Angry baby

I feel like Molly has learned so much over the last week or so. She can sit up, eat solid food, stick her toes in her mouth, reach for toys, engage with a touch and feel book, and blow a pretty sweet zerbert. She has also learned how to whine.

Maybe she's just sick of the car and will be back to her adorable laid back self when we get home. Or maybe this new demanding Molly is here to stay. If so, my life is about to get a lot more difficult.

The new Molly needs a lot more attention. Song after song, game after game, and book after book. It's so much fun to play with her and make her laugh, but I also want her to be able to entertain herself too.

Hopefully the new toys she got for Christmas will help! And some quality time with her friends at daycare :)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

On the road again/Angry Birds

We're on our way back to Chicago now and Molly finally went to sleep, so now it's time to blog and play Angry Birds.

For those who have never played Angry Birds, it's a highly addictive phone game where you have to destroy a bunch of evil pigs by slinging angry birds into the walls of their various fortresses and hiding places. I promise, it is fun. I got my brother in law hooked over Christmas and think he played for a solid 3 hours, or at least until he defeated all the pigs in the first level.

You can keep playing each round as many times as you want until you score the max number of points. Being the perfectionist that I am, I keep striving for 3 stars before moving on. I've played some rounds more times than I can count and have even searched around the internet for tips when I can't figure out the physics myself.

Yes, the game does require some logic, as you have to choose the best trajectory for your birds and break through materials of different strengths. Certain birds are better at destroying certain materials than others. Jason's Uncle Keith has made it through 13 levels and tells me some of the birds on higher levels drop bombs or turn supersonic. I can't wait!

We have a long day ahead of us - I think it's 8 or 9 hours to Louisville - and Jason doesn't like to be a passenger, so it's a good thing I have something to keep me entertained while Molly sleeps. And she definitely needs her sleep! My poor baby kept trying to hang with the big kids and totally wore herself out. Luckily everyone went to see True Grit last night and I was able to get Molly down at 7:45. Two more days and life will be back to normal...

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

A very merry Christmas

Molly's first Christmas was a special one indeed, as she was also baptized this morning at Steve and Marsha's church, Sacred Heart, in Danville, VA.

My mom made the christening gown. Isn't it beautiful?

Not a good photo of me or Molly, but you can see the dress a little better here. More pics to come when I have my camera cord!

I can't believe how well Molly did. We robbed her of her morning nap, but she still made it through church and the baptism without crying. We even got a few smiles. Especially when she made a move for the Bible after the baptism and everyone laughed :)

I think my daughter is turning into a little ham. We opened gifts last night and Molly stayed up waaaay past her bed time smiling and squawking with her grandparents and uncles. I think she came back downstairs for 2 or 3 encores and was totally feeding off the energy of the crowd. They would laugh and she would respond by amping up her performance. It was pretty cute. 

I feel bad that we have to stick her in the car tomorrow morning and take her away from these fun and loving relatives. But we're stopping in Louisville tomorrow night and will get to hang with Jason's uncle and cousins before heading back to Chicago. And then I have an extra day off before going back to work. Woo hoo! Can't wait to play with all of Molly's new toys. Tummy time just got a whole heck of a lot more interesting!

Love at first bite

We gave Molly her first taste of real food today. The pics are so cute, but a video will have to suffice until we get back to Chicago because I forgot my camera cord. Blast!

Anyway, Molly did so well with her first bowl of food. She even grabbed the spoon away from me at one point and then tried to take a bite out of the side of the bowl. Here's a little snippet of the experience:

Squawking with Grandma and Grandpa

Molly loved her stay in Tennessee and got some good bonding time in with her great grandparents. She seemed to especially like Great Grandpa Overbey and had the time of her life squawking and squealing back and forth with him.

Now we're on the road again (7 am on Thursday) and on our way to Virginia. I'm in the back seat with a very tired Molly, hoping she passes out soon. We cover a lot more ground when her eyes are closed!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Ice road blogger

We're on our way to Tennessee! Hopefully day 2 of this road trip will be better than day 1. We hit the road last night at 8 pm and drove until about 2 am, but only made it as far as Columbus, Indiana (20 miles south of Indianapolis). It was snowing for most of the drive and we were maxed out at about 40 mph.

