Here were Molly’s stats for her “unbirthday”:

• Weight: 16lbs even
• Length: 26.5 inches
• Noggin: Average

Molly has been eating “solid” foods since last month. To date, she has sampled: rice cereal and oatmeal; bananas, pears, and apples; sweet potatoes and squash.

With the exception of rice cereal, she seems to enjoy her food a great deal, and her little mouth and hands eagerly reach for our food as well. In fact, she often cries when she has been denied big people food. She fails to realize that the mush is a necessary evil- otherwise, her poor little tummy (and intestines) might explode!

Wait, they do anyway.

Okay, so, they might explode even more dramatically, but I doubt the smell would be much worse!

Molly dislikes sitting up, although she can do it. Instead, she would rather roll and wiggle around on her belly. She kind of crawls at this point, often backwards.

She loves for us to pull her up to her feet, where she can do backbends, and her version of walking.

My favorite part of the past month or so has been watching Molly develop her own personality. I love to compare and contrast her quirks with those of her little friends. She is very different, much more reserved and shy than they are. She takes her time to observe and analyze someone before she lets them get close. And woe to anyone within earshot when a stranger touches her before she has completed her analysis!

Molly can be very serious, but when she laughs, it is light and musical. It is a small brook dancing over smooth pebbles. She gives her own version of hugs and kisses, which are playful grabs to our faces and hair, plus a pair of slobbery lips attached to our cheeks. I can’t get enough.

She is so beautiful (everyone says so)! Auburn hair (what there is of it), dark eyes, pink apple cheeks, just enough chub.

She has been working on her first teeth for the past couple of months (or so it has seemed), but it looks as though it may be a while. It is adorable to see all of her little friends with the tiny little “pearls” in their mouths.

Our goal for this month is to get her to sleep a little more soundly at night. She still gets up between 1 and 5 times an evening, although lately it has been between 2 and 3 times average. It seems that she takes after me in this regard. Poor girl. I hope that we can gently teach her that it is pleasant and desirable to sleep through the night- for all of us. At least I would like her to only get up once!

The real fun has begun!