Tinkle, Tinkle Little Star

Today was just one of those days to which I'm sure every parent can relate. The day started early, a morning nap wasn't exactly taken by small child, the bathroom drain continues to be clogged (despite my foray into home plumbing), a man named Julian keeps calling me and demanding that I call him back regarding some apartment that he apparently wants to rent, afternoon nap wasn't taken, dinner wasn't exactly a hit with small child (and that's saying something about the tank who has only turned up her nose at a lemon so far and will eat grody beet/pea pancake concoctions and plain tofu).

So, here we are at the end of the day. Small child's father calls to report he's stuck in traffic and just hears plantive, incessant recitations of mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa mamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa over and over. I finally decide that dinner is done, I get small child out of her chair, hand a rice cake to her and get her ready for her bath. She is crawling around on the floor for a few minutes, sans diaper (now, you may think you can see where this is going but wait for the twist) while I try to throw a few things in a pot (speaking of grody concoctions...). Small child is happy with her rice cake, thankfully, and has stopped with the mamaaaaaaaaaaaas and crawls over to me. I'm not kidding when I say that she literally pulls herself up by my pant leg, looks up at me with her baby blues, and pees all over my foot. All over. Not just a little tinkle but a full force gush that she may have been saving up for nine and a half months. So, I start to laugh at it all (really, what else is there to do), which makes small child laugh and start dancing. Her dancing involves squatting and standing back up and squatting and standing back up. Suddenly, she remains in the squat position and before my mind fully processes what's about to happen -- she poops on me.

It's then that I decide it's really bath time. I grab a paper towel, remove the poop from my foot and we sit in the bath until small child's father comes through the door to be greeted with the world's biggest grin from one funny kiddo. Thankfully, it's really the end of the day...

"Oh boy, I've got a story to tell

And then, it went a little something like this...

And she was all, like, you've got to be kidding me."

Great American Lit

Molly decided that since she hasn't grown hair that she would work on growing her brain instead. While I can't say that she's reading, exactly, she does enjoy turning pages. If there is anything fuzzy in the book (not as weird as it sounds when it comes to children's books), then she likes to grab it and/or eat it. Right now, her favorite books are Tails and Dr. Suess's ABC book. She can seriously listen to the ABC book over and over. We've only gone up to three times in a row but since I'm reciting it in my sleep, I'm not sure I'll try to surpass that particular record.

How to Lose Those Extra Five Pounds

Denise Austin better watch out -- Molly loves to do leg lifts at home. I'm pretty sure she's working on a workout video deal in her spare time.



Last week, Molly got to meet one of the funniest people alive. My friend Ellen stopped on her way to a wedding in Maine (where they went and changed the exit numbers on her and boy, was that a doozy) and Molly had the privilege to spend time laughing with Ellen and her fiance, John. Although Ellen has an incredible neck nook where little babies like to spend time, Molly is too old for that and instead danced her own version of the chicken dance for her new pal. This is how she dances:

Men At Work

Our deck dismantling continues and today we discovered the lovely ants that had taken up residence in the wet wood in the deck. They were large, healthy and nasty. Because Molly would likely have tried to eat them had she been allowed near them (and I'm not sure that pry bars are a girl's best friend at this point), we kept her inside while John did a lot of demo. She had lots of laughs watching her dad work (despite her insistence on saying mama or ma ma ma whenever John tries to get her to say da da) -- maybe it was the glasses?

Prison Break

Yesterday, I was puttering around the house doing this and that. Molly was playing with her toys, chattering to some random stuffed animals, pulling all her books off the shelf, eating Cheerios of the floor -- all the normal stuff. All of a sudden, it was quiet and she was not doing any of the above. I frantically looked around -- no kid in the living room, hallway, bathroom, laundry room. There she was, though, out on the deck after busting through the screen door. In fairness, there was already a small rip in the screen but now there is a much larger, child sized one.

This is a reenactment (Molly is happily reprising her role as breaker outer). I think she wanted to show that while her head still has very little hair, it can be used as a battering ram.

She looks sweet enough now...

Now, not so much.

A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E

Molly decided to show her excitement that the Sox are doing well again by grabbing some modified pom poms (okay okay, they are wash cloths) and cheering for her hometown boys.