Molly was an angel and slept the full 6 hours in the car yesterday. And she passed out 30 min after taking off today. We're lucky she likes her car seat. Only 5 more hours to go!

We're planning to stay with my grandparents until Thurs morning and then will take off first thing for Virginia to celebrate Christmas with the O'Gradys.

I've installed a blogger app on my phone and hope to document the trip as best I can. Cute pics of Molly in holiday gear to come :)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

School daze

I just uploaded these pics to Facebook and figured I should probably add them to my blog as well so non-Facebook people (Mom!) can see them too.

Molly had her first picture day at "school" a few weeks ago and here are the results:

She looks like a tummy time pro, doesn't she?

Hanging out by the Mighty Mississip!

I should have scanned in her class photo as well. It's hilarious! None of the kids are looking at the camera. Granted, they're all less than a year old, but you'd think at least one would have zeroed in on the lens.

Molly is still doing well at daycare. We had our first parent-teacher conference last week and Molly is where she should be in all categories (if that really means anything at 5 months). They love her there and I can tell she loves her teachers too. Molly also seems to like the other kids--her besties are Alexis and Malina--and even some of the parents. She was flirting away with one of the dads when I picked her up the other day!

We have our final physical therapy appointment tomorrow morning (at least I'm hoping it's the last one). Molly's head seems to be rounding out and she's doing well with tummy time and sitting up, so I'm not really worried about that anymore. It's going to be a long day though...our appointment is at 7am. The perfect end to a crappy week. Both Jason and I have been swamped at work and it's been a toss-up every day as to who can pick her up. It breaks my heart when I show up at daycare and Molly is the last kid there :( Only 2 more days to go though and then we have a FULL WEEK to hang out with Molly!!

The first toof

Molly has been drooling up a storm lately, and also crying in her sleep at night, so I had a feeling a tooth was on the way. But when I actually caught a glimpse of one poking through her bottom gum this morning, I couldn't have felt more shocked. A tooth! My girl is really growing up!

It's hard to see right now because it's just starting to break through and because Molly always seems to have something in her mouth. But hopefully I'll get photographic evidence soon!

Can't get a picture of the toof because Molly is always chewing on something :)

Happy Molly-days!

The proofs are in! I'm not including the one we picked for the holiday card, but here are a few of my favorites:

 Nice work Mr. Ford!

Who's scared of Santa?

Not our Molly! She sat on Santa's lap like a pro -- I was expecting a meltdown, but she was totally calm. It probably helped that she met Santa at the daycare holiday party and had her parents and teachers there to help make her feel comfortable. I do not imagine a trip to Macy's would have gone as well!

Mother and daughter. Do you notice the text on Molly's bib? Yeah, that's right!

Molly and Santa. I wonder what she wished for!

The holiday party was pretty fun. Jason and I showed up late and left early -- the perfect amount of time. And we're starting to feel more comfortable with the other parents. Of course we can never remember everyone's name, but at least we know all the kids :)

I'm heading out to dinner soon with a bunch of the girls and Jason is going to stay home with Molls and Brandi to watch Nebraska take the Big 12 Championship. It's been such a good weekend so far, and the best part is, we've got all day tomorrow too!

Everlasting Light

Who knew record stores had Black Friday deals!? Well, Jason knew, so he hustled over to Reckless first thing Friday morning and picked up a few new records for our (his) collection, including the latest Black Keys album. I caught a little clip of daddy dancing with his daughter and thought it was too cute not to post!

Too sick for Thanksgiving

What bad luck! Instead of eating turkey with the fam yesterday, I was holed up in my room with a nasty 24-hour stomach bug. It was awful. Poor Jason had to cook the entire meal himself, except for the cranberries, which I had made the night before. We have a refrigerator full of leftovers though, so I plan on feasting tonight, now that I feel better!

My parents were in town, and my sisters were over, so Molly still got plenty of love and attention yesterday. I had planned on taking a bunch of photos, but that didn't happen. Luckily Jason and Susie busted out the flip cam and got a couple of videos of Molly 'singing' and also trying to get her pacifier back in her mouth. One of these days she'll master that skill!

