$15 million in an unmarked bag...

...and the girl lives. You got 24 hours.

Tight spot...

My, my, my Molly.

Staying up late to talk about the child who will seriously make me pay for this in the morning? Bad idea.
Oh Molly...she's like no kid I've ever met. She's absolutely marching to the beat of her own drum, 24 hours a day. She occasionally humors us with a little cooperation, but really has little use for us.
Molly is now 20 months old, and is about as big as a 12 month old. Who knows why...just a little thing.
Let's see...her favorite foods right now are grapes, dry cereal and fruit snacks. That's about all she'll eat, so we roll with it. She's learning to use her utensils better and loves to chatter about her "stuff" at dinner. Once she's finished, she climbs on top of the table, spins around and hops off the other side. We've tried to stop it and failed miserably. Now we just roll with it.
Molly has a deep little voice and yells everything. She also repeats whatever she's saying at least 9 times. She's not a big talker. She sort of mutters like an old lady instead. Mostly under her breath, unless she's yelling. It's about 50/50 these days. Her newest words/phrases are:
Knock knock....hahahahaha!! Yeah, "knock knock" is always followed with exaggerated laughter - a comedienne, she is not.
Peekaboo
Very long sentence about babies, mostly unintelligible.
Milkjuice - short for "I'm thirsty and I'll take anything."
Bad baby
WHOA! - it's cute everytime.

Let's see...she's learning to run, which is mostly a complete disaster. She's tripping several times a day and looks like the result of a Larry/Curly/Moe accident. She recently had her first haircut and she just looks more like an imp. I was going for sophisticated and almost-two, but Mo's face will probably always look like a garden gnome to me. Up to no good!
She's still our champion sleeper, always thrilled to go to bed at 7 on the dot, yelling for me exactly 13 hours later, 365 days a year. She never makes a noise, just perfectly content in her solitude, gearing up for another day of destruction.
Molly absolutely