MKS on the MTA

Molly had her first ride on the subway today. Courtney and Grandmama decided to take Molly along on a trip to Target at the Atlantic Center (probably the worst Target in existence, by the way). She did well on the train, but I'm told that getting up and down the stairs was a bit harrowing... pacifiers, blankets, and other paraphernalia flying out... a dangerous lean... and generally slippery conditions. But they all made it back safely and loaded down with baby provisions.

*I know the posts have been coming less frequently the past couple weeks (for those of you that care)...   but honestly, she doesn't do that much. But I think her first smile is right around the corner... so expect lots of pictures then.

Molly Jolly Christmas

The first Christmas for our new family. Molly had no idea what was going on, but that didn't stop us from pretending like she did. To wit:

Looking at our tree.

In her Christmas outfit from Grammy.

And a couple more examples of the Christmas cheer we forced on our little blank slate:

Family portrait... Tabitha struggles to escape
and Molly struggles to comprehend.

kissed? attacked?

But, in truth, we all had a great day and feel incredibly blessed to have spent it with our daughter and her Grandmama. Warm Christmas wishes and love to all our friends and family.

One Month

Molly is one (calendar) month today and still going strong... especially in the crying department (we're working on it). My Mom, aka Grandmama, is visiting us until next weekend. She's cooking up a storm... making sure we're fattened up for a big batch of New Year's resolutions. We all took a stroll this afternoon... Molly wore her improvised Holiday outfit. Hope everyone has a pleasant Christmas Eve and a very Merry Christmas tomorrow!

Bonus nap pictures from this morning.

Sunday

The three of us took a walk this morning. We stopped at the bagel store to have breakfast, and just as we sat down she started to cry. We quickly realized we were, for the first time, "those people"... so we left and ate on foot... and I spilled a bottle of orange juice in my coat pocket.

And then we went home and watched her basically doing nothing...

... a cute nothing, but nothing just the same.

Firsts

We checked off a few more firsts since the last post...

First stroll.

First bath (in the tub).

First cousins.

Courtney's sister, Kathryn (yes, Molly is her middle-namesake), her husband Stacy, and their six-month old daughter, Evelyn, came up from Atlanta (excuse me, Stacy... Decatur) to visit us on Friday and returned this morning... everyone had a great time and we were sad to see them go. 

Back to Work

Went back to work today after two weeks at home with my girls... seeing this didn't make it any easier.

Taking a little nap after breakfast.

Fighting out of the pink corner...

These last few days we've discovered that Molly has some fight in her. Normal baby stuff, I'm sure... but it's still pretty intense.

She fights orthodox and prefers the peek-a-boo guard, as shown in this comparison with the great Floyd Patterson, one of the most well-known practitioners of the style.

And her parents? We'll quote Roberto Duran in

saying to our little Leonard, "No más, no más."

Growth Spurt

Molly seems to be going through her first growth spurt... she's wanting to eat constantly... and letting us know (in her way). A couple pictures from the eye of the storm.

War Eagle!

Family portrait watching the SEC Championship. Pulling for Auburn due to a mixture of family allegiances and a distaste for Spurrier.

Belly Button!

Molly's umbilical stump fell off today and now she has a belly button! A little rough and gristly, but well on it's way to unqualified cuteness.

Speaking of cuteness... this morning, Tabitha decided to join Molly in Courtney's lap for a snooze.

Grammy and Grandaddy go home

Courtney's mom, Sharon, returned to Atlanta today. She and Courtney's dad, Bill, have been in New York since Molly was born (Bill went home Monday), and have been a tremendous help and comfort... we can't thank them enough. 

Sleeping In

I got up this morning to catch up on some work and when I walked back to the bedroom...