Hugs ‘n Kittens

So here are a few things to note in Molly’s baby book. She got her first two teeth (on the bottom) at the end of May (I actually noticed the first one for the first time on the 22nd). They are really standing out now and look super cute, but make her habit of gnawing on my skin a bit less pleasant. I neglected to say in her crawling post that she could also pull herself up to standing. Well now she is extremely skilled at getting up & down around furniture and is even starting to walk along it (technically called “cruising” I believe). Tonight she walked behind a little chair (pushing it across the room) for a good 6 feet. JR has started holding her hands and encouraging her to take steps and she seems up for it – wow! Livy wasn’t walking until after her 1st birthday, but I guess Molly is anxious to keep up with her big sister. She really is much more active than Livy ever was and is such a climber and curious little cat. All this activity (and a bit less formula) has caused her to trim down quickly and her hair is just long enough to curl at the ends (especially since we’re sweaty most of the time with all this 100+ degree weather lately) so she is starting to look much less babyish all of a sudden. Unfortunatley, she is still not sleeping through the night, but the little munchkin is just so adorable and almost always pleasant and easy-going so it’s hard to hold it against her.  

Livy is really in to signs (as in ASL) lately (more on that in a future post – hopefully with a video dictionary because it is SO cute!) and would desperatley love Molly to start signing so we have been working on some starters like “more” and “all done.” I think she recognizes them but hasn’t really done it yet. She does clap on cue and wave bye-bye, though. Much to our delight she is starting to understand the word “no” – yep, to show you she hears you she shakes her head no and laughs. She’ll also shake for yes and it’s adorable to hear Livy saying, “Molly’s saying yes.” She also looks very grown up as she happily eats her table food wanting everything that Livy has – especially popcicles. In fact, I don’t think we’ll be buying anymore baby food because she simply will not eat it if there is any other food in sight. Another good sign: her favorite toy lately is a baby doll. She will crawl over to them and pick them up and sit and play for a good 10 minutes (remember, that’s a long time for a baby!). Looks like we’re in good shape for adding her new baby sister in about 10 weeks!! 

Ms. Olivia Grace and I have decided that when you’re two, it’s nobody’s business if you’re chubby, so you won’t see any discussion of her height & weight here! She is actually thinning out some and looking more grown up with her long hair and big girl clothes. We also weaned her of her pacifier recently so there are less reminders of her baby days. Livy is getting really good at recognizing colors and usually guesses yellow or green. She is full of great lines lately like “Daddy’s funny” and “I sorry baby” and “I help Mommy.” My favorite is “I love you, Mama” (said multiple times a day, but always when I put on her PJ’s and accompanied by a big hug around the neck). She chatters all day about all sorts of things and with her interpreter (Mama) she can communicate just about anything. She’s even got her own nicknames for Molly – she calls her “puddin’ baby” and we don’t know why. She also thinks her sister’s name is “baby Monny.” Red is quickly learning to follow Livy’s commands – much to Livy’s delight. Her favorite command is “Red, speak!” She also thinks she’s grown up enough to use the computer on her own and after a couple of close calls, we set the desktop to lock automatically when not in use. She definitely noticed and was not pleased. One thing I’ve found really fascinating is that she can spot Baby Jesus from a mile away. I have a collection of Nativities so there are a lot of Baby Jesus’ around the house this month, but everywhere we go she is looking for Baby Jesus and Mother Mary. Last Sunday, I told her that Baby Jesus lives at Church and she was quite impressed. However, when we got inside and he was nowhere to be found, she questioned my sources!

I searched around on-line to find a good website for further reading on the Missionaries of Charity, but somewhat not surprisingly, they have no official website. I found a good description of the order and we’ll have to leave it at that – The Missionaries of Charity reach out to the poorest of poor, taking in the destitute and the dying, bathing their wounds and helping those about to pass on, to do so with dignity. I also found this daily schedule. I thought you’d find it interesting:

A typical day in the life of a sister:

04:30 am Arise
05:00 am Morning Prayer
06:00 am Meditation
07:00 am Mass
07:30 am Breakfast
08:00 am Cleaning
09:00 am Missionary duties
12:00 pm Prayer
12:30 pm Lunch
01:30 pm Rest
02:00 pm Tea
02:30 pm Missionary duties
05:00 pm Adoration
07:00 pm Laundry
07:30 pm Supper
08:00 pm Recreation
09:00 pm Prayer
09:30 pm Retire

At her 2-month checkup, Molly was 23 inches “tall” (75th percentile) and weighed 12 lbs. 10 oz. (90th percentile!) so she is well on her way to being a Gerber baby poster child! She’s started following objects in her line of sight and especially keeping an eye out for her big sister. Livy definitely gets the biggest smiles out of her and also causes some of her most piercing shreiks by doing what we like to call a little “too much.” Usually, Olivia has good intentions, but Molly is not up for wrestling or sharing a water bottle quite yet (this we know from experience). I have noticed in the past week, though, how much Livy enjoys entertaining Molly and how sweetly Molly responds to any attention from her. This baby stage is so rewarding because Molly is all love, all sweetness, and truly delights in the simple gift of a smile.

