us everywhere would far outweigh the diapers and wipes we'd need...

But, I couldn't really ignore her interest anymore.

So, yesterday I decided I'd start asking her if she needed/wanted to go potty at strategic points in the day.  She kept saying yes.  She kept peeing on the potty.

Things to work on:  (1)  She is not telling me when she has to go...so 50% of her diapers were wet when we went to go on the potty.  (2)  She flat out lied to me at pooping time that she didn't have to go.  Only to walk to the corner, squat, and drop one.

So we're going to keep doing the ask-and-go thing for a while and see where that takes us.  But I foresee a day (more than one day) of underwear-wearing-so-she-can-feel-when-she's-wet headed our way.

I'm going to try to go at her pace.  But I've a sneaky suspicion that her pace is going to drop us at trying underwear for the first time whilst on our 28 hour flight over the Pacific.  Me and pull-ups are about to become BFF (well, hopefully not forever.)

Because she was such a urine rockstar, she got to pick a toy at the store.  I don't know if her outfit inspired her choice or not, but choo choo it was!

Big News #2:  RIP Wubba Ducky

While in Chicago, Molly got a little violent with Wubba Ducky and the pacifier part was perilously close to jumping ship.  Last night, it happened.

She was pretty upset when she noticed in the morning.  ("Broke! Broke! Broke!!!!")  She wanted me to fix it (it is unfixable).  Then she suggested that Dada maybe could fix it (he can't either).  So, I improvised and told her that he couldn't be fixed because he was a Kissy Wubba now.  Then she picked out a couple of felt buttons and I sewed them on where the bink part used to be.  I told her that now she is just supposed to give the Wubba kisses instead, AND that Kissy Wubbas are allowed to come around the house with us all the time.  (Because her regular Wubbas stay in bed all day.)  

She seems to be ok with this tale I've spun.

She carried him (her?) around the house all morning and repeatedly gave himer kisses.

The real test was naptime.  She always wants all three Wubs with her and has one in her mouth and tucks a finger into each of the other ones.

She went down fine for nap.  I even caught her giving him a kiss on the monitor before she fell asleep.

Now, let's all hope that the other two Wubbas can hang on until April.  I need those suckers for the plane rides.