peek-a-who?

The other night at dinner Molly played knee slapping round of peek-a-boo with us by "hiding" her face in her tray of sour cream and then lifting it up and laughing hilariously.

How can you not love this face?

rub a dub dub

As previously mentioned, yesterday was HOT in Seattle. And by HOT, I mean a whopping 97 degrees. Whenever the mercury goes above 90 this city goes into shock. There was even a call in radio program on NPR dedicated to ways to beat the heat (best tip: take a shower in your clothes. But if you do, be sure to change them every 24 hours at least, to avoid becoming ripe of course). Being from Montana I realize this silliness of this. However, in the end it's pretty pleasant to live in a place where one day of really hot weather is newsworthy.

Anywho, no one really wanted to get into a bathtub on such a sticky day, so Molly had a bath in her wading pool. She loved being sprayed off by the hose and didn't even mind when we washed her hair.

scorcher

Today was hot. Somewhere in the high 90's which is downright obscene for the Pacific Northwest. To celebrate, we headed to West Seattle the morning to our friends' Ginny & Ava's house for a party.

Most the other kids were big two year olds, and Molly had a fantastic time trying to keep up with them. Here she is having her first popsicle (note the glitter on her hands and face from the advanced arts and crafts).

potty

We recently got a potty seat for Molly. No we are not one of those overacheiving families who is aiming for independent toileting at 15 months, we just got it so she could practice sitting on it.

I love this picture of the first time she sat on it. She is such a big girl, sitting there on the potty, so proud. It makes me thrilled and a little wistful.

fountain

After seeing The Green Sheep (see previous post), we had a little picnic and some splashing about in the Seattle Center fountain. For anyone not familiar with this fountain, The water will spray intermittently in fits and spurts, and and a once dry spot can suddenly be rained upon with water.

Molly, fearless as ever, charged into the middle of the fountain and suddenly found herself directly in the middle of a spray of water. She was shocked and dismayed and looked to me for help. Of course, the second we made it to safety she immediately ran back into the middle.

The Green Sheep

Molly and I went with our friends Sarah and Frances to the Theater the other day to see The Green Sheep, a play for toddlers put on by the Seattle Children's Theater. It was fantastic. Here she is saying hi to one of the sheep.

toddling

Molly is officially a biped! I suppose she was always a biped, just a very quadrapedal one. When we were in Salt Lake over Memorial Day weekend she took her first steps. Due to the aforementioned passing from cousin to cousin to auntie that took place over the next 2 weeks, it wasn't until last week that she really got her legs under her for real.

But now she is really walking! She went from mostly crawling to totally walking within a day. My head is spinning with the cuteness and busy-ness of it all.

where to begin again

It's been a while since my last post, and a busy few weeks. At the beginning of June my mother, Grandma Rowe, passed away. It was, and is, sad; but she was suffering and had been waiting a long time to meet up again with my father, the love of her life, and we all hope they're having a party up there.

So, Molly and I and daddy have been to Salt Lake and back again twice, and to Montana for the funeral. Here is a photo of Molly with most of her Rowe cousins. They loved her, and she loved them right back. I spent much of the week jabbering away with long lost friends while Molly happily went from cousin to cousin. At one point I looked up only to hear her belly laugh as her cousin Robert slid her down a shuffleboard table
Here is a photo of Molly tipping back her first glass of wine with her great Aunt Delia. My mother was always telling stories about people giving beer to their babies to help them sleep (in the most it was the fifties, they didn't know better sort of way), so I'm certain she would be proud. I swear we had nothing to do with this, please don't call CPS on us.

Happy Play Hour

Molly had her friends Frances and Austin over to play last Friday with their Moms. We grownups cracked open some wine while the babies tackled each other. What a way to finish up another fun week. I swear being a stay at home mom is usually a lot of hard work and hardly ever involves wine.

