Friday, October 31, 2008

trick o' treat

I finally remembered to keep a tally this year and we had 127 kids stop by (give or take a few). Things have died down and I think we're done for the night. I loved seeing all the costumes. I think my favorite was an 14 month old girl pirate. She rocked her hat. I also give major props out to the Star Wars family trio of Princess Leia (mom), storm trooper (dad), and ewok (little girl). They definitely spent a nice chunk of change on those costumes. Plus Auntie Kim stopped by in her full on Renaissance Faire costume which I have been wanting to see in person for a while. Thanks again!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Visiting daddies work.

His office is crazy!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008



pics 10/23 to 10/28/2008


pics 10/16 to 10/17/2008

And we're home...

It was a great visit (minus the snow flurries) and I am so very happy Molly and Emma had a chance to meet. I'll do my best to work on pictures today and get some galleries up so you can all see their cuteness. We put them in their Halloween costumes yesterday for a little photo session. Once again Molly is not a fan of her costume. She doesn't like stuff zipped (or in this case, velcroed) up to her neck or hoods (her costume has both) so she immediately starts tugging at it the second you put it on. Definitely learned my lesson and will take that into consideration for next year. Of course little Miss Emma didn't seem at all phased by her costume.

For the most part we hung out at Heather's place and watched the girls play. I really didn't pack any of Molly's toys and the only one she really had to play with at the hotel was her b.day gift from Emma. I think Molly was getting bored. She was definitely the most relaxed and happy playing with all of Emma's toys so that's something to remember for our next trip.

We did venture down to the Mall of America and walked through their Underwater Adventures Aquarium on Saturday. Molly was into it at first, but it was nearing 2:00 and she hadn't had a nap yet so she got fussy towards the end. She finally did pass out in her stroller, but only for 30 minutes, and that was it. For the day. Unfortunately that carried into Sunday when we went to visit Chris and Emily and demon child made a visit. No really, Molly isn't normally like this. I don't care that all parents say that. Demon child is not normal. Honest!

Emily was also involved with a Halloween show that I had really wanted to check out on Sunday night. However, when we woke up that morning to snow flurries I didn't think it was going to be on the agenda. They ended up canceling the show... it was supposed to take place outside... in a park. Still a bit bummed about that one as it looked awesome!

Molly never really did adjust to the time difference. Her nap schedule got a bit messed up, but she seemed to be sleeping more at night. In fact she pulled off another 14 hours the first night and then slept a steady 12 hours for the rest of the trip (if not a bit more). It seemed like every time we were putting one girl down the other one was waking up. The up side is we did manage to get a lot of second naps in for Miss Molly (well, except for Saturday). I'm not sure if it was the fact that it was getting darker earlier or the time difference or just being in a new place, but she slept a lot more than normal. Perhaps she was just hibernating as it was in the 30's... a lot. ;-)

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Seatbacks and tray tables up for takeoff.

Last day in MN.

This is my dads leg, and it's mine. Got it?

Monday, October 27, 2008

It's 32 degrees out at 9pm

Minnesota is chilly willy. Goodnight!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Good morning!

I told that sandman to talk to my foot! I slept plenty and am happy
again.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Mall of America

It's noisy and huge and I can't nap dammit!!!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Off to Minnesota.

Securing daddys glasses for flight!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Daddy's little monkey.

I got to take molly to Little Gym today, to show me how awesome she
is. :)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Chillin at Starbucks.

Savoring a cracker, while dad savors a $4 coffee.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Pumpkins

As soon as Molly got up this morning we hustled and loaded her into the car (along with all of her stuff) and got on the road. It was the annual Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival and we've heard that traffic is notoriously bad. We were pulling out of our driveway at a quarter to eight... yes, in the morning... and were on our way. N suggested we take Highway 82 and cut over to Highway 1 south of Half Moon Bay rather than deal with the headache that is Highway 92. It was a windier road (which I'm not a fan of because I do get car sick), but it was the right idea since we didn't hit any traffic.

We were parked and heading towards the main strip just before the festival was to start at 9:00. Did a couple laps around the first section of booths and checked things out. I picked up a cute lady bug fleece beanie for Molly from the Dinky Dimples booth and got a free sample of some environmentally friendly dish soap from the Mrs. Meyers truck. We then hooked up with Jarrod, Jennifer, and Robert and headed over to the Half Moon Bay Library for the costume contest. There was a little boy dressed up as a pirate sitting in a wagon decked out as a pirate ship and then he had his little sister that was dressed up like an octopus hanging off the side. Not to mention the little boy in his NASA space suit riding around in his wagon decked out as a space shuttle. Once the kids started to get a little bored and fussy we decided to take off since clearly we weren't even in the running for any prizes. Who knew heavy construction was involved?

When we got back to the main street it was packed. SUPER packed. We headed straight for the food court and scored some awesome eats. N started off with some pumpkin pie (hey, all in the spirit of the festival he tells me) and polishes that off with some pumpkin ice cream. I went another route and scored some very yummy marinated artichoke hearts and got a corn dog. After that we attempted to find the pumpkin carving guy, but the map we had wasn't very accurate and we headed in the wrong direction. The crowds were crazy just to walk in, forget about it when you add a stroller to the mix. We finally regrouped on a side street and decided to head down to the hay bale maze (about 6 miles south) that our friend Barrett told us about. We had seen it on the drive in and the maze looked quite impressive.

The hay bale (or hale bay as I kept calling it) maze was located at the Arata Pumpkin Farm and it was awesome! Sure, it was $5 per adult, but soo worth it. At first we just let Robert lead as he had some excess energy he needed to burn (Molly had passed out in the car on the short trip and was zonked out in the Bob Stroller). He was actually doing pretty well and then us silly adults decided to take a crack at it and hit dead end after dead end and kept ending up back where we started. We finally came across some dude in a cloak with some sort of goat head thing and he handed a very concerned Robert a golden mini pumpkin. He was also standing in front of a hay door, but wasn't saying a word. After a bunch of us were gathered (there was just another dead end past him) we started to think he was the way out and we also started to talk about the fact that we could easily take him. Apparently that was the trick because the door opened and the exit was found.

Molly woke up just in time for some pictures in the pumpkin patch and some walking (still with our help) in the lovely dirt. The parents were starting to get hungry again so I suggested a late lunch at Alice's Restaurant up on Skyline and 84 on our way back. We sat on the back deck that overlooked a nice grass lawn that the kids were able to run around on. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

gotta love California...

I needed my mom to sign some documents as my guarantor for my passport renewal so we had made plans to have lunch. Once Molly got up from her morning nap we headed over to pick up Granny. Then we headed down to Los Gatos to meet up with Grandpa Marsh and to have lunch. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. I'd say upper 80's for sure, if not creeping into the 90's. The table we sat at was partially in the shade when we arrived and completely in the shade by the time our lunch arrived. It was nice and warm with a slight breeze. After lunch we headed across the street to the park and I had Molly walk through part of the spray from the children's fountain. She loved getting her tootsies wet. Then my mom and I did some window shopping while Molly chilled in her stroller. Absolutely gorgeous day!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Molly steering



This video was taken yesterday morning. She has definitely gotten better about getting up and over things. Nothing is stopping her now. However she's in for a rude awakening when she no longer fits under the dining room table.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Monday, October 13, 2008

1 year doc visit

Molly weighed in at 22 lbs and 11 oz (halfway between 75% and 90%), height was 30.5 inches (90%), and her noggin was measured at 47 cm (90%). I thought it was very interesting that her weight had dropped down below the 90% range. I knew her buddha belly had been going away, but I didn't realize by how much. Her rolls (and rolls) are definitely coming off now that she's all over the place and super active.

N had Molly walking all over the exam room (still holding on) and she was super interested in the big ol' box of toys. We went over everything she has been doing lately and the doc was really impressed with how well she was doing identifying colors (her stacking ring toy, I'll ask for a certain color ring and she usually gives it to me or stacks it for me) and shapes (blocks into a bucket through the shape hole, she's got the star one down and is pretty good with the circle and square). Her motor skills are also pretty refined (she'll know what button does the really fancy stuff on certain toys or my laptop and zone in on that one with one finger pointing). Doc said she was definitely an advanced baby. I'll take it! :-)

Molly had to have three shots (two in one thigh and the last one in the other). She was NOT happy about this. It probably didn't help that these needles were bigger and her skin is pretty tough so they really had to punch the needle through the surface. No more super fine baby needles, Molly has moved up in the world. Based on all my IVF experience with needles I'd say these were in the mid to low 20's gauge range. The super fine needles that go in like butter are 30 or above. The smaller the number, the bigger the needle. Granted they probably looked bigger compared to Molly than they would if I had to use them on myself. Still, definitely more towards the needles I had for butt shots as opposed to the small ones I had to inject into my abdomen.

N took Molly out the car and gave her some tylenol for the shots and some of her bottle while I made her next appointment (15 months). Molly's doc appt was at 10:00 am (she was up just after 6:00 am and usually goes down for a nap after 3.5 to 4 hours so right as we were leaving) and we were there until almost 11:00. She was definitely pooped out by the time we got home.