I guess it's not the end of the world that I didn't take any photos, as we have a session scheduled for Sunday at Joshua Ford Photography in Moline, IL, Jason's hometown. Ford is a good friend of Jason's from college, and also an amazing photographer. I can't wait to see what he comes up with! 

Our little Bears fan

These photos are actually from the weekend, but since the Bears are also playing tonight, I thought it would be a good time for a post!

Bears booties! Knit by yours truly. They don't stay on, but they sure are cute!

When Molly isn't busy staring at her hands, she loves watching the Bears play :)

I don't have much energy for blogging tonight. Molly has a cough and has been waking up at all hours of the night this week. I think she's getting over it though, so keep your fingers crossed that she sleeps through tonight! And keep your fingers crossed for the Bears too. They're up 16-0 on the Dolphins right now. You wouldn't know it by listening to the announcers though. They don't want to give the Bears any credit, even though they only have 3 losses on the season!

4 month stats -- long and lean

It's been a while since we've been to the doctor -- 2 months in fact -- and I've been dying to know Molly's latest stats. We found out today that she's 13 lbs 8 ounces (50th percentile), 25 and a half inches long (90th percentile!), and has a head somewhere in the 25th to 50th percentile. I forget the exact measurement, but you get the idea. She's long and lean and has a pea head! Here's a pic of Molly on her way to the appointment. Little does she know she's about to get stuck in the thigh with a needle!

4 months old and looking cute in a new hat from Grandma Lynette

Jason had never seen Molly get a shot before and was a little nervous about it. True to form, Molly turned purple and screamed as soon as the needle went in. She was so angry, she couldn't even breathe at first! Luckily she calmed down after a few minutes and then passed out as soon as we got her in the car. It's been over 2 hours and she's still sleeping. Poor little girl!

I can't believe we've had Molly in our lives for 4 months now. I love her so much, sometimes it's hard for me to remember what life was even like before Molly. My parents are probably going to be shocked when they visit for Thanksgiving. Last time they were here, Molly was still a little peanut who would spend hours snoozing on my mom's chest. Now she's a smiling, drooling, squawking machine!

Molly's new trick

3 blog posts in a row...I'm playing catch-up after a busy week! I was actually typing up the last post when Jason called my attention over to see Molly giving herself a bottle. What a big girl! I knew they were working on this at daycare, but didn't realize Molly had mastered the skill. Check it out:

She's got a grip on that bottle!

Marsha asked this weekend if I was keeping track of Molly's "milestones" in a baby book, and I felt guilty for a moment that I wasn't. But luckily I've got all the little moments stored away in this blog. I may go back and reconstruct a book based on the last 4 months of posts. Or, I'll just give Molly this URL whenever she wants to take a peek at her childhood. Isn't that a strange thought? 15 years from now, Molly may be reading this very post!

Snug as a bug in a rug

Molly has a new cuddly blanket, courtesy of the AT Knit Wits -- I had no idea they were knitting away on her behalf! This photo doesn't do the blanket justice. It is absolutely gorgeous. Each square was knit by a different Knit Wit and has its own unique pattern. But you can see how pretty the colors look with Molly's hair. And it's so soft, she just can't resist sticking the ends in her mouth :)

Five generations of love

This weekend, Jason's parents, grandparents, and great-grandfather came to visit, and we were able to take a "five generations" photo with little Molly. Wow! It was a pretty special weekend. Princess Molly had plenty of time to bond with her new favorite person, Grandpa Steve ("The Duke"), and we got to watch Nebraska beat Iowa State in OT with a house full of true fans. Unfortunately, my Northwestern Wildcats weren't able to deliver the same kind of excitement. They blew a 21-0 lead over Penn State and handed Joe Pa his 400th win. Boo.

Back to the good stuff. Here are a few of our favorite photos from the weekend:

Five generations: Great-Great Grandpa Joe, Great-Grandma Pat, Grandpa Steve, Daddy-O, and Molly

Playing pat-a-cake with Grandma Marsha

Hanging out with her Great-Grandparents

We think Molly has discovered her feet

Happy birthday Grandpa Steve! Check out all that drool on Molly's bib. Think she might be teething?

