Molly Paige First: Reading to Mom

Originally happened:  March 22, 2010

This was a first that never really spend much time thinking about or dreaming of... but when it happened, I was overwhelmed and pretty emotional about the experience.

You read your first book to me.

Your teacher told us you're reading well, and you'd read a few pages to us every so often.  But you so love for us to read to you every night that when I'd ask you to read, or if you encountered too many words you didn't know, you'd reply, "Oh, Mom - you just read it."

I don't know what sparked it that night, but you picked out There is a Bird On Your Head by Mo Willems.  (I mean, he is your FAVORITE author and you have seen him in person... but why Piggie and Gerald on that particular night?  I don't know...)

Anyway, you settled in on my lap, read the title out loud... and didn't stop until you reached the end.  I was so proud of you.  It was a special moment that I'll always remember.  And Piggie and Gerald books were pretty high on my list of favorites before -- but now they are truly a part of our family and your history.

Molly Paige First: Visit to the Arch!

A few months ago, you decided that you REALLY wanted to not only visit the Arch, but go up to the top of it.  Since you started mentioning wanting to go to the Arch pretty frequently, I decided that you weren't joking.  So, I figured there's no time like the present.

You had a random Monday in late April off of school, so Daddy kept you home in the morning, then brought you to my work for lunch.  You and I had lunch with my friend Courtney... then you and I took off for the Arch.

It turned out to be a beautiful day -- the rain finally stopped and it was overcast but not too chilly.  And you were EXCITED to see all that the Arch had to offer.

(Who knew that the National Park Service has its own special safety cones?!?!?  We just HAD to take a picture with these...)

Luckily, on a random Monday afternoon in April (outside of the Spring Break window), the Arch isn't crowded at 1:30 in the afternoon.  So we bought our tickets and headed straight for the dryer pods elevators.

One new thing they do at the Arch is take your picture before you ride to the top, a la Disney.  "Nice," I thought.  "They'll want to charge me a ton for this at the bottom."

I thought you might get a tiny bit freaked out when you saw how small the panty hose eggs elevators were... but you didn't hesitate.

(You only hesitate a little bit when I didn't follow you in so I could take your picture.  You cried, "No, Mommy!  You have to come in here with me!  You can't send your kid in alone!")

You giggled all the way to the top - especially when the shoebox elevator would adjust back and forth.  Then the tiny doors of our pod slide open... and there we were at the top.

The funniest part -- we had just gotten to the top, and were taking photos and looking out the windows, when my phone rang.  It was Grandma and Grandpa Wells -- they happened to be driving to Kansas City to visit Aunt Lois and Uncle Jim that day and told me they'd call me when they were passing through St. Louis.  When I saw it was them calling, I handed the phone to you.  "Grandma!" you cried.  "We're at the top of the Arch!"  When Grandma replied that she was driving through town, you said, "Oh!  I can see you from here!"  That made the park ranger laugh.

Humphrey enjoying the view of Busch Stadium from the top of the Arch...

Getting ready for our descent.  It takes four minutes to ride to the top... but only three minutes to get to the bottom.  Wait a minute...

Once we landed at the bottom, we bid farewell to our alien escape pods elevator and headed for the museum.  After about 10 minutes, you had seen all you wanted to, so we headed for the gift shop.  We walked right by the photo booth, where our package of photos was waiting for us.  It was a good picture of the both of us, so I asked the cashier how much.  "You get the 5 x 7, four wallets, and the commemorative frame (a.k.a. a cardboard sleeve with a picture of the Arch on it) for $20."  I started to walk away when you tugged on my sleeve and asked, "Mommy - aren't you going to get the photos of our special day together?"

And here's my $20...

On our walk back to the car, you held my hand and skipped.  It was ridiculously sweet.  "Mommy, can you thank your boss for letting you take the afternoon off so you could come to the Arch with me?  I really enjoyed our special afternoon together."  Then you gave me the best hug EVER.

I didn't want that special, special hug -- or that special, SPECIAL afternoon -- to ever end.

