Happy Half-Birthday, Molly!

Molly hit the 18-month mark this month. We had a great visit to her pediatrician for a well-child visit, and here are her stats:

Height: 31 inches - which puts her in the 30%tile

Weight: 22.6 pounds - which also puts her in the 30%tile

She looks great, according to the doc, which we of course already knew:) Hopefully we won't have any reason to see him again until her birthday. The kind doctor commented on her sweet curls, which makes him just like almost everyone we talk to when we are out and about. I've got to say (with obvious modesty:), I'm not a particularly vain person. I've got my sins, but vanity isn't the worst. And I am also not a vain mama, too much;). But this girl's soft, flowing curls are just lovely. We get so many comments from strangers about her cuteness/sweetness/prettiness and her beautiful hair. I don't ever want to cut it!! Gotta love sweet little baby curls!!

And as for Molly being in the 30%tile, it is SUCH a different experience than with her brother. Ben weighed 22 pounds at 9 mos! She is healthy and growing well, so there is no problem with her being on the smaller side, and if I had to bet, she's probably right around where my mom (Granny) was when she was at this age, so Molly does have the genes for it. But it is sometimes hard for me to remember that she isn't a baby, though she can feel like one in my arms.

Aaron and I have admitted that we are in some ways the classical parents...we expected SO much more of Ben at this age. He was so much bigger and had such a huge vocabulary that we always treated him as a bit older than he really was. With Molly being so sweet and little, its hard for us to stay on top of her and not let her get away with things just because she's cute.

In fact, we have recently begun really stepping up our consistency, because she has finally really started to test us and test the rules.

But in our defense, she really has been so mild and pleasant for these past 18 months that there was no need for us to enforce the rules...she never tried ANYTHING. I still remember the first time I ever told her no (around 11 mos) and she burst into tears. She just generally goes with the flow and has a great time!

I need to post pics and stories from our trip to the Rocky Mountains soon, but I will just say quickly that, despite being the youngest kid on the trip, she did, by far, the best all week. That's Little Miss Moose Mouse for you!

Random Thoughts

BFF:

Molly is still my BFF. She loves me with all her little heart:) And I love just about every minute of it...really I do. But occasionally, her totally dedication to loving me can be a little much at times. Even Ben has noticed, and he tries to help her "share" me from time to time.

Like today, Aaron and I were standing in the kitchen right before dinner. We were chatting and laughing about something and we gave each other a quick hug. Well, Miss Moose Mouse immediately noticed and, as she often does when Aaron and I snuggle, she tried to squirm in between us so that she could be hugging me instead of Aaron. Ben saw this and piped up, "Molly, they are married...they HAVE to hug."
Thanks for clearing it all up, Ben!!

And on vacation last week, we came up with a new nickname for Molly. First of all, I should say that she did an amazing job on our trip! She was a great traveler and really enjoyed the hiking. But, with so much going on, she did get a little clingy from time to time, of course wanting only me. It started to feel like she might as well have been something I was wearing rather than a separate person from me, and now that she is so fidgety, she sometimes felt more like an animal than a person. So, her new nickname is...MONKEY VEST! And it fits, really. Holding her felt more like I was wearing a monkey vest most of the time:)

Ben also traveled really well. I will try to figure out how to post a picture slide show, but of all the pics that I would love to share, my most favorite is the one Aaron took as we were sitting on the Georgetown Loop Railway train, waiting for the train to depart. It is a pic of Ben sitting on his seat, staring ahead toward the engine, and he is wearing a look of pure excitement and happiness. It was such a treat to get to take him on that train ride!

SLEEP:
Both kids are generally sleeping well these days. Bedtime is between 7:45 and 8. Molly sleeps until 7ish, and Ben until 7:30ish. Molly also takes one afternoon nap at 1 p.m., for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours.

They both do have certain things that they like to sleep with:
Molly pretty much only needs her pacifiers. She only uses them to sleep, and the pacifiers stay in her bed at all times, so when she gets into bed, she lunges for her little sleep aids:) She has one in her mouth, and at least one in her hand most of the night.
Ben, on the other hand, prefers a greater variety of things for sleeping. Tonight for example, the contents of his bed include: several stuffed animals including a camel, zebra, horse, bear, frog, dog, and chicken; a train that Grandpa bought him from the Georgetown Loop gift shop that he currently can't live without; a water bottle; his pillow; his blanket; and his Batman ring:)
Sweet dreams, little man!

Miss Moose Mouse

Without any exaggeration, I can honestly say I just witnessed the worst tantrum that I have yet seen from one of my children. We're talking full out back-arching, red-faced-screaming, ear-piercing-volume yelling, previously-undiscovered levels of hysteria, total emotional meltdown.

I'm afraid that it might be a hint of things to come. Yikes!

Molly, in general, is so sweet, calm, and wonderful. But I remember that somewhere between 18 mos and 24 mos, Ben went through one of his most difficult phases, and I feel that today's meltdown is an indication that Molly is on the same path. It is the time when, developmentally, all trace of baby is gone, and there is only a toddler left. The sweet, little one who used to placidly enjoy whatever you brought into her life, suddenly realizes that there are some things she wants and some things she DOESN'T want...or, rather, would prefer to die a thousand painful deaths rather than be forced to tolerate. No matter what.

