It has been some time since an update; things have been busy. But that’s only part of the delay.
The other part is that I’ve been deciding on whether to wind things up, and the answer is yes. From the start I knew the blog had to have a lifespan, and I’ve been toying with how to decide when to call it quits. Molly is starting to become fully Molly, and it’s less a blog about a new baby and more about a person — a person whose privacy and safety will always come first. Molly turned 3 years old recently, and any day now it’s going to become impossible to keep her anonymous on the web.
What’s more, I’m increasingly finding myself choosing between doing things with/for Molly and doing the blog. So the best thing for us now is to say thanks to everyone who’s been following along, and hang it up.
I won’t of course leave you with nothing. Here’s a very big Molly swimming at out-of-town grandma and grandpa’s hotel pool; they came into town for Molly’s big birthday party.
Out-of-town grandma made a birthday cupcake dress! Molly insisted on wearing it to school, along with the appropriate accessories.
This was Molly’s big present from mom and dad: the bus bed. Dad built it, mom decorated it. We had it out in the driveway for the party!
Features include interior pockets, a hammock, a dashboard with steering wheel and several buttons that play sounds and light up things. The headlights work, they’re about night-light brightness. And of course Molly’s guests thought it was a blast to play in/around/on.
Here it is (finally) up in her room. I built the walls to break down, but it was still a bit of a chore. Glad it’s in — she slept on it last night and today for nap!
The next-door neighbor girl (the older one) and her dad made Molly a pinata! Hooray! Whack!
And there was a cake, thanks to local grandma picking it up for us. A cupcake cake. With ice cream inside.
It was a great party, and Molly loved every minute. 🙂
And I’ve loved every minute of doing “Raising Molly.” I’m so glad I’ve kept this blog. Molly’s first three years are pretty much all here, and I already enjoy perusing them. She’s grown up so quickly, and has been so much fun so far. I just can’t wait to see what she’ll give us tomorrow.
The future looks bright, indeed. Thanks, everyone. 🙂
This is about as behind as I’ve ever been on the blog, apologies. I have a long list of excuses, but they won’t fit with all the great photos, videos and stories I’ve got to share. 😉
The big event was of course Easter, which had several incarnations for Molly since we know she’s a fan.
We colored eggs; Molly eschewed the little wire egg holder that came with the kit in favor of fingers.
Her fingers were well colored by the end of things.
To her eternal credit, Molly realized they were eggs and ought to be eaten. With just a little salt, she did. 🙂
The local rec center had an egg hunt geared for the under-5 set, so we headed over and signed in. While the coordinators put the finishing touches on the hunt (mostly scattering eggs in the ball field), there were games to play inside. Molly gave the beanbag toss a go.
There was a “make a bunny” craft table, which (with help from mom) produced a fine rabbit by the end.
And there was a “pin the tail on the bunny” game. Molly dutifully stood in line for quite some time for a chance at this one. 😀
There was a brief appearance by the Easter Bunny herself — who was subsequently stalked and hugged incessantly by Molly.
Finally, someone told us to start heading out to the ball field. They lined all the little ones up with their baskets and bags, and after a short countdown, it was “Go!!”
Molly liked the “running and yelling with everyone” part so much she at first neglected to pick up eggs! Of course, as a strategy it paid off, because she found herself with some room in the middle of good pickings.
After pretty much no time at all, the field was bare, and Molly suddenly noticed the cow from the chicken restaurant was there, too! I mean, we thought the Easter Bunny got mobbed. Molly’s such a fan of the cow. 😀
The cow also brought his “friend,” another cow. Molly didn’t know this one, but decided he must be OK.
The whole event went swimmingly; afterwards everyone retired to the playground, where Molly successfully went several rounds on the monkey bars with startlingly little help from mom and dad — only to bonk heads with an adorable girl she’d been playing so happily with. Molly came off the worst, so we headed home for an ice pack — frozen peas in a sock — which made her feel much better about things.
Easter didn’t quite end there; on the day itself, local grandma came over and we had a chilly hunt around the yard…
…Which culminated in a proper Easter Basket, filled with tons of goodies!
We doled out candy bit by bit ever since, with Molly referring to the basket’s content as her “Easter joys.”… As in, she asks to get up next to the counter to “look at her Easter joys.” It’s adorable. 😀
Molly’s hit a few gymnastics classes since I last blogged, and has been having a blast. I’m not sure there’s much I can add to set up the video, it’s so much fun to take her.
One morning we hit the zoo, where Molly mostly wanted to eat snacks on park benches and comment on all the people going by (“She’s at the zoo with her daddy. He’s with his mommy. He’s got juice!” etc.). She also had a little commentary on the kangaroos.
…And she made a fast friend outside the carousel. They were just cute together. 🙂
Speaking of friends, Molly’s neighbor has been walking her dog on a leash fairly often in the nice weather. Molly: “I want to do that! I want to walk Talker on a leash, please!”
So, Talker got a little more action than perhaps he expected when he woke up that day.
Yes, you heard correctly. On the trike. 😀
Mom also got us all some plants to try growing this summer — two of Molly’s faves, tomatoes and sugar snap peas! Molly was very into watering them.
Then we took them out and re-potted them into bigger buckets. After much soil-scooping, there was more watering to be done.
Right now the peas are near a trellis, and the tomatoes are inside Molly’s playhouse — it’s warm and bright in there, which should get them through to the end of May as long as we remember to water them. I’m not worried Molly will let us forget that. 😀
With all this spring activity, Molly remembered she liked going camping in the tent. With it still being super cold at night, I set her up one evening in the living room, where she proceeded to get her buddies all warm and snug.
After everyone had blankets and “comforters,” Molly joined them. With snacks!
We turned out the lights, and we brought the little electric lantern into the tent and read books. Lots of books. Ultimately we ran out of snacks, and Molly requested more apples.
Hard to imagine, but I’ve got one more video that doesn’t fit in anywhere else. Here’s Molly playing along, showing off her great rhythm. 😀
Raising Molly 