Monday, August 31, 2009

goodbye heat wave!

It almost reached the triple digits on Friday and succeeded on Saturday. I love a/c.

On Friday Molly and I were lucky enough to take two dips in the Jodoin's pool. First we joined Robert and his B-Ma after story time for a quick dip. We took off before nap time (a glorious three and a half hours). Then we returned with N that evening for another dip along with the Connally/Shipmans. It was heavenly on such a hot day. We all had issues getting the little ones down (I blame the heat). Unfortunately Bree and Jon had to take off after it was clear Logan was not going to bed. Luckily Robert and Molly were finally able to pass out and the rest of us played a game of Settlers. Jenn won! We called it a night once the game was over and headed home.

Saturday was another scorcher and Molly had a birthday party to attend for her friend Maya that was turning 2. It was at a Color Me Mine pottery studio and Molly seemed interested at first, but was quickly over the messy ordeal. I got N to paint her hand real quick and make a hand print before she was completely done. Hopefully it turns out! Even though it was 101 out we decided to brave the heat and head over to Memorial Park in Cupertino for my 15 year High School reunion. I somehow managed to convince Jarrod to come with and we pulled up at the same time. Molly and Robert chased each other around while Jarrod and I tried to figure out if we could recognize anyone. We were able to touch base with a few folks we haven't talked to in years. Then when I got home I was able to put a few more names with faces thanks to Facebook!

On Sunday Uncle Kyle arrived for a quick visit and we headed to Lucille's for a lovely homemade meal. Kyle headed to Yosemite SUPER early this morning for some camping and we're going to meet back up with him this weekend in Tahoe. It had cooled down into the mid 60's by the time we got home and we were finally able to open up all the windows. We introduced Kyle to Settlers and this time I won!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Evening walk

Molly and I are out for our evening walk and one of her favorite stops is this swing. The house is currently empty as it is undergoing some major renovations. She just loves to push the swing for her imaginary friend.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Meet my grand nephew Jonah...

Today I watched my grand nephew Jonah for my niece Alesha. He's three and a half months old and a complete doll. Molly was very interested in him when he first arrived and kept bringing him presents (like the remote control). However, after Molly woke up from her afternoon nap she was not so interested in sharing mommy anymore. Jonah woke up shortly after her and woke up hungry... and Molly wanted up. I finally got Jonah situated with a bottle and Molly crawled into my lap to supervise. Silly wabbit!



Whoa! Fan!



Click here for more pics.

Books!

Lately Molly has been obsessed with books! I'm loving it! Before she would let you read a page or two before slamming the book shut and moving on. Now she brings you books and wants you to read them to her. Sometimes more than once. Sometimes more than one book. She actually started doing this with N before me. Puff, the Magic Dragon was the first book she became completely obsessed with (thanks Auntie Julie!). She would have N read this to her over and over. Then she would (finally) let me read it to her. I have been looking forward to story time so I'm super happy about this development. Molly will also sit down and "read" to herself for a good stretch of time. Yesterday I was packing up and getting ready and I noticed she had been quiet for a while. I find her sitting down with a book and studying it.

Like Mother,



like Daughter:

Play date with Logan

On Sunday Bree, Jon, and N headed up to the city for a b.day party celebration for one of Jon's co-workers while I watched the kiddos. Logan was dropped off a little before 4:00, but Molly napped until just after 5:00! Once they were both up they had a blast playing together.

I have no idea what Logan was doing... and Michael wasn't going to stick around and find out:



Sharing during snack time:



Ta-da!!!



All right... now what?



For more pictures click here.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Numbers are fun.

Molly is just about capable of counting to ten now... with either mild verbal guidance or us pointing out numbers on paper. She's been excitedly identifying numbers in public too... walking by signs or cars letting us know what she sees. The other night I was putting her to bed... The process involves sitting on my lap getting some daddy-hugs while she sucks down a bottle of milk. As usual she is pretty drowsy after a bottle, and typically just kinda falls over on me to be put in bed. This particular night I was wearing my "4 out of 5 doctors prefer me." T-shirt. She finished her bottle and her eyes were sleepy, but as she turned around to give me the last good-night hug... her eyes went wide, she flinched and reached out and grabbed a fistful of my shirt... yanked me towards her and said "FOUR!!!" while pointing at the 4 on my shirt... then she let go and grabbed the other side of my shirt and yelled "Five!!!!!". She was so excited to discover the numbers that I feared she wouldn't go to sleep, but she was quite happy to say "nite nite" and snuggle down with her blanket after-all.

