Earache

This is so weird. Last week the neighborhood moms were talking about earaches because Molly seemed a little cranky and one of the other kids just got diagnosed with one without having many symptoms.

Well, not a day later we're coming home from lunch and MY ear starts hurting. I had no idea adults could even get earaches! It's so painful and it's been going on for days. We went to the doctor Tuesday and confirmed that, while my eardrum ruptured and it's going to be months before I have my hearing back, Molly is perfectly healthy. Yay! I am so glad it's me and not her.

Molly and I have been getting along really these past couple days, although our bad moments are full-fledged toddler. It's like somebody flipped a switch in her this weekend. Once in a while out of nowhere she flips out. We were getting in the car to go to the grocery store and she went nuts. She's gotten strong and she kicks so hard it's hard to hold onto her. Then it's gone and she's happy again. In the parking lot of the store I tried to take my datebook and wallet out of her hands to put them back in my purse and she flipped out. I told her to put the items back and she calmed right down and did it. Apparently all she wanted was to do it herself. Yikes.

But anyway, mostly our days have been delightful this week. We've done a bunch of coloring. Molly continues to bring me items of clothing for me to put on her, then she goes to her bedroom mirror to check out her reflection. She understands commands like, "come sit in my lap" or "go get your socks and shoes" (she'll go to her bedroom, open the dresser drawer, pull out either a pair of socks or two shoes -- occasionally both and often the shoes are a matching pair).

Here she is eating a banana in her (upside down) wings -- again, her fashion choice. She loves those wings.

This photo shows just the tip of the iceberg of how messy our house has become while I've been sick and Jim has been taking over a lot of toddler duty. (There are worse ones, but I can't bring myself to post them).


And here's Jim's photo of Molly with her monkey (look familiar, Lucy?), which is one of a handful of toys I'm sort of trying to turn into "loveys." The monkey has been sleeping with her in the crib at night. The first two nights he was there, she slept until 5:50 a.m. and then 6:15!!! Looks like the monkey is there to stay.