Happy Harvest Fest!

Yesterday was the Harvest Fest at Molly's daycare. All the kids got decked out in costumes and the parents mingled around for an hour, admiring all the cuteness. The event was a little anticlimactic -- Molly pooped on the bottom half of her monkey suit, so she was a monkey in pink pants instead :) And although Jason and I are both pretty social people, for some reason, neither one of us is very comfortable with 'parent small talk' yet. We were the first to leave the event.

Regardless, it was fun to see all the little kiddos dressed up for Halloween. Check it out:

 

Molly gets to wear her monkey suit again on Sunday at the Ciaglias' Halloween party, so hopefully I will get a few pics of her dressed up and smiling. Until then, here are a few pics of Molly in her new fall jacket. 

This isn't a costume -- her coat just happens to have bear ears :)

Molly also has a little pair of brown boots, courtesy of the 'boys' section at Old Navy

Disappointed, to say the least

Everyone I talked to thought Mondo was going to, and deserved to, win Project Runway. He showed a pretty awesome collection of pieces, but the judges (Nina and Michael) all of the sudden decided, after praising him all season long, that it wasn't 'sophisticated enough.' Instead, they gave the win to evil Gretchen, who showed a pretty boring collection of leopard print dresses, baggy neutrals, crop tops, and knit undies. I'm just not sure that her clothes are particularly 'sophisticated' or 'now.' To me, her stuff is boho 90s. But hey, maybe the 90s are making a comeback.

I could see Donna Martin wearing this on Season 1 of Beverly Hills 90210

I have resisted digging into the blogs until after I wrote my own post, but I did watch a little video of Mondo's reaction to the finale. I thought it was interesting to find out that Gretchen had other people make the jewelry, hats, and knitwear in her collection. I know that others have done this in the past (Jay, the season 1 winner, had someone else produce his knitwear, and I think Jeffery Sebilia had someone do leather work for him). But to outsource jewelry, hats, and knits seems like a lot.

Oh well. Gretchen probably needs the cash the most, so hopefully she will use her winnings to pay off some debt! I think Mondo will probably be just fine, even without the win. He seems pretty ambitious, and I also think he is one of the most popular contestants the show has ever had. I'd love to see him design a line for H&M where I could actually afford to buy a few of his pieces. Go Mondo! Can't wait to see what you do next!

Bad hair day

Molly has always had kind of a crazy lid, but now that her hair is starting to fall out on the sides and in the back, it's looking even crazier. She's got a long tuft on top and then a fringe in the back that covers her neck. Team Coco all the way!

I'm not sure the bow is helping

Interesting move, Don Draper. Interesting move.

Jason and I finally watched the season finale of Mad Men and, although it wasn't what I was expecting at all, I have to say, I really liked the way it ended. After all that SCDP agency drama, to switch things up and end the season with Don falling for (and proposing to!) his secretary was just genius. Who knew all it took to win the heart of Don Draper was the ability to shrug off a spilled milkshake with a smile?

Sniffles and snuggles

It's getting crisp outside and Molly's fighting a cold, so I made sure she was dressed for warmth today in some hand knits. Check out the cuteness:

Pumpkin head -- knit by Grandma Lynette (fuzzy pic, taken in a mirror)

Cuddly sweater -- knit by me!

Sweater from the back. You can see poor Molly is losing her lovely hair :(

Daddy's little girl

I know Molly loves me -- she smiles when she sees me, laughs when I sing goofy songs to her, and looks for me to comfort her when she's upset. We have a very special bond. But even at 3 months, I can already tell that Molly is a daddy's girl. He makes her happy. Very happy. Extremely happy. And that makes me happy!

Our favorite activity (if you can call it an activity) is for me to hold Molly so she can stand up and look over at Jason in his chair. All he has to do is smile at her or stick out his tongue and she goes absolutely wild -- smiling and laughing and shrieking and stomping her feet. It's so cute I can hardly stand it. When we switch and Jason holds Molly, she will smile at me for a few minutes, but eventually, she will lose interest and start to eat her hand.

