So many cookies . . . . Ahhhhhhhh!

Airplanes? Geese? Fleur de lis? Blobs of goo? You choose!

I can make cookies, but I have made way too many today. Yes they are edible. Yes they are quite scrumptious. Nonetheless, I am not a decorator. I have no artistic abilities and here is a tray of failures to prove it.

(Note 1: For those of you wishing to sample the cookies, you may do so at Sir William's Honoring of the Court for his Eagle (also pronounced Iggle) tomorrow night. Note 2: For those of you choosing not to come to the high court tomorrow for fear of the cookies, rest assured, they don't all look this bad (and these ones shall not be present). Note 3: The other sister (not I), known for her superb baking skills (see this cake she made for her own birthday) and many other talents, will bring other treats for your igglicious treasure! )

She's Crazy!!!

My little Molly is absolutely crazy. It has only been 3 days that we've been on summer vacation and I'm already worn out (not in a bad way, it's great, I'm not complaining, I promise). She is just funny!

She spits

This started a few weeks ago, but it has become increasingly persistant. It used to be cute and funny. Or, she'd spit once and that was her signal that she was finished eating. Now, she spits ALL THE TIME and more often when she is EATING.

She argues with me

She can say "Dad" or "Dada" and she even said a full sentence on Sunday afternoon, "Hi Dad." Even when James is not here, she looks at me and says, "Dad." I say, "No, Mama." She says, "Dad." I say, "Mama." She giggles and knows that she is tormenting me.

She pulls her socks off

This happens pretty much without fail every time she gets in the car. Shoes come off first, then socks. When we reach our destination, I search the backseat for the wet socks she has been chewing on (and then threw somewhere) to put them back on her feet.

She loves the bathtub

When she gets in the bathtub, she stands up. I say, "Molly sit down." I grab her hand and help her it back down. I say, "Good girl." She stands back up. This process continues until . . . . we get out of the bath. There is one thing that interrupts this process, though. While sitting in the tub, she bends in half and spits in the tub (or drinks the water, or eats bubbles). It makes me nervous. Stand in tub . . . slip and fall. Sit in tub . . . drink tub water and choke. Oh dear.

What else?

Not walking yet. Still pretty wobbly.

Still likes to eat baby food best, but also likes yogurt, cheese, bread, cheese quesadillas (or kay-sa-dees for the Scott's going crowd), noodles, crackers, fruit loops, cheerios, chicken nuggets (except that many of these things get spit out).

She'll eat any fruit or vegetable in Gerber form, but refuses to eat them raw or cooked in non-Gerber form.

She doesn't say much (besides Dad), but babbles a lot.

She's good about playing in her crib with toys and will wave bye to me when I get in the shower.

She waves goodbye every time we leave the house to get the mail, take out the trash, or actually go somewhere.

She squeals at all little kids.

She is shy around all adults that she doesn't know and buries her head into my shoulder.

She's a good girl. I love her!

Summer So Far (post #1)

On Monday, Meranda and Parker tended Molly for a little bit while I went to a Community Council meeting at school. I had to give a brief pitch for continuing funding for 2 math programs at my school - an aide in our low end classes and the after school math lab. The meeting went well. The tending part went well, too. Parker had a nice nap on our couch and Meranda took good care of Molly.

We mowed our lawn on Monday. We went for a walk Monday night and Molly fell asleep in the stroller.

We went for another walk on Tuesday morning. A little dog came out of nowhere and barked at us. It startled me, but Molly giggled. I thought of this incident later tonight because despite being fearless and laughing at the dog, tonight she was frightened and screamed at . . . a leaf. It was the weirdest thing. An old, dried up, crinkled leaf. She pick up pieces of it, then drop them on the ground. The breeze would move them and she'd scream. It was actually kind of funny, but I felt bad she was so petrified. I'm not sure if she thought they were animals attacking her or what.

Earlier today we also took Uncle Willie and Cousin Parker to meet Annie and the boys at the Aquarium. It was . . . the Aquarium, but the boys liked it. I just went for lunch.

Tonight we had the missionaries to dinner. I thought they were going to be sister missionaries. James' work schedule is so sporadic that when I saw we had a chance to feed sister missionaries, I signed up. That way, if he wasn't home, I could still feed them. Wrong. They were elders. It was fine. They were nice. But, I felt bad that they had to sit outside for 20 minutes or so while we waited for James to come home. We had barbecued chicken, butter and herb pasta, salad, and rolls. It was good. Molly warmed up a little by the time they left.

One of the elders, Elder Rosario, is from Puerto Rico. As soon as he came through the gate, I said, "I think you've eaten here before." He actually came to our house on his first day in the mission field (and ate my food and survived). He's now been out 18 months and has returned to this area as the district leader. He has 2.5 years of school in Puerto Rico under his belt, in mechanical engineering, and when he left on his mission, he was the only active Church member of his family. Now, he said, since he's been on his mission, his parents and a few of his siblings have been reactivated and his mom is even serving as the Relief Society President! Cool!

That's our vacation so far.

Oh, and James likes to watch this show called "The Voice." It's okay and there are some talented people on it, but this lady named Beverly . . . she scares me . . . and Christina Aguilara needs to wear more modest clothing.