After a quick stop at the grocery store we headed to Bastrop State Park and the lost pines of Texas intending to car camp. However, there was a sign at the park entrance saying that all the campsites were full. Deciding we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to camp, we went ahead and secured a primitive camping permit. Since we have the Texas State Parks Pass we didn’t have to pay an entrance fee and we also had a coupon for half off camping so it only cost us $5. Getting to the area where primitive camping is allowed requires a hike of about a mile (with all your gear & children), but there is plenty of space since you can set up your campsite anywhere in that area as long as you are 50 feet off the trail. In the parking lot at the trail head, JR quickly scanned the contents of the truck and loaded up the Bob jogging stroller (aka “the pack muleâ€?) with all the necessities. JR took Livy in the Kelty Kid Carrier and pushed the stroller while I took Molly in the Baby Bjorn carrying a water jug in one hand and Red’s lead in the other and we headed out into the wilderness. We were both a little concerned when the first 100 yards of trail was a 30 degree decline covered with rocks and tree roots. Would the whole trail be this challenging? The good news was that that was the worst of it and we were quickly strolling along more even ground. The bad news was that Livy was screaming at the top of her lungs because it had been so long since we had taken her in the Kelty Carrier and she thought it was some sort of torture device. We tried singing, pointing out sights along the way, watching Red and eventually, she broke and decided that maybe it was actually fun. It is a really nice park with tall scenic pines that set it apart from the rest of the Texas landscape. There is a pond on the map about a mile and a half in that looked like it might make a nice campsite. We hiked all the way to it but, the pond was not so picturesque, so we back tracked a little ways. JR & Livy found a great spot and set up camp for Molly, Red & I. (The pictures in the photo album are mapped to the exact GPS coordinates.) We had bratwurst and baked beans for supper and settled in for the evening. For a bedtime snack, we made popcorn over the camp stove and then climbed into the tent.

For those of you who read about our first camping trip with Livy, you might be wondering how the night went. It was actually pretty uneventful. It probably took about an hour for Livy to settle down and fall asleep and it took a little good cop – bad cop routine to get her to sleep. JR forced her to rock with him (she hates being rocked) and when he let her go she was mad enough that she crawled over by me to be consoled and fell asleep. Molly slept really well and except for the obvious fact that we need a bigger tent (ours is just a 2-person), we all got a decent amount of sleep. In the morning, JR made ham & eggs with OJ, and then we packed up the campsite and headed back to the truck. We tried to do a few geocaches along the way, but “mugglesâ€? were near all of them, so we dumped our stuff at the truck and went on a different trail to leave a travel bug which we’ve had for way too long. After that, everyone had their fill of hiking and we declared our camping trip a success.

On the way back home, we stopped at the other local barbecue hot-spot in Elgin – Meyers. Personally, I thought Meyers was better. I had the chopped beef sandwich and JR had the brisket plate. Livy was a HUGE fan of the pork ribs and we had to pry the bones out of her fingers when it was time to go. Livy earned the nickname “Meat” on this trip because that is pretty much all she ate and she frequently told us, “I need more meat.â€? We got home just in time to clean up for Mass. It was a packed weekend, but one we’ll always remember – our first camping trip with two girls and a dog!

1. From their first meeting, Molly & Olivia seemed to be aware of their connection as sisters. Livy was immediately protective of her and wanted to be sure only Mommy & Daddy were holding “my baby.” While she’s still learning how to be gentle with her baby sister, Livy is quickly learning how to be Mommy’s little helper and is the first to come running with Molly’s pacifier if she starts to cry.
2. Just to show off, Molly gained almost two pounds in time for her two week check-up (granted, it was closer to three weeks since Mommy forgot the first one that was scheduled!).
3. All four of Molly & Olivia’s grandparents and one great grandma came to TX for a visit! What fun it was to have a houseful of grandparents eager to read stories, polka dance, play ball and go for walks. How we wish they were just around the corner everyday!! We miss you already!
4. Livy got to be roommates with her Great Grandma Hatt (Jenny’s Mom’s Mom) on the previously mentioned visit. Even though Livy is all transitioned over to her big girl bed (thanks to JR), she went “old school” and slept in the crib while we had visitors and Great Grandma slept in her new youth bed (the short genes finally came in handy!). Not too many kids can say that they were roommates with a great grand parent!!
5. Molly Josephine Andrews was received into the Catholic Church on September 1st! May the dear Lord bless & keep her all the days of her life!! Molly is named for Sts. Mary and Joseph of the Holy Family. Molly is the Gaelic (Irish) form of Mary and Josephine is the feminine French form of Joseph. My hometown parish (Valparaiso) is named for them as well. Molly also has a great great grandmother named Molly and a great great great grandmother named Josephine!
6. Visitors from all over the world came to greet Molly! The Mukerhjis came from Oman on the Arabian Peninsula!
7. Molly is the 37th great grandchild of Albin & Norma Stara (JR’s Mom’s parents)! On the other end of the spectrum, Molly is the 7th great grandchild of Phyllis Hatt (Jenny’s Mom’s Mom) and the oldest is only 3!
8. We received the bill from the hospital and owed nothing. Really! Thanks to our generous insurance program at National Instruments, we only pay the $15 copay on the first doctor’s visit for each baby. When they are this cheap, not to mention cute, who knows how many we will have!
9. Three hours after Molly’s birth we had a post (including pictures) up on our website. We’ve enjoyed being able to include all of our friends and family even though many are too far to see Molly in person.
10. We are a family of FOUR!!!!! And the proud parents of the two most beautiful baby girls in the world!