Our second favorite activity is for Jason to play the "one, two, three" game where on "three," he lifts Molly high up into the air. I play this game with Molly too, and she likes it...but not nearly as much as when Jason does it. I think he may be better at the sound effects :)

I'm only a teensy bit jealous about all of this. As soon as we found out we were having a girl, I knew that she would have Jason wrapped around her little finger and that I would have to be in charge of discipline and spearhead any "not so fun" activities. Tummy time, physical therapy, bath time, and daycare drop offs and pick ups all fall under my jurisdiction. But for now, and for at least a few more months, I do have one trump card. Daddy may bring the fun, but mommy brings the FOOD!

Daddy's lucky charm

Welcome to parenthood

Molly in her first pair of jeans. Adorable!

Jason and I woke up yesterday all excited to show Molly off at Pellikan's chili/Bears party. We dressed her in Bears colors, stocked a cooler full of beer, and drove out to the suburbs thinking life was good. Who could have predicted what was coming? The minute, and I mean the minute, we stepped into the living room, Molly completely lost her shit. I'm not sure I've ever seen her that pissed off. Maybe there were too many people there, too many kids, too many dogs. Or maybe it was too loud or too warm. Whatever it was, she was not having any of it.

Jason and I quickly spirited Molly away to the garage and tried desperately to get a bottle in her and calm her down. It kind of worked...we got her to settle down enough to at least pass out for a half an hour. But then she woke up in a strange place and the meltdown started up all over again. Jason and I kept telling people, "she's not usually like this!" Heh. I'm sure they believed us :)

As soon as the game ended, we loaded our still full cooler into the trunk and our still crying Molly into her car seat, and started the drive home. I think we were in the car for less than 2 minutes before we heard a sound coming from the back seat. I took a peek at my little stinker and she looked back at me, huge smile on her face, and laughed. Welcome to parenthood.

Everybody's working for the weekend

My apologies for taking a little time off between blog posts. Last week was my first full week back at work and, to add to the stress, I was also a single mom from Wed to Fri while Jason was in New York for business. Man, this whole working mom thing is tough! But, I'm taking on my new role with gusto and feel pretty happy about how it's going so far.

If I thought I was good at multitasking before, I'm taking it to a new level now. At work, I'm on the go all day, running from one meeting to the next and then sneaking off to the "mother's room" every 3 hrs to pump for my baby. Then at home, every spare minute is accounted for, playing with Molly, feeding Molly, coaching her through tummy time, scarfing down dinner, picking up around the house, and getting organized for the next day. No time for blog posts!

It feels nice to be back at work though and writing again. And Molly is doing about as well as we could ever expect at daycare. She naps 3 times a day, eats 3 times a day, poops a couple of times a day, and seems generally happy, or at least content, when we pick her up. The teachers are soooo nice and seem to be doing their best to keep her off the back of her head and turned to the left.

Speaking of turning left, Molly has made a ton of progress since we started physical therapy. She can prop herself up on her arms and look around. Sometimes she'll even do this for a few minutes before she starts crying :) And today, she grabbed for a toy while I had her on her tummy! I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's one of those "milestones" we're supposed to look for. Here are a few photos of Molly in action:

Molly doesn't know what's coming up next...

Tummy time!

So strong

Trying to get to Mortimer the Moose

At peace

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work I go

Looooooong day, but I did it. I am officially a working mom! Molly must have known it was my first day back at work, so she rewarded me by waking up early at 5:45, smiling and full of energy. Approximately 2 hours later, I was out the door with my purse, mini cooler full of milk, breast pump, and a sleeping Molly. Because she was sleeping, it wasn't as hard to drop her off as I thought it was going to be. I just popped her in her crib, dropped off her milk and spare outfit, said hi to the teachers, and then went on my way to catch the train.

The first couple of hours at work flew by. My coworkers decorated my door with a "welcome back" sign and stopped in one-by-one to say hi and listen to me babble about Molly for a few minutes. Then I spent the rest of the day sorting through email and getting caught up on all the latest projects. Fun. The next thing I knew it was 3:00 and I was DYING to get home and see Molly. By the time I got off the train, I was practically running to get to her. People probably thought I was crazy!

