Covered in Creativity

Green homemade flour paint in the hair, ears, eyelashes, nose, hands and all over the clothes.  A huge smile on her face.  Molly's first art session with grandma Lynne making handprints.  Proud mom with a camera.
Laundry.  Bath.  Extra Soap.  Precious girl covered in creativity!

The Birthday Girl

My little Mollymonster turns one tomorrow.

I have loved every moment of this past year.  I feel so blessed every day to have Molly in my life.  Each passing, stage, lesson learned, new achievement and laugh is not lost on me.  She lets me see the world through new eyes and a joyful heart.  Molly's happiness is infectious and her vivacious spirit is engaging.  So, on her first birthday, no mountain of presents would return in kind, the gift she has given me this last year.

Happy Birthday my beautiful amazing baby girl!

The Kissing Bandit

In the last several weeks, Molly has turned into a kising bandit. She
has mastered the art of giving kisses (without the slobber) as well as
blowing kisses. She showers her affections on the sly and at the most
funny and precious moments. Friendly faces are often greeted with a
beaming smile and a kiss. Her focus and sincerity when giving these
little gifts is remarkable. She seizes a moment, steadys herself,
puckers her lips and leans in to plant it squarely on the receiver.

She seeks out Maile every morning to shower her with affection. On
several occasions, she has managed to actually plant one on Maile.
This week marks the first time that Molly outwardly acknowledged that
I was leaving for work. Yikes-the pull on a mom's heartstrings to
watch her little one's concern and dismay.

I said my brief good yes to Molly as usual, however, on this occasion,
Molly immediately got up from her play and waddled after me to the
door. Since she couldn't see me through that door, she ram around to
the front glass door. She waited there until I backed my car out of
the garage. As I paused in the driveway, I knew that someday in our
future, these rolls would be reversed, and I would be the one
lementing over my daughter's departure from home.
For the record, Molly has been sporadically dolling out some
unprompted kisses to others for a few weeks, but I had yet to recieve
one.

In grandmas arms, Molly blew me three kisses I will never forget.
Needless to say, leaving was difficult!

I find great happiness seeing Molly developing into a loving and
affectionate girl. May you be so lucky to be on the receiving end of a
Molly kiss.

Molly's First Christmas

Santa came to town.  This year, I was on the side of the little elves side of the holiday.  I will always remember Molly's first Christmas, not by the lovely wrapped presents or tasty family brunch, but by the sweet quiet moment shared in the morning.  I sing Christmas carols as we rock in the rocking chair, Molly drinking her milk with her hand gently holding mine.  This was my gift from her as I know these moments will soon disappear.

The day was slow and lovely, one present every so often.  I know we have many holidays in front of us that will be a frenzy of wrapping paper, wish lists, and rising at the crack of dawn to run to the tree...but for now, I love this moment in time when the best part of the holiday is sitting quietly with my baby girl and singing jingle bells.

Walk On Little Lady

It's official.  Molly is a walker.  She has left crawling behind with her toddling happy hoppy walking.  It's amazing to see.  She practices her various swagers with enthusiam - regular walking, chasing Maile, excited hopping walk, speeding to greet you walk, dancing walk.
Since she started to walk, an entire new world has opened up to Molly developmentally, socially and environmentally.  Now, Molly is mobile so she can vote with her feet.  She desires to explore all unchartered the areas of the house, dive into cupboards that hold mysterious treasures and exercise a participatory role in relationships through requests and affection.  Her development growth has exploded over the last 14 days.  Needless to say, mama has to take it to a whole new level too.
There is nothing more precious than Molly speeding toward the door as I enter to give me a hug.  There is nothing more delightful than to watch Molly dance walk her way across the floor.  There is nothing more sweet than to watch Molly toddle after Maile in circles around the living room.  Walk on little lady!

Life Jacket Day

Here, Molly slides into the pool in her life jacket while learning to
roll over onto her back when wearing a life jacket.

Molly's Best Buddy

As a busy working mom, I can certainly use all the extra help I can get.  I appreciate Maile's Molly care services.  Her skill set has grown as Molly's has grown.

The picture for this post is of Maile making sure Molly didn't need any help eating her food.  If Molly ever drops anything from her high chair, Maile is on the case.  Maile also provides entertainment for Molly by running in circles in the living room and making Molly laugh really hard.

It is so sweet to watch Molly pick up one of Maile's toys in the morning before Maile is even awake.  Molly looks at me with eyes that say "where is my best buddy mom?  I want to play!"  Once Maile wakes up, Molly holds out Maile's toy and Maile ever-so-gently takes the toy from Molly's hand.  This goes on for several minutes.

I am amazed that both Molly and Maile know whose toys are whose and don't ever confuse them.   Both Molly and Maile have several toys that could be interchanged: fuzzy, squeaky, etc.  They play nicely in the same space without stealing each other's items.  No sibling rivalry here.

From time to time, Maile will get a burst of energy and engage Molly in play.  She will either bring a toy to Molly or she will pounce in front of Molly with a cute bark.  I have been tying to capture this on film, but it eludes capture like Bigfoot.

Molly and Maile share tricks.  Maile is the master of "Bang Bang".  This is a trick where we pretend to shoot her and she falls over on her side.  Molly has watched Maile do this many times and can now do it on cue as well.  I made the recent observation that this may actually not go over so well in public for a number of reasons, however, in our own living room it is too funny and sweet.

Another way I know my two girls are buddies is that Molly often goes over to Maile's crate or round bed and lays her head on the top of it (as in the picture on this post).  It is clear that they have bonded.  It just melts my heart.  I am glad that Molly will get to spend some quality years with Maile, our super dog and I get to watch a girl and her dog enjoy life together.