1, 2, 3 ...

We seem to be all getting healthier and less tantrum-y around here. Turns out I had/have an ear infection, Molly's brain was scrambling to prepare for turning 2, and Zach was exhausted from my temper tantrums.

In the midst of all that, though, I learned a neat toddler parenting trick that makes me feel so clever, even though I in no way thought of it myself. It's as simple as 1-2-3. Oh wait. Actually it is 1-2-3. I watched her Nana use it for fun things, like "On the count of three let's get up in the chiar. 1...2...3... up!" And I put it all together when I read a parent on BPN describing using it to help her kid. Basically, if I feel strongly that she has to do something, like put on her shoes, and she puts up a big fight I stop and tell her in that great parenting "firm but gentle" voice: "I'll count to 3 and then Mama will put your shoes on. OK. 1.... 2.... 3..... shoes on!"

The first two times I tried it I really had to toughen up and follow through. On go the shoes, even if it means she's pounding her fists and I'm wrestling the shoe on. Then, the third time I used it things went a little more smoothly:

Mama: "Time for your diaper Molly."
Molly: "NO diaper!" (turns away to get another book)
Mama: "If you don't put your diaper on I'll count to three and then Mama will put your diaper on"
Molly looks back at the diaper sheepishly while grabbing a bok.
Mama: "OK. 1.... 2.... 3...."
Molly suddenly turns and puts her but right on the diaper. I hide my surprise and close the tabs.

Now that I've used this method a few times it's dawned upon me (oh, I'm ever so brilliant) that it's actually doing two things for Molly: it gives her a few seconds to understand what is going to happen and allows her to have some control over it. Maybe I'll jinx our good luck by saying this, and maybe she'll stop responding to it in a few more days, but for now I've been really amazed at how much it helps things go smoothly. Two nights in a row she's laid down in bed on the count of three. This afternoon she stopped in the middle of a meltdown at the farmer's market over putting a coat on (the fog had rolled in and the temp was quickly dropping) when I said "on the count of three, Mama's going to put your coat on, 1, 2, 3."

So, I may not be the most clever parent, but I figure things out eventually. I guess what they say is true: kids crave consistent boundaries (and a little information about what the heck is going on, and just a touch of input into what will be done to them).

Little Farm, BIG Truck

we went to the Little Farm today. Molly got a big crack out of having us feed the geese, listening to the rooster crow, petting the sheep's woolly coat, and looking at the biiiiig truck! She also exercised her rights to wear her pajamas all day and put her own hat on, thank you.

back at home

back to your regular programming

Not to worry. Mr. not-a-Tortilla-head's hair will be just fine.
In other news, we've had a lovely visit with Nana and Pa. If they email us some pictures, we might even put them up here. (hint hint!)

In the meantime, here are yet more Ocracoke pictures: Molly offers up a shell she found; Molly & Mama enjoy the sunset; Molly & Mama have a splashing good time; Molly searches for shells; Dada has a reflective moment to himself; and more splashing fun with Mama. All this at the part of town we dubbed "sunset point".

and now for something completely different

we interrupt this baby (err, big girl) blog to bring you...

this is not a picture of my brother the tortilla-head
we apologize for the interruption
we now return you to your regularly scheduled Molly

Molly at Sunset

And here are some pictures of Molly enjoying a sunset on Ocracoke...

We've been taking turns here - first I got sick, then Molly, and now Zach is fighting it off. I'm glad that Molly is learning the concept of taking turns, but I'd prefer she practice with toys rather than her health. ;)

To make this cold even better, I was away most of the weekend taking an intensive class to prepare for my next set of Landscape Architecture licensing exams. It's all for a good cause (the health and safety of the precious public) but it's a pretty brutal process. Granted, any process that requires me to be away from Molly for the weekend might be considered brutal. But this Molly separation aside, this is no fun. According to the administering organization (CLARB), the passing rates for last year ranged from 38% on Section E to 74% for sections A & B. This is up from the previous years (they reorganized the test last year) in which Section E had a passing rate of just 27%. (Each section is taken and passed independently, so they don't keep statistics on the overall passing rate). For the record, I took Section C in December, I'll find out if I passed or failed in February or March, I'll take Sections A, B, & D in March, and Section E in June. If I failed Section C I'll take that again in June as well.