Like today...she wanted cheese, but I wasn't quite ready to serve her, as I was already busy cleaning up some stickers that she had put all over the floor. So, rather than wait 20 more seconds, she felt that I left her with no other options than a mind-blowing tantrum.

We're in the time of development when language and speech are improving rapidly, but not nearly as quickly as cognition. So, essentially, she KNOWS now more of what she wants and feels, but can only say it clearly maybe 20% of the time. That...and she has the patience of a toddler. (Though, in the interest of honesty, it had been a long day already by that point for all of us, and she is almost always the picture of excellent patience in a toddler).

Until her language catches up with her brain, I fear we may be in for some rocky times! Though she is generally really sweet and easy-going, when she has set her mind to something, she is unstoppable.

Just for my own memory, here is a list of words that I know she has mastered now: (I included the way she pronounces things for some words in paraenthesis)

mama, dada, ben, nana, papa, granny (neenee), anna, riri, curt (cu), grandpa (gupa), jacob, gigi, water (wawa), banana (nana), cream cheese (tee teese), cheese (cheese), pop corn (pop pop), blueberry (beebee), strawberry, m&m (nemenemenem), no way, all done, okay, please, bear, elephant, monkey (oooeeeaaa), dog, cat, quack quack, baby, lion (roar), tiger (growl), bird, cow (moooo), teeth, poop (poopoo), ball, mine, no, away, up, down, eat, milk, balloon, air plane, car, bus, bike, swing, bed, more, shoe (fwoo), bow, hair, nose, eye, teeth, toes, arm, leg, night night, bye bye, hi, hello, help, juice, hot, dip, hot dog, noodle (noo nle), hat, book, bed, Lauren (lo lo), choo choo, wash wash, bubble, slide, good guys (guh guh any time she hears a siren of some sort), boom, sit, in, out, on, off, chip, bell, alley, ball

I will probably need to add to the list over the next day or two, as I think of things I have missed, but at least this is a start. These are words that she uses independently, or with only the littlest amount of prompting. Not too bad for a 17-mo-old...as if, being a speech-language therapist, I should care or anything:)

Hopefully, while her speech and language catch up to her understanding, we can make it through these next few months without too many repeats of today!

Bix Weekend

Just wanted to report to those who might be interested...Aaron and I both ran the Bix 7 race in Davenport, IA last weekend. It is an annual, extremely hilly 7-mile race in Davenport that Aaron and other members of his family have been running for years.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am really, really not a runner:) But the Bix always seemed like such a fun race with so many dedicated and cheering fans (I am usually included in this happy group), so I decided that I wanted to see it from the course at least once. And choosing to run it this year also gave me a good goal for healthy living this summer.

So, I am happy to report that it went very well. I survived the whole 7 miles, and even ran it in a couple of minutes under my goal time (thanks to a dedicated friend who pushed me along when I needed pushing:). And Aaron equaled his previous best time.

It was an truly an amazing weekend...full of great times with wonderful family and amazing friends. And I can't wait to do it all again! Though by doing it again, I mean Bix weekend...not running 7 miles:) I think next year, I will go back to the hard work of cheering on all those runners!

Oh yeah, about the pics:
1: We did run in those grass skirts:) It was actually a lot of fun. We got a lot more cheers from the crowd!

2: I think we may have a budding runner on our hands. Molly spent a good 10 minutes trying on our friend Braeden's running shoes. She seemed to really love wearing them. Maybe she will follow in the footsteps of her Papa, Aunt RiRi, and Daddy to be a runner someday.

These days...

Some of our days can seem endless...an endless parade of guiding, redirecting, helping, encouraging, praising, reprimanding, and generally keeping kids out of the toilet:)

But I have noticed a general trend lately...things have been getting MUCH EASIER!

Now, of course, I still have 2 kids to feed, wash, dress, brush, hold hands while walking near a street, buckle in car seats, and a thousand other small, yet surprisingly physically demanding tasks each day. But lately, in the little time that is left in each day after all those things are done we are generally just having fun. Lots of splashing in our kiddie pool, reading books, taking long and aimless walks to just see what we can see, to just explore the world around us.

One thing that has particularly helped to shift the balance here from work to fun has been Molly's recent growth and development.

She is still a teeny little thing, but suddenly she is definitely a toddler, with no hint of baby left.

She and Ben have been playing together so much more all of the sudden. I can see why some parents opt to try to have more and more babies when they start seeing the ones they already have play together, and truly become friends with each other. (Though Aaron and I are thankfully immune to such mental pitfalls:).

She will play kitchen with him, or sit and play trains next to him. We can sit on the couch and really look at books together. They play in the rice bucket together for 20 minutes straight. And when he rides the tricycle with a back seat at Granny's house, he insists that she ride in the back, and she insists on being there, so it is perfect. He is amazingly patient with her, and she thankfully doesn't test him too much, so generally they get along pretty well. They have started hugging each other a lot more, too, all of the sudden. Every now and then, with no rhyme or reason, one of them will just come up to the other one for some hugs or snuggles, and the other one generally reciprocates. They are really kind to each other.

