Thanks and Yum!

As expected, the little cookie monster was a big fan of Thanksgiving and all the eating that took place. She especially liked the the stuffing, squash soup, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. We all enjoyed a few days on the Cape, witnessing dramatic hair cuts, working off good food with walks on the beach and going a few rounds on the Wii (who knew you could sweat that much inside or that playing the viola was perfect preparation for strumming some Weezer?). I woke up sore after giving Greg a serious drubbing in boxing but I stunk up the joint at Guitar Hero while John rocked out, as usual.

Thanks to the Dudleys for hosting us and it was great to be with family. Molly enjoyed it so much that she just didn't want to sleep. We're home, happily stuffed and looking forward to seeing more family soon!




Molly's pre-Thanksgiving black eye. It didn't interfere with the hand eye coordination required for food shoveling.


My dad and I may have shared similar fates of getting booed off stage on Guitar Hero but he was one mullet wig short of a rock revolution.


Molly patiently eyed the food while we snapped her first Thanksgiving picture.

If You're Happy And You Know It...

Someone is proud as punch of herself. Okay, maybe we encouraged it...

We started celebrating Thanksgiving a little early this year (which may prove to be Molly's favorite holiday because of the vast amounts of food available for consumption) and had some friends over this weekend to be thankful and start some noshing.

Lots of cute kids with lots of cute outfits but Oliver took it to a whole new level with his BYOPH attire (Bring Your Own Pilgrim Hat).

Somehow we managed to get 12 adults and 7 kids squeezed into our dining room.




Molly is thankful for her panda bear (or nanana) bear. She was giving it lots of hugs this morning.

Talk Like This

Chatty Kathy has gotten the hang of the phone (which I think is weird because we don't have a home phone and our cell phones don't really look like the below phone. Actually, my first cell phone, aka "the brick", did). She says "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii", which is one of her favorite words. She likes saying hi to her friends, to her grandparents, and will ham it up to most any stranger on the street. Let's just say that she likes positive reinforcement.

Hugs and Kisses

This is a little dark and grainy, our apologies, but Molly likes showing affection right now so we figure we'd capture it before she becomes a teenager and hates our guts.

She's also just gotten her first molar. Too bad Halloween already happened because she could have gone as a molar bear. Hee hee hee. That one was for my uncle.

Stand and Deliver

Molly likes to watch her older friends race around on two feet like the crazy animals that they are. She is getting ready to move into bipedalism and watched her pal Hannah (when the two weren't coming to blows) take a lot of steps this past weekend. She isn't taking any steps on her own yet but is slowly working her way towards them. She stands on her own now and can do some mean squats (I should probably try and do some with her. On the other hand, she's got a pretty big booty so maybe not...) to get at her toys. She also still likes to put anything and everything (including pool water) into her mouth.

Alternative Energy

Although Molly did use her water table for more traditional games the other day, apparently it also came in handy to use as...

a water trough

a push toy

and, my personal favorite, a ballet bar

Change is in the Hair

I guess Flowbees DO work!



Yes, we have some wigs around here. Yes, I think it's funny to put them on Molly. Yes, she hates it until someone starts laughing and then she starts laughing like it was her idea in the first place. This wig is from my clown days in high school. Another relic from my parents' basement. I sure wish I had been as good a clown as my brother but I couldn't juggle and well, I just really wasn't very good. But, I did have a good costume and I am glad that it has come to take up residence in our house because I plan on breaking it out for someone's birthday (maybe Liz's, I know she loves clowns) or anniversary or first dance recital.

Oh What a Night...

Molly looks forward to when John comes home from work at night (that makes two of us!). She gets an extra burst of energy, which is usually matched by her dad. She likes horsing around on the couch lately and tosses herself all around like a little pinball. Yet again, she cracks herself up like there's no tomorrow.








I won't comment much on the election because I can't do it all justice. I will say, however, that I wasn't voting just for myself today. I was voting for the little person above who I hope will enjoy some of the much needed change that will result from this election. I hope she enjoys it until the day that she herself is old enough to be part of a force for change and goodwill. That, to me, is a legacy worth living.

Heirloom

When I was little, my grandpa made me this little goose rocker. Cleaning out my parents' basement with my mom recently, we came across it and I brought it back for Molly to enjoy. I guess sometimes it does pay to be a pack rat. I think my grandpa would have loved Molly and all her antics so it's nice she gets to enjoy a little piece of his handiwork.