Ocracoke Island Light (part II)

More lighthouse pictures. And pictures of us celebrating the end of 2006 with some Landskron beer (http://www.landskron.de) - a beer from Opa's childhood town of Görlitz.

Ocracoke Island Light (part I)

Ocracoke is home to the second oldest lighthouse in the country, (the oldest in North Carolina). See lovely Wikipedia for more historical info. Molly really wanted to get right up and touch it, but unfortunately they've fenced it off so you can't even get to the base. Back in the day you used to even be able to climb the thing. What is the world coming to?

As you'll see in another day's pictures, we even had views of this lovely light from our living room. This is the first time we've ever rented a place with such direct views of the lighthouse. Nouri described it as "mythological".

Molly liked talking about it and would comment on whether the light was on or off. We tried to explain to her that the light came on at night and went off during the day, but I think she was just excited to be able to talk to us about whether the light was on or off. She still likes talking about lighthouses and she identifies them wherever she can. This afternoon she kept insisting that the Eiffel Tower was a lighthouse (our neighbor's holiday card features a picture of their sons in front of the Eiffel Tower from their summer trip to France). She thought it was funny when I told her that "actually, that's the Eiffel Tower." "Lighthouse!" she would exclaim.

Rainy Day Fun, too

we played inside at ocracoke, too. while we did go out in the cold, in the rain, and at night (to look at stars & lights!), sometimes we just stayed in and goofed off.

[molly & nona compare haircuts; molly tries to make an incredulous face; strange magic happens when molly & nona make a necklace together; molly enjoys chewing on-i mean-brushing her teeth; molly "upsie-downs"; molly & opa hold cars and trucks under their chins.]

Blackbeard's last stand

there was a new place to explore on ocracoke: the nature preserve by teach's hole (where blackbeard was supposedly killed). here molly and her mama and her uncle do some explorin.

blue

a blue coat for a blue day. from a beautiful sunset on ocracoke. (is this enough of these ocracoke pictures yet?)

Silver Lake

Every once in a while (and more and more frequently now) it hits us that we've got another person living with us. That may seem obvious, but we're a little slow, so it's taken us a while to catch on.

I remember feeling the beginnings of the change as she was eating more and more. There was a subtle shift in the food we had to have available for us - first boob/milk, then optional snacks, then the absolute requirement of real food. We eat, and therefore she needs to eat, too. Duh. And suddenly the kids menus at restaurants start to make sense (although we still tend to just order things we can share with her).

And then there's the shoes. When she was itsy-bitsy she didn't wear shoes. Then she wore them, but they were itsy-bitsy. At some point over the summer I realized that her shoes weren't going to find a home on their own. So she got a shoe place next to our shoe place at the door.

For Zach, he tells the story of when it dawned upon him that there was another person in the house: he was at home with her - I think she must have been playing behind him or in the other room - he sneezed loudly and he hears a small voice say "bless you!".

And then there was yesterday: I had asked Zach in the morning what he was doing that day. He mentioned errands and I asked if he was going to bike. Molly perked up and said "Bikeride? Bikeride time?" She abandoned her Legos (tm) and started chanting "needshoesandsocks" over and over again as she ran and got her shoes and socks and proceeded to sit down and try to wrestle them on (which she actually can do sometimes!).

So, not only do I need to accept the fact that she's a full-blown kid-person, but I also need to start spelling more things so she doesn't get her hopes up for something that may not happen (like the bike ride - it was too cold).

photos: Molly in the wind; Molly & Mama; Molly examines the stick she found; Nona; Molly does "buffalo shoulders"; Molly; Nona, Mama, & Molly. All on the docks at Silver Lake in Ocracoke, NC.

Look! Puddle-butts!