1 year check up

22 lbs 11 oz 30.5 inches 47 cm noggin

Molly b.day pics from Auntie Jenn



Sorry hun, but Jenn also beat you. Her pics were up about two and a half hours before yours.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Molly's 1st Birthday, Photos



Here, is our gallery of Molly's first birthday. Its been a delightful year. We couldn't be more proud of our darling.

I wanted to get this gallery up fast (but Bree still beat me, :), so I picked out the best pictures and posted them for now. This is 59 images, out of 530 total... I will make a second pass soon, and add the next-best 100 or so images. Check back in a few days.

Molly b.day pics from Auntie Bree



Bree's on top of it and already posted pics, so check them out.

1 year

Molly is *very* close to walking. She pushes her little walker toy all around the house and is trying to master steering it. She still needs some help when she gets stuck, but I think she understands the concept behind turning. Now it's just a matter of actually doing it. Molly also loves to walk towards you while holding on to your fingers. She's barely holding on and sometimes you can get her to only use one hand. So, she's definitely capable of walking on her own. Now it's simply a matter of doing it. Psychological hurdle if you ask me.

The weaning process has been going pretty well. At first she didn't seem all that interested in the bottle, but she slowly started ramping up how much she would drink. Just now she downed 8 ounces (half cow, half boob) before her morning nap. She still gets a ton of water during the day from her sippy cup and I was down to just feeding her in the morning. However, yesterday was a long day with her party and visitors so she did get some booby time before bed. I might have to feed her again tomorrow morning since she's had back to back feedings, but maybe I can just skip it and my supply will go away. We'll see. I'm really hoping I don't have to bring out the pump for relief. More importantly, I cannot wait to burn my nursing bras. Oh yes, BURN.

The nap situation has pretty much been reduced to one in the morning. Maybe once a week I'll get a second nap, but nothing I can really count on. The morning nap is usually around an hour and fifteen minutes long. I think it's been getting cut short by poopy diapers. Then it's a long 7-8 hours before bedtime. Sometimes she'll get a cat nap in the car while we're out. Sometimes she'll konk out in her jogging stroller after a walk. But, most of the time she's up until bed time.

Bed time has also been slowly getting earlier and earlier. I try to keep it closer to 8:00 pm, but sometimes it's more like 7:30 or even 7:00. As soon as she starts showing signs (yawning, eye rubbing) it's best to just get her down immediately because her wake up time is going to be the same regardless. Luckily she does tend to sleep at least 11 hours if not closer to 12. However, we've had some uncomfortable wake ups at 5:30/6:00. The house is damn chilly at that time too now that the weather is changing.

Molly still eats the jarred veggies, but for the most part she'll just have a little of whatever we're having. She loves to feed herself and LOVES pasta (with sauce only, not so much the plain pasta). However, pasta meals pretty much have to be followed by a bath so I try to space those out. A lot of the time I'll grab a salad from Zanotto's salad bar and get Molly plenty of garbanzo (favorite), kidney, white, and soy beans plus some of those little corns (think Tom Hanks in Big). She loves that!

Molly's motor skills are also pretty impressive. If I'm on my laptop she'll walk by and then hit the caps lock button on and off a few times (it has a green light when on) and then continue on her merry way. She's also figured out how to use the space bar to pause and then start up again videos on You Tube. Such a smart little cookie.

Asides from getting tired and a bit cranky after a long day I'd say Molly is one happy baby. Actually, she's not really a baby anymore. Definitely a toddler. I cracked Auntie Kim up the other night when I said, "When Molly was a baby she wouldn't move at all when she slept..." She thought it was hilarious that I said "was a baby". Molly's a big girl. She's looked old enough to be a toddler for a while now, but now I definitely think she is one. Her rolls are slowly coming off now that she's super active, but she also has those moments where she just leans back into me and has a nice long stare. Love mellow baby. Wish I could make mellow baby appear on a moment's notice. I mean mellow toddler.

Happy Birthday Molly Elizabeth Hickson!



Miss Molly turns one today! Technically there's still a few more hours until she arrived, but eh... close enough. We celebrated her birthday yesterday with a costume party at The Little Gym. N took a *ton* of pictures that he's still going through and rating, tagging, etc. Hopefully those will be up soon.

My hopes was to have all the little ones arrive and take pictures of everyone in their costumes. Well, Miss Molly's costume was a tad bit hotter than I expected (basically a jacket with a hood that's padded and VERY warm plus fleece-like pants). She wanted out of that costume the minute we put it on. With how warm her little body was when I did take it off I couldn't blame her. Still, I wanted some pictures so we kept trying to sneak it on.

