Saying goodbye

Now that Molly is 15 months, it's time to say goodbye to the Koalas and hello to the Penguins!

Starting Monday, Molls will be transitioning to a new class at daycare. And because of space issues, she will not be able to join her pals Malina, Alexis, and Brendan in the Chimps room.

But that's okay, the kids in the Penguins class look nice too. And Molly already knows 2 of the teachers, so we feel good about that.

What's new about the Penguins classroom? Well, Molly will eat meals at a table. An adorable, kid-sized table! And she'll sleep in a cot instead of a crib. I'm very curious to see how that goes...

We will miss the Koalas though. It's been good to us. Hopefully it will be as good to the Brandis because little Lainey is taking Molly's spot!

Molly's last full day with Isaac. "If you see me walking by, and the tears are in my eyes, look away, baby, look away."

New kicks

I meant to post this before the weekend and didn't have time, which was too bad, because Natalie had cute videos of Cole to show off and I wasn't able to share anything adorable of Molly.

Anyway, we got Molly her first pair of gym shoes last week and she LOVES them. I think she thinks they make her fast. 

Adidas!

Feeling cute

And here are a few clips of Molly in action:

She's just so fun now! I love it!!

Molly had an action packed weekend breaking in those new shoes with her daddy while I was in Vegas for Lauren's bachelorette party. Look for a post about that to come soon. But right now, I'm feeling a little too tired to upload my photos. Totally. Out. Of. Gas.

Deja vu

I was thinking of calling this post "winners and losers," but thought I may have used the title already. Sure enough, almost 1 year to the day, I posted a random blog entry about the US Open, Project Runway, Friday Night Lights, and my fantasy football teams. Ha! Many of the same topics are on the list for this evening's post! So here goes...

Winners from this week/last week:

• Novak Djokovic: Last year, after a hard fought US Open loss, I felt like Novak was starting to grow on me. This year, I could not have been more bummed out to see him win. He's playing unbelievable tennis right now, but he is just SUCH a child. I can't get behind him. I am crossing my fingers that either Federer or Nadal will knock him off his pedestal next Jan at the Aussie Open!
• Anya: She didn't technically win the last challenge on Project Runway (for some reason, they gave it to Josh M for making a black cocktail dress straight out of Ann Taylor), but she is always in the top 3 and seems to be the designer to beat this season. Her stuff always ends up looking so cool...and she also seems like a really nice person. I was prepared to hate her for being so pretty and not really knowing how to sew, but she manages to pull it together every week and be almost universally liked among the other designers. Go Anya!!
• Kyle Chandler (aka, Coach Eric Taylor): I was not expecting him to win the Emmy for Friday Night Lights, but he DID. It just warmed my heart to see him up there looking dapper in a tux and giving a wonderfully short and heartfelt speech. I will miss him.  
• Molly: She is currently sleeping peacefully in her pack 'n play in my room. For some reason, being put down in her crib this evening was worthy of 2 silent (breath holding) cries. I'm home alone for a few days with Jason at a convention in Vegas, so was not going to try to win the battle of wills. Molly got to cuddle with me in the big bed until she was tired enough to go to sleep in the pack 'n play.

Losers from this week/last week:

• Me: Ummm...did you see the previous bullet about the breath holding and the pack 'n play? The good news is, she hasn't done this (the breath holding) for quite a while, so I don't feel quite as upset about it as I would have a few weeks ago. Mondays are always a little rough getting back into the weekly routine. At least that's what I tell myself!
• My fantasy football team (The Ginger Midgets): Last year, it was Ryan Grant who went out early. This year, it's poor Jamaal Charles. With 12 people in our league (the OFL), it might be tough to pick up a decent replacement. And unfortunately, I don't really have anyone to trade. Waahhh! My other team (The Duendes) is in a little better shape. I'm 1-1 in that league and at least have Drew Brees to rely on every week. But the Ginger Midgets could be doomed!
• The Chicago Bears/Jay Cutler: It seemed like Cutler got taken down on every play. Bummer! The Saints are tough, no doubt, but it doesn't bode well for Green Bay next week :(
• The Ohio State Buckeyes: The 24-6 loss to Miami was just sad. And Northwestern lost to Army. Where is Persa??? 

I can't end the post on a down note, so I will end it with this, a pic of my adorable nephew Will! I was lucky enough to catch Jeremy, Megan, and Will on google chat this evening. Made my night!

Awwwww :)

The D word

Discipline. The D word. I don't really know how it works and according to the baby book I hadn't cracked open since my maternity leave, I should have started being firm and consistent at 9 months. Ack!

I've seen other kids Molly's age who get what a "no-no" is...mine thinks "no" is a game. She shakes her head from side to side and smiles.

Molly is a pretty good kid already. I just have a few things I need to accomplish. For example, I need her to understand when something is dangerous. Like standing up in the tub.

What else? It would be nice if she didn't throw food on the floor or try to break the computer. Are these realistic goals?