April was a crazy month for me -- I had a giant project at work happening that had me on the road a lot during the month.  I was so very thankful for a quiet afternoon with you, taking in a special first.  It reminded me of our special Mommy and Molly Fridays -- and how very much I miss them.  And it made me realize how much I need to always carve time out for these special times.

I love you, Peanut.

Things Daddies Think About - Redux

Long before you ever started playing sports, your Daddy surprised me with a deep, l e n g h t y conversation about selecting the right jersey number. 

And tonight, you got the call... picking your first number.

You were supposed to have your first indoor soccer practice today (see last entry for why you were not there...).  Miss Kim offered to pick up your shirt for you.  She called and asked you what number you wanted to be -- 12, 17, or 21.  You picked 17.

"Is that ok, Daddy?"

"Sure..." Daddy replies, not getting what I'm hinting at.

"No, Daddy - is that number ok?  You know... is it a good number?  Did you vet it?"

"Oh no!  I didn't think of that!"  And immediately, Daddy starts Googling sports numbers...

After a couple minutes, I hear a giant sigh of relief.  "Dizzy Dean from the Cardinals.  Dizzy was 17.  Pitcher.  Hall of Famer.  Retired number. We're good."

Of course, the search continued...

"Matt Kenseth... he's great."  (Mommy agrees - I met him his rookie season and wrote a speech for him.  Very, very nice guy.)  "Oh, and John Havlicek from the Celtics.  Ok, 17 is good." 

Catching Up...

Ok, so a LOT has happened since my last post... but December was a crazy month (as it always turns out to be) with an unexpected overnight trip for me (which turned into an unexpected two-night trip, thanks to fog in Atlanta...).  But it was a great month - with a lot of fun happenings.  You love the holidays as much as I do, which I LOVE. 

Here's a quick recap (I'll embelish more later - I promise.)

- You and Daddy took a road trip to visit Papa and Grandma - your first-ever road trip with just you and Daddy!  You had a great time... and even saw Santa Claus at Home Depot day! And Mommy just sat at home quietly and waited for you to get home... :)

- Wobbly tooth turned into a missing tooth on Dec. 12!

- You had your Five-A-Palooza friends over for our first-ever (and annual?) cookie party the next day. 

- You went to your friend Izzye's birthday party - she had it at a local cooking school and you had a blast.

- Papa and Grandma came up for an early Christmas visit.

- I took you and Ellie to Glazed and Confused for some last-minute Christmas presents.

And that doesn't even include your open house at Ballet, your Christmas party at school, Christmas day, or our trip to Florida and your first-ever visit to the beach!

Whew... no wonder I'm behind in my posts.

A NEW Molly Paige First!

You really surprised me today, Molly...

When I picked you up from school, you ran up to me with wide eyes.  "Guess what, Mommy?  I have a loose tooth!"

"Really?" I asked, not quite believing you. 

And you took your bottom tooth and wobbled it like crazy.

And my eyes welled up.

This is one of those first that I never really thought about... didn't really think it would be that big of a deal.  But it's an amazing reminder of how much you are growing and changing every day.  I miss you as a baby and toddler, but I love the wonderful young girl you've become.

(Oh yeah, and then you mentioned that you hope the tooth fairy brings you a dollar.  I guess I have to check the going rate on teeth...)

Worth A Thousand Words...

Molly -

Your daddy and I have a tradition:  Every five years, like clockwork, we get our photos taken with a real photographer.  First, it was our engagement and wedding photos... then, five years later, we had our first family photos done... with you in my belly. 

Fastforward five years... so it's time for a real photo session again. 

Don't get me wrong - we've had plenty of family photos taken since you were born... mostly at Picture People or Kiddie Kandids.  They've been great.  But there's something about a real photo shoot with a REAL photographer that I love.  The pictures are always so great.  I'm a sucker for good photography. 

(I just realized that this is a Molly Paige first -- your first real photo shoot!)