Very cute... the antics of a learning child. :)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Cirque Magnifique

Tuesday morning I woke up and decided Molly and I were going to check out the free Cirque Magnifique show at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I kept seeing billboards for it and it was ending this week so it was a now or never situation. We got up and headed over the hill and it was a lovely 55 out and foggy when we arrived. Gotta love northern California beach towns!

Molly was totally chill in her car seat from the ride over so I decided to drive around a bit. We went past a few of Aunt Tracey's old dwellings, drove by N's great aunt's house, and then drove up Cliff Drive (past Auntie Nicole's first surf lesson location... I can still hear her cussing up a storm about how cold the water was). We circled back and parked and then did a lap around the boardwalk. The performance started at noon, but by then all the fresh ocean air was getting to Molly. She loved the music they played, but wasn't exactly mesmerized by the performers on stage. After a particularly big yawn and head down on my shoulder I decided it was time to take off.

Why am I standing?



Thrilled I tell ya... absolutely thrilled!



Hey, *I* thought it was pretty cool...



Click here for more pictures from the day.

first bike



Unfortunately the morning Molly discovered her new bike was also the morning she woke up with a fever. Still, she was very interested and LOVED the bell.

O-fish-al Polliwog



Molly finished her first swimming class with AVAC today and was presented with a ribbon at the end of class. She was so proud of her ribbon that she carried it all the way back to the changing room. It was super cute.

Monday, August 17, 2009

new shoes!



Molly has been avoiding her shoes for the last week or so. Usually when we're getting ready to leave I'll ask her to put on her shoes and she will no problem. In the last week she would either hide her shoes or tell me no when I asked her to put them on. When I put them on she would immediately try to take them off and chuck them. Clear sign they were starting to pinch. I had hoped they would last through the summer, but no such luck.

We went back to Howard's and ended up getting the pair I had my eye on. Molly was not in the mood to put on any shoes, so it was a bit of a struggle. However, the owner was there and said to bring back them back if she didn't like them. Molly has pretty wide feet so once again we went with some Stride Rites (Joy). We had tried on a couple different pairs and this was the only one she would walk in so that's what we got. I also picked up a pair of green Crocs since we still have plenty of summer left. Plus Crocs cover two sizes so they will (hopefully) last a while.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Fever is gone

Molly's fever was gone by late afternoon yesterday. However, it stuck around long enough to jack up her nap schedule. She got a little over an hour in before she woke up. So last night she was a little wound up, but definitely feeling better. Her appetite returned and she has pretty much returned to normal. We're still going to keep her away from other little ones until we finish the amoxicillin, but I would say she is over whatever it is that got her down.

Last night I went to Muay Thai and came home to Molly and N sitting on the couch watching tv. Oh, and Molly was wearing her bib. Because it's cool. Anyway, N informed me that she had gone down a little after 7:00, but did not fall asleep. She babbled for a bit. Then she reached through her crib and turned on the activity mat we have left set up in the corner of her room. Then she started to smack the toy against the wall to inform daddy she was not tired. N went in and she looked at him and pointed to her booty and said, "Diaper." He got her out and went to change the diaper, but it was clean. She then pointed to herself and said, "Good Girl" and then pointed towards the living room and said, "TV?". She then repeated, "Good girl, tv" a few more times before N carried her out to the living room. I laughed out loud when I heard this. I thought that was pretty damn funny. N put her back down since it was after 8:00 and she did make noise for a bit, but crashed out soon after.

Oh, another cute story from yesterday... I was sitting next to Molly reading the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly while she played with a magnetic alphabet book. She then looked over at me and said (what I thought was), "I love you." Well, more along the lines of "eye wuuv ewe". I told her that I loved her too, but then she just shook her head no at me and said it again. I told her again that I loved her and she sighed. Then she pointed to my magazine and said, "dubba ewe" and pointed at the large red W that started the article I was reading. Looks like Sesame Street is paying off. W has been the letter of the day around here. She's left her love for the number 8 behind at long last.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Poor bug.

This is my second blog from the ER with a sick Molly crashed out on N. Let's not make this a habit, k?

