Perfect birthday gift...

So I'm way overdue with some posts of Molly! I've got a backlog that I need to write about, but thought I'd quickly share a cute post. Today is my birthday. I've gotten a lot of nice birthday wishes, but none beats this this birthday wish...

The Count....

We just started letting Molly explore some kid's learning apps on our IPad. There are quite a lot of cool and interesting apps out there for kids and I'm starting to see how easy it could be to get hooked on or resort to these sorts of electronic forms of "play" and learning. Not that we think they're "bad", but personally, while we can, we're going to limit her exposure. Still it's been fun & Molly seems to enjoy it.

One of Molly's favorite apps is "I Hear Ewe", which is an app which teaches kids the sounds that different animals or objects makes. So we'll ask Molly "can you tap the X", she taps it and then it makes the sound that the animal or object makes. Interestingly, Molly's favorite objects to identify and hear the sounds of are transportation-related objects, like cars, planes, trains, fire trucks and her favorite, the ambulance. Although we have to correct the app's pronunciation of "ambulance" which they literally pronounce as "ambelance"! When she'd like to play on the IPad, she points to the mantel where we usually keep it and say "woo, woo" or "ambulance" to ask for it.

We recently downloaded an app recommended by Aunt Meg, called Count TV. This is a Sesame Street app with The Count teaching kids the numbers 1 - 10. Not sure Molly's learning the numbers but she has quickly picked up the Count's laugh. Here's a little clip...

Halloween recap!

Molly had a much better Halloween this year than last, which she spent at the doctor's office because of an eye cold. I think I already mentioned that Molly was going to be a kitty cat this year. Fortunately she was agreeable & happy to wear the costume, which kept her nice and warm on this cold and rainy Halloween. We just walked up and down our block so Molly could see the other kids out and about and then hung out in front of our house passing out candy. We actually didn't get many trick-or-treaters, which was a bit disappointing. It suprised us given that there are plenty of kids on our block. However, our neighbor told us that all the kids go over to another part of Grandview where a handful of houses give out full sized candy bars. So the majority of trick-or-treaters we got were those passing through on their way to the "bigger and better" houses and treats. Oh well...

Still we made the best of it & Molly seemed to have a good time. Here are a few pictures.

 Neko, take 2!

Molly & Jeremy...

Our pumpkins all lit up! We especially liked our pumpkin that looked like a toothless old lady, i.e. the pumpkin that must have had a cord wrapped around the middle of it when it was growing.

Molly & mom!

And finally a little video clip of Molly excitedly running up and down the street showing off her kitty costume! Happy Halloween everyone!