Holistic Mommy

She had a wonderful Christmas! We were at Aunty Amber's and Uncle Andy's house. Her dad is here all week as he doesn't have to work over Christmas. Her Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and also many of our friends. As always, she was constant entertainment. Every morning when she decides she's awake, she pops up and hollers, " dada !?". She heads straight for the door and tries to pry it open with her little fingers. I go open it for her and she toddles to the living room to see who is awake and ready to play. She plays peek-a-boo now. Although, it's not the cover your eyes, say peek-a-boo, and then uncover your eyes peek-a-boo that you're thinking. She'll spot someone from across the room, on the other side of the coffee table, or from around the corner, make eye contact, and then duck back again. Then when she pokes her head out and sees you again, she throws herself on the floor laughing her head off. Sometimes she snorts when she laughs so ha...

So what does a Holistic Mommy get her toddler for Christmas? A set of unit blocks of course! The ones I bought are the Melissa and Doug 60 piece standard unit blocks: Why blocks? Well because they can become... A pony castle: Or a troll bridge: I have more but they're on my laptop -- which is a nine hour drive away :) If you've got some time here is a great post on unit blocks and what makes them so important. And yes, Molly has had some form of blocks from the point she realized she had hands that could move things... Or, should I say, a nose that could move things...

While waiting at the gate in the airport, Molly took it upon herself to spread a little holiday cheer around to all the travellers and boy did she do a good job. She toddled around giving everyone a high-pitched "hi" and a wave. Not being a shy kid, she would have personally greeted every single person if I let her. You can definitely tell who the baby friendly folks are. They're the ones who, upon seeing a baby charging towards them, light right up and reach their hands out to greet her. You know by the look on their faces that this one moment is going to make their whole entire day; babies are amazing that way. I like to give people their baby fix so I just let her go and quite often she'll end up on a lap or hugging someone's leg. She usually gets to play with a cell phone, purse, glasses and even gets to play the nose-poke game now and then. After said stranger has had their baby fix (and probably going to talk about this cute baby for the rest of the week), w...

We are at the end of a week long trip of seeing family and friends. It all started with a cancelled flight... While most people were stressed because their flight got cancelled, I was frazzled at the thought of having to return to the baggage carousel to retrieve my four ginourmous pieces of luggage. I was all by myself -- with a baby. You know those moments when you want to throw yourself down on the floor and cry for your mommy? This was one of those moments. I rented one of those fancy dancy luggage carts. I had to rent one, like a shopping cart, and for no other reason than luck did I happen to have a loonie on me that morning. Otherwise, I definitely would have thrown myself down and cried for my mommy. At the baggage carousel... I snagged the first Westjet employee I could find. I love Westjet employees. They're like Christmas elves, always so happy and willing to help in their colourful, striped shirts. Well, this woman had my bags stacked securely on the cart and me pointe...

One thing I've learned as a mommy is that a mother's instinct is very real. So, when my toddler is cruising around diaperless, as she often does, and I have the sudden sense that I should put her diaper back on immediately, then I should put her diaper back on immediately. If not, then I deserve to pick up the fresh log and pee puddle that now sits on the carpet -- less than 60 seconds after having that thought...

She attended her first birthday party today! There were so many kids there -- big kids, little kids, medium sized kids. It felt strange to leave her in the playroom to play with them all but, she fit right in. She did quite well I must say -- as did I. She didn't get trampled nor did she tackle anyone (like she does with our four dogs and with the children at playgroup). I went into the playroom at one point and told the older kids, "if she starts to bother you just holler BABY! and I'll come get her". Well, she tried to take the socks off of one girl's feet and also tried taking their dollhouse for a walk. Other than that, everything was just peachy and they all had a gay old time together. She loved the balloons that were all over the place. She would walk around the house with a balloon three times the size of her head in her mouth; she probably thought the knot was a nipple... Silly baby. I don't know how she could see where she was going. Although,...

Molly can: Run - yes I said run! Scribble on paper (and then eat the crayons when she's done) Brush her teeth - sort of Wash her face - sort of Give kisses Open the sliding door to the bathroom and go inside (little booger) Sit at the table at playgroup and eat snack with all the other kids without falling out of her chair Get mad Hold just about any object up to her ear like a telephone and say, "hello" in her high pitched voice Find the armholes in her shirts and the leg holes in her pants and help me get her dressed Point her chubby little toes so I can put her socks on Put on her toque and mitts - sort of Take off her toque and mitts Tear her shirt off like the Hulk if she doesn't want to get dressed right now Stack objects on top of each other Fall back to sleep on her own - sometimes Hold a glass and drink without spilling Drink a Steamer (steamed milk) from a straw at the coffee shop with Grammy Sound like a typewriter when she laughs really hard: ...