Molly woke up this morning with a temp of 102.4. I called her doc and got an appt. for 1:45 pm. Molly fell asleep on me and then I transfered her to bed. She woke up at noon. Screaming. Temp was 103.4 so I drew a warm bath to cool her down. She was NOT happy. Took her temp again and it was 103.6 so I called her doc (who was at lunch) and was told to head to the ER. By the time we saw the nurse her temp was down to 102.8 and she was given some Tylenol. (FYI weight is currently 29 lbs 15 oz) We saw the ER doc at 1:51 (he noted the time when I was recapping for him and mentioned her doc appt) and now we're waiting on the flu swab test results.

Molly is snoring up a storm.

ETA - Flu swab came back negative. We were sent home with a prescription for Amoxicillin (ears and throat were red). Temp was also down to 100 before we left.

Also, I realized we were waiting in the same room N got stitched up after his arm incident.

It's sad when you start to re-visit ER rooms.

*sigh*

Welcome Tiffany Elizabeth!

My cousin Michelle had her baby girl on Monday. Tiffany Elizabeth was born at 3:55 pm and weighed in at 6lbs 8oz. Congratulations to Michelle and Trevor!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

parental rite of passage

Molly is going to be very excited tomorrow morning. Daddy rules!

Portland pictures

Nathan uploaded all the pictures from our Portland trip. On our way back to Amy & Dustin's house from a local cafe:



Molly being adorable:



Asher was in LOVE with Molly:



Molly having a blast at a local park:



Cowabunga dude!!!



More pictures can be found here.

Monday, August 10, 2009

play date with Robert

Robert came over today for a play date. He is super into trucks and boy did he make out like a bandit! First, he was lucky enough to come over on garbage day. He missed the recycling truck, but was here in time for the regular garbage truck. He heard it before he saw it and ran over to the french doors. Molly followed, but was not nearly as excited as Robert. Then a little bit later we went up the street so they could watch the construction crew. All in all Robert saw a bulldozer, a crane, a dump truck, two fire trucks, two ambulances, and three buses. He was just a little upset when we got back inside, but I was able to distract him for lunch. Apparently he had a full morning as he napped for three and a half hours. Molly actually woke up first. She was down for just over three hours and I think her playing woke Robert. The kids are old enough that they can pretty much just play with each other. I did have to break up the occasional fight over the same toy, but for the most part they got along great.

Here are some pictures from the day, waiting for the garbage truck:



Robert is obsessed with kitties. Luckily Michael is pretty tolerant:



Molly needs to work on sharing the couch with others:



I believe this is when the bulldozer showed up, note the look of awe:



Click here for more from the day.

Emma Prusch Farm Park

Uploaded some pics I took when Molly and I went to the Emma Prusch Farm Park last week. Here are my favorites:









Click here for more.

Say hello to Temperence!



The Sneed Family:



Congratulations again!

More pictures can be found here.

full weekend

On Friday Granny and Grandpa Marsh came over and spent the evening with Molly so I could meet up with N and visit the Sneeds in the hospital. I picked up some delicious pasta from Amici's, since Italian is Carina's favorite. I met up with N at the hospital as he was coming from work. Mom & Dad were pretty tired, but baby girl Temperence was a dream. I brought N's camera and he took plenty of pics of the new family, but they still need to be uploaded.

Saturday was Robert's 2nd Birthday Party. N headed over early so he could drop off our canopy and two banquet tables and pick up Hunter and Scout for the day. We were the first (non-family) to arrive as we got there right on time. :-) The party was great. TONS of toys set up in the backyard with canopies providing plenty of shade. Molly has really come into her own these last few swim lessons so she was itching to get in the pool. N had Molly the entire time and I switched off between Robert, Addison, and Jessie (as their parents were too chicken to get in!). Then it was cake time (so yummy) and I could tell Molly was starting to crash. We get dressed and packed up and then realize we're 5 cars in as we parked in the driveway. Since Molly was going down (and fast) we decided to not bother attempting to get everyone to move and asked Jenn and Jarrod if we could borrow their tent and set it up in the office. N started to put Molly down, but then everyone moved inside for presents so I went in and we moved Molly into Jarrod and Jenn's room. It took me laying down with her and singing, but she finally fell asleep a little after 2:00.