'tis the season

Every year the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Association organizes a neighborhood garage sale extravaganza. It ranks right up there with Christmas around our house. We started the day with bagels and coffee and friends at our house, and headed up the hill to shop. Garage sales every which way you look, what could be better? Here's Molly on the slide with her Unkey Dave, well deserved after a morning of haggling.

bubbly water

Molly loves bubbly water. The bubblier the better. She gulps it down and then pauses and crinkles her nose up at the fizziness. Sometimes she can't even wait for her dad to pour it into a cup.

bubbles

My very first post was something about Molly getting to know our names. She had learned that certain sounds stand for certain things. But now, now she has learned something even more interesting - that she can ask for and get things if she knows the right words and gestures. Now this is power.

It all started with pointing, although we don't always know what she's pointing at. These days there is much frantic pointing on her part, and much guessing on ours.

Today she mastered the word for bubble and the sign for more. Clever girl, she spointed at the bubbles, said "bubble" and signed "more". And like the putty in her hands that we are, we blew more bubbles.

grass!

This photo was taken at Molly's birthday party - I plopped her down on the grass and she stayed in this exact position for about 5 minutes until she took off exploring. I'm pretty sure she liked it.

separation anxiety

Molly doesn't want me leaving her these days (I'm talking a trip to the bathroom here, not too much to ask right?), and around our house there is much grabbing of my legs. This is what it looks like. It's sad of course, to see your baby so upset - but just a little cute too, don't you think? Of course, I would never tell her that.

one

Molly is one! I'm struggling with the right words to mark the occasion so for now, let's just take a look at where we were a year ago.....


and where we are today....
wow.

your worst fear

Last Saturday we were going to a party. We were excited and rushing around the house getting all cute and ready to go. Molly and I were upstairs; I was changing outfits deciding what to wear, while she explored the fascinating contents of my closet. Later, I couldn't help but wonder - If only I had decided not to take my boots off so I wasn't in my sock feet. If only George would have carried her downstairs instead of me. If only I had walked a little bit more slowly.

If only I wouldn't have slipped and fallen down the stairs with Molly.

Yikes. My foot shot out from under me, and down we went. I immediately wrapped my body around Molly to shield her from the impact, but wasn't sure whether she hit her head when we fell. As soon as we got to the bottom (13 stairs later), George was there, frantically examining us. We checked her head, again and again. We put frozen corn on there, just in case. I nursed her, we sang, we cuddled, we inspected. After 10 or 15 minutes, she had calmed down, but she was still crying. If she were just frightened, by then she would be playing happily. But we couldn't find any lumps on her head at all.

And then it occured to us. She has a whole body below her head. Perhaps her pain is coming from somewhere else. We stripped her down, did a full body check but everything looked ok. Then I stood her up to see if she could maintain her balance, and she wouldn't bear weight on her left leg. Eureka.

We consulted the nurse, and were told that a visit to the ER was definitely in order. So, off to Children's Hospital we went. 2 hours and much bravery and trooperhood later, Molly was diagnosed with a buckle fracture on her lower tibia and fibula. They fitted her in a splint and sent us on our way.

Molly's doing great. She can't stand or cruise, but, adaptable as always, she's crawling all around and is in great spirits. She's waking alot at night, presumably due to pain that she is too busy to notice during the day. Her cast should be off within 2-3 weeks.

It goes without saying that I feel awful about the whole thing. Of course it was an accident, but still. if you fell down the stairs with your baby and she broke her leg you'd feel bad too.

On the bright side (if there is a bright side to a tumble down the stairs) there is something to be said for facing your worst fear and living to tell. As any parent in a home with stairs your darker side envisions the fall. In your imaginings there is blood, major trauma, the works. But, then it happens and you survive. A few hours later you're sitting on the couch with a bowl of comfort ice cream trying to make sense of it all, while your sweet baby sleeps upstairs.

my baby's got a baby

Molly has a baby! Doll that is. She is crazy for this doll. I handed it to her to keep her entertained while I looked around at the Goodwill for "just another minute, sweetie". Little did I know it would elicit such a strong reaction. Complete strangers were commenting on how much she liked her doll.

So, doll (no name yet) came home with us. Molly will hold her and hug her and then scream and piledrive her into the ground (affectionately of course).

