Side Crawl

She is starting to get the crawling thing. So far, instead of both knees, she uses one foot and one knee.

Happy Birthday Maxwell

Molly went to Max McDaid's first birthday party. She had a great time playing with all the babies and new toys.

First Father's Day

Here are a few reasons it's fun being Molly's dad.

Growing and learning
I don't just mean Molly. As a new father, every experience is new and every situation is educational.

I'm her protector
Sometimes she doesn't like strangers. They can be quite upsetting to her, in fact. She knows that dad's arms are a safe place.

She's always happy to see me
When she sees me, her eyes light up, her smile gets really big, she flaps her arms and kicks her legs. I don't even have to be away for that long.

If you've even just skimmed the contents of this blog, you know that she's gone through quite a few changes in a scant seven months. I feel like I have gone through just as many.

(turning sappiness mode off now)

Moving

Colleen went to go check on Molly in the morning and found her sitting up. We have seen her lift herself from her stomach to a sit. This was one of the first times she was able to transition from her back to a sitting position.

Dancing

She loves music, as proven by these dance moves:

Two Kids

For Kathy's birthday Colleen took her out to get a facial and for a few hours I got to watch both kids. I was not sure what I was getting into, but I was willing to try.

For the most part it was pretty easy, as long as I was willing to play with them and give them attention. There was maybe a 15 minute stretch when they sat on the floor and entertained themselves with toys, allowing me to just sit on the couch and watch. I think I was lucky that they were both in good moods.

Calvin can crawl fast! He spent some time exploring the house. I picked up Molly and followed him around, making sure he stayed out of trouble.

It was non-stop, but I survived.

And yes, they are wearing matching "Squeeze Me S'more" shirts that Aunt Karen got for them.

Swing

The last few times we've been to the park, we put molly on the swing. She could hold her head up pretty well, but she just leaned forward letting the front of the swing support her.

Since she is now sitting and doing push ups on a daily basis, she can sit back and enjoy the ride.

Banana Flavored Oat Puffs

Molly is a pretty good eater. We have given her rice cereal, avocado, banana, potato (sweet and unsweetened), mango, carrots, and peas. While she likes some foods more than others, she will eat what we give her.





This is not the case with these oat puffs. She could not spit them out fast enough.

Diaper Tech

These new diapers are great. They have indicators that tell us what condition they are in.

Happy Birthday Calvin

Molly's cousin Calvin turned one on the 4th. His party was on Saturday. Lots of friends and family were there to celebrate.






Calvin had a blast. He got lots of presents and a face full of cake.







Molly had a pretty good time. She even managed to take a nap during the festivities. She loved being held by her aunts, uncle, grandparents and great-grandmother. She also checked out some of the new toys she would be able to play with soon!

Trying to Crawl

Molly has been trying to crawl. She is sitting up pretty well on her own, but lately she's been leaning forward onto her hands and rocking back and forth. Her left leg in in position. As soon as she figures out how to get onto the right one, she'll be off to the races.

Port Austin

Colleen, Molly, Kathy, Calvin, and I made a road trip to Port Austin. In order to fit everyone into one car, Kathy had to sit in between the car seats. She thought it was great to be able to play with the babies when they weren't sleeping.

Our friend Nicole invited us up there for her father's surprise birthday party. She had access to a few cabins and her parents own a house and a restaurant there.

Karen and her boyfriend Ken were already there when we arrived. We explored the town and walked out to the beach. Calvin was in his stroller and I was wearing Molly in her baby carrier.

We only brought one pack-and-play since we didn't figure that both kids would nap at the same time.

We figured wrong.

Thanks to the ingenuity of the moms, we were able to find a way to make both babies fit.

It was a fun day with plenty of friends and food. Next time, we will definitely spend the weekend there.

Click here for a few more pictures from the trip.

Da Da

Yep, she said it. A bunch of times.

I know it's just noises at this point, but it's still fun to hear.

I should be careful what I wish for. There will come a time when I will want her to stop saying it!

Happy Six Month Birthday!

I can't believe she's a half year old!

We've gone through so many changes and adjustments. My squishy little ball of baby is now a sitting up, solid food eating, rolling over, teething powerhouse!

Just six months ago she was born.

Then five months ago she had her first bath.

Four months ago we were dressing her up in funny costumes.

Three months ago she got her first wet willie.

Two months ago she discovered her toes.

And last month she rolled over for the first time.

It's been quite a ride so far. She continues to amaze us every day.

Mmm More Food

We've been trying different foods lately. Sweet potato she liked at first, but not so much a few days later.







She wasn't sure what to make of peas...








But I guess it wasn't so bad after all.









So far, her favorite is bananas.

Holy Molly!

