Halloween night

What a perfect Halloween! It was 70 degrees here all day with wind blowing the leaves all around.

Molly was eager to get her costume on and go out.

Here she is waiting with Daddy to see other trick-or-treaters.

All set to get going...

And here she is afterward with her nice little haul.

Molly did very well at the trick-or-treating, though she was a bit stunned. We didn't get a single "trick-or-treat" and only one barely audible thank you, but she did manage to hold up her bag and wave goodbye to almost everyone. The costume was a big hit and got many comments from not only the people distributing candy but they many passers-by as well. She really hit her stride after we got back home.


Molly had way more fun putting candy in the kids' bags when they came to our door. She sat on the stoop for 30-40 minutes and had lots of fun. Above we see her waiting to hand out handfuls of candy. Towards the end of the evening there weren't enough kids stopping by for her so she decided to go find some. She walked down the front steps and took off down the sidewalk at a sprint, candy in hands, giggling insanely. I didn't have any shoes on so Jim chased after her. The sprinting chef went back and forth past the front of the house at least three times and had many of the neighbors laughing as she flew passed with her father in hot pursuit. All in all a good night and certainly the most fun Jim and I have had on Halloween.

Random Play Transcript

This stuff kills me...

Right now Molly is standing behind me with her baby at her toy sink.

"Wash this hand"
"wash wash wash"
"Wash other hand"
"scrub scrub scrub"
"all done hands"

Here comes the pink teddy bear.

"Dance dance dance"
"music"
"Teddy bear!"
"Grocery Daddy, teddy bear, grocery"
"Right there, eating, hi, eating" (they're on the kitchen chair now)
"want some teddy"
"yummy teddy bear, num num"

Halloween party

We just got back from a party at our neighbor's house down the hill behind us. What a great time! I was worried that Molly wasn't going to like it. It started around the time we would usually be getting her ready for bed and it was geared toward older kids. I figured we'd put on her costume and at least stop by, as a test run for tomorrow night.

Here she is, Chef Molly.
Aside from the shrieking of sugared up first-graders that greeted us when we walked through the door, nothing at the party seemed to bother her. She found the food table right away and slowly worked her way into a chocolate stupor, then washed it all down with a juice box. Good thing she wasn't driving home.

Here she is with her pirate friend Teddy, eating the remains of a giant chocolate witch's hat cake and frosting thing -- yow! She got it smeared it all over her costume and her face, which just made her costume look even better. :)



This video shows what we've been practicing to get ready for tomorrow night. I'd say there's a 99 percent chance she'll be frozen in fear the first time a friendly neighbor opens the door and hands her candy, but we're going to be prepared just in case.

Photos posted

I just added two new albums to Shutterfly:
http://mollyk1207.shutterfly.com/

Undies

It's only a little less than 2 months until Molly's second birthday. She's such a big girl!!!

A few days ago I decided it might be time to buy Molly her first underpants. Why? Because she dragged an over-turned laundry basket to my dresser, climbed up and opened my underwear drawer and pulled out several pairs of underpants. Then she pulled each pair up to her waist over her clothes and ran around giggling. I thought I got them all off, but then we were walking outside the neighborhood when I noticed a pair of underpants peeking out from under her coat. Hmmm. So we took a trip to Target and she picked out what she liked. Now she wears underwear instead of diapers for a few hours each morning and we practice taking them off and on to use the potty. I guess that means we're potty training, huh? I am SO not ready to give up cloth diapers.

Molly also gave up nursing a couple weeks ago. Jim put her to bed one night so I could have dinner with some former coworkers and she lost interest really quickly after that. She hasn't even mentioned it except one or two times since. I was not expecting that to be so easy!

The side effect is that we're reading a lot more books now as part of nap and bedtime routines. Molly is finally getting the attention span to sit through books other than little board books, which means I get to read the words in books again and not just reciting them from memory. Yay!

We've been having great fun lately with family visiting. We've also been having fun hanging out at home.

This is from Saturday when Molly asked her dad to get out a guitar, then ran into her room to get this little toy one for a jam session -- all her idea. :)

Visitors - More photos to come

General silliness

Looking through our photos from the past few days, I realized that most of the time when I grab the camera lately it's because Molly has put on an interesting article of clothing.

Hat from the Netherlands -- yay, it fits already!!!

The elusive pigtail shot.

This is how Molly "helps" Daddy read his book.

Accessorizing with stickers (fun until it's time to take them off ... the worst was the one stuck to her throat ... eeeks!)

More hat fashion.

Yet another fashion statement. I have about five of the exact same shot because she struck this pose and didn't move.

Standing on a hay bail maze at a nearby farm stand that turned out to be the field trip capital of the universe this morning -- 11 buses and swarming with kids in neon yellow and orange shirts. Ugh!! We didn't stay long.