We KNEW Molly was smart. Just KNEW it. But, as I said before, it’s like there’s something blocking her from expressing that intelligence. But now, bit by bit, she’s showing us just how smart she is!! This weekend was a grab-bag of “Tricks” for her…for example:
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We have an advent calender with removable numbers (In the shape of stars…). Every night when it’s time to change the stars, she sits on my lap. I ask her to take off the star with the “3” on it (or two, or whatever number). Without hesitation she takes that number off. I give her the new number, I tell her what it is, I sign it for her and she puts it on the post (little tiny wood posts the stars have holes…tough to line up…).
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We were reading a book called “pop pop pop pop pop pop”…with a monkey finding different colored balloons. She accurately picked out “red” “Blue” and “yellow”!!!
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She has an ugly little baby doll she got from the hospital. She can take the clothes off of this doll. I went to get her out of bed and she was holding the doll, the clothes were on the floor and she pointed down and said, “Pants!”
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She is asking for pants or shirt, describing getting K dressed.
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She is stringing some words together. “Ball with stars”.
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I’m now OFFICIALLY Mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!! She said it several times over the weekends.
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There was one other thing she did that literally floored us…but off the top of my head I can’t remember. And that bothers me. I should’ve blogged it immediately!
Anyway, more on the Story of Me coming up later today! I won’t be online tonight because DH and I are relatively engrossed with the SciFi channel miniseries, “Tin Man”. I REALLY like it! (some of the special effects aren’t so grand…but it’s sci fi channel) The story itself is VERY sound so far!
Congrats to all of us that made it the thirty days…and those that tried!! I’ve made up these badges for both camps!!! Feel free to save and post on your blog…I just ask for a link back to Redefining Perfect!!
Traditions can make or break a holiday. The traditions we grew up with as a child are translated into something we try to do with our kids. Every year we add traditions or drop them, but if we don’t have any…our holiday can be only ho-hum. In my family there are several traditions that I continue to follow to this day. Christmas is not Christmas without them.
The first thing that makes it Christmas is listening to the The Oak Ridge Boys Christmas Album. How can you not hear Thank God for Kids with lyrics like “When you look down in those trusting eyes; That look to you, you realize; There’s a love that you can’t buy; Thank God for kids…” and not melt? There’s just something about this album that brings Christmas to our family. We ALWAYS listen to it on Christmas eve (there’s a song for that, too!!)
There are two movies that we must watch, too! First is Scrooge. It’s the musical version of a Christmas Carol and it’s just bright and cheery and perfect for decorating the tree with! And we canNOT live without Alastair Sim, the original Black and White version of A Christmas Carol. His pure joy when he wakes up on Christmas morning cannot be beat…even by the drool-worthy Patrick Stewart.
Beyond media, though…there is one specific tradition that has meant very much to me for the past 9 years. Christmas Eve.
When I was growing up as a child every Christmas Eve my brother and I would climb into one or the other’s bed (alternating every year) and my Mother would read The Night Before Christmas. The linked version is the one she read. The pictures were so magical to me. The way she read it brought life to the pages and made me so eager for Santa’s arrival. I can still remember the giddy joy of clamoring into bed, me on one side of her, my brother on the other.
When my oldest was born the tradition was passed on. My dad took up the tradition with his grandson, who meant so much to him. I bought myself the exact same version I’d grown up with, and my dad would read that – and then the bible story of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:1-20).
Now my oldest is almost 10. I have two very young girls at home. The torch has been passed again – onto me. Now on Christmas Eve, I gather my babies close to me on the couch and we read The Night Before Christmas . I quote the bible scripture, having memorized it years ago. We play our Oak Ridge Boys and set out Cookies and milk for Santa…and if I’m thoughtful enough to remember, carrots for the reindeer.
I don’t know for a fact that my brother also carries on these same traditions, but I like to think that he does. They meant a lot to us growing up…and I’m so happy to pass them on. I only hope they mean as much to my children as they did to me.
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This post was made in honor of a contest over at Sue’s Navel Gazing…but I probably would have made it anyway 😀 I love the holiday! Thank you, Sue for the prompt!!
*Operation Santa – Stage 1 is complete. If I may say so myself, it was a success! In order to prepare Molly for pictures with Santa, I took her and the other kids today to the Santa’s Snowglobe nearby. We played in the ‘waiting room’ part for a while…crept our way closer to where Santa was. Finally got close. Every time I said Santa Molly would look up at him and smile. She wouldn’t get too close, but we got within a couple of feet. We’ll go again tomorrow. Next week when it’s picture time I may have to have her on my lap, but I think we’ll get close.
*DH’s Christmas List – I’ve asked him to make me a Christmas list because we are actually getting gifts for each other this year. Among those things on his list is…Vomit Bags (he finds the word vomit funny), a 2007 Dodge Charger w/ Hemi engine (yeah, that’ll happen), and sex. Hmmm…maybe I SHOULD get him the Charger *giggle*
*Christmas Cookies – I just may go overboard this year…I printed out quite a few recipes last night…but I still don’t feel I’ve found THE recipe yet. Maybe THAT will be my contest!!
