It's raining babies!

In the last few weeks, there's been a rash of babies being born. Ok. I guess, technically, the birthrate in the last few weeks hasn't changed, but the it's the birthrate amongst our friends and relatives that has. So, here's a shout-out to Molly's future comrades: From west to east we're welcoming Audrey & Lucy in the West Bay, Isaac in the South Bay, Miles in the East Bay, and Michele on that next continent over. We're also expecting news of two more East Bay babies in the next two months and an East Coast baby any day now! It's pouring babies in our lives! Yay!

Which brings us to Molly (who loves whispering "bay. be." while furiously making the baby sign). Molly is doing wonderfully, as usual. She's settled back into a mellow routine, and, while still clingy, she's not as panicked around new people as she was for a little while. Last night we took her to a Beatles sing-a-long (to benefit our friend, Eve's amazing non-profit, FLI). Not only did she love it (she's already got all the moves and makes an amazing groupie) but at one point when we had wandered away from the band for a moment she grabbed another persons leg and steered them to the middle of all the music making. What a ham.

She's also started standing on her own. Well, she's been able to stand for a few weeks now, but she's been super cautious about it. Before today we'd seen her stand a handful of times, but as soon as she realized what she was doing she'd immediately sit down or grab hold of us. Today, though, she's apparently gotten comfortable with the standing thing and now does it fairly openly, clapping along to her favorite tunes, showing us toys, and pointing out all the interesting things she sees (signing "light!", and "cat!" like mad). I suppose those first unassisted steps are really just around the corner now!

Zach & I are also doing well. Zach is really enjoying the sign language class and was telling me tonight that he feels like it's opened up another level of communication with Molly. I'm enjoying the new job at the Park District. I got my benefits & union orientation today. It's amazing what a union can do for you - in all the places I've worked, I've never seen benefits like this. I've also enjoyed going on all the site visits and learning about parks I had no idea even existed.

And now, here are some photos from a few weeks ago - I've gotten a little behind on the photos here, but I'll try to catch up!