Molly was a little on edge this evening, but we still got to enjoy a few of her adorable smiles before she fell asleep. Here's a little video of Miss Molls having fun. She starts to lose it at the end, but she still looks cute when her lip curls :) 

Tomorrow might be a little more difficult. We have a 7:00am physical therapy appointment, which means we have to leave the house at 6:20. Ugh. Good thing we've got the weekend coming up!

The first day of "school"

I have very mixed emotions about dropping Molly off at daycare this morning. On the one hand, it was kind of traumatic to leave her in the care of virtual strangers in a room full of crying babies, all glaring at me with their wet angry eyes. On the other hand, Molly seemed fine in the hands of Gina, the assistant director (see pic below), and even started falling asleep in her arms before I left.

I actually feel kind of good about it now that I'm home. I'm free, for the first time in who knows how long, to play on the internet, take a bath, and clean my condo without having to worry about Molly and when she's going to wake up or need to eat. Well, I'm still worrying, but just can't do anything about it today. I just hope she's happy over there and able to sleep okay in a strange crib. And I hope they keep their promise and do plenty of tummy time and make sure to turn Molly's head to the left when she sleeps.... Waaaahhhh! I need to wrap up this post before I get myself too worked up!

Here are a few pics:

I wanted Molly to look cute on her first day of school -- mission accomplished!

Apparently Molly doesn't need me. She can fall asleep anywhere!

Playdates, physical therapy, and daycare, oh my!

Molly and I have had quite the week so far. We went to Caroline's for our first playdate on Tuesday with a bunch of the other kiddos in the group -- Olivia, Sadie, Mia, Whistler, Ramey, and Ethan. Molly is still too young to 'play', but it was nice for me to be able to hang out with the other moms. One downside of going back to work is that I won't be able to do stuff like that during the week anymore.

After the playdate, we drove up to Jason's office so his coworkers could meet Molly. They loved her, of course, and couldn't get over her red hair or how much she looks like Jason.

We continued the action on Wednesday with our first physical therapy session for the flat head problem. Jason and I learned a bunch of new ways to hold Molly to help her strengthen her neck and get used to tummy time and turning left. The physical therapist doesn't want us using any equipment, like bouncy seats or swings, so it means we have our work cut out for us carrying her around all the time and interacting with her on the floor during tummy time. The good news is that we can still practice standing (Molly's favorite activity) and I can carry her facing out in the Baby Bjorn, which Molly seems to like much better than facing in.

Molly still hates tummy time, but the therapist said with a little hard work, she should be a different baby in 2 to 3 weeks. Unfortunately for now, it means I have to spend most of the day pissing her off. I'm letting her hang in her bouncy seat right now as a little reward for being manhandled all day. Hopefully the 20 minutes she spends in it won't negate any progress we've made.

I'm also counting on daycare to help with the flat head problem. We stopped by yesterday to meet Molly's teachers, drop off her paperwork, and ask a few questions before her first day next week. I was happy to hear that they spend a lot of time working on tummy time and getting the kids to sit up by themselves. And hopefully Molly will pick up a few tricks from the older babies in the class! Only one more week to go before I'm back at work and Molly is in daycare full time....

Winners and losers

I've been meaning to blog about the US Open, Top Chef, Project Runway, my fantasy football teams, and a few other topics, but haven't had time. So here are a few random thoughts combined into one post...

Winners from this week:

• Rafael Nadal: Congrats to Rafa for winning the US Open and for completing the career Grand Slam at the tender young age of 24. Since I'm home on maternity leave, I was able to watch A LOT of the US Open and no one plays with as much intensity as Rafael Nadal. No one. I'm so happy that he won. What am I going to watch during the days now that the US Open is over??
• Novak Djokovic: Yes, he lost to Rafa in the finals, but Novak won my respect in the semis by taking down Roger Federer in 5 sets. At times, I even cheered for him vs Rafa. But just at times!
• Kevin from Top Chef: Ed and Angelo thought they were competing against each other for the title, but they forgot about Kevin, who cooked the meal of his life and the best the judges have had in any finale (according to Tom Colicchio's blog). I really wish I could have tasted that dessert
• Mondo: Finally, my boyfriend wins a challenge! He was the clear winner this week, not that he had much competition. I loved this quote from Michael Drummond, "If you took Jackie Kennedy to the desert and gave her some mescalin to eat...then you would have Jackie Kennedy and Mondo. Does that make sense?" Yup, makes perfect sense! I heart Mondo
• The Dillon Panthers: They won this week, thanks to a last-minute TD by Tim Riggins. I love Friday Night Lights and am so happy that ABC Family is playing it over again from the beginning

