For the love of Paz

Paz has been with us for a year now. She is amazing. The kids adore her. We adore her. Heck, even a random woman at the park adored her enough to see if she could lure her away from us. It's been great to see Molly blossom with Paz.

And hopefully, Paz's gentle ways will help Molly through this rough patch of aggressive behavior. The other day she bit Kira again while Molly was over at Kira's house. I had just enough time between site visits on that day that I decided to swing by and see how Molly was doing with Paz in the afternoon. I happened upon them at San Pablo park, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Nate was busy "driving the train" with some other kids (it's a stationary, wooden train that is perfectly toddler-sized), while Molly was marching over to those seats on a big spring things that I always wondered who used. She climbed right up on it, grabbed the handles, and shook like crazy. She was very pleased with herself. When she saw me she was like "hi mom!" but just wanted to keep going with the bouncy thing. Paz said the kids started crying at the house, so she loaded them up in the stroller and got them out in the park. They clearly enjoyed it!

Don't Box Me In!

It's amazing how entertaining simple toys can be. Molly enjoyed much time playing in a cardboard box with a metal bowl and wooden spoon, in a cardboard box with a window and a door, and in a cardboard box with a roll of duct tape.

takoma park pictures

Money's got an Elmo and needs a Butt-juice?

Ohhh... "Molly's got an elbow and needs a diaper change". The funny things kids say when they're learning to speak. Molly's having difficulties with certain sounds, but I have no idea where "butt-juice" came from. She's clearly talking about her diaper (between grabbing her diaper and doing the diaper changing sign, she gets her point across), but that's as far as I get.

Anyhow, it's been a load of visitors and traveling the last month. Nona, Opa, down south, back east. Phew. And through it all, Molly kept up a steady refrain of "biiiiiig!" whenever she saw a truck or bus, "wock" whenever she saw a rock (everywhere!), "bikie" whenever she saw a bike (lots in Boston), "caaaaw?" whenever she saw a car (in "real life" or in a picture), and, of course, "no, no, NO, NOO, NOOOOO!". Everyone's favorite, though, was "choooo-choooo" for trains. At one point she started identifying lots of things as trains just to get a reaction. Yay for trains.

In other news, it was really touching to see my father with Molly. He hasn't been out to visit as much as the rest, so it took a while for Molly to get comfortable with him. But she really warmed up to him - after we stranded her with him with her one morning. Apparently she screamed until Zach was out of sight, and then proceeded to have a slammin' good time with her Opa (which, by the end of his trip, she was pronouncing something like "Ow-pah" and was calling his name often). I was lucky enough to be able to spy on them twice while he was here and both times it was lovely to see them enjoying eachother so much. That is, until she noticed me, at which point she totally melted down and pretended that leaving her with Opa was the worst thing I had ever done. Of course, I had clear evidence to the contrary.

Playground, too

Playground

We're still down in LA at Zach's littlest brother's wedding. It was a beautiful affair, but unfortunately we don't have pictures yet. So, here are a few more of the pictures from when Nona visited. These were from an afternoon at the park.

The wedding was beautiful - at least, what I was able to see. Unfortunately, the wedding occurred right smack in the middle of Molly's current typical nap time. We tried to coax her through it, but rather than risk her melting down during the vows, I took her out. And, of course, as soon as the door closed behind us Molly started shouting "no no no!". I don't even remember what it was about, but I was relieved that it hadn't happened inside. So, I plopped her in the car and did as the Los Angelenos do - took to the freeway. Molly zonked in about 5 seconds, and I sat with her in the parking lot for almost 2 hours. Mrs. R. very kindly brought me some of the delicious foods, and offered to spell me in the car. But Molly was soon up and at 'em, and with a nice nap under her belt she handled the rest of the afternoon and evening admirably. We even were able to go visit little Tommy, the son of Zach's former classmates who's just a few months younger than Molly.

Tomorrow it's back home for a night, and then off to the east coast for another wedding (with a stop off to visit Nona and Opa).

buckets o' fun

Opa

We sent Opa home today. Molly really warmed up to him - after we stranded her with him on Tuesday morning. Apparently she screamed until Zach was out of site, and then proceeded to have a slamin' good time with her Opa (which, by the end of his trip, she was pronouncing something like "Ow-pah" and was calling his name often). I was lucky enough to be able to spy on them twice while he was here and both times it was lovely to see them enjoying eachother so much. That is, until she noticed me, at which point she totally melted down and pretended that leaving her with Opa was the worst thing I had ever done. Of course, I clear evidence to the contrary.

bags o' fun

chickens