Bouncy Balls!

We had fun with the exercise balls at Nanas!

Aquarium Wonder

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium over the weekend. It was spectacular. Molly had an amazing time. We all had fun.

pseudoephedrine & diphenhydramine adventures

This weekend the entire Zanklinardi family got some lessons in drug use. When trying to relieve congestion to allow sleeping, we learned that not all over the counter decongestants are created equal. One common decongestant relieves congestion and, according to the nice advice nurse at Kaiser, can cause a racing heart, restlessness, anxiety, and high blood pressure. Another is more commonly associated with sleepyness and general sedation.

Guess which one we gave to Molly for two (sleepless) nights in a row? That's right, the first one. Finally, on Sunday, Nona convinced us to check in with Kaiser and see if there was anything else they recommended to keep her comfortable. Um, yes. Don't give her pseudoephedrine when she needs to sleep.

Oh, what a little sleep can do. On Monday Molly was already feeling better. And Nona was getting sick.

(Photos Right: Molly takes the bears "up up up up TOP down down down" the Lego stairs Zach made; Left: Molly chases the chickens;)

motherhood and apple pie

Another nice visit with Nona - lots of time at the park, in the backyard with the chickens, and lots and lots of reading books. And eating apple pie with ice cream (and cheddar cheese?).

taking the ladybug for a walk

Baby or Big Girl?

I remember when Molly first used two words together: we were in Cambridge in August for Angus & Jason's wedding, walking down a major street to our hotel, when a bus passed by and Molly exclaimed: "BIIIIIIIIG ........ tRucK." It was cool. But as with most of her new tricks, she put it back in her pocket and practiced it on her own for a while. She occasionally paired up words in the next few months, but mostly spent time practicing new words, like colors, and animal sounds, and names.

Then, in October, after several weeks of very poor sleeping habits, she made some big developmental leaps, including almost always using pairs of words: "red car!" "brown shoes!" "mama spoon!", and the ever popular "Molly"+ anything (ie. "Molly shoe!" "Molly walk!" "Molly color!" "Molly toy!"). And the other day I noticed she made the leap to three words: "Molly waaaaant-iT!". Fortunately, she's also adding words like "share" and "turn" to her vocabulary. We'll take what we can get.

So, between the increasing verbalization and the new bangs, Molly is really looking like a big kid. Zach and I asked her the other day: "Molly, are you a baby or a big girl?" She looked up from her book briefly to tell us: "Big Girl." Well, a big girl that still loves her Mama and Dada, won't go to bed without her Peetsie and Bear Bear, and knows that a kiss from Mama or Dada makes her bumps feel better.

Votes

As the saying goes: "vote early and vote often."