Jonah's Treehouse

First a catch up picture that I meant to include in the birthday photos. Sam and Margaret were in Hawaii during Mollie's birthday party - but they sent this very sweet birthday greeting!This weekend we checked out a gym class at Jonah's Treehouse - a little place nearby where they have classes for kids Mollie's age and older. We got there a little early, so Louie read to her, but she just stared at the kids playing.
She loved the class! She didn't quite understand the circle time, but did ring the bells the teacher gave her at every opportunity.
The ball pit was her favorite. Although we also tried to get her to jump on the trampoline, walk the maze, slide on the slide and roll down the mats. At the end of the class there were bubbles (which she loved) and hand stamps (which she hated).
After class she had an excellent nap with Dada. A great way to spend a Sunday.

Week 52 - Birthday Weekend Part 2

The next morning after the birthday party, we took advantage of the amazing DC weather over the weekend and went to the Zoo. Mollie was pretty excited about it.
She slept through the first half of the visit, but woke up in time for the elephants.
She loved it!
On the way back to the car, we stopped at the park for some see-sawing.


Sunday night, Liz and Margie babysat so that we could take Megan and Josh out for Megan's birthday. We had a delicious dinner at Blue Duck Tavern. We should have left the camera at home though, because we heard that Liz and Margie and Mollie had an amazing cooking/baking fest and there was brownie batter involved. Sorry we missed the evidence of that!
Monday we took advantage of our President's Day holiday and went to the Building Museum. This is fast becoming one of Mollie's favorite places in DC. It's a big open room with tons of kids and different types of blocks and legos (none hand painted, but she'll make due with what's there). It's the ideal setting for young kids in winter. Lots of space for running.

It's also very close to Jaleo - Josh's favorite DC restaurant, so we of course had to stop there for lunch.
Megan and Josh left shortly after lunch. We were so sad to see them go and wish they lived closer so we could see them all the time. After they left, we went over to Auntie Margie and Andrew's house for some hanging out and dinner. Liz made mac and cheese for Mollie, yum!
After that, Mollie demonstrated her own cooking abilities, putting Calin in the pot and carrying her around.

"What, do you want some baby soup? Here, I'll whisk it up for you."

It was a wonderful weekend. We can't believe our baby is one!

Week 52 - Birthday Weekend Part 1

Here's Mollie on the day before her big 1 birthday. Making some important calls before heading out to daycare.

We had a lot of good friends and family in town for the big birthday party. Mollie's grandma Liz came in from Marin and Mollie's Godparents, Megan and Josh came in from Berkeley. For Mollie's birthday, Grandma Liz hand painted the blocks on the floor in this photo. They are so special and really beautiful. Some of them even match the photo Liz painted for Mollie's room.
Megan and Josh brought Mollie her very first blue-green box. Now there's a milestone! She's also modeling her headband from Aunt Dee Dee and Uncle Jean-Bernard.
After a nice morning at our house, we headed over to Nana and Pop-pop's to get the party started. We got some delicious Abby Cadabby cupcakes from Georgetown cupcake. They were a big hit!
And of course, Abby gift bags for the kiddies.
Mollie was pretty excited.
Here are a couple more set up pics.

Some pre-nap balloon play with Megan.
Oopsy!
Mollie took a long nap and woke up just in time for the guests to arrive.

"Nana, can I have this necklace for my birthday?"

Mollie and her great grand Poppy.
Toasting Auntie Sissy
Fist bumping with her girl Emma.
Hanging with Great Aunt Ann and Great Uncle Jim

And then the main event - the cupcake! She loved it...
...a lot.
She also got a couple of gifts :)
But this baby Calin is among her favorites (from Nana and Pop-pop). She's been patting her on the back and feeding her milk, giving kisses. It is really quite adorable.
Pop-pop showed her how Big Bird can bite your finger. Now she's showing him how to do it.
Time for a snack - this pepper top will do.
Modeling her costume change (the frosting covered attire had to go in the wash before Nana would allow her in the living room) :)
By the end of the night, she was so stimulated and happy she was running around this circle of people, picking people to pick her up and then insisting on being put back down to pick again. It was so cute!
Auntie Sissy's turn!
3 generations of Sitzman-McDermott-Lauter ladies

Week 51 - Happy Valentine's Day!

Mollie and her class made cards for Valentine's day - isn't it lovely?Over the weekend we went to the building museum with Auntie Margie. They have an amazing room full of oversized leggos and building blocks, and lots of kids to play with. Mollie had a blast. One of her daycare friends also happened to be there at the same time. It's fun to see the kids growing up together!
We figured that since Mollie would be getting a bunch of presents next weekend, we would give her the birthday gift we got her a little early. We got her this doll, Brianna. So far, Mollie has really enjoyed her and has even been giving her kisses - a special treat she reserves for Brianna, the iPhone (there's a video on facebook, I'll repost it here later), and her own toes.
We took Mollie out in her snowsuit on Saturday for a walk. She loved walking on her own (almost).
We also took Mollie out for dinner and ordered her a real kids' menu plate of a chicken and cheese taco, rice, beans, and sour cream. Needless to say, she really enjoyed it.