The day of Molly's baptism started out well enough. In the morning, we picked up the food and drinks we would be serving after the ceremony. When we got to my parents' house to drop everything off, it became apparent that Molly was in a very bad mood.

Today was the day another tooth decided to start pushing its way out.

The poor girl was pretty unhappy all day long. We did what we could to keep her comfortable, and occasionally we saw a smile, but teething does not look fun.

Remarkably, she was quiet at the church, at least until she found herself in a pool getting water splashed on her head.

All was well once she was dried off and put into her pretty white dress.





After the ceremony, we had a small reception and Molly opened a few presents.








It was really nice that my sister was able to come to town to hang out with her niece. It's great when all of Molly's aunts are around.

Overall, it was a great day of fun and family.

Welcome Belén

Molly and I had the pleasure of meeting Leah & Eric's new arrival this week. Baby Belén came into the world just 6 days ago during a planned, natural home birth.  She is a tiny, healthy, beautiful bundle of joy!  We had a great time playing with Oscar who is a ball to talk to and such a happy and proud big brother.

-Colleen

Go Wings!

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Remeika's house for Mother's day and to watch the Red Wings game. It was a pretty good game and Molly had fun with her grandparents. My mom got to feed her banana, Molly was wearing this sweet jersey, and the Wings won!

Mmm. Avocado.

We started to try out new foods for Molly. Since Monday she has been eating smashed bananas for one of her meals. Today we tried avocado.






She has a puzzled look on her face for the first few bites, but she soon figures out that this is good stuff.

I'm thinking that we won't have to worry about her being a picky eater.

Family Visit

We went over to Molly's Great Grandparents' house to visit with the Cairds. Kathy and Marc brought Calvin. Aunt Beth and Uncle Chris were there to check out the new babies.



Tim and Nancy were more than happy to show off their grandchildren.



Aunt Petey and Uncle Mike were even in town from Arizona. It was great to discuss what the babies were up to and the new things they are doing.

Sitting Up

Prior to today, if we sat her up, she would slump forward or to the side. Today she was sitting up on her own. She does fall backward if she leans too far, but it wasn't too long ago that it was a big deal that she held her head up.

She'll be crawling soon...

First Tub Bath

Since she has outgrown her sink tub, we are bathing Molly in the bathtub. No difference to Molly. Still soap. Still water. She doesn't really enjoy baths, she tolerates them. She doesn't complain, but she's not the happy-splashy-watery type of girl.

We have fun, of course. After her bath, she gets put into her jammies, hears a bedtime story, and falls asleep.

More Solid Food

Molly has been taking to the rice cereal pretty well. She is opening her mouth, closing her lips around the spoon, chewing, and swallowing.

Yep, what's normal for her is amazing to me! It's just fun to sit her in a high chair and feed her.


Here's a video of the process from the spoon's point of view:

Growing

Having a new "mini-person" living in your house took some getting used to. What's impossible to get used to is that there is always a slightly larger version of that person around every day.

She's growing. Fast.

Here's a picture of her when she had her first bath four months ago.








Here she is a couple of days ago.

The difference is striking. We are going to have to upgrade from the sink tub to a bathtub tub.



I guess I have to get used to Molly growing out of things.

Chickens

Colleen's Aunt Gail and Uncle Steve got some baby chickens and we went over to check them out. Uncle Steve even built a giant coop in the back yard for when they are old enough to live out there.






I'm not sure what Molly thought of them. I'm sure she would have grabbed one and slobbered on it if she had the chance.








She was happy to see everyone. I think she's starting to enjoy the attention she gets. Colleen's parents, Kathy, Marc, Calvin and a few neighbors were there.

Rollover

Yep, she did it. I was surprised at how excited I was to see it. She twisted her body, pushed her arm out, then kicked her leg back. All the while I'm yelling, "Colleeeeen! Looooook what she's doooing!!!"

This video shows rolls two, three, and four.

Fun at the Park

Kathy and Calvin stopped by and we decided to take a walk to the park. The kids had fun on this nice sunny day. It might be a few months before Molly can be pushed on the swing, but Calvin didn't mind.





Molly was content just to sit and enjoy the day.

Solid Food

We started Molly on a loose mixture of rice cereal. She is taking to it pretty well. She figured out quickly that this spoon had delicious food on it and was opening her mouth in anticipation for the next bite.





She started grabbing at the spoon making it look like she was trying to do this on her own, but this is probably due to the "chew on everything" reflex she has.






Molly eventually had enough of this. The food wasn't coming fast enough. We got a tip to feed her formula first, then an hour later try the rice cereal so that she's not super hungry during the feeding.


How quickly it happened that she's sitting in a high chair being fed.

Here's a video of the process: