Christmas trip

In photos ...

Cousins reunited at the diner:

Little House on the Prairie party, beginning with Uncle David's hay ride.




Patting Freddy's head.

Christmas Eve party:

Christmas morning:
We actually had four Christmases but I'm just realizing I stopped taking photos after about 11 a.m. so the rest will have to live in our memories.

More Play Transcripts - Molly Cooks

I become aware of the following in the background as Molly takes an empty mixing bowl, and empty containers of yeast and honey from the cupboard. Parenthetical notes added for commentary/clarification.

"honey in it
1/4 half of tea spoooooon...of honey
1/4 half tea spoon of eest (yeast)
we done
I use a boon (spoon), to overthere the counter
I try and use a boon
I put some flour in Daddy
half of tea spoon salt
kay...stir it.
I know, put some water in
1/4 half of milk
1/4 half in eggs
I stir the eggs
put these back in the cupboard, kay.
Help with this Daddy (screwing on the lids)
(some stiring)
1 teaspoon of water
1 teaspoon of yogurt
(some gibberish/singing)
1/4 spoon of sugar...sugar, sugar, sugar
kay, lets stir it.
Keep it in the bowl Daddy."

Cupcakes and play

What a day! After presents this morning, Molly's neighbor friend Rhys came over for a special play date. Playing with Rhys is always a big treat for Molly and I think both kids had a good time today. Rhys tends to be pretty quiet and Molly was so pumped up that she was practically dancing circles around him trying to get him to play. She's started telling him what to do -- "Rhys, sit at table. Rhys. Sit here. Rhys." -- and he just stares at her. He didn't want to leave, though, so I hope that's a good sign.

After nap, Molly helped me make cupcakes (while simultaneously baking pretend cookies in her own kitchen). We had noodles in tomato sauce for her special dinner. That's the closest we could get to fulfilling her birthday request, which was to have tomatoes for dinner. The cupcakes were her choice, too. She wanted vanilla cupcakes with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles. I tried pretty hard on several occasions to talk her into putting chocolate frosting on but she wouldn't have it.

So here she is with her cupcake.

She's smiling here because she really got us. I walked over to the table very slowly with the candles lit, Jim with the camera, both of us singing.

We got through "Happy birthday dear Molly..." and POOF! She blew out the candles. We just stared at her, stunned, then cracked up. How did she even know that's what she was supposed to do?

Jim lit them again to give her a chance to make a wish and have a little more ceremony about it. He said "OK, I'm going to count to three ..." POOF! Molly grins. We laugh. Everybody gobbles down cupcakes.

This is a shot from earlier in the day, chillin' in the kitchen with yet another cup of tea and the new baby doll that she picked out. I've been trying to get her to pick a name, but the only one she comes up with is Harry. I tell that one's already taken, can she think of another? Yes, she says. Baby Doll. As if all her dolls aren't already named Baby Doll.

Birthday morning

We couldn't wait. We opened presents as soon as Blueberry Moon told us it was time to get up.




Molly is now enjoying the special breakfast of her choice -- luke-warm herbal tea in a sippy cup and dry cheerios. She is putting colored chalk into her new oven, now hanging utensils on hooks, now standing there with the cup of cheerios and sippy looking at the stove, now saying "Mommy sing happy birthday," then "again," now putting her sippy in a pot on the stove and stirring with a 1/4 teaspoon, now putting the measuring spoon in her mouth, now hanging another utensil ... it goes on like this. I think she likes her kitchen.

Dresses for Harry

We brought a very special baby doll home with us from Ganny's house at Thanksgiving. The doll was naked and we were given the mission of clothing her.

Here's what we came up with.


Molly helped at the machine. She can lift and lower the presser foot and sit on my lap while we sew. She also helped pick fabric and figure out sizing on the baby, which she then named Harry. We gave Harry a sponge bath and now she's a part of the family.

Molly likes to walk Harry around the house and put her to bed for quiet time. She also likes to give Harry kisses.

Blueberry moon

Here's our latest attempt to get a better night's (morning's?) sleep.


It's called the Good Nite Lite. It has a timer. In the evening it glows blue like a moon and stays blue all night -- a sign to your child that it's time to stay in bed. At the time you set for morning, it switches to orange and becomes a sun -- time to wake up.

Why is this necessary? Because even though she's almost 2, Molly continues to make it almost impossible for her parents to sleep like normal human beings. For weeks on end she will wake up every morning between 4 and 4:30 a.m. and stand in her crib calling to us for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes ... it's unbelievable. When she was a baby she just cried. When she learned words she stood there shouting "mama" and "dada." Now that she talks, she has a wide repertoire of requests: "need blankets," "need diaper change," "need tissue." If you ignore it, it just goes on and on. If you respond, you find that she doesn't really need a diaper change, etc. and she cries harder when you leave. If you bring her into bed, she plays and kicks but does not fall back to sleep. No changes in bed time, earlier or later, have made an impact. It's like an internal alarm clock that tells her 4:30 a.m. is when the day begins no matter what.

SO...
I don't want to jinx it, but since we got this little night light that little moon has given us about five good mornings in a row -- and by that I mean, she didn't call out to us until the sunshine turned on between 5 a.m. and 5:15.

AHHHH! Sleeping in.

We had to find a friendly name for the moon because the first night we tried it she told us it was scary and couldn't stop staring at it. Now she gets excited when it turns on and has a little ritual of touching Blueberry Moon's face, sometimes kissing it and saying hello.

All hail the Blueberry Moon!

Molly Must Have Been Good This Year

What's this, the hay and carrots are gone?! Someone has been here!Molly must have been good this year because Sinterklaas has left her lots of goodies.

"A red car!"

"Comfy jamas"

Decorating a Tree, Stuffing Some Shoes

Here are some pictures from our evening of decorating the (fake) christmas tree and putting out some wooden shoes for Sinterklaas.

An attempt at a family photo in front of the tree.

A Very Lucky Man

Here Molly puts some hay and some carrots in her wooden shoes for Sinterklaas.

...and puts them by the door.

We're pretty sure she doesn't quite understand the whole concept, but she's pretty excited anyway.