'Give me space'

We've reached another milestone. Yesterday Molly kicked me out of the bathroom and told me she needed space. Hurray! It's a very sudden switch from needing me to run to the bathroom with her every time she goes, just to sit on the rim of the tub and hang out for companionship. We're still nowhere near ready to take her out of the house without a diaper but at least now I can kick back once in a while and let her handle the entire potty moment herself. That's a first!

Molly can be very sudden about that sort of thing, I've noticed. Sometime before Christmas she asked to take a shower with me one morning. Now she doesn't take baths. Period. She takes showers. She doesn't even want me to hold her under the water anymore. She stands on her own, asks for the soap, washes and rinses herself and then plays with the water on the walls and pushes it down the drain until I turn off the water. I get involved only to torture her with shampoo. She doesn't even want to towel off right away these days -- she tells me the shower stall is her house and there are fishes in there. It makes me cold just to look at her.

Speaking of cold, we got out of the habit of playing outside because it was bitter cold for weeks on end. Now that it's been back to the 30s and 40s I'm trying (sort of) to get outside a little bit more. Here's Molly in her snow gear.
And here she is having a delicious, snowy snack.

This snow came from the edge of the driveway. That's the cleanest, right?

'Show Daddy'

Molly has become quite concerned about her daddy's ability to find his way around the house. Any time he heads toward the bathroom she says, "Oh, show Daddy," and runs ahead to point the way. She cries and nearly melts down if he tells her, "Thank you but I can find it myself."

This morning she was suddenly worried that he won't be able to figure out which shampoo and soap are his and has told him several times, "No use Molly soap and shampoo."

The other day as he was leaving to get in his truck she told him, very earnestly, that he would need to turn the key. Don't forget.

She is becoming an excellent little micro-manager.

She's also been creating some interesting art work. She seems to be going through (continuing to go through?) an abstract period.

Here's the artist at work:
And here's a painting. I asked her to tell me about it and she said it's a picture of Oma and Grandpa.

Molly's bakery

Daddy says he's going to make a pizza dough. Molly says, "YAY!!!!"


"I can knead it. I can knead it."



And then...

"I'm cleaning up Daddy's mess."

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.