At the Trivia Night for your preschool, I bid on a session with a photographer.  I put $35 -- the starting price... and I won!  I was geeked.  That was back in March.  We finally got it scheduled for October (thinking the fall colors would be great) but we were rained out once and the photographer had to cancel on us another time due to a family emergency.

We rescheduled for Saturday and crossed our fingers.  Being early November, the weather was going to be iffy at best.

It was GORGEOUS.  In fact, at 75 degrees, it was warmer and more beautiful than the two dates we tried in October.

We had a blast.  The photographer, Rochelle, was really sweet and loved what a willing model you were.  Funny - turns out that Rochelle is from Goshen - the town next to my hometown!  Small world...

I can't wait to see how Rochelle's photos turned out... because the few I was able to snap just melt my heart...

Seriously?  An elephant at the place Rochelle picked for us to take photos?  Could it be any more perfect for Molly?

Goofing around with Rochelle...

It takes a real man to hold pink balloons...

This next one takes my breath away...

MPF: Soccer!

Another Molly Paige First:  Soccer!  You started practice a couple weeks ago. 

Luckily, you're on the same team as your two best friends.  Of course, that means you have a tendency to talk and goof around with them sometimes when you should be paying attention to the coach...

You have a FANTASTIC coach who is EXTREMELY patient with 11 five year-olds.  And so far, you really love it!  I think it's much more engaging than t-ball -- and a lot less standing around.  You kick really straight and have fun running... but after about 30 minutes, you're pretty worn out.  (Which makes for an early bedtime!)

You got your team shirts last week -- they are red.  So you're probably going to be the Ladybugs :) 

First game tomorrow night.  Go Ladybugs!

MPF - Swinging by Yourself!

Molly,

Funny how some firsts can just sneak up on you... or happen all of a sudden when you forget about trying them.



First it was skipping. For the longest time, you skipped lopsided - only on the right side. No matter how much we tried and practiced, you always skipped that way. And then one day, we got home from school, you got out of the van, and skipped on down past Kevin's house -- a perfect, double-sided skip... like you'd been doing it for years.


Today was one of those days. Today - all of a sudden - you started pumping your legs on the swing.


It was as if you had always known how to do this -- perfect form, the beautiful lean back on the upswing... you could have powered yourself like this all day long. And the funniest thing of all - I never said a word about it. Before, I would coach, plead, and beg you to pump your legs... but today was different. I don't know why - but for some reason, it was.

You've discovered your own strength today. Now the sky is the limit!

Love you, peanut.

Love, Mommy

Molly Paige First (MPF) - Broadway Show!

Today, we marked a major MPF (or Molly Paige First): your first Broadway show. (At least, in Mommy's world, this was BIG.)

"Mary Poppins" came to town -- so we went with Ellie and Miss Kim. I've been waiting and waiting and w a i t i n g to take you to your first big theatrical production... but didn't want to take you before you were the right age. Luckily, I think a number of factors all came together to make this a day to remember:

1) Five seems to be the right age -- you know to use your really good manners when we're out, you can pay attention to the show for more than 10 minutes, and you can hold your bladder for three hours.

2) You LOVE "Mary Poppins" -- you know and love the story and movie. As we were walking into the theater, you were singing your favorite MP songs, including the one that starts with "Super" and ends with "ocious."

3) We went with friends -- sometimes that helps a situation... and sometimes it doesn't. Luckily, today it worked in our favor. Today was all about having a Girls' Day Out and you loved that.

The show was absolutely AMAZING. Even though it's markedly different from the movie (especially Jane - she's much brattier on stage than on film), you really loved the differences. And you sang along during all your favorite songs. And the best part was when Mary flew... right out OVER the audience. Seriously, it made me cry it was so amazing.

But the best part for me was watching you. Watching you soak it all in... applaud at the end of the songs... singialong... it was so great. At the end, as we stood and applauded during the curtain call, watching you sing "Super....ocious" two inches from my face was a visual I will NEVER forget. Getting to share my love of the theater and musicals with you is something I've been so excited about... and today was a special, special memory I'll always hold dear.

I love you, Molly -- and loved sharing this special first with you.

Love,

Mommy