After the picture torment we just let the little ones rip. There are a few things I wanted to make sure we got to do like take the parachute out and go on the inflatable jumper, but other than that I wanted it just to be a free for all. We did get around in a circle and sang a few songs. Miss Molly headed out to the center of the circle, but then scooted back towards me as soon as we started singing Happy Birthday... of course. Still, I think she had a great time. I know her parents, grandparents, and Aunt sure did.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

who knew?

So, I'm sure many of you are already aware of the fact the peas and corn uh... pass right on through. Well, add black beans to that list. Molly tends to wake up from her morning nap with a present for mommy. This time there was a little something "extra" waiting for me. Took me minute to figure out what I was dealing with when I remembered we went to Wahoo's yesterday and Molly pretty much polished off my black beans for me. She loves beans and has had black beans before, but apparently never this many at once. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Oh, we also discovered on Monday that Molly LOVES asparagus. She's a fiend. Probably had a good 5 spears all to herself. We cut it up for her at first, but then daddy taught her how to grab a spear and bite off a piece from the end. Hey, one less thing to use as a weapon is fine with me. She's still having issues with her sippy cup. She'll take a drink no problem, but then she'll either obliterate anything on her tray or she'll actually chuck it at any dog within range. Sippy cup equals weapon in Molly's book. Not really sure how to stop that association. Thoughts?

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Molly's walker



Oh yeah, Molly's definitely getting closer to walking... any day now...

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

new teeth = weaning

Last Wednesday, after we got back from Tahoe, I picked up some whole milk and started the weaning process for Miss Molly. We're coming up on the year mark, but more importantly she has new teeth. Bottom teeth haven't really been an issue. I've felt them a few times when she's really hungry, but she only bit me once and that was when I was trying to feed her before heading out and she wasn't hungry. I suppose that's what I get for sticking a boob in her face when she didn't ask for it.

The first three days I did 1 ounce of cow's milk to 4 ounces of breast milk. She didn't really seem to care. I think she had more issues drinking from the bottle than she did with *what* she was drinking. I can probably count on my fingers how many times she's even had a bottle in the last two months. On Saturday we moved up to half and half and she still seems fine with it. Granted, she'll only drink 2-3 ounces at a time (if she's even interested), but I'm not too worried considering how much water she drinks from her sippy cup in a day.

Molly is still getting the boob first thing in the morning and then right before bed. Although she has already skipped a few evenings because we've been out and about or she's crashed out on us before I had a chance to feed her. I'm hoping the drop down to twice (and sometimes once) a day will help my supply just go away on its own. I still have 90 or so ounces of breast milk frozen downstairs so we'll probably still be giving her the combo milk well after she's done with the boob.

check out Robert's blog

Jenn posted some great video and pics of Miss Molly and Robert from this past weekend. We went out to dinner on Friday night, but first we hit a near by park for some swing time (got a video of that) and then a ride down the slide. After dinner we headed back to the Jodoins where Molly scored some cool cowgirl boots.


pics 09/25 to 10/03/2008

Monday, October 6, 2008

another tooth...

The top left tooth is just starting to poke through. You can see some white that has made it through, but it hasn't dropped enough to actually feel it. Not too surprised the top two teeth came in around the same time as that is what happened with the bottom two.

someone is going through a growth spurt...

So, Miss Molly and I did some shopping yesterday with football widow Jenn and Robert. Towards the end of the day Molly started rubbing her eyes and looking a little tired. I thought a ride in her car seat might do the trick and I was right. We went over to Jenn's place to pick up Lola (we had Odin, Bree and Jon just got back from New Zealand yesterday) and Molly bug konked out around 5:30. She stayed down after the transfer from the car to her bed and I thought she might actually sleep for a little bit. Then 6:30 comes and goes. Then 7:30. Around 8:30 we're thinking she's down for the night. She has been sleeping 10 and a half to 11 hours on a pretty consistent basis. I do the math. 4:00 am is looking like her wake up time. Yikes! Still, the house is quiet so I get some stuff done and finally crawl into bed a little after 11:00 pm knowing I will most likely be up in 5 hours.

Next thing I know it's just after 7:00 am and I bolt upright in bed. Ok, maybe not upright, but my eyes opened and I turned my head to check the clock on the bedside table in a very efficient manner considering I was asleep mere seconds ago. Molly was still asleep! She starts making some noise at 7:17 am. I couldn't believe it. Almost 14 full hours of sleep!

Like I said, someone is *definitely* going through a growth spurt!