I guess we'll find out soon! I don't want the Molls to be totally spoiled, so I'm going to have to start setting some limits and following through. Wish me luck! She's starting to learn what a tantrum is - yesterday at the park she turned red and kicked her legs like a frog when I took her away from another kid's toy.

Veruca Salt? I hope not!

Molly's stay-cation with Grandma and Grandpa

While we were dancing and celebrating with Lindsay and Robbie in Michigan, Molly was dancing and celebrating with her grandparents in Chicago. My family kept me updated through email and text. I was SO happy to have the updates and know that she was doing okay. Jason and I thought a few of them were kind of funny, so I thought I would post everything in the order received.

Friday afternoon -- email from Mom:
We took Molly to the park. I forgot my camera & phone. Will take them next time. 5 or 6 kids there. Molly didn't want to leave. She is having lunch now - she was hungry. The grapes are a big hit.
   
Now it's after lunch and she is wandering around being cute. Dad was sitting on the edge of the sofa, and for a while the game was to stand with him, walk away and the turn around and come running back. She did this 5 or 6 times. She got out all her toys. I realized the the Old MacDonald book was actually a hand puppet. When I took it off, she wanted to stick her hand in. Then she would wave it around and make that Grrrr noise. We are having lots of fun. But the pacifier is in now and I think she is winding down to nap time.


Friday evening -- email from Mom:
Our first day has gone pretty smoothly. Molly has been very cheerful. We have worked out several games. She likes to stick her feet in things. Sitting down, she will grab her foot and place it in a box or bowl. She had me put her shoes on earlier today. When she thinks she is running very fast, she hunches her shoulders way up.  

   

She had a 3 hour nap, so we didn't feel too guilty when we put her to bed late --- 8:45. We went out to dinner at Northside and it went reasonably well, but we made some rookie mistakes. We should have taken some food along for her -- a rusk bar or cereal bar would have been a good idea. She does not like French fries. She did like tearing up a napkin into tiny shreds. That would have been ok if she had not followed it up by throwing it on the floor, piece by piece. And when I picked her up so she could look around, I would have preferred if she had not chosen that time to stick a finger in her nose -- something she had not done all day in the privacy of her home.  (Actually, at one point, she used both hands to go bi-nostril.) 

   

We are communicating pretty well. I can understand her when she wants food. This evening she went to the kitchen and let me know that she wanted to finish off a bottle that I had stuck in the refrigerator after she gave up on it 3/4 of the way through.

   

I haven't taken many pictures, but I will do more tomorrow.

   

Hope you are having a good time. We are.

Saturday afternoon -- email from Dad:

Things are going well with Molly.  We just finished breakfast and she is in good spirits.  We made a quick trip to the park before noon yesterday and went down to the restaurant in Bucktown for dinner. I think it was Northside.  Molly was good. Probably back to the park today and we'll give Molly a bath too. She needs one.


Will be watching a lot of college football today in between watching Molly. Have fun at the wedding and all of the other activities.

Saturday afternoon -- email from Dad:

I gave Molly the Nebraska Bear and pressed his letter and she listened intently, but when the Buckeyes scored a touchdown seconds later, she threw down the Bear and started singing, "March, march on down that field, men of the Scarlet and Gray...."


Saturday evening -- text from B:
I'm at your house. Molly is happy as a clam. She's a playing machine.


Sunday morning -- text from Mom: 

Does Molly have any socks? She woke up a bit sniffly and it got chilly here overnight. I have her in a sweater, but her feet are bare. 


Sunday morning -- text from Mom:

And where are the rubber bands to keep that Simply Red forelock out of her face?

Sunday afternoon -- text from Mom:

Big morning at the playground. I didn't know she could climb stairs. She went to the top of the slide, so I slid her down to Grandpa on her tummy.

Sunday afternoon -- text from Mom:
I just put her down for a nap. A little early, but she was ready. I hope this means that she will be back up by the time you get home.

Molly was up when we got home and the reunion went well. Relief!! Here are a few of my parents' photos from the weekend. As you can see, Molly was fine without us:

Wedding whirlwind

Such a fun wedding weekend! 3 days in Harbor Springs, Michigan with my best pals from high school, Lindsay & Robbie (obviously), and about 250 other fun and friendly wedding guests from around the country...how could it not be amazing? 

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures because this was definitely a wedding worth documenting. Every detail was just perfect. The rehearsal dinner was Southern-style (Robbie's mom is from Mississippi), so we got to enjoy fried chicken and cheesy grits while looking out onto the harbor. And the wedding reception was on the Everest family's farm -- from a distance, it looked like a huge, bright, tent-shaped party spaceship came down and landed in the middle of a forest. The band had everyone dancing and the night just flew by.

The best part was to see Lindsay and Robbie so happy. I stole this pic off Facebook so you can at least see how cool the dancing "wing" of the tent was with all of the trees and twinkling lights.

First dance! Lindsay looked SO pretty in her dress :)

Congrats to the happy couple!