Let me just say, if I had known that Molly would respond to a baby doll in this way I would have given a little more thought to it, rather than absentmindedly handing her the first naked and bald one I came upon. But I'm sure a cute outfit will do wonders.

meeting daddy's bus

Molly loves walking with her radio flyer wagon, stopping frequently to investigate and taste the flower petals and leaves on the ground. She can walk a few short blocks now with no problem. Some days Molly and I will walk down the block to meet Daddy as he gets off the bus from work. Here they are rounding the bend on our way back home from just such an outing.

Papa C

Molly and Papa C share a moment.

a visit to the zoo

A few weeks back Molly and I visited the zoo with Stephenie, one of Molly's fave aunties. We had a big exhausting day checking out the animals (Molly's favorite animal was the american toddler) and zooming around zoomazium. Molly went wild banging on the drums, climbing through the tunnel, chasing after the other kids, and subsequently fell asleep about 12 seconds into the car ride home.

Here is Stephenie holding a sleeping Molly after carrying her into the house. Since she seems to be the only person who can carry Molly in from the car without waking her, we are hoping she will move in with us.

swimming

Molly and I took "Beginner Tots" swimming lessons together last month. Here she is in her suit (might I add, this is not the first time I've wished that her clothes came in my size). There was much splashing and blowing bubble,s and great fun was had by all.

family dinner

Last weekend Molly's uncle Jim, aunt Marcia and cousins Fiona and Amelia came over for dinner. It was great to see them, and Molly was the life of the party as usual.

We don't often get a chance to hang out with tweens and teens, so spending time with the Rowes gives us a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse into our future -- imagine Molly with an iPod dripping out of her ears! (of course by the time she's 14, MP3 players will surely have gone the way of 8-tracks).

I myself was what you might call a "spirited" teen. In many a heated moment, my own mother wished upon me a child like myself, like some sort of curse or perhaps cosmic revenge. If her wish comes true, I'll just say we've got some interesting times ahead.

children's museum

Last week we went to the Seattle Children's Museum. In fact, we liked it so much we went twice, on Wednesday and again on Saturday with Daddy and Molly's bff Addie and her parents Mike and Laura. Molly loved the 0-3 play area called Discovery Bay. She splashed in some water, fearlessly climbed the padded climbing area and even crawled out of the belly of a whale. In short, she rocked the place.

first haircut

A few weeks back, Molly got her first haircut. I couldn't stand her little bangs hanging in her eyes for a second more, and so out came the scissors.

What on earth was I thinking? Holding scissors next to the eyes of a flailing child? Well, suffice it to say that trimming her locks was a bit trickier than I had bargained for. The next day we went to a professional kid stylist to fix my hack job.

everybody needs a mama for a pillow

This is how Molly fell asleep the other night. 'Nuff said.

baby or puppy?

Lately Molly will hold an object between her teeth (for instance a lemon, her wooden hippopatomus clacking toy, a baby food jar lid, her bootie) and zoom around the house with it hanging out of her mouth. Reminds me of a puppy with a chew toy.

words

Molly is at such a fun age right now. (and SO OLD - 11 months in a few days). Of course every age has been fun along the way, and of course at every new stage we look back and think "she seemed fun before, but this, now this is really fun."

Anyhow, right now Molly is reaching new levels of, well, everything. She's crawling and cruising around the house, exploring and playing back and forth games and chasing and laughing and hiding. For the Campbells, life is one big gas.

She is also working hard on her vocabulary. When I imagined her first words they were obvious. In my mind's eye she would stop in mid-babble and say "mother, more sweet potatoes please". Of course, it's not quite like that. Slowly mamamamamama becomes mama. I wasn't sure whether or not to count it as a word until yesterday morning. George got up with her so I could sleep in (bless him), and I could hear them playing in the kitchen. Molly was chatting away, "dadadadadada". When she is with me it's a steady stream of "mamamamamama" (with an occasional "MAMA!" for emphasis). 11 months old and she knows our names - genius.