Mostly Molly Update

It's time to baby-proof our new house because Little Miss Molly is now mobile!!
Yesterday was the first day that she officially crawled...

...and today she's shown that a day of practice pays off. She's much faster today!

At 8 months old, Molly is busy as can be trying to keep up with her big brother. She is a great little eater and she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.
When she's not trying to put something in her mouth, her little tongue is usually sticking out of her mouth because she is still getting used to the feeling of having two front teeth.
She's putting those little teeth to good use as she's eating plenty of rice cereal and baby food, and she has tried some table foods too. She will sleep through the night most nights, but she still wakes up once a night one or two times a week for one reason or another. She likes to wave to tell us hello but she usually will not wave to say bye. She tries to babble (mostly saying ba ba ba) but I'm doing my best to teach her to say ma ma. She's very aware when we leave the room and she would let us hold her all day if we could because she loves having our attention on her. Playing peek a boo with her big brother is one of her favorite games.

Last month, she would make the cutest little face when she smiled. She would wrinkle up her nose and close her eyes when she smiled. I was able to get a video and a picture of the smile, and I am glad that I did because she's not smiling that way anymore. It's so sad that she's grown out of that because it was precious.

Since the Christmas blog was full of pictures of Bo, I don't feel quite so bad about the fact that I only have a few pictures of Bo for this post. Bo's favorite things right now are Alvin and the Chipmunks, playing the game Hullabaloo, drawing, reading, writing, going to Chuck E. Cheese to play Super Mario Kart, going to basketball lessons and playing at school. Here he is doing two of his favorite things:

No place like home for the holidays

We enjoyed having a new house to spend Christmas in. These are some of the pictures and videos that we took during the holiday season.
Bo and Alf, our Elf on the Shelf:
Making cookies for Santa--Bo insisted that Santa would want purple frosting on his cookies.
Bo's version of Joy to the World. He learned the song during play practice while he was preparing to be an angel in our church's Christmas play. It was very dark in the room while the play was going on, but after the play was over and the lights were on, Tyler was able to get a little video of Bo showing just how unafraid he was to be in the spotlight.

On Christmas morning, Molly woke up at 5 to see what Santa brought her while Bo slept in until 8!! Molly was ready for a morning nap by the time Bo woke up. :)
Bo was excited that he got games and toys, Lincoln Logs, and lots of treats in his stocking. His favorite gift this year was the game Hullabaloo. We still play it at least 10 times a day.

Santa brought Molly lots of fun floor toys, cute clothes and some new treats to try now that she is able to eat more solid foods. She amazed us with how much she grew over the Christmas break---she started waving, sitting up very well, trying to "point" to pictures in books, eating little cookies and crackers and growing new teeth.

Far more than the gifts that we found under the tree, we are so grateful that 2011 brought us our sweet little Molly. People have asked how it has been having two children and they comment that it must seem that Molly has always been a part of our family now that she's already almost a year old. It's funny because the more that I think about it, it surprises me that I could feel such different things about Bo and Molly as far as how they complete our family. With Bo, it's easy to say that I can't imagine life without him. For four years, I've watched him grow into a little person with a sense of humor, opinions and an need to be so independent. He is definitely a part of the fabric of our family, and life without Bo wouldn't make sense. With Molly, it's different. I suppose it has something to do with the loss that we went through when we were trying to get pregnant. Not only did we have two miscarriages before we finally got pregnant with Molly but we also lost Tyler's mom and my dad in the years between when Bo and Molly were born. I think those experiences made me much more aware of how quickly life can change and that each morning that we wake up with the people that we love in our lives is a blessing and not a guarantee. Does it feel as if Molly has always been a part of our family? Yes and no. Yes, it's hard to imagine life without her, but also no because Tyler, Bo and I all wake up each morning eager to see Molly and kiss her sweet face. Every day we are humbled that she continues to be a part of our lives reminding us that we can never take anyone or anything that we've been given for granted.