12 Months with Molly Pop

Molly,

You are now ONE-YEAR-OLD! And I have to say my little baby is no more. In her place is a delightful, squirmy toddler filled with so much joy at the world. You are the happiest little girl. You find delight in the smallest things.



You found out at your birthday that you LIKE cake! and well anything else with sugar. I think you may still be coming off your birthday sugar high.



This month was a busy one. We took you to Hawaii on your very first plane trip and you did great! I was super worried that you would get fussy on an almost 6 hour flight but you LOVED it. I really shouldn't have worried. The plane was full of the one thing you love the most, PEOPLE! Your grandparents were also on our flight so that helped get the wiggles out.



The resort we stayed at had a nice pool which you spent hours swimming in. We called it Molly's pool and teased you when other people were swimming in it. You did not like that. It was your pool and NO ONE ELSES!



You also celebrated your first Halloween while in Hawaii. You dressed as Thing 1! My friend, Danielle's son, Henry was Thing 2 out on the East Coast.



I mean really, the cuteness was almost too much!



You became very, very, very active this month and learned that running while throwing toys around is the best thing EVER!



Unfortunately this new skill combined with toddler clumsiness lead to your first trip to the ER. You were rampaging around the den with a waterbottle when you tripped and cut your upper gum. It was bloody as mouth wounds tend to bleed which made your parents nervous. We took you to the ER to get you checked out. You thought it was FANTASTIC! The nice nurse gave you a Popsicle and you got to wave at people. In the end, you were just fine and your parents are just nervous people. (OK, let's be honest, your Dad is a nervous person. Your Mother went along with the plan to be safe.)



You also got to spend some time with a Baby! We watched Edmund while his Momma was doing some work. You LOVED seeing him and didn't even mind when I was holding him instead of you.



I can't believe how fast you've grown. I love you more and more each day. I'm not entirely sure how that is possible since my heart exploded with love for you on the day you were born. You are the very best thing to have happened to your Pop Pop and me. It's been a roller coaster ride full of ups and downs. We thought we'd never sleep again but somehow we all have found our sleep groove. We love spending time with you and really don't care that we now have to eat dinner at 5 p.m. if we go out. It's all worth it. All the sacrifices and all the work is so worth it. The reward has been bigger than I ever imagined and more than I can explain to anyone who isn't your Momma and Papa. You are the best kid even when throwing a tantrum. Tantrums just show me that you have a lot of spark. Luckily you tend to lean toward the happy side which means the rare (for now) tantrums are easier to deal with.

Happy Birthday Molly! This has been the very best year! I can't wait to watch you as you continue to grow.