Getting Bigger

Molly seems to be getting bigger and bigger every day. Just this morning, I awoke to discover Molly standing next to my bed dressed in one of her many monkey-themed shirts and a pair of jeans. Nothing too radical or unusual… except, I hadn’t dressed her. And it was still too early for Anna to be getting up.

My little girl had dressed herself.

Where’s Christmas

As Christmas morning dawned, Molly asked “Where’s Christmas?” and “Can I see it?” That’s when it dawned on me that I didn’t exactly know how to explain the holiday in light of the fact that we’re not practising Christians. I can’t speak for Anna, but I don’t particularly believe in the whole Christian mythos. And I certainly have questions about the behaviour of the Catholic church over the years.

So how do I explain to Molly what Christmas is all about? Who’s Santa Claus? Why does he give us gifts? So many questions. Fortunately I’ve another 361 days to figure out good answers…

Molly received lots of good loot for Christmas this year. By far her favourite gifts are the Ponies, the Thing, and the Dora Play Tent. Anna has kept many of her childhood toys (and clothing, and artwork, and pocket lint, and dirty tissues, etc) and she handed down the first installment of her My Little Ponies for Molly to enjoy. Many of these ponies are two decades old, but they don’t look it.

Next on Molly’s favourite list is the Thing. I don’t know what to call it. And I don’t really understand it. But I think that’s because I’m an adult and my imagination has been stunted from too many years of working in an office. In the photo above, Molly is using the Thing as a wobbly seat that she can spin around in. She’s also used the thing as a sort of helmet and a bucket for carrying her ponies. So I guess it’s a versatile Thing. Plus, it’s pink.

Finally, Molly adores her Dora Play Tent. I’m not big on Dora, although I do think the Saturday Night Live spoof of Dora is very funny. But Molly just loves playing in the tent.

Next Year

We’d like to de-emphasise gifts next year. I’m not certain whether that can be done given the incredible marketing message of Christmas. We’re trying to come up with some sensible ways to celebrate the Winter Holiday without racking up debt on everyone’s credit cards…

It’s kind of unfortunate that Toys for Tots only accepts new gifts. We were thinking that it might make sense for Molly to choose several of her toys to donate to less fortunate children. But certainly there must be organisations that accept well-loved toys (provided they’re still in good shape).

Memories of Molly

We just returned from our bi-annual family get together in Mexico. It was our first opportunity to meet Katalin our 8 month old niece. Watching her giggle and smile brought back fond and not-so-fond memories of Molly when she was much smaller.

One of the things that made (and still makes) Molly special is she’s not content being little. She’s always wanted to be more like the big kids: stop taking naps before she was 2, play on the jungle gym for 5-7 year olds, and climb the rock wall at REI like the 9 year old girl. (Who I just couldn’t capture on film, because she was too agile and quick. All the photos were blurry.) It makes for one frustrated kid.

Morning in Newburyport

One Saturday morning in July of 2006, Molly and I were playing in her room while Anna slept off one of her more wild nights (you know how she is). Molly decided this just wouldn’t do; so she crawled out of her room and down the hall to our bedroom.

Although she was disappointed at first that Anna wasn’t awake, Molly didn’t let that stop her. She crawled into the room making enough racket that Anna didn’t stand a chance — although, truth be told, Anna sleeps with ear plugs in because someone in the next apartment snores.

Trouble Brewing

Now that Katalin is starting to push up, crawling won’t be far behind. I don’t envy Bob and Aileen. Although I always said I couldn’t wait for Molly to become mobile and start talking, I know we weren’t prepared for her crawling when it started.

These photos don’t do Molly’s crawling justice. By this point, Molly had been crawling for most of a month: she was bloody fast. One minute she’d be farting or making disgusting gurgling noises (neither of which she learned from me — I taught her to blow raspberries when she was two) on the mat in her room, the next minute she’d be halfway down the hall.

Of course, Bob and Aileen live in Texas. So they’re probably adept with a lasso and Katalin won’t stand a chance.

The Joy Children Bring Us

This morning as Anna was getting ready for a family outing to the movies, she discovered that her rings were missing. She has 3 rings:

1. The silver ring I gave her when she accepted me back into her life.
2. The diamond engagement ring I gave her when she agreed to marry me.
3. The wedding band I gave her when she said “I do”.

Each of these has emotional significance beyond simple monetary value. And each of these is irreplaceable.

Molly admitted to playing with the rings this morning while I was making breakfast. So far, we’ve recovered the silver ring and the wedding band.

Now, remember, each of these is irreplaceable. But frankly, the diamond engagement ring is rather more irreplaceable than the other two. With the exception of our cars, it’s the single most expensive item we own.

There’s probably a lesson to be learnt here.

Update: After spending most of the day tearing apart the house, we finally found the engagement ring. I’ve no idea how it wound up under Anna’s night table.