Month: May 2010

Can’t keep a secret

| patmcg

With Kit’s birthday coming up, I took Claire out for a quick errand this afternoon that I told Kit “might or might not have to do with your birthday.” We were going over to Whole Foods to order a cake. On the drive over, Claire came up with her pick for Mom’s cake: chocolate cake with brown chocolate icing and green leaves that are not real; they’re made of icing so you can eat them. She wanted to add the green leaves because she knew green was her mom’s favorite color.

When we got to the store, they did not have any such cake, so we settled on a black and white “chocolate eruption” cake that looked delicious. We thought Kit would like it because it was so chocolatey. I told Claire the cake was a secret, and we shouldn’t tell mom.

After we got back and sat down for dinner maybe an hour later, Claire took it upon herself to start the evening’s conversation. The first thing out of her mouth was, “Hey mom, your birthday cake is real chocolatey!” Kit and I started cracking up. Claire said, “Why are you laughing?” I reminded her that it was supposed to be a secret. Unlike some similar occasions in the past, she did not get mad or offended that we were laughing at her. She just looked sheepish and tried to change the subject. Still, maybe next year I’ll find a way to order the cake alone.


That’s Not Baby Food!

| patmcg

Tonight, Molly, Claire, Kit, and Kit’s parents went to dinner at Magnolia Cafe. Unfortunately, I missed this one because I was off trying to catch up on work, thanks to the generous grandparent coverage.

Apparently Kit was eating a salad with Molly in her lap (uh oh!). Kit was trying to keep Molly out of her salad, especially since it had a big red heap of salsa on top. When Kit turned away for just a second to talk to Claire (or something like that) Molly jumped on the opportunity and grabbed as much salsa as she could hold in her little baby hand. And of course, being a baby, Molly immediately stuck the salsa right into her mouth. This is a baby who had thus far subsisted solely on milk, baby formula, and mashed vegetables and fruits. The idea of “spicy” or even “seasoned” was completely new to her.

Fortunately, Molly took fairly well to the odd mixture. She did not cry. She simply looked bemused and carried on with things. We can safely say that this was Molly’s very first taste of salsa or anything even remotely interesting for that matter.

Put the Flag Up!

| patmcg

Today Molly yelled out “Put the flag up!” to Kit, Claire, and me. We all heard exactly the same thing. She clearly wanted us to hoist some sort of flag, but she would not expand on the idea. What kind of flag? Where to display it? She only followed with, “Baaa ba ba ba baaaaa. Pft pft pft.”

Hi Dada

| patmcg

Okay, okay. I know this does not count as officially talking. It was a pure accident, or something like that. But this morning when I walked into the room where Molly was sitting on the floor, she looked right at me and said, “Hi Dada.”

Then she proceeded to say, “Ba ba ba aba. Haaaaaaah. Da da da.”

Then she spit up a little bit.


Out for a Walk

| patmcg

Yesterday on the way home from school, Claire said, “Maybe tonight, after we do all our work and stuff, we could go for a walk.” I don’t know what inspired this. Maybe the new neighborhood? Maybe all the walking we did on our vacation in Florida a couple of weeks ago? Maybe the beautiful spring weather? It was brilliant how she framed it as “after we do all our work and stuff” so I would not object or say, “Well, sorry, but we don’t have time”. Not that she had to convince me. A walk in our new neighborhood on a nice spring evening? I was sold!

I did tell Claire that there was not much time for a walk, so we would have to eat dinner quick. Claire said yes, but we should not eat too fast because we did not want to get food stuck in our throat. When dinner was done, Claire and I got geared up for our walk. Claire suggested that Kit stay at home because Molly, who was asleep, would not want to be left all alone. Wow. Claire had all the angles figured out.

Claire and I took a 10-minute walk around the corner and back. We talked mostly about street walking safety, the plants and trees, and some of the pretty houses. Claire wanted to go longer, but we needed to get her back for bath & bed.

Tonight, Claire suggested we go for a walk again. This was not a bath night, so we had a little more time. This time Claire wanted to go for a longer walk and bring along her water bottle in case she got dehydrated. We brought along Muffin this time too, as per Kit’s suggestion. A block or so out, Claire said she wanted to run to get more exercise. So Claire, Muffin, and I jogged down the street. After another block or so, Claire asked for some of her water, and Muffin was panting a lot. We did intervals the rest of the time, walking a block, jogging the next, and so on for about 15 minutes. This was all Claire’s idea. She said exercise is really important, and kids and adults should do it every day. I really don’t know where she is getting this crazy information.


The Petite Ninja

| patmcg

Molly is really getting around at school, where we has free reign to explore. She can’t crawl yet, but somehow she finds her way from one side of the room to the other without anyone actually seeing her do it. We think she uses a complex series of rolls to get herself from one place to another, probably taking a break when she catches anyone’s attention. She moves around so much, and so invisibly, that the teachers have dubbed her The Petite Ninja!

(I would have included a silly picture of a petite ninja, but alas, all the top image hits are for something called The Petite Ninja Warriors on “America’s Top Model”. Sigh.)