It went superbly.

First, we dressed her up a touch and talked up the whole experience. By the time we walked in she was talking about how she was going to be in the “No Cavity Club” and so on. In the waiting room, she filled out her own paperwork — or at least got to draw on a clipboard, just like mom.

Once it was our turn, we all walked back and sat on the dentist’s chair. Was that OK?

“Ah, no,” said Molly.

So it was onto dad’s lap, and the start of probably ten minutes of cajoling. We started out flossing, which she was familiar with; Molly would floss a tooth, dad would take a turn flossing her teeth, then the technician would floss a few. We continued that until all her teeth were flossed — hooray!

Then we got to taste the bubblegum-flavored tooth polish… and touch the spinning little brush… actually, dad had to touch it first, a few times, then Molly finally tried it. “Tickles!!” OK, so that was enough to convince her she could probably stand it in her mouth.

And that’s how Molly got her first cleaning.

The dentist himself was fantastic, with a spectacularly good-natured Ugandan accent that Molly liked. He kept telling her she was making him shy, and she thought that was hilarious. Ultimately he managed to check all her teeth, and she got a glowing report.

And she got a little rubber toy, and a new toothbrush — which I think was what she was waiting for the whole time. On the way out she was brushing with it already.

Bonus video: Today’s video is a little hard to set up. Molly had come from her bath and was wearing just a diaper, and told me she wanted to fly on an airplane. So I laid out a couple of blankets in an airplane shape; meanwhile she put on her shoes, bunny backpack, puffy vest (over the backpack), mittens and hat. All on her own! Then it was time to load up!

As if on cue, Molly’s new-to-her skis arrived in tandem with something of a midwinter heat wave. This didn’t make her any less excited to try them out, however.

This isn’t to say she’s abandoned her horse-riding, by any stretch.

We also “re-discovered” Molly’s Jeep the other day, turns out she’s exactly the right size for it at the moment. It’s on heavy rotation.

There was a little  more than that, of course, her excellent summary notwithstanding. We had a great sunny day for our visit, so we got to take the quarter-mile-long catwalk over the stockyards to reach the main arena. This meant we got to watch the cows getting baths and haircuts.

Once inside we made a bee-line for a) someone selling kid’s size cowboy hats, and b) the pony ride carousel. Molly picked a great hat, and a pony named “Twinkie,” who we discuss even today.

Next step was of course to visit the leather booth to be fitted for proper chaps. These are technically chinks for an older kid, but fit Molly perfectly as chaps. She picked the color, as well as a short lariat.

There was of course a petting zoo put on by the local extension office, and it was of course chock full of animals and kids. Molly got a chance to visit with quite a few, including this llama.

Finally back outside I found some great light, and said to Molly, “Hey, go stand on that hay bale and give me a ‘yee-haw!’”

… I think she’s trying to figure out if she can rope the cattle in this one:

First step when we got home was to try out the chaps for riding. They worked on the tricycle!

Everything finally fell into place later, when the outfit was joined by a good Western shirt, and the whole ensemble loaded onto Blaze. Yee-haw!! What a cowgirl!!

…and if you doubt her Western skills, witness the following, complete with Spanish:

Lento means slow. I have no idea where she learned that, but I know where I did. Right here!

Bonus picture: pigtails! They lasted a few hours, even!

And of course, more astronaut dress-up.

…Molly led the other kids in counting down from 3. Then from 10. Then 20. “Blast off!!!”

Molly also got a chance to play with the “man puzzle” again, this time with some helpers.

The highlight was passing by the spray-on tattoo woman — and there was no line! Triceratops tattoo, please!

A big storm over the weekend blew down a few fence posts and panels. Molly was kind enough to help dad and the neighbor get it back up.

… She was great, came out and put her hand in front of her to shake. “Hi, neighbor! Nice to meetcha!!”

Molly’s working on her roller skates, still holding on to mom or dad tightly but has figured out how to turn one foot to the side and “kick” herself forward a bit.

Bonus pic: mom and Molly went to her cousin’s baby shower. Molly loves a party!

…Don’t run!

To get there (and back) we take (in order) a van, shuttle bus, subway car, airplane, shuttle van, and ferry boat. Molly decided to add one more mode of transportation: the luggage ride.

Papa and Tutu’s house is in a rainy part of the world, but Molly went out to play anyhow. That’s what umbrellas are for.

And of course, Papa’s Swing. Bundled up and with her hands in her pockets.

Molly’s cousins were there for part of the vacation, too, which meant there was someone to chase t-balls around the driveway with.

And someone to play “one horse open sleigh” with.

There were no slugs this time of year, but not because we didn’t look all down the drive for them. Molly still loves the “magical forest.”

Christmas finally, finally came! Molly put milk and cookies out for Santa, and of course a carrot for the reindeer. I think she was genuinely delighted to find them eaten Christmas morning!