Losers from this week:

• My fantasy football team (The Duendes): Ryan Grant is out for the season and I wasn't quick enough to pick up his replacement. I'm going to be playing catch-up all season long now
• Molly: See previous post about the flat head :(
• The Cincinnati Bengals: Sucked it up against the Patriots on Sunday
• The Chicago Bears: Technically, they beat the Lions, but it wasn't pretty and everyone seems to be outraged by the Calvin Johnson call. If they had this much trouble vs Detroit, I'm a little nervous about their chances vs a decent team, like the Cowboys
• Jason Street: QB from the Dillon Panthers (Friday Night Lights). He breaks his neck in the first game of the season, learns that he'll never walk again, and then finds out that his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend. Man, what a cruel show! I love FNL, but it's almost more difficult to watch the second time around, now that I know what I know...

Anyway, that's what's in my head right now. Next post will have Molly pics, I promise!

My daughter is not an ambi-turner

Yes, just like Derek Zoolander, Molly has a strong preference for her right side. Unfortunately, this means Molly is getting a flat head. Noooooooooooo! It's true. I went to her 2-month appointment all worried about the shots and those turned out to be no big thing. But this whole flat head diagnosis has really thrown me for a loop. I thought my daughter was perfect!

We had to schedule an appointment with a physical therapist (1st opening Oct 21...are you kidding me?) and until then, have to try to keep her off her back or else keep her head turned left whenever possible. If the problem persists at 4 months, this could be Molly:

I do not expect Molly to be as happy about her helmet as the child in this photo... we tried to put a knit hat on her yesterday and she flipped!

Of course I feel like this is all my fault. They told me in the hospital to watch the whole head preference thing and I haven't really forced it...until now. I will be vigilant about tummy time (even though she hates it) from now on! Poor Molly -- she's about to see her mother turn into a drill sergeant.

Other than that, the 2-month appointment went well. Molly is 23 inches long and almost 12 lbs -- that's a little over the 50th percentile for both height and weight. And despite its flatness, Molly's pea head has moved up to the 50th percentile as well. We'll do our best to get it rounded out. Updates to come!

The missing link

Molly has now met all 4 of her uncles. And by waiting just a few weeks, Jake probably got to see the cutest version of Molly. She was smiling and laughing all weekend!

Marsha and Steve also came to visit and were kind enough to babysit while Jason, Jake, Corinne, and I went to the Bears game. The game was ugly at times, but at least we came out with a victory! A loss to the Lions is not a good way to start the season...

Molly sticks her tongue out at Jake

Jake, Corinne, Me, and Jas at the Bears game

The Calvin Johnson TD call may have been controversial, but we didn't care!

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I finished this book in just a couple of days -- it's a total page turner -- but I can't say I enjoyed it all that much. Dan Brown has figured out a nice little template for his novels. An evil character wants to use long-lost knowledge from a secret society (in this book, it's the Freemasons) to achieve world domination (or some other nasty goal) and Robert Langdon, the famous and brilliant symbologist, is the only one who can decipher the clues to save the day. Throw in an eccentric billionaire, an attractive female sidekick, and a plot twist near the end (someone is not who you think they are!) and there you have it, a NY Times bestseller. When I read The Da Vinci Code, I thought it was so clever. But after reading 3 versions of the same book, I think I might be finished with Dan Brown.



View all my reviews

The Outcast by Sadie Jones

The Outcast by Sadie Jones

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is one of those books where the main character just totally self destructs. It's the story of Lewis Aldridge, a boy growing up in the London suburbs in the years following WWII, who can't come to grips with his mother's death and father's indifference. You really do feel for Lewis, but you also want to bang his head against the wall as he makes one poor choice after another. It's a good read, but I wouldn't necessarily run out to the bookstore for it!



View all my reviews