Week 33 - California trip part 1

We had an amazing trip to California last weekend/first part of this week. We have so many photos, I had to split it into two posts. And I have some photos from Mollie's first week at home with Pop-pop, her nanny for the month of October. But, all of that is to come. For now, here's the first part of our trip.

Mollie got to catch up with her friend Maddie. The girls had an amazing time playing, eating, and hanging out.

Mollie loved Madison's toys. Apparently, Madison was not so entertained :)



We got in some quality visits with the Lauter family. Here's Mollie practicing standing in Naomi's new apartment.
And a Lauter dance party at Grandma Liz's house. Mollie, Mimi, Louie and David really can dance up a storm to some good Michael Jackson. I wish I had it on video - it was amazing.

Mollie also got some quality bonding time with Mimi's baby, Pushkin.
Including some tickling of the feet. So cute.

Week 32 - Daddy daycare

This week Louie stayed home with Mollie for most of the week (Margie also pitched in for a good amount of the daycaring). Louie and Mollie had a great week. They cruised the streets of Old Town Alexandria.

They enjoyed their favorite beverages at a fish and chips restaurant.
They enjoyed some naps.
And went to the national mall and the natural history museum.

On Friday we discovered that Mollie loves balloons. I brought this green balloon back from a work event and it seriously provided hours of entertainment. Especially in the car - she was bouncing it all around.
This weekend was pretty low key. We just did a little browsing in Georgetown for a winter coat for our upcoming trip to Paris.
And Mollie checked out Louie's toes. Yup, she's wearing leg warmers. We love them - thanks Auntie Taylor!
We also brought her to a fundraising event at Glen Echo Park. Turns out she's quite the little lobbyist. We wanted to get her photo with the Congressman, but she kept turning away. Then, just as he was about to move on to the next person, she basically grabbed his jacket. It was really funny. The event photographer has promised to email me the pictures, so I will post them as soon as we get it. But for now, here she is with Nana.

Week 31 - 7 months!

Mollie is 7 months old! This week we had her first sick trip to the doctor - turned out it was just a case of an overly paranoid mommy, but she did get weighed - 18 lbs, 11 oz. Here she is modeling her first pair of shoes, aren't they cute?On Saturday we got a pleasant surprise at the Safeway - Curious George's 70th birthday party. Doesn't George look good for 70?
This week was Mollie's last full week of Akin Daycare. We are really sad. But, it meant on Friday that Auntie Margie got to babysit Mollie. Margie, Mollie and I had lunch with our friend Miriam at Penang. I gotta say, this might be the most baby friendly restaurant in DC. First of all, they brought us about a million plastic spoons for Mollie to throw on the floor and they didn't even give us dirty looks when she threw everything on the table on the ground. Second, they didn't have a changing table, so the waiter pulled a cocktail table into the handicapped bathroom, covered it with a paper tablecloth and let me change her there. Third, they couldn't have been nicer about getting us our food and it's a great deal for lunch!
Here's our big girl performing some mischief - one of her hobbies.

Week 30 - Hutt Cabin

We've been giving Mollie some more types of food to experiment with including puff cereal, all kinds of fruit, yogurt melts, bread. So far, she's liking it all very much, but we think she likes playing more than eating. For those of you on Facebook - we've entered Miss Mollie in a photo contest this month and you've probably already seen this. For those of you not on facebook - here's our little lion in action.
This weekend we went to the Rappahanock with our friends and their kids. We all had a great time. The kids loved playing together and once the kids went to sleep, the grown ups had some fun too! We were very fortunate in getting all of the kids to sleep by 8:30 on the second night we were there. It was amazing!

Mollie and Maggie using Kelly as a jungle gym.
Mollie enjoying the beach with her daddy.
Louie calls this one "baby on table with gingerale."
Mollie continues to have a serious crush on Silas. Everything he does makes her smile, including if he just walks into the room she is in. It's adorable.

Week 29 - The Rosh, Sleep over at Nana and Pop-Pops

Happy New Year! We had a lovely Rosh Hashanah celebration. Mollie had a blast.

"Nana, let me tell you about this stuff called Challah. It is delicious!"

Friday was Miss Susan's last day working at Mollie's daycare. Mollie and I are really gonna miss her, but she's got a great position in the DC school system and we know she's going to do great.
Louie was in Los Angeles this weekend for Auntie Mimi's art show so Mollie and I had a sleep over at Nana and Pop-pop's. I gotta say, it was one awesome weekend full of naps (mostly for me not Mollie), relaxation, good food, and feeling like a kid again (also me, not Mollie).

Mollie went to the bar with Pop-pop to cheer on the Fighting Irish.
At Nana and Pop-pop's, Mollie discovered that she LOVES challah. It's her new favorite food. She even convinced Pop-pop to give her challah instead of making her eat green beans. She's a sneaky little person.

On Sunday we went to Uncle Barty's triathlon. He did a great job and finished faster than his goal time. Mollie made him a beautiful sign and at the end of the race she helped him drink his muscle milk and proudly displayed his medal for him. We were very proud.
We also took Mollie on her first carousel ride at Glen Echo park. I must say that the carousel was much faster and longer than I remember it and I was a little dizzy and feeling like a total wimp at the end. Mollie liked it well enough, but I think we'll hold off on going back any time soon.

Mollie's first tutu!

Thanks Grandma Liz! She loves it!

Week 28 - So long Aunt Elana, Hello Emma!

Aunt Elana got a new job in Boston so we went to dinner this week at Pete's Apizza in Tenley Town to say so long. We're really sad she's going but happy for her to have a great work opportunity and an amazing new adventure. Side note - Mollie has started making this face on occasion in response to the flash. It's pretty funny.This weekend we went out to dinner with Mara, Reuben, Daniel and Emma. It was total chaos having dinner with 3 kids, but we survived, and so did the restaurant, waiters, and other patrons. As you can see, we've been getting a LOT of use out of Mollie's portable hook on high chair seat thingie. It's a real life saver.
Mollie and Daniel were having some sort of moment that I failed at capturing on film. Don't worry, we didn't let Louie see.
After dinner, we attempted to get a picture of all three kids. Take one - oh wait, where's Emma?
Take two: Mollie, stay put, Emma, smile!
Take 3: well, close enough, we'll take it!
Happy baby. She's just started standing up. It's posing some sleeping issues, but pretty fun to watch during the normal daytime hours :)
And she's also started drinking from her sippy cup on her own. She loves it - it's just water. Who knows what goes on in that little brain.