Santa brought a dolly, and a crib and stroller for her. Molly jumped right into being “dolly’s mommy.”

The next day Tutu found a farm nearby that was giving riding lessons. We figured, and the woman running things agreed on the phone, Molly could visit with the goats and donkey and watch the older kids ride.

Well, Molly talked her way onto another horse.

This is the face of a delighted little girl.

As a thank-you, “Jet” got a little kiss.

The ferry ride home was sunny and beautiful, if chilly. Molly entertained passengers (“And HE’s sleeping TOO!!” ) and looked out the window.

She slept nearly the entire flight back.

Her present from her cousins arrived right after we did — oh, boy! “Let’s build everybody!!” Thanks cousins!

The t-shirt is one of three from local Grammy… all are favorites. Plus there’s this dancing monkey you won’t believe … I’ll try to get video of it.

Molly’s been working on her dry erase marker card set, too. Her “activity scene” likes to do it with her (it’s “nativity,” but really, both work).

We managed to hit a friend’s house for New Year’s Eve, a kid-friendly event if ever there was one. Molly saw mom painting her toes, and wanted the same… so she got red toenails for the first time. Loves them still.

Nighttime is trampoline time!! … We about never got Molly back inside.

And there was kids karaoke! “Twinkle Twinkle” went swimmingly, even through the verses no one had ever heard of.

Molly decided that if you can’t get Old MacDonald, you can just sing it to about anything and dance and have just as much fun.

… Happy New Year!

Well, some folks at mom’s work got one, and mom snagged the boxes for Molly. They were nesting snowman boxes, super cute.

Now Molly has a dress-up partner!!

Bonus video: “How many ornaments are there on the tree, Molly?”

Mom and dad had to take turns walking her around toward the end of the evening, but she largely sat at the table and ate and drank like a very, very big girl.

We couldn’t get them to turn it on, but we got a picture in front of the fireplace. Cutie pie.

Molly and I got out again before the snow hit, a delightful visit to the little park right near the house.

We’d stopped at the store on the way, and bought these delicious red pears. Seemed right to try one right then and there, so we did, and watched people walk by.

Then, boom! Snow hit. A trip to the library turned into several minutes spent clearing snow off the book-reading statue lady. I think she appreciated it.

We decided to hit the natural history museum’s free day the morning of the big snowstorm, thinking we’d have the place to ourselves. Not quite, but not a crazy crowd.

After visiting the dinosaurs, Molly wanted to go back to the “space part,” and wear the astronaut suit and have a countdown and blast off.

We spent at least two hours this time. The kids’ section opened up, and in we went. Molly wanted to dance around, but found no partners.

There was a woman who desperately wanted Molly to understand sundials. Molly was as patient as she could be, and was very polite, but I don’t think she was really interested.

There was a cool piano with a glass front so you could see the workings; Molly and this little girl did something of an ABC song duet.

There was also a big rubber man with all of his organs laid out puzzle-style. Molly found this compelling, and did quite well — even bringing some extra brain pieces for him from another table’s project.

We bundled up one day to visit a “winter festival” across town, again with fresh snow on the ground. This meant the draft horse carriage ride was extra nifty, with blankets and Molly leading everyone in rounds of “Jingle Bells.”

It also meant meeting Santa outdoors in your snow suit. Molly is saying, over and over, “Oh my gosh!!”

Surprisingly, he got a good smile out of her in record time!

Santa even had candy canes and a gift for all the kids; Molly was “meh” on the candy cane, but the little toy dog has been named “Rover” and gets crib privileges.

Molly’s nativity scene gets a lot of action these days, although I don’t always follow the plot.

Mom taught Molly how to make snow angels. She thinks it’s darned fun.

And of course not all fun is outside. Here’s a neat smile I hadn’t seen before, with the backdrop of a Christmas tree, and the help of hair bows, a crown, a white chocolate treat and a plastic packing pillow dress. What a queen!

Molly and I took a particularly cold morning to go exhaust the kid stuff at the indoor mall. After a great couple of turns on the carousel, we found the train!

We’d spotted the bungie jump spot on the ride, and I’d promised Molly we’d go check it out. Turns out it was a bit of a walk, but she was insistent. The guy raised his eyebrows a bit when we strolled up and she said “Bungie jump please!”

Surprisingly, the moment I shut off the camera, she said “Take this off please!!” in a kind of worried way; fortunately her time was about up anyhow, so down she came and thanked the operator. From there it was apparent she was getting tired, so despite a certain amount of two-year-old protest about ever having to leave the mall, we went home for a nap.

Bonus pic: Molly wants a swim cap and goggles in the bath. Okey-doke!

Here’s three videos from yesterday: riding, climbing and cooking. Tip: click the little box at the lower right to watch them fullscreen.