Are there any followers anymore??

Not sure anyone even checks this blog anymore. Hard to believe that two years ago, when we started this, we thought this would be the ONLY way to share pictures! And then, wahlah!!! Facebook! Well, for those who are not FB followers....here we go...

Molly, now 27 months, is full on toddler going on teenager. Her mood changes from moment to moment. She is sassy one second and then sweet as sweet can be the next. She talks NON-STOP!!! Seriously, non-stop. And about nothing really important. Trees, stop lights, smoke stacks, birds, lunch, pooping, swimming, playgrounds, whatever is on her mind. I am really trying to work on her actually answering questions as opposed to just repeating the last word or words I said. It will be great when she and I can actually have a conversation!!!

We are thinking about pre-school for her in the fall, but waiting to see what happens with my job situation. I would love for her to start getting around other kids again on a more consistent basis and with me not around. It would really benefit Molly to have some stucture to her day and I am just not a structure type of person.

Molly's favorite things, in no particular order are: me, Matt, my parents, talking about all of her grandparents and great-grandparents, her cousins, Emily, her kitty blanket, her towel that used to be a bath towel but now lines her crib, the Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse, Chuggington, being outside, playing on a playground, the zoo, etc. Pretty normal for a 2 year old.

Todays pics are from some backyard fun we had thanks to a lovely day. Enjoy.

March Happenings

A trip to Tahoe for the adults and a ride on her bike for Molly. All in all, everyone is having a good March so far. However, as I write this, in 24 hours, it's gone from 60 to 30 outside with snow. AGH! Wisconsin....you're killing us a slow death.

Two Years Later

Molly is 2. Hard to believe. Talkative. Sassy. Funny. Sweet. Difficult. Challenging. Trying. Lovey. Wonderful. That not only describes Molly but also describes the last two years. There have been laughs and smiles and tears and frustration, but she makes it all worth it. She's a pretty cool kid if I say so myself.

Snow and an Early Christmas

Santa came to the Smoko house a few days early because he knew Matt was going to be gone on Xmas. Santa knows EVERYTHING doesn't he???? Needless to say, he must have thought Molly was a very good girl this year. Matt and I tend to agree. Since it is the season of thanks, I'll take the time to say how thankful both Matt and I feel to have such a wonderful little girl. She makes me laugh every day, like real laughs, not just "Oh you're so cute" laughs. We look at her and she is growing up so fast. I think Matt notices it more than me since he spends significant time away from her. She already looks at us sometimes like we are crazy, which is something I am sure we will get used to after 7 or 8 years. She never stops moving, she never stops learning, she never stops talking. We're unbelievably sad to not all be together this Christmas but looking forward to a great 2010!!

Mid-Holiday Update

Molly is doing SO many new things. Almost too many to even remember or write about, but here are a few of her highlights:

• She will repeat anything you say. Even if you don't want her too. I said, "Jesus" the other day, and well, so did she.


• Molly loves to drive us crazy and untie her shoes in the car, take them off and then take off her socks as well. She has now started to say, "cold" when she does this or she'll call herself out and say "naughty". She knows it's wrong, yet she does it anyway!


• Molly went down her first water slide the other day. And I mean BIG water slide. It was awesome until the end when she got a face full of water. Oh well, she liked it (we think).
  
• She is goofy, goofy, goofy. She likes to wear this witch hat we got her for dress up. She looks at herself in the mirror and laughs at herself.


• She took her diaper off one morning and smeared poop everywhere. Not cool.


• She LOVES to run. And she announces, "I running" when she's doing it, just in case you couldn't see that.


• Molly also loves to dance and she's got some pretty good moves.


• She loves to be independent which at times, is great (like when she throws away her garbage and takes her dishes to the sink). There are also times where this causes a fight like when she wants to brush her own teeth or wash her own face, neither of which she is good at.
  

Anyway, she's getting taller, and smarter, and cuter, and funnier, and faster, and sassier, and on and on and on. We can't wait for this Christmas to see her face opening presents and hopefully "getting it" a little more than last year.

