Mama Called the Doctor, and the Doctor Said...

We hauled our brood back to UCSF yesterday afternoon for a check-up with Molly's surgeon, who confirmed what we already knew... her lip is healing perfectly! Molly showed off her happy little personality, and charmed her doctor once again, "no-no's" and all.

Uncle, Uncle!

We may have bragged in the past about our ace-in-the-hole Disneyland companion, Uncle Kyle. We thought there was no better way to "do" Disneyland than with a bachelor uncle with endless energy.

Well, we retract that statement, because travelling with TWO bachelor uncles is even better!

We squeezed in a trip to Disneyland two weeks ago, after flying into Orange County, and Uncle Mike took the train up from San Diego to join us, along with Uncle Kyle. We explored California Adventure for the first time, and Clara was more than happy to pose with the giant "C" at the entrance.

We caught glimpses of our favorite Pixar characters -- Woody, Buzz, Lightening McQueen, Mr. Incredible, and Dash -- and enjoyed the short ride lines (thanks to an overcast day).

The biggest hit of the day, though, was a faux wilderness recreational area that featured rope bridges and zip lines. 

Both Joey and Clara caught a ride while we trekked around the park.

The tuckered-out duo crashed almost as soon as we got in the car to return home. Thanks to a pair of awesome uncles for a fun day!

New Smiles and New Resemblances

Molly May is trying out her new smile often, and as she heads into week two of her recovery, she's almost completely back to her sweet, mellow self.

She's our bathing beauty once more... (Day 7 of her recovery)

With her arms in "no-no's" almost all of the time, she's testing out her other appendages instead (Day 8 of her recovery).

Here she is today, on a much-needed break from arm restraints, loving tummy time (Day 11 of her recovery).

And finally, I keep seeing glimpses of cousin Bridget in Molly, but never more than in this picture!

Humble Much?

Sometimes keeping a blog up to date can make you feel like a braggart, so today, I'll let Joey do the gloating.

While we were in the hospital with Molly, Mop taught him to ride his bike without training wheels -- a feat he had been trying to master for at least two weeks, ever since he met our newest neighbors, three little boys up the street. Ages three, five and seven, they're approaching the status of gods in our house, largely because they're boys and they ride bikes and four-wheelers.

He had a lot of false starts and crash landings on our watch, but on Friday, he mustered up enough determination, bravado and balance to start coasting... and he hasn't stopped since. He's out pedalling every chance he gets, and almost every neighbor has gone out of their way to tell him what a great job he's been doing. He accepted most of these compliments in stride, but the latest drive-by props from our neighbor Chuck sent him over the edge.

"Everybody tells me what a good job I'm doing," he told Mop after Chuck drove on. "That's because I'm the best in the world."

Our World Champion has been adding a new trick to his repertoire every day, including Figure 8, Ramps, No Feet, No Fingers, One Hand, and, somewhat alarmingly, No Eyes.

Here's Game Face Joey showing off his skillz.

I can't believe it's been over a year since he started riding the bike with training wheels! Here's a look back at our little man at three years, 4 months.

And finally, live video of our little biker showing off one more trick: Thumbs Up!

Healing, Day by Day

Blogging has taken a back seat this week to tending to Molly May -- and her two older siblings who are still on a sugar high from Halloween!

Overall, we can't believe what an easy recovery she's had, and we're so thankful that her biggest frustrations seem to be leftover gas from the anesthesia, and her everlasting quest for her thumb. We removed the metal guard covering her lip on Tuesday, and that seemed to make her much more comfortable and happy, but the day that those arm restraints can be tossed will be a happy one in this house! In the meantime, sleeping without access to that thumb has been challenging. Our mellow, happy patient by day has been turning into an inconsolable, enraged clone of Baby Joey by night.

Thankfully, Mop was on hand to help out during the first six days of her recovery, giving us free hands to document her progress so far!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5



Day 6

A Super Halloween

This year, our Superman and Super Girl joined forces with their little Super Baby -- who wasn't quite up for trick-or-treating or costumes -- for a Super Halloween, complete with candy, new toys, door-to-door hijinks, and birthday cake for Daddy!!

Cousins Megan, Bridget, Annie and Tessa joined the super hero ranks, too, and for the third year in a row, the whole troupe got to celebrate with Mop!

Happy Halloween!

Trooper

We're thrilled to update that Molly May sailed through surgery, and is wowing her doctors and nurses with her recovery.

Her surgery was delayed almost three hours, which means she had to fast from 6:30 a.m. until they wheeled her into the operating room at 3 p.m. I don't know of very many babies who would be as content as she was... Here she is making do with her fingers and her binky, sometimes at the same time!
















Our sweet little trooper tried to smile as she was coming out of anesthesia, started nursing immediately ("better than Tylenol," according to her surgeon), and has been busy sleeping, gazing around her hospital room, and playing with her toes ever since.

She's had some brief moments of frustration when she attempts to put her thumb in her mouth, and can't because of the arm braces she's wearing. Instead of crying, though, she stares intently at that thumb - in the hitchhiker position, ready for action - as if she might will it closer to her lips.

I think she senses that things could be much, much worse, since we're sharing a room in the hospital with a brave little 8-month old who is waiting for a liver transplant and has been in this hospital for almost half her life.

It may take a few days for us to get used to Molly's new smile, and we'll be sure to debut it here. In the meantime, here she is, sleeping as soundly as a little angel.




Thanks again for all the well wishes, and we're looking forward to being home this afternoon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Brand-New Smile

After a week of strolling and sightseeing her way around the nation's capitol with Mommy and Daddy - who were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary!! - Molly checked into UCSF this morning for her lip repair.

Here she is, resting up in the Bjorn and enjoying her binky for a few more hours, blissfully unaware that she hasn't eaten since 6 a.m., and that she's about to get a brand-new smile!




Thanks to all who are keeping her in their thoughts and prayers

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pumpkin Time!

We ventured out to Clayton on Wednesday for some pumpkin picking fun. We started out as a mellow little foursome -- I even managed my coffee along with all three kids! -- but the trip quickly veered into the category of "Things Not to Do When Flying Solo with Kids" when a couple of rowdy busloads of kindergartners arrived on the scene. Throw in a seriously elaborate hay maze, a seriously uncooperative pumpkin wheelbarrow, and a seriously bad Port-a-Potty situation, and you have the complete picture.

Here's the last I saw of Joey before he disappeared into the bowels of the hay maze -- not to resurface for at least a half hour.

The kids succeeded in getting beans into every crevice of their bodies, which made our Port-a-Potty adventure even more fun!

Pumpkin hunting was a crowd-pleaser!

Taking pictures of three kids while flying solo might have been the most challenging part of the day!

Luckily, they all do seem to like each other, which makes it all worthwhile!

As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Clara summed up the day with a contented sigh and these wise words:

"It's a beautiful day to be awake, Mommy!"