The Most Beautiful Sound in the World

Molly's laugh is addictive...I'll do anything to hear it just one more time! One foolproof way to get a laugh is the trampoline game that we play on the bed. Enjoy!

5 Months Old!

August 9th, 2009 .......................................................................................................................................January 9th, 2010

Incredibly, our little Molly is now 5 months old! You always hear parents say that they can't believe how fast their little ones grow, but I never really understood what they were talking about until I now have my own little one. I had the chance this past week to hold a friend's newborn little boy and I couldn't believe that it had been 5 whole months since Molly had been that tiny!

It's been so much fun to watch Molly's personality blossom in the last few months. She loves to explore the sights, sounds and textures in the world around her. We change the toys on the toy bar of her swing and bouncer and try to add new toys every few days. It's so much fun to watch her "get acquainted" with her new toys. This usually happens in one of three ways: If she's in a quiet mood, as she usually is in the morning or after a nap, then she'll hold the toy in her hand and rotate it slowly back and forth in front of her face, studying it from every angle. The length of her attention span amazes me. If she's in a rowdy mood, as she usually is in the evening or when we're approaching naptime, she'll flap her arms wildly like a bird and karate chop all the toys at once, making them all bang together. Anytime in between, she'll attempt to shove the entire toy in her mouth and slobber all over it! She's like a St. Bernard...she can soak a toy in a matter of seconds with her drool.

She was in the process of slobbering all over this toy when she got it stuck on her nose and couldn't figure out how to get it off. Poor kid! I felt a little bad laughing at her, but she looked so funny!

She has also become much more skilled at working all the bells and whistles on her exer-saucer (AKA - "The Escalade"). One night she became completely fixated on opening and closing this little orange lid (probably the least interesting item on "The Escalade"). She would amaze herself every time she opened it, like she'd just done something magical. Then when she closed it, she'd celebrate by blowing a huge raspberry, spraying everything in a 2-foot radius with slobber. Crazy girl!

Her new favorite toy is a plastic solo cup, which is much more interesting to her than any of her "real" toys :-) For a while now, Molly has been obsessed with watching people eat or drink, but especially drink. We've learned to be very careful with drinking hot tea or coffee around her because she immediately tries to grab the cup. We decided to give her her very own cup to play with and she couldn't be happier!

You can see a few of her other favorite "toys" in the background. She wasn't the least bit interested in the toys that came with her swing so we replaced them with an aluminum foil ball and an old disc. She LOVES them. She especially loves flipping the disc back and forth over and over again. The front is black and white (a baby favorite) and the back is so shiny.

Physically, Molly has hit a real growth spurt and is reaching many new milestones. She now weighs 14 lbs. and is 24.5 inches long. With her bulky cloth diapers, she's definitely filling out some 6-9 month clothes. I love her rolly legs! I had to laugh the other day when I tried to put on a pair of 3-6 month jammies and the legs would barely button. Every other aspect of fit was fine: length, inseam, shoulders, etc. But the leg buttons had all these gaps in between where her fleshy little thighs were peeking through. Time to clean out the dresser drawers, I suppose!

Molly has hit two major milestones in the last week. She has learned to roll herself over from belly to back, completely unassisted, and she has learned to sit up. Prior to this, she would only roll over with lots of coaching and encouragement from Mom and Dad. We would have to coax her with a toy or help her fold her arms under, but she is now rolling independently. It's not her favorite thing to do, but she'll give it a try if she desperately wants a toy out of her reach. When she's sitting up, Molly props herself up on her arms like a little tripod. Occasionally, she'll lift up one or both arms and balance herself for a little while before toppling over.

Now that she's sitting so well, we've graduated her from the snap-&-go infant stroller to her big-girl stroller where she can sit up and look at the world. We were blessed with a few beautiful 60-degree days in the last week and we took full advantage with walks through the neighborhood.

Our beautiful smily girl.

"Don't mess with me. I know karate!"

Molly is our serious little thinker. I often wonder what's going on in her head as she studies this big, wide world.

Here are a few other 5-month pictures taken in the last few weeks:

Molly is "all-girl" in her ruffled pink pjs from her GG.

Practicing her new-found skill.

Molly loves hanging out with our friend, Nate. He's much taller than either of her parents so he gives her a bird's-eye-view of the world.

Playing with her giant caterpillar before bed.

Molly's First Christmas

I know it's been AGES since I've posted a new blog entry, but I was trying to soak up every second of the Christmas season with family and friends. And as soon as I felt that I had recovered from Christmas, it was time to go back to school!

Christmas was busy, but absolutely wonderful this year. It's always been my favorite holiday, and not because of the presents. I love Christmas because it brings people together that may not necessarily see each other at any other point during the year. Once all the family members are gathered under one roof, you're granted these few magical hours filled with amazing food, laughter, good conversation, and just the joy of being together. This joy was multiplied many times over this year as I got to watch grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins shower Molly with love. We are truly blessed with a wonderful extended family.

Since Eric had to work until midnight on Christmas Eve, we got on the road to Pittsburgh at about 12:30am and arrived at Eric's parents' house at about 9am on Christmas morning, just in time for presents and breakfast. This is the second year in a row that we've done this and one of my favorite things to do is to look out the car window as we're driving past houses in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to see how late "Santa" is staying up and how early the kids are getting up Christmas morning. There's always a few houses that we pass with all the lights on at about 5:30 or 6:00am and I know that there are children in these houses at that very moment drinking in the magic of Christmas morning.

We spent a few days with Eric's family and were able to enjoy good food and fellowship with almost all of the extended family, including Molly's second-cousin, Lillian, who is only 2 weeks younger than her. Molly was showered with lots of new toys, books, and clothes, but I think her favorite gift was the giant caterpillar that her GG and Pop got for her. She loves to have some tummy time on her caterpillar while chewing on his antennae. She even let Poppy Schillinger play along too.

While in Pittsburgh, Eric and I also had a chance to go to the Steelers vs. Ravens game at Heinz Field with Eric's brothers. Neither of us had ever been to a Steelers game, so it was definitely a very cool experience. But what made it even greater was that the Steelers BEAT the Ravens. YAY!!! Too bad it wasn't enough to put them in the playoffs :-(

Once back in NC, we got to spend the week leading up to New Year's with my family, who came to visit from New York. EVERYONE was together, including the soon-to-be newest member of our family, Joy's fiance Phil. The next time we're all together again will be in June for Joy and Phil's wedding. Hard to believe that the youngest Schillinger is tying the knot.

This Christmas was also the first time that all the grandkids were together in one place since Isaiah and Molly were born. Six kids under the age of five made for some crazy times. It seemed like there was always someone crying, laughing, sleeping, hungry, or in need of a diaper change. As special as it was to have all the cousins together, I have to admit it made me thankful we weren't blessed with sextuplets ;-)

Here's Molly with her cousin, Isaiah. They are only 3 months apart.With great times to be had with both sides of the family, it was definitely a special first Christmas for our little girl. It was a Christmas that Molly probably won't even remember, but it was a Christmas that I'll never forget.