Mommy and Molly go to the Park

Sunny chilly fall day. Nothing like a walk around the pond at the park

Two Goofy Pictures and an Update

All summer we tried to get Molly to wear her sunglasses. Being blessed with her daddy's eyes comes with a down side....blue eyes are more sensitive to the sun! So now, that it's fall, and we're inside, and the sun is not shinning this morning, it would only make sense that she decided this morning to wear her sunglasses....inside. She's SO weird!!

Update on Molly....she's starting to be a real chatterbox. In her own language mostly still, but every once in awhile she throws in a word we can understand. Her favorites other than mommy and daddy (which she says daddy A LOT) are up, on, down, more, milk (which only a trained ear can decipher more and milk), cookie, cracker, car, hot, wet, dee dee, papa (which she has a song she sings about them), grandma and grandpa both come out as just "gra" hi (which is a long drawn out "Hiiiieeeeeee" and bye bye. She'll attempt to repeat anything you say, and usually get ateast the first 2 or 3 letters right.

Anyway, other than that...she's been enjoying her new in-home day care and doing lots of fun things there. She has three friends who go there who also are in our Friday afternoon wine play date (moms drink wine, kids play). Her day care providers name is Helene and she is wonderful.

Molly is going to be a bee, actually a busy bee, for Halloween, since that is what she is on a regular basis. To quote my friend Mary, "Wow, Molly is really busy isn't she?" The answere is YES and she has been since in the whomb. I will leave you with another quote from my OB when Molly was still in my tummy, "Wow...you better trade in those flip flops for some running shoes...this one is active!"

July/August Take 2

Molly and I getting off the Giant Slide.

Molly's first time down the Giant Slide...a State Fair tradition. Maybe next year she will be old enough for cheese on a stick!!!

July/August

I forget to update the blog since most of my updates on Molly now get put on Facebook. But I believe there are a few dedicated blog followers out there who don't look on Facebook, so for them, here is an update on Molly.

Summer has been busy. Circus parades, state fair, a trip to CT. Lots and lots for a 18 month old. Molly's favorite things to do are dance, listen to music, run, spin, and talk about who knows what. Her vocabulary is expanding day to day with words like "ball", "cookie" and "shoe". Pretty cool.

Here are some pics of Molly in Connecticut for her Uncle Robert's 40th birthday party, at the State Fair and just out and about.

Molly Feeds Herself Yogurt

Here is what happened when I put a bowl of yogurt and a spoon in front of Molly and then walked away.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July and happy birthday Grandma Smoko. We continued our annual traditions this year by going down to the lakefront on the 3rd for the big city fireworks and then riding in the parade and heading to the steinmiller's on the 4th. Everyone was SO well behaved and seemed to have a lot of fun. Alex experienced his first fireworks by cashing out right about the time they started and staying asleep the whole time in his mommy's arms. Charlie sat on Papa and his daddy's laps with his hands over his ears (apparently because they were cold, not because the fireworks were loud). And little Miss Molly...she sat on daddy's lap for about 1/2 hour mezmorized by the lights in the sky...and then she had enough. Up she went...walking around...totally unphased by the loud BOOMS! That a girl Mol. It was a really nice weekend all in all and we are very lucky to have such a great family.

Ring Around the Rosie

We had a visit the other night with our friends the Starks. They have a daughter, CeCe, who is about 4 months older than Molly...just old enough to show her some cool tricks, but close enough to her age that they liked playing together. They were so cute together and CeCe taught Molly how to do Ring Around the Rosie. As you will see in the video, Molly LOVED it and kept acosting CeCe to do it again and again and again. Plus, now, that's all she wants to do with me and Matt. It's pretty cute. Enjoy.

Summer So Far

We were able to get outside and spend some time in the back yard this weekend. Molly's CT grandparents were here and the weather could not have been nicer. We went to the zoo and Molly was great until the end....we cut it too close to nap time. Oh well. She had a great time at her water table in the back yard and in the pool. Molly is doing lots of new stuff. Her words are uh oh, up and hiiiiieeeeee. She also signs more, all done, bird and help. Help, more and all done are very useful...bird...not so much. We can't wait for more summer weather like this and more trips to the zoo, the pool and play time in the back yard!! The picture of her and the band aide was from her first band aide worthy booboo....in which the band aide stayed on for about 17 seconds.