One super cute story between the two of them is this: Ben has been helping Molly learn to talk! It is so stinking cute that I had to make sure to not forget.

Here's how it goes...somehow, Ben has realized that Molly won't be able to pronounce most "adult" words. But he has also caught on to the fact that she will try most any word, if she is just given a simple approximation of the word. (Can you tell this boy's mom is a speech therapist, or what??!)

So he will help her "talk" all day long like this:

B: "Molly, do you want the triangle? Say 'duh duh duh'".
M: "Duh duh duh."

B: "Molly, do you hear that? That's a cricket. Say 'kuh kee'".
M: "Kuh kee."

B: "See the sweet gum ball? Say 'dee dum dah'".
M: "Dee dum dah."

The best part about it is that he generally is able to choose an age- and sound-appropriate approximation of the word. It's as if he just KNOWS how to be a speech therapist!!

Her speech and communication in general is really taking off lately, and I really think that he is helping her along:)

And another thought I had recently...life is always so ironic...now that things are finally getting easier and a lot more fun around here, it's all about to end! Well, not all of it...but Ben is three-and-a-half now, and he is going to be starting preschool in the fall. He is totally ready for it, and has already been going to Ms. Robin's house for a semi-preschool morning one day a week, so two half-mornings of preschool is really not much of a big deal. But as a mother, I am shocked at how quickly it has arrived, and a little bummed that we finally have a lot of fun things to do together, and now he will be off with his preschool teachers 2 days a week, and I will work a 3rd day, so that just leaves 2 days now that are just regular, old days. (Days that, yes I will honestly admit, once seemed like an endless prison of time...anyone remember the colic months? Now here I am whining about not having enough time in the day with these kids!)

One of the things that has helped with the fun factor has been a change in Ben's play skills. Let me explain. Now, I like trains as much as the next person...but this kid has been addicted to trains for almost 2 years now. I have played train tracks more than I could possibly care to remember, and much less even than he would have liked.

For 3 years now, all my super-mom attempts at fun pretend-play with tents in the living room, crazy art on the kitchen floor, nature walks to gather cool sticks and leaves, and reading awesome books have been, at best, tolerated...at worst, completely rejected or ignored. I actually found myself in quite a rut this spring, just totally sick of trying things that he cared nothing for, and also totally sick of car/train play.

But all of the sudden...this kid is FUN. Fun digging in the yard outside, fun gathering everything that is unusual on a walk, fun painting all sorts of things, and most wonderfully at all...fun reading books!!

So now that we are finally having the fun that I was hoping for these past few years, he's going to go and do all these fun things with the preschool teachers:( Boo hoo hoo!! I am REALLY bummed about it.

The flip side is that I think he will love preschool, and I am also really looking forward to time with Molly one-on-one. She is such a good sport and side-kick to her big brother, but she really doesn't call too many of the shots around here, and I think some of my super-mom attempts will be better received by my little mama's girl.

It's going to be an interesting fall!

Banker shoes

Yikes, I've been quiet this month! With Ben not napping anymore, there just isn't a lot of free time in the day, and with evenings spent running (I've been training for the Bix race in Davenport that is this weekend), I haven't been able to tell any of the millions of stories that I want to share.

But since I found a free second, here is one story that I want to make sure I don't forget.

Ben has taken to wearing a special pair of shoes...every...single...day. They are his "banker" shoes.

The shoes are black dress shoes that we got for him to wear to Aunt GiGi's wedding back in March. He wore them then, and then also for Easter, and that was about it. I had actually forgotten about them for a while.

But then, one day out of the blue, he brought them to me in the morning and asked me, "Can I wear my banker shoes today?"

I said, "Sure!" That was about three weeks ago. He has been wearing them every day since. Rain or shine, it's got to be the banker shoes. The funny thing is that I have no idea where he got the term "banker" from in the first place. We never take him into the bank, and we have never used that term. But he came up with it from somewhere, and it has stuck.

My favorite thing about the banker shoes is that he is truly expressing himself, without any apparent concern for clothing coordination, as you will be able to see in the picture I have included. This was taken on a HOT summer day at the Museum of Transportation. He built the train track, and then greatly enjoyed playing trains. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, USA

We went to Jefferson City last weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. We were able to spend lots of good, quality time with Aunt Maria, Uncle Curt, and cousin Anna. It was a wonderful weekend with all of the Sides family in attendance!

The morning of the 4th, we marched in a little neighborhood parade with some friends of Maria's. The whole Sides family participated, and here is a pic of us with our "float".



This picture proves that with kids this age, you don't need fancy toys, expensive play equipment, or an elaborate plan to have fun...you just need one Uncle Russell!



This is a picture of the kids seeing their first sparkler. As you can tell from their expressions, they were slightly dumbfounded. Both kids quickly warmed up to the idea of fireworks, though, and really enjoyed the fireworks all evening.



Here is a picture of Molly (16 mos), Ben (3.5 years) and cousin Anna (19 months). Can you tell they are family or what!!?