Bree and Jon were parked behind us so they were in the same boat. Robert went down for nap time next followed by Logan. We attempted to play a game of Settlers, but about halfway through Molly woke up. Then Logan. Then Robert. Oh well, next time. We finally took off around 7:00 so we could get Molly home and give her dinner and a much needed bath. Apparently Molly didn't each much that day (well, besides constantly trying to sneak in peanut M&M's) because she INHALED dinner. She started yawning during bath time and went down without a fuss. Little bug was tired as she slept in past 8:00 the next morning. Mom and dad were also tired as we turned off the light around 9:45 pm. On a Saturday. We are so parents!

Sunday morning Jarrod dropped off our tables and I headed out to run some errands. I was making dinner to bring over to the new parents. Lucile brought the salad and rolls and I made N's favorite chicken goo (it's not as disgusting as it sounds) along with a yummy fruit salad. We spent about two hours ooohing and aaahing over Temperence and visiting with the new parents.

N posted pictures from Robert's 2nd Birthday so take a look.

ETA - Bree also took some great pics and got some of everyone in the pool. So take a look.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Happy Birthday Robert David!

Robert officially turns 2 on Tuesday the 11th, but today is his birthday party. Molly is wearing the same outfit she wore to his FIRST birthday party. Heh, she was a big baby. Anyway, N just got back from dropping off our canopy and tables and brought Hunter and Scout back here with him. That way Robert can have a nice (and quiet) dog free party.

Friday, August 7, 2009

somersault master

When Molly was enrolled in The Little Gym last year her absolute favorite skill was the somersault. She was always the first volunteer and just thought they were the most hilarious things ever. She even tried her own version of one before class ended. This pretty much consisted of her standing, putting her hands on the ground, and then would roll over on her back (to the side as opposed to flipping over and doing an actual somersault).

This past weekend in Portland she did them the right way... all by herself! SEVERAL times. I think it helped that Amy & Dustin have carpet in their newly finished basement. The first time I think she was more surprised than I was, but then she got the hang of it. I witnessed several more before we left. So far she hasn't attempted it at home, but I'm not surprised with all the hardwood floors we have. Will try to get it on video the next time.

first bee sting

Molly was unfortunate enough to experience her first bee sting today. It was after story time and all the kids were playing on this stage set up in front of the Los Gatos Library. I'm not sure if the bee was drawn to her snack cup or the fact that there was some sort of sticky substance on the stage itself, but I noticed that one started to circle around Molly. I tried to get her attention as I walked around the stage to get to her. Unfortunately she noticed the bee and right as I was about to grab her she reached up and brushed the bee up by the side of her face and was stung in the process. I got to her and the stinger had already fallen out. I brushed it away and noticed a red dot just at the entrance to her ear canal. The stinger was completely out at this point, but then Molly got over the shock. She actually handled it pretty well considering the location and the fact that bee stings hurt. Luckily Jenn's mom was there with Robert (registered nurse) and I walked over to her to quickly ask what signs I should be looking for in case of an allergic reaction. So far so good. There is no swelling and Molly seems to be over the whole thing. I did check on her a few times during her nap and everything was completely normal.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Temperence Sneed is here!

Baby girl was born at 10:50 am (this morning). She weighed in at 8 lbs 15 ounces (yikes!) and measured in at 20.5 inches long. Mother, daughter, and father are doing great, albeit exhausted.

Congratulations again Sneed family!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Baby Sneed is on her way!

Molly and I picked up Carina (Baby Sneed mama) for lunch and she starts telling me about all the lovely LABOR symptoms she's having, but she doesn't think she's actually *in* labor. She had a doc appt. schedule for 3:30 today, but as lunch progresses it's becoming very clear (to me at least) that's she is indeed in labor. I tell her to call Chris because either he's driving her to her appt. or I am. Chris picked her up about 20 minutes ago and after he arrives I "suggest" she calls her doc to see if she should wait for her appt. or head to the hospital. She gets off the phone and says they need to go to Labor & Delivery.

I so freakin' told her so!

So two very excited bundle of nerves just left. My money is on a late night/early morning delivery. I'm hoping for sooner rather than later. I'll let you know once we get the official news.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Monday, August 3, 2009

N's camera

Apparently N uploaded some pics from his camera before we left for Portland. He just assumes people will randomly check smugmug and discover these things on their own. However, I know our audience better than that and decided to post a few here along with a link to the gallery for the rest.

