McG Kids

This weblog tracks my kids’ early years. Each entry is a snapshot from their childhood.

Please pardon any type-o’s, misstatements, or factual irregularities. This blog is written by an often dazed dad, normally after 11 pm when he should really be in bed if he had any sense. Even the basic quick edit is not a regular practice here.

(Re)discovery Green

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Kit was on call this week, and her mom came up to help out in case things got crazy like they did last time. I took the opportunity to take Claire to Houston this weekend to see my parents while Kit, her mom, and Molly stayed back in Austin. Claire was really excited about the trip and kept asking when we were going to Houston. In particular, she wanted to get back to Discovery Green, where were were rained out by a sudden thunderstorm last time we visited.

This time the Discovery Green visit was without incident. I could tell you exactly what we did, but maybe pictures would tell a better story.


Twelve-Pound Bunny Rabbit

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Since her first crack at solid foods, Molly has been finding rice cereal a little dull. She mostly just plays with it, and is has not been very interested in consuming lots of it. Our pediatrician had recommended moving Molly on to vegetables pretty quick after dipping her proverbial toes in the pool with rice cereal, so we decided to go with carrots as her second food.

Kit’s parents were in town, and the weather was finally sunny and spring-like, so we went out for lunch at Freddie’s, which features outdoor dining and a playground. It was at Freddie’s that Molly tried her first carrots. She gobbled them right up and really seemed to enjoy them. She even cried in protest when the next spoonful was not quick enough in coming. I doubt Molly would have even touched boring ol’ rice cereal at Freddie’s, with all of its distractions, but these carrots sure did the trick.


Baby Buddies

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Today was our mid-year teacher conference for Molly. We had the conference at 7:00 am so that Kit could participate before going to work. Claire and Molly were the very first kids to be dropped off at school that day!

We had a good discussion with Molly’s lead teacher, Karyn. We all agreed that we need to keep an eye on some of Molly’s “gross motor” skills such as putting some weight on her legs rather than let them dangle. We also agreed that Molly is doing great cognitively and socially and is having a great time at school watching her bigger friends. We learned that Molly has buddied up with Hudson, the other littlest baby in the class. Hudson was born a couple of months after Claire, but was bigger than Molly from day one! Molly and Hudson like to lay next to each other while they play where they can turn to look and smile at each other.

After the conference, Kit and I went in to visit Molly before going to work, and sure enough, there she was laying with Hudson. So I snapped this picture of the cute pair.


Solid Showing

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Today, we gave Molly her first crack at “solid” food. By solid, I mean a mushy mass of rice cereal and formula that would make oatmeal look like a cake. Still, it was a big step. Molly had recently taken special interest in the stuff we are always putting into our mouths and not taking back out, aka food. It must almost seem like a magic trick to her.

This was a whole-family event. Claire was super excited about Molly trying solids. She understandably thought that rice cereal was some sort of breakfast cereal and suggested that she and Molly have it in the morning. At her request, we did make some rice cereal for Claire to try it out and help encourage Molly. Claire was not impressed but did eat some just out of pure enthusiasm. She made a point of showing Molly how to do it, eating it with big sweeping motions. Kit then gave Molly a spoonful of the mush, and Molly took a bite. She seemed surprised but excited by it. Of course, she ended up pushing most of the mush out with her tongue, but it was a good start. We kept this up for another few minutes, and Molly ended up doing a little better keeping the food down. She really had fun with it and seemed to think the whole thing was sort of a game. Also, she seemed to feel important and grown-up sitting up in the new Bumbo seat that Kit had picked up just that day just for this occasion.

For the record, while Molly enjoyed her rice cereal, the rest of the family dined on
enchilada casserole, thanks to the Soup Peddler. Claire was not excited about the food and tried to help out by putting it back in the kitchen before even taking a solitary bite. We convinced her to try three bites, and which point she realized it was pretty good and went ahead and ate the whole thing.

Pre-Season

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This may or may not mean anything to Molly, but today she officially saw her first glimpse ever of baseball. We were flipping around the TV during a brief afternoon break, when a pre-season spring training game between the Cubs and White Sox showed up. Wow! The first whiff of summer! We may be one step towards putting this dreary, ill-stricken winter behind us. And Molly just saw the first proof.

Sing-Song Sister

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This morning, Molly was having an especially fun time watching her big sister Claire. She as just laughing and grinning at Claire. So Claire decided to put on sort of a show for Molly to get some extra grins. She got up on a step stool next to Molly’s changing table and started hopping and dancing and singing a silly sort of song without any real words, like “La la la la, fa la la dee dee da!” Molly went hysteric with giggles! They kept this up for a while, with Claire dancing and singing and Molly laughing. Finally, Claire tired out a bit and decided to take the music down a notch. She sang her favorite song, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, all the way through to Molly. It was a really nice rendition of the Christmas classic. Molly liked the song too, but she did not giggle and grin as much as before. I think she wanted more hopping and senseless singing.


It’s Still Pants

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This morning Kit was complaining about her pants on her way out to work. We had just picked them up from the dry cleaners last night, and even though we had asked for no crease as always, Kit discovered this morning that her pants in fact had a sharp crease down the middle.

So Kit was about to walk out to the car, saying something like, “These dry cleaners! We really need to go somewhere else. I hate the creases!” Claire heard this and said sweetly, “Maybe you should wear a dress like I do.” It was such a nice, constructive suggestion. Kit said that was a good idea, but she already had her pants on and needed to go ahead and wear them. Claire observed again sweetly, “Okay. Well, it’s still pants.”

She really cheered up our morning.  It is nice to see Claire have such a good perspective and try to be so constructive and helpful. 


Little Miss Memory

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Claire’s favorite new book is Little Miss Giggles, which I picked up at Target for fun during a normal shopping trip. She loves this little book about a little girl (Little Miss Giggles) who loses her giggle, and her friends eventually help her get it back with a clever trick.

Kit has been reading this book to Claire for bedtime for the last couple of weeks. On the back cover of the book is a list of all the other Little Miss… books. There are about 33 of them in all. Claire likes us to read the other book titles to her at the end (maybe as a way of extending story time!). We read through them all pretty fast now. But last night, Claire decided to read all the titles by herself. She ran through them without a hitch. “Little Miss Bossy, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Neat, Little Miss Sunshine…” through all 33 of them.

Claire has also taken to “reading” most of the contents of book herself too, with a few little reminders to get her going after she gets stuck. And this is not an especially short little book. You would almost think she was actually reading, but at the moment she is settling for memorization. She must think reading is hard right now, but I don’t know how she does this!