A Penny for Your Thoughts

Poor Molly has been strapped in her car seat for a bunch of the last two days as I've been running around getting stuff for her new bedroom, picking up a new stroller, and doing other home improvement errands (John was thankfully painting her room. I hate painting and my parents would agree that I'm not very good at it since I painted numerous windows shut at their house).

Finally, this afternoon we are home. And stuck inside. It's raining and despite my excitement and plans to go for a walk, we can't. You know, it's not so bad. We slowed down, baked something, played and laughed and then I got to watch my baby fall asleep. I decided that though she is so much fun when she's awake and laughing and wiggling all over the place, there's nothing so sweet and peaceful as a sleeping baby. Sometimes it takes an act of nature to remind us of the good stuff.

Happy rainy Monday.




Snoozing a few weeks ago

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Bob Dylan must have had Molly Doyle in mind when he wrote the above song. I'm sure of it. Positive. Because not-so-little Molly has indeed grown and changed a lot in the past 3 1/2 months. Clocking in at over 14 lbs and about 26 inches, she is marching towards Andre the Giant-hood, taking down everything in sight. While she busted out of most of her 0-3 month clothes long ago (and many of her 3-6 months clothes as well), there are a few things that still her fit her long torso. One of them is her come-home-from-the-hospital lamby outfit. Here she is on day 3 and day 102 (this picture is from a few days ago. Don't worry, I can count). While I may be exaggerating her giant-ness, she does look a lot bigger in 99 days.

Rhode Island Doyles: The Final Frontier

Molly has finally finished meeting all of her cousins. She motored down to Rhode Island and visited with more cousins, second cousins, first cousins once removed, great aunts and friends. She wasn't the most petite person there, either. No, it's not because she is getting big enough to eat small children but because Cousin Kim had her twin boys there who were born shortly after Molly.


Checking out Eli (or Adrian?). Thanks to Beth for holding Molly lots.



Snoozing with Auntie Karin



Showing Cousin Rebecca newfound finger-munching skills




Contemplating jelly bean trails and easter eggs with Great Aunt Ellen

Margaritaville

Molly did indeed take her first trip to Key West, on St. Patrick's Day nonetheless, and managed to sleep through the entire visit. Other highlights from the week included wearing bathing suits, lots of time with Grampy, and seeing (well, not so much seeing as letting others see them) sea critters. We'll see if Molly is more of a pool person like her dad (believing that the ocean is the domain of said sea critters and land is the domain of humans) or a beach person like her mom. One thing is for sure, Molly has wisely inherited her need and enjoyment of sunscreen from her dad.




One of Molly's big vacation accomplishments was learning to suck on her fingers. She seems to go for her thumb the most but manages to sneak everything from pointer to pinkie in her mouth.



She also enjoys an occasional hand...






She had a swimsuit fashion show (as well as accompanying casper-the-friendly-baby sun gear)




She got her first tastes of ocean water and sand. She's still undecided if she likes the sand but enjoyed warm Florida water. We'll see how the New England ice chest treats her this summer.



Molly and Grampy had good times together. She also had the pleasure of listening to the same song from Grammy (more than) a few times but since this blog can't support audio, you'll just have to trust me that anything that can be be rhymed with Molly has been.

Those are some of the highlights from the trip but have others that I'll post over the next few days.

Go West, Young Woman

Molly started her interstate adventures by heading to Arizona to meet up with cousin Katy and her parents and her Grandma, Nana and Grandpa, and Aunt Holly. Molly did really well on the plane and slept and cooed through most of the ride. She managed take off and landings, a layover, and delays like a champ. I need to get some pictures from some of the others because our camera battery was dead for most of the trip but here are some of the pics from out there.



We went to a Mariners/As game early in the week on a gorgeously warm day. I explained to Eric that it wasn't really Molly's first baseball game because the Red Sox weren't playing and only when she watches them in action will she have her official first game under her belt. I think he's stopped crying about that by now. Molly wasn't the only Sox fan there and she steadfastly showed her team loyalties with her outfit.




Molly was well loved by everyone and she barely spent a second out of anyone's arms. She loved it and I think is a little disappointed to be back home with only us to hang onto to her.



I can't begin to say how adorable cousin Katy is. She was fascinated and very gentle and loving with Molly. When Molly wasn't in her bouncy chair Katy would walk over and pat it and want Molly to sit in it. She is preparing to be an outstanding big sister. Which brings us to how excited Molly is to meet Cousin Deuce...





We rounded out the week with a trip to the Grand Canyon. It was John and Molly's first trip to the big ditch. And no, despite what some people wanted to do, we did not pull a Michael Jackson and dangle Molly over the edge.

We're Baaaaaack

Dear Faithful Readers,

We're back after a long hiatus. We spent a week in Phoenix with the Doyle clan and then some time in Florida with Grammy and Grampy. I need to gather the pictures and will post more over the next few days but here's one to get started.

Fun in the Sun (We Hope)

We're headed out for our trip today. Molly is all prepared!