first steps

Despite two weeks of crying after my short, unpaid maternity leave about just such an event, I survived missing Molly's first steps while I was at the clinic. Bu witnessed, so that made it totally alright. There were about 4 total. Two this morning from Bu to Papaw in our living room, then one more for cousin Boo 1.0, then one more from Bu to Mama this evening.

Squee. O squee!

In other adorableness, she "sang" along with Jiminy Cricket when we watched Pinnochio tonight.

in which i abuse Capitalization

So, I freaked out on Bu last night because he wouldn't let me go visit Molly at midnight at the grandies' to see the new tooth. Mamaw called in the middle of the party to tell us about the discovery. Yes, the tooth would still be there as Bu and a friend eventually convinced me, and sure we deserved an adults only evening followed by actual solid sleep. This didn't compare in my brain with the fact that her very first tooth ever was found by not-me, so me needed to see it as soon as humanly possible. Nevermind she probably cut the tooth on my nipple and I just didn't check her gums yesterday.

randomosity

A thing I learned this weekend: A charley horse cramp is not nearly as awful after experiencing labor contractions as it is before labor. Even Bu was impressed with my zen-like approach to waiting for the pain to end. Not that charley horses don't still suck.

As a matter of fact, the tooth was resplendent at seven a.m. following six and a half hours of uninterrupted sleep. The night of bliss proved that even the moodiest hormonally charged bad day of cranky badness can be made all better by a double strong Tension Tamer Tea, a cuddly husband, and streaming video of heroes on a laptop in bed.

The badness of my day was all in my head. I'm owning my bitchiness. I was the one who decided that, even though I am usually passionately opposed to removing my body hair, I would wax my legs and be Glamorous. Also, I would borrow my best friend's classic black dress-up outfit, including heels, and I would be Sophisticated. I would Do My Eyes and also be Sexy. I would then wow my coworkers, board members, and clinic supporters with my ability to Cinderella myself from funky-messy assistant girl to Put Together Foxy Mama at our Oscars Party. (Bu & I take red carpet photos of guests each year.)

Not so much. I forgot my wallet when I scrambled to the store for brunch items, and had to put away all the stuff WIC vouchers don't cover. Then it was too late to make it back & cook & get the Birdie to the grandies'. Later, the leg waxing began, in a messy and annoying way, and I spilled warm wax all over the bathroom. Cleaned that up, and met souster at the door to retrieve my outfit. Quick shower & make-up. Right. OK, mascara in eye- wash off, reapply. Stings, watering, ouch. On to wardrobe. Only the outfit doesn't fit, and the heels are lethal. They are several inches too high for any human being to walk in and they are so pointy-toes I have a toe cramp just imagining them. So I throw on the dressiest black dress I have- short sleeved very simple. My only dress shoes are ballet flats with bows. They are cute bows, and are adorable- with jeans. As a whole, my ensemble looks like a 12 year old girl at a funeral. My panty hose have no runs- at least there's that. So we go.

The printer won't work with our laptop so Bu has to run home to get drivers for the hardware. Meanwhile I have discovered that my hose are too big and they literally roll down under my butt whenever I walk four steps. So I'm tugging at my ass every few seconds trying to hike 'em back up. I'm an anxious mess by this time, and think I'd love a glass of wine. Only it's a cash bar and if we spend any money we'll overdraw our account. (Ha! Silly me- we did that anyway buying frivolous gasoline.)

The event was wonderful, however. We made roughly twice as much as last year for the clinic. The turn out was amazing. I learned that it's possible to pump in a large bathroom stall in bra and panty hose and not let any of the bottles touch anything:) The whole night I was seeing a scene from The Secret where a woman has a Bad Day which is the result of her telling herself, "It is a Bad Day," and I'd tell myself to shake it off, but I couldn't muster up the conviction to radiate positivity with my hose rolled up under my booty and bunching around my adolescent shoes.

molly milestones & memories

I'm going to link to this from my sidebar, and add to it as needed. It's mostly self-indulgent but if you'd like to peek back to see what new amazing powers the Mollybird has gained feel welcome. If I can ever figure out how, I'll backdate it to her birthday which was the original plan. I'm also going to do this with my complete birth story if I ever finish it.

Molly does Stuff:

• Two or three weeks: Molly holds her head very steady. Strong legs too.
• Around one month: Molly smiles! Molly babbles! She says "Aah!" and "Mehm," which I think means "Dad" & "Mom."
• 8.8.06: Molly rolls over. Middle of the night nursing she rolled toward me, and then found herself on her belly. Mama got up to pee, putting her on her back, and when I came back she was on her belly.
• 8.15.06 Molly laughs, almost. Co-workers say it counts:)
• 8.15.06 Molly picks up a toy- her bunny rattle from Baby Elyse.
• 8.18.06 Molly falls down goes boom. Tumbles off couch while incompetent idiot mother tries to take her picture.
• 8.28.06 Molly laughs actual haha laugh for Daddy-monkey noises.
• 8.29.06 Molly laughs actual haha laugh for Mommy- tickled belly.
• 9.6.06 Molly finds her feet. Cannot sit still to nurse because they are too much fun and they are all she can think about.
• 9.6.06 Shane calls me at work to report that Molly has gotten her first big wet yucky doggy kiss. Dharma licked her from chin to forehead. Molly giggled.
• 9.26.06 Molly perfects the art of The Raspberry, and Mama has a moment of nostalgic awe remembering when the baby was nicknamed Molly Raspberry- because she was a tiny raspberry-sized fetus in my barely-showing belly.
• 10.1.06 Molly discovers her thumb.
• 10.4.06 Molly abducted by time-travelling dinosaurs and replaced by baby pterodactyl.
• 10.23.06 Molly sees her first snowflakes. She doesn't care.
• 11.11.02 Molly can sit by herself if we sit her up.
• 11.23.06 Thanksgiving Day. Molly has her first meal- sweet potatoes! (Le yum.)
• 11.30.06 Molly sees Christmas lights for the first time. Unimpressed.
• 12.1.06 Molly says "Mama," the babbling version, not the I Know Your Name Is Mama version.
• 12.11.06 Molly's first booboo. The mirror-door cut on the itty bitty finger.
• 12.31.06 Molly says "Dada." Still doesn't know who's who.
• 1.07 Molly can wave bye-bye, as taught by Mamaw & Papaw. Oh, wait no she can't. She forgot. Then she learned again, then forgot.
• 1.1.07 Molly picks very appropriate day for two new milestones: She pulls to standing in a laundry basket, then looks around with gleeful surprise at her new position, and she pulls herself to sitting from lying in bed. Neither have been repeated as of 1.11.07.
• 1.11.07 Molly's "vocabulary"as of seven months: "mama, dada, m-, b-, g-, t-, d-, eye, ee, uh, and the raspberries and squawks.
• Eight and a half months: Molly waves Hi and Bye when prompted. She grins from ear to ear while waving.
• 1.29.07 Molly crawls. She has a sideways-ish funny crawl. She uses the foot on one leg and drags the other a little. Very cute but worries me a tiny bit as it's hard not to be a developmental hypochondriac when you work with physical therapists.
• 2.24.07 We have taught her to clap. When you say "Yay, Molly!" or clap your hands she responds with little soundless soft baby clapping and a huuuuuuuge grin.
• 2.25.07 First tooth! Bottom left front tooth. Almost nine months:)
• 3.11.07 We discover three (!) new top teeth in various stages of breaking through.
• 3.12.07 Molly learns "uh-oh!" Mama dies from the cuteness overload. This is the first real sound she mimics. It is awesome. She can also stand herself up sometimes and bend over then straighten. She stands pretty stable now. I predict walking very soon.
• 3.14.07 Molly's first steps, from Daddy to Papaw.
• 3.15.07 Molly crawl-climbs steps.
• 3.16.07 Molly hands me a book to read for the first time. It's the baby animals one.
• April 2007 "Dat!?" Pointing at everything, dat! dat ! dat?
• 5.23.07 She climbs furniture. Into green old chair and up onto the arm. Very scary.
• 5.30.07 Molly says cat. (Check up, 17 lbs 11 oz. 28" tall.)

Beautiful Things to Never, Ever Forget:

• Popeye face. Molly made this when she was hungry from the minute she was born. She opens her mouth sort of sideways and moves her head, rooting for nursies. She squints one eye, even.
• The Moro Reflex. When Molly gets startled, she throws out her arms wide and it's so cute. It looks like she's trying to hug the entire universe.
• Posing for newborn skin-on-skin photos topless with a naked baby, with breastmilk and urine dribbling onto the floor, cracking up.
• Walking on the ceiling. Daddy's favorite game. He turned Molly upside down one day, and I tried to find a reason to worry, but she loves it. He'll pick her up by the fat little thighs and walk her on the ceiling. She is incredibly cute from that angle.
• Molly playing with her hair with one hand as she nurses. The other is tucked in between us and her face is like the most satisfied baby face ever, her head tilted back, her eyes half closed and her mouth all fishy faced around my nipple.
• Morning Molly. She purses her lips, scrunches her face, and stretches until you think she's going to bend backwards into a complete circle. She flails her hands about wildly, she thrashes her head. She yawns. Then suddenly she's still again, she goes limp as a wet noodle and falls back to sleep. Repeat from 6:00 a.m. until 10a.m. When she finally is awake, she snaps those bright, deep eyes wide open and starts babbling and cooing as if telling us about her dreams.
• Molly's new nursing noises: "ah, ahh, ahhh, AAAH!!!!" Urgently grunted while mouth is gaping open in front of Mama's frantically-in-the-process-of-being-opened-bra.
• Molly's insane head-turny move. She shakes her head from side-to-side really fast and grins like a maniac. It's hysterical.
• Molly says mamamamama, and this seems to mean "Yay! My bum is naked! Away with the diaper, away!" Because she likes to babble it when she's being changed.
• Molly playing gently with the hair behind my ears as she cuddles me. (This makes the memories section. The fists full of pulled out hair don't because I'll be wanting to forget that part.)
• Molly "talks" to herself. Sometimes when she's engaged in cruising or "standing practice" she'll make quiet little whispered baby babble sounds that sound like she's talking to herself and is deep in thought.
• Molly's first "hug." Entwining her skinny little arms around my neck and playing with my hair then squeezing, and tilting her head way back to smile at me like I was the sun.