Last week Molly decided that breakfast made a better hat:



Alesha stopped by with baby Jonah (seen here):



Molly also likes to wander around as a ghost:



The rest can be found in the July, August, September - 2009 gallery. Hopefully he'll have the Portland pics up soon.

Molly's chair

I have been going back n' forth on whether or not I should buy Molly her own little chair. She is always super interested in others and tends to find any little stoop or step to sit on. Then I think she'll outgrow it soon and she seems so content to sit on the couch or in one of the adult size chairs. However, N thought she should have her own so we checked out the ones they had at Toys R' Us today. They were all cheap foam and we just weren't that impressed. Plus, Molly already filled the thing and we didn't think they would last much longer. Then we hit Target and came across some cool bean bag chairs. This will definitely last a few more years.



It was only a matter of time:



The rest of the pics can be found in the K - July, Aug, Sept 2009 gallery.

Portland

Despite arriving in time for a lovely heat wave, we had a great time visiting with Amy & Dustin and their lovely little boy Asher. Molly was very curious about the baby, but more interested in his toys. However, Asher was completely enthralled with Molly. He would watch and laugh as she was non-stop motion around him. It really was super cute to watch.

Once we got in and grabbed some drinks at a local coffee shop it was time to put Molly down for her nap. She was sleeping in Asher's room and luckily it had a window a/c unit. She went down without any major issues and Amy and I headed out to the store to grab lunch. After the kids woke up from their naps we headed up to some shops in the neighborhood as Amy needed to pick up a baby shower gift. We ended up at this awesome little kid's store called Grasshopper and Molly scored a cool little robot toy and a lady bug ball. They had a ton of other toys I thought were great, but we only had so much room in our suitcases so I resisted.

We then headed out to dinner at a great local microbrew/restaurant called The Hub. Portland is very kid friendly and they had an area in the corner with chalkboards, table with a train set, books, and other toys. Molly hung out while we waited for our table. A little girl hopped up into the chair next to me and handed me a book and simply said, "Please." So I read to her until her family left. The mother came over and told me I didn't have to, but since Molly doesn't let me read to her I said it wasn't a problem. I am looking forward to story time so I was more than happy to oblige. Right now Molly will let me read 1-2 pages and then she quickly shuts the book on me. However, she is totally content to flip through pages on her own.

On Saturday we hit another kid friendly place for breakfast. We were in the last booth before the kid area so we could eat and keep an eye on Molly at the same time. This one had a little toy kitchen set up, some see-saw type toys, books, and one of those magnetic drawing pads that erase when you move a tab across the bottom. Molly loved that one the most and asked to be put in a high chair so she could sit and draw with the occasional request that you erase the page for her. It was a super yummy meal and Molly was having a blast with all the toys. I really wish more places around here catered to kids.

That night we headed to the baby shower/bbq that Amy's friend was having. It was super kid friendly and the couple hosting it had a boy that was just two weeks older than Molly. It was still really warm out, but there was a bucket of water with some toys that Molly cooled herself off in. She also had a blast going up and down the slide... over... and over... and over. We took off around 8:30 since we knew we needed to give her a bath before bed time and didn't want to push it *too* late.

Sunday we hit a local park that was nice and cool from all the redwoods and the play structure was completely in the shade. Molly ran around and then crawled into the stroller when she was done. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:55, but Molly was yawning as we went through security just before 2:00. Unfortunately the waiting area by our gate was pretty busy and loud and Molly had no interest in any attempts at taking a nap. We let her run around and do the buckles on her car seat a million times until we could board. Unfortunately our plane was late in arriving so we were late in departing. Molly was pretty good on the plane considering nap time had come and gone. She finally crashed out for the last 10 minutes of the flight as we were coming in for the landing and that was it. N put her in the bathtub as soon as we got home and she went down for bed at her normal time. Luckily she slept a full 12 hours and had her normal nap today.

Watching with Dad

Checking out all the construction with daddy.

Construction Zone

I'm thinking a toy truck is not going to hold much interest after
this. (They are replacing a sewer line on our street.)

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Got any change?

Since the plane is late, maybe I'll call my friends! Got any quarters daddy?

Saturday, August 1, 2009

BBQ fun.

Oh hi.