Pre-cheer ritual (okay, let's go!) -- chew right pom pom

and now switch colors and chew that one!

let's all yell together now!

now cheer!!

Music Lady

Molly started music class last week and she likes it a lot. She crawls around and yaps with the other kids and plays the drum and the bells, all of which tuckers her out (I'm not complaining). It's fun but I think John is sad that he can't be there so they work on singing the same songs at home.


I'm stealing a picture from Katie and Davis from our weekend on Block Island -- we went out there with the kiddos and enjoyed some good company (and were sorry Liz, Ben, and Ethan were sick). Hannah and Molly were very interested in Oliver (mostly interested in putting their fingers in his face and pulling on his shirt). They did sit nicely with him for a few minutes for the picture but then he wanted his magic chair back and they wanted to sit on him so we separated the big ones from the little man.

Are You Smarter Than An Almost 9 Month Old?

I'm not going to lie. There are things that Molly is better at than me. She wiggles better, squeals better, chases Harry better (just to name a few). I also think that she has better cleaning techniques than I do. She thinks those newspapers shouldn't be on the table? Well then, off they go. It's funny to watch her chuck stuff over her shoulders.


The sense of satisifaction at her good work must be nice. I think I'm going to adopt her cleaning standards.



This is just her "What? Me?" face. As in "Wait, have you ever told me not to eat grass? Me? Are you sure you told ME?"

Easy Chair

Molly enjoyed looking at the pink kitten on the lawn chair at Grammy and Grampy's this weekend. She liked to chat with it (she likes to say hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii) and pat its head. She's a big fan of dogs and cats although they don't usually return the affection. This kitten didn't move an inch, which made her happy as a clam.

Flight School

Molly's cousin Katy has been co-pilot of Tigger Air (Uncle Eric is really in charge, I think) for some time now although I think Emily may need a few more hours of ground time before she's ready to be at the helm. Molly has thought that Katy's flights looked like loads of fun so John finally took her up, up and away recently. I'm pretty sure Molly likes the friendly skies.

Friends and Footsie

Sarah, Kate, Katie, Liz, and I all gathered in Newburyport yesterday to see and celebrate with each other. We hadn't all been together at the same time for over two years, which is amazing. Baby bumps have grown into toddlers, relationships have turned into marriages (and we're looking forward to one more... ahem), but some things never do really change. We all still enjoy the beach (even though sun worshipping days are over for some people), we all enjoy good food and drink (and someday maybe we'll all be able to have a glass of wine at the same time), and the visits are always too short and too far apart.

I hope that our kids will continue some of these friendships and traditions... or start their own. Molly and Hannah have decided that toes nibbling is something that they'd like to do.

or start their own foot clapping club.

Also, happy birthday to Samuel! He turns the big 2 today!

The New Meaning of Labor Day

I know that Labor Day was created to celebrate the hardworking men and women of this country but the term will forever have a new meaning to me since actually going through labor. To celebrate the wonder that labor and delivery is, we went out to Block Island to unofficially say goodbye to summer. Molly enjoyed pulling herself up on a big table, getting lots of doggie kisses from Angus, eating more sand, and playing with Nana and Grandpa.

Pictures from the Block:

Making fishy faces - not as good as Aunt Holly's but working on it

Watching Nana navigate technology...

And then stealing her chair. Molly climbed up on her own and just parked her little self right there with no respect to its previous occupant.

Regular readers know Molly's predilection for noshing. She took advantage of Nana's breakfast this morning and stole that from her too.

On a final note, we got a huge lesson in selflessness this weekend when we watched John's cousin, John Thomas, on the news. NBC in Providence did a story on him because he was generous enough to donate a kidney to an old friend. In typical John Thomas fashion, he downplayed the enormity of the act but I think it deserves special recognition. Having worked closely with the transplant social workers at the hospital and dealing with organ bank on many occasions, I've witnessed how much it means to someone to be the recipient of an organ. Being able, and more importantly, willing to give this gift is a truly life changing experience for all those involved in the process. I'm truly humbled on a daily basis -- whether from some of the folks I came across in my former work life, from Molly and her friends and their moms and dads, or from closer to home in our own families -- to see the distance that people go to help others even when it might not have an obvious advantage for themselves. THESE are the acts that make the world go 'round.