As I mentioned in my last post, Molly's becoming a lot more affectionate with everyone & everything lately. It's usually brought on by things that she's really excited about. Like when we pick her up at the end of the day, when she sees one of her favorite stuffed animals or when she turns to one of her favorite pages in her book.
One toy Molly really enjoys and gets excited for right now is her wooden train whistle (which is really for when she's older, but she likes it now). Initially she was actually afraid of it when you'd blow in it. But slowly over time, she's gotten more and more interested in the whistle & now actively hands it to us to blow in. She even tries herself, but obviously can't quite get it yet. Although sometimes she simply hums in the whistle to imitate the noise herself!
Here's a little clip of Molly having Jeremy blow into the whistle & then thanking him with kisses & hugs! She got a little too excited at the end, so now we're working on teaching Molly "gentle" pats!
Last week at daycare, Molly's teacher told us that Molly had started giving all the kids & her teachers kisses. Very cute, but not good for germ spreading! Still, Molly's started to become the affectionate little bugger lately, giving us lots of kisses when we pick her up at the end of the day, kissing her toys (e.g. her horse, lightening bug lawn mower, singing puppy, crazy bunny...), kissing the animals or people in books she likes, kissing the computer screen during our skype visits with family, and also giving herself a kiss when she has a chance!
Recently when Molly I were reading her peek-a-boo book Molly couldn't wait to give herself a kiss on the last page where it says "peek-a-YOU" with a mirror for Molly to see herself. Here's a little glimpse...
The other night during dinner, Molly found it hilarious when I would imitate her, instead of Molly imitating one of us! Got a little of it on video... Enjoy! Although warning, lots of screaming, which I guess might not be as much "cute" as "annoying! But cute in our book...
Hard to believe we've got one more month to go until Molly turns a year old! Where did the time go?? We've been wondering when Molly might start walking. She's a pretty cautious little girl; very good about things like turning around on the couch or step to slide off, backwards and feet first, careful to sit back down after standing while holding onto something, etc. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the walker she got as a Christmas gift from mom mom & pop pop Brooks. She'd often get distracted by all the whistles & bells on the front and then seemed a little unsure of the speed at which it'd roll if she tried walking with it. But lately, she seems to be gaining more confidence and stability and seems to really enjoy walking around with it! Here's a little clip... Any guesses how long it'll be before she tries walking without it??
The Easter bunny brought us a visit from Aunt Meg, Uncle Chris & Cousin Hunter! We all had a great weekend together & Molly, as usual, had a great time having another kid around to watch and learn from. Here are some highlights from the weekend...
Swinging time at the park! Maybe it was watching cousin Hunter enjoying the swing, but this was the first time that Molly actually seemed to like the swing! Typically she sits there rather indifferent to it, which always confuses us.
The next morning we went to COSI, Columbus' fantastic science museum. COSI has a great room for small kids, probably 2 and under to explore and play, i.e. big padded room!
More swinging, but this time together on the front porch! Took probably 20 shots to get this photo!
The next day was Easter... A beautiful day for bubbles in the backyard courtesy of Aunt Meg!
Then it was off to the Franklin Park Conservatory to see the butterflies & the fish pond...
A nice family photo of the Sporcics...
And probably the best family photo Molly's been in, sans mom and dad!
As I mentioned, Molly learned a few things from Hunter including tickling mom's foot through the holes in her crocks, trying to pull the security gate open and opening and closing the front door.
If you don't believe me... Here's what Molly's been up to every day since when given the opportunity...
Molly's always been a very curious baby. Well now she can finally verbalize that curiosity! Lately, Molly continuously points at various things and says "that" or in Molly-speak, "dat" with a very distinctive "t" sound at the end of the "da". One of the funniest parts about it is that her arm, hand and head will all be facing or heading in one direction, but often her finger is pointing perpendicular to what she's actually trying to point to. It's pretty funny! This picture doesn't quite capture it, but kind of gets at it with her looking in one direction and pointing in another.
With her new found method of pointing and saying "that", she can also tell us more about what she wants! Right now, Molly is very fond of ringing and listening to our Bhutanese bells ring on the front porch. At least once a day, she'll crawl to the front door and very excitedly point out the window saying "that...that...that", letting us know that she wants to go outside to ring the bells. I managed to catch the tail end of her telling us she wanted to go see the bells and then her reaction when we took her outside to ring them. Enjoy...
Well I'm on average probably a week behind posting different happenings around here... Anyway! Two weekends ago, Grandma & Grandpa Pintor came for a visit. As usual, Molly loved it! Got to enjoy grandma's wonderful cooking & left overs that lasted us a week! Yum, baked beans!
Grandpa Joe showed Molly (& Jeremy) all the in's and out's of replacing door locks.
We went for our usual walk around the neighborhood and to Jeni's for some ice cream! And also went to the Franklin Park Conservatory to see the orchid and butterfly exhibits. Molly enjoyed watching the butterflies flying around the conservatory. One landed on her arm, but flew off before Molly could see it.
Also enjoyed some reading time with Grandma...
This weekend, Auntie Meg, Uncle Chris & cousin Hunter are coming for a visit, immediately followed by a colleague of Jeremy's from Bhutan! Lucky girl!
Molly's latest hand-me-down toy is a rocking horse that my parent's got from my Aunt Halina. Molly took to the "horsie" right away! Now she crawls over to it most mornings waiting for you to come give her a horsie ride. As soon as you pick her up, she spreads her legs in prep for straddling the horse! It's pretty cute. She's gotten the hang of having to hold on, but occasionally gets adventurous and waves her hand in the air, riding horsie one handed! Also, if you notice in the video, she's gotten the hang of kicking the horse to make it go faster! Afterwards, she always has to give the horse a kiss and hug. While we're excited that she loves her rocking horse, we're hoping it doesn't mean she's going to want a real one someday!
Here's Molly giving the horse some pets (gentle & not-so gentle!) a hug & kiss!
It continues to amaze us to see just how much Molly understands us! Simple things like..."Go get your yellow ball!" "Can you find your drumsticks?" "Can you give the horse a kiss?". Here's a clip of me asking Molly "Can you put the ball in the cup?". Her response cracked me up. I felt like she was saying "Piece of cake mom. Give me something harder!"
