Graduation

My dad bought Molly 5 canisters of the Gerber Graduates Puffs...At first, she didn't know what to do with them! Of course she put them to her mouth, but then did not have a clue, so she sort of "tongued" them until they dissolved! Hahaha! This was sooo funny to watch. I put a few out on her Bumbo tray and she went to town on them. She got mad, though, when I went to wipe her hands of the ones that had stuck to her skin! LOL. I even tried these! We are beginning with the Sweet Potato Puffs. The other 4 he bought are fruits, and since we are not doing fruits yet (except prunes here and there as needed), I chose to open the Sweet Potato Puffs first. They are the bomb diggedy! LOL. I taste EVERYTHING before I put it into Molly's mouth. All this week she's been eating Earth's Best Organic veggies twice a day, and I taste those, too. We love veggies at our house, so I am not ABOUT to make Sweet Molly eat anything we wouldn't put into our mouths! LOL.

Molly is now getting wayyyyy off her blanket with her crawling. Yes, folksies, she has discovered there is more to life than staying on the blanket! hahaha. I have to stop working to go and pluck her off the carpet and put her back onto the blanket. Five minutes later, she's halfway across the room nearest to me, and I have to repeat my actions! It's funny and exhausting at the same time. I am trying to instill INDEPENDENCE within her, so I am hoping that as she learns to cruise, then walk, that she is able to make her own decisions and becomes more entertainable with her toys and Baby Einstein videos, as I am BROKE and need some time to play CATCH UP!!! SEriously, it is bad for me right now, but I am loving Molly being here. I could not ask for more, and it's not her fault that I am where I am. Nobody's fault but my own, I suppose, but hey, that's a DIFFERENT blog! LOL.

I had an AWESOME Mother's Day. Todd's mom and my dad came over and we ate Beef Sliders, tabouli, deviled eggs, baked beans and my special brownies. We all had a good time, too, and I was relieved/surprised at the same time! Molly got TONS of attention, as my dad and Todd's mom were BOTH on the floor, engaging her and catering to her every need. What IS it with grandparents, anyway? I doubt my dad ever acted THAT way with me!!!! What gives? Are grandchildren just more special than our parents' OWN children????? When Todd's mom comes over, she just latches onto Molly and plays and holds her and talks to her and you can tell it really does her heart a lot of good. My dad, too, which I am pleased to see that he has a heart. LOL. Really, he has expressed a LOT of concern over hte past 6 months about my kid, and sometimes I am offended by his second-guessing me and Todd, but the last few months he has really taken a shine to her and gets down and plays iwth her and kisses her and really gets into telling hr allllll about her toys and about how pretty she is. I love to see it, although I ask: Was he this way with me? I am not so sure I wanna know the answer, though! But, he was a LOT younger when he and my mom had me, so I hafta remembr that people try and change and sometimes grandchildren are what it takes for a person to really and finally change for the better. What do you all think? When you're born into total dysfunction, is there anyhope to have an actual, loving home life and positive familial experience to give your own kids? Todd and I are certainly trying our best. We never let Molly out of our site aymore. She is like, attached to us. It's weird, but comforting in a way, because at least she will know stability that WE never knew growing up. Both Todd's and my childhoods were CRAZY and honestly I would not wish my worst enemy to have to endure either of our times growing up. But, alas, that is the way it was, and we have DEFINTELY learned from it what to do and what not to do with our own daughter. We just second-guess ourselves too much, is all. But that is because we have such a low opinion of ourselves. When you've been beaten down your whole life (at least during the developmental years) what else are you expected to believe? But we want DIFFERENTLY for our children. Molly is the absolute light of our lives. We are BOTH striving to forgive our parents for their misgivings, but it is a daily struggle, honestly.

I hope that Todd and I can graduate from feeling our parents' shortcomings to actually rejoicing in the fact that at least we are still alive, we have found each other and are trying to get past it all and make sure that our family isn't dysfunctional....Please, God bless us for trying.........