Quote of the night

About the third house we went to Molly stops on the steps and tries to take off her shoes.

Me: Do not take off your shoes.

Molly: I want to go barefoot.

Me: If you want to continue to go trick o' treating you need to wear shoes. Princesses wear shoes.

Molly: Tangled doesn't wear shoes. When she leaves the tower she's in bare feet.

(Note - Temperence was dressed up as Tangled)

Me: You are Cinderella. Cinderella wears shoes.

Too early for Xmas?

So it says ages 7 and up. What's the point in having kids if you can't buy them presents that are really meant for you? N's done it plenty already.

Out-classed...

I got a healthy dose of parenting tonight... ;)

I'm translating slightly so that adults understand 4-year-Molly-speak...

Molly says "ooh! daddy, go inside the house and find my Rapunsel doll, I'll go inside and get the Eugene Doll."

I said: "do you know where they are?, can you get them both inside?..."

Molly responds: "no daddy, don't make me ask again, I'm getting Eugene, you are finding Rapunsel..."

I plea: "but, I don't know where she is?!"

Molly says: "I don't know where she is either, that's for you to do, go now before I get angry."

She's 4...

I'm totally screwed, but loving every second.

Love, Molly's Dad (the servant)

Bouncy slide (videos)

Molly and I went to the pumpkin patch today mainly for the bouncy houses and slides. This one was her favorite:









She does a different little dance in each one.

Bouncy slide

Clearly hating it.

Molly push ups

This was taken on September 13th when N was recovering from his hip surgery. The doc said to "take it easy" and to not bear any weight on his right leg. He never said anything about Molly push ups.

Uploaded some pics...

I was super behind on uploading pics and have slowly been chipping away at that over the last few weeks. Here are some of my favorite from the K - April, May, June 2011 gallery:

6/18/2011 - First time mini-golfing:



A little help from dad:



6/20/2011 - Give them the big eyes baby!



6/25/2011 - It's best not to ask.



The new pics start on page 7 of the K - April, May, June 2011 gallery.

It's such a shame...

Grover and Chai don't get along.

Daddy has mad skillz!

Rapunzel's braid was a Tangled mess... so daddy fixed!

Note the heat shrink tubing on the end. This is covering some hot glue gun action as well. Daddy doesn't fuck around.

M is for Manic

4 year stats

Height: 40.5" (70%)
Weight: 38 lbs (60%)

To compare last year she was:

Height: 38"
Weight: 34 lbs 5 oz

The major downside to the 4 year check up appt were the 4 shots (2 in each arm) and finger prick. Molly was NOT a fan. She also had an allergic reaction to the D-TAP injection in her left arm. It got very swollen and very red.





Those were taken Saturday night (10/15). This was taken Tuesday night 10/18 after she finally let me take the bandaid off.



I think the injection seeped a bit and the bandaid kept it against the skin. Poor girl!

Happy 4th Birthday!

Molly is now four. FOUR!!!

Where does the time go?!?

We did the exact same birthday party that we did last year, Pump It Up, Jr. Molly LOVES bouncy houses and slides. With an October birthday you never know if the weather is going to be nice or rainy so I've found indoor venues are the safest bet. Since I booked this back in August I had no idea we'd be having such an Indian Summer. Oh well, the kids loved it. The only downside was Molly had a stomach bug that week. Ah, the joys of preschool. She was basically up all Tuesday night throwing up and her appetite had not really returned before the party. She had not been sick again so she had the all clear from her doc to be around other kids, but her energy levels were definitely not back in the normal range. Still, it looked like she enjoyed her party and seeing all her friends and that's all that really matters.

The one major hold out Molly's had since the last time I did one of these posts (last year) was potty training. I never wanted to pressure Molly into it and then I think I waited too long. Molly had the nerve to develop her own opinion on the matter and decided she had no interest. Things finally started to click in August. We ran the gamut on bribes and I finally discovered that Dibs ice cream bits were an excellent motivator. She also had a freakin' toy store on top of her bathroom cabinet. Motivational presents if you will. It got to the point that Molly would spy something she liked while we were out and ask me, "Is that a proper motivational present for going potty?" (her words, not mine I swear!) The only trick was that Molly wanted to go on her own. We had sat in the bathroom with her for HOURS and it turns out she simply wanted some privacy. One day she ran off and went on her own before I even realized it and that started the ramp up. Who knew?

Molly got the hang of going pee pee on the potty, but only when we were at home. Molly still demanded a diaper when we left the house. Things finally clicked when she started school in September. Molly is going to a parent participation school (Santa Clara Parents Nursery School) four days a week and I join her for a work day on Wednesdays. Being around other kids and the whole "monkey see, monkey do" finally got her out of diapers and into underwear. At least during the day. She still demands a nighttime diaper and that sucker is FULL come morning. However, Molly consistently sleeps 12 hours a night (and lately it's been creeping up towards 13) and I'm not going to mess with that. As long as she's wearing underwear during the day we'll cross that next bridge when she can hold it through the night.

Going to preschool has also been huge. Molly is one of the younger ones in class. There were a couple other kids that turned 4 in October. The next set of birthdays in November are for kids turning 5. The first week of school you just went in on your work day. That was a nice way to get her used to the school and spend some time with her teacher. The next week I dropped Molly off on Tuesday (she goes Tuesday through Friday) and she pretty much broke free of holding hands and RAN up the stairs. I was a little stunned. Part of me was proud that she already felt so comfortable there, but another part of me felt really weird just leaving. The teacher said she's still the same way with her kids and they are in the 3rd and 5th grade. It was the first time I have left Molly some place other than with family or close friends and it felt a little strange. I ran a ton of errands that first day. It's amazing how much you can accomplish when flying solo. It was also more to keep me busy than anything else. When I went to pick Molly up she was all smiles and had a great day.

Since this is the first time Molly has been to any sort of school with other kids on a consistent basis I knew there would be a bit of a learning curve. She has always LOVED going to school (first thing she asks me in the morning is if she can go to school yet) and LOVES her teachers. However, we have had a few heartbreaking moments when she has told us the other kids have been mean to her. It's a little tricky to figure out the truth of the matter with a 4 year old, but I have had a few conversations with the teachers when we've heard the same name over and over or if she says something was scary. The first feedback we got was that Molly was definitely playing on her own more and you could tell she was on the younger end of the class. However, certain things were not adding up with being "young". From day one Molly has had no problem going up to her teachers if she doesn't like something. The first incident was with the growling game. Some kids like to run up to each other and growl. Molly is not a fan and she immediately let her teacher know. Another thing she does is run TOWARDS an incident rather than away from it. If some kid is upset or crying Molly is always quickly by their side offering her silent support. Just last week on my work day I was outside making sure all the kids were heading inside for snack time. I spy Molly over by the train and tell her to get moving. She calmly replies she will go inside when this boy stops crying. I had not noticed him at first as he was hidden from me by the play structure. Sure enough he's been crying. Something about a stolen hat. We get to the bottom of it and when the little boy says he feels better and will head inside for snack Molly gets up and follows him inside and then they go their separate ways.

I have received feedback from both teachers and multiple parents that Molly is always there when someone is crying to make sure they are "OK". She is also more than happy to get an adults attention if someone is upset and not speaking up for themselves. My little caregiver. While she continues to play on her own a lot, she observes EVERYTHING. She is very aware of the dynamics around her and who is having a bad day. A lot of the times when we hear that someone has been mean they are not actually being mean to Molly, but rather have been mean to another kid and Molly is simply reporting this back. The teachers have both told me the fact that she is this empathetic towards others shows some pretty big maturity for her age. Molly has also proven that she is quite capable of standing up for herself and telling the other kids when she does not like something. She is more likely to get the teacher or another parent involved when it's someone else that is upset than for herself. That's my girl. I love that she is confident enough to stand up for herself. I also really love that she will stand up for the ones being picked on.

Daddy's turn

Molly got up this morning at 3:30 am (extremely unusual for her) and was wide awake and demanding breakfast. Her appetite finally returned last night and she finally had a real meal (up until this point it had been a few bites here and there). N didn't want to give her too much for fear it would come back up again. However I suspect her empty stomach woke her up. She finally passed out hours later and hopefully will sleep a nice long stretch. I know daddy will.

Hrm...

There's something out of place... I just can't quite figure out what it is.

My cuties

My cute ladies let me sleep in this morning... when I emerged I discovered them catching some Z's as well. :)

Sign of a solid marriage

Me: "Honey, can you check my hair and make sure there's no vomit in it so I know if I have to bother to wash my hair or not?"
N: "I don't see any."
Me: "Smell it to make sure."
N: "You're good to go."

That pretty much sums up the last 24 hours.

Molly has been asleep on the futon since she got back from the doctor's office. I picked up a prescription for some anti-nausea meds as it got to the point that she couldn't even keep liquids down last night. Hopefully whatever stomach bug she had has run its course and she's on the road to recovery. I'd hate for her to miss her own birthday party this weekend.

Follow up doc appt tomorrow.

Poor sick bug.

:( Molly was sick 4 times tonight...which is about the number of times total in all her life prior (not counting baby spit-up). We chased her with towels and buckets but still ended up doing multiple loads of laundry to rectify beds, futons, blankets, clothes... At least she seems to have finally passed out.. Here's hoping it's over. Breaks my heart to see her ill... Been there done that. As a kid I used to think I needed to go tell mom and dad that I might toss my cookies, instead of simply going to the bathroom.. So I ended up painting the stairs and walls a few times on my way to notify. Sorry mom!

Water noodles are fun!

Molly picked out a water noodle at the store, and then found great satisfaction when I tied it in a knot, around her... So she could just float like a buoy. Love you cutie. ,dad

Painting pumpkins

Note to self - When grabbing the first paint you come across you might want to read the label and discover it is fabric paint BEFORE handing the squeeze bottle over to your daughter.

Busy bees

N's busy working, Molly's busy working on her alphabet, and I'm taking a quick break from putting away piles of laundry to snap this shot.