*Shoe Obsession – IT’s gotten worse. I can’t even take off her shoes to change her diaper. If she were potty trained this wouldn’t be an issue…but…um…WTH do I do now?
*ON THE CHARTS!! – Molly and K had their nutritionist appts today! For the first time since she was 8 months old Molly is back on the charts for weight!! She’s only in the 4th%ile…but she’s on the charts!! She didn’t grow in heighth at ALL this time (very strange for her), but her height to weight ratio is still off…but who cares…she’s ON THE CHARTS!!
*A break from PT is NOT allowed – ever again!! Due to illness and Thanksgiving it’s been almost a month since K’s last PT appointment…and let’s just say that today was NOT successful. We aren’t doing THAT again *headdesk*
Overall a good day, despite the crazy way it started!!
Molly has obsessions. They come and go, only return again and be greeted like a long lost lover (you’ll see I’m not kidding).
Her first notable obsession was the Backyardigans…but not JUST the show. We’re talking down and dirty love with the DVD case. She carried it EVERYWHERE. Took it to bed with her. It got to the point where we had to sneak the cases away because she’d played with them so much the actual title pages were ripped and worn – and in some cases the plastic of the case was half ripped off. We now have NO DVD cases of kids shows…all kids shows are on a spindle and locked away for their own safety.
From there we moved onto cars. She had toy cars and she would line them up in a perfect little line and carry them everywhere. This was a very short lived obsession…
Because she found her Dora doll. Oh, Dora was BIG. Dora was carried EVERYWHERE. Dora was chewed on as much as Molly’s fingers. Dora was LIFE.
Then she learned the word “STAR”. Dora still had a place…but STAR was the shiznit. STARS can be seen EVERYWHERE. On common commercials, on signs, and on fabrics that Mommy finds at the fabric stores.
For some reason stars faded…but so did Molly. She became very introverted again and we lost our little girl for a while (this happens from time to time…she gets vibrant and full of life…then disappears into her own little world).
Now it’s Christmas. And a whole new world has begun. We now have TWO simultaneous obsessions…
The first is STARS! They have returned! With Christmas in the air, stars can REALLY be seen everywhere. There’s one on top of our tree…ornaments have stars. She has picked an ornament with a star that she carried with her to daycare today. She KISSES the star on the ornament regularly! STars are once again the shiznit…
But the other obsession…well…
I bought ‘new’ shoes at the resale shop the other day. They are shoes I’ve wanted to buy from Target since last year, but never did due to cost, etc. So, when I saw them at resale in her size I grabbed them.
SHE WONT TAKE THEM OFF!! If I take them off she throws a MASSIVE fit. Even if I explain that it’s just to change clothes/diaper, whatever. If I take them off and leave them on the table…she PUTS THEM ON.
She goes to bed with them. Yes. I let her wear them to bed…you try putting her in bed without them!
Hypotonia
(as quoted from Wikipedia because I couldn’t say it better)
Hypotonia is a condition of abnormally low muscle tone (the amount of tension or resistance to movement in a muscle), often involving reduced muscle strength.
Hypotonia is not a specific medical disorder, but a potential manifestation of many different diseases and disorders that affect motor nerve control by the brain or muscle strength. Recognizing hypotonia, even in early infancy, is usually relatively straightforward, but diagnosing the underlying cause can be difficult and often unsuccessful. The long-term effects of hypotonia on a child’s development and later life depend primarily on the severity of the muscle weakness and the nature of the cause. Some disorders have a specific treatment but the principal treatment for most hypotonia of idiopathic or neurologic cause is physical therapy to help the person compensate for the neuromuscular disability.
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And that is very close to what we have going on. K has the condition, but we haven’t determined the exact underlying cause. She is in PT for it…and we have seen a neurologist, and are scheduled to see a Orthopedist next week! That’s the full gist of it as we know it!
Album. How can you not hear Thank God for Kids with lyrics like “When you look down in those trusting eyes; That look to you, you realize; There’s a love that you can’t buy; Thank God for kids…” and not melt? There’s just something about this album that brings Christmas to our family. We ALWAYS listen to it on Christmas eve (there’s a song for that, too!!)
. It’s the musical version of a Christmas Carol and it’s just bright and cheery and perfect for decorating the tree with! And we canNOT live without Alastair Sim, the original Black and White version of 
. His pure joy when he wakes up on Christmas morning cannot be beat…even by the drool-worthy Patrick Stewart. 
. The linked version is the one she read. The pictures were so magical to me. The way she read it brought life to the pages and made me so eager for Santa’s arrival. I can still remember the giddy joy of clamoring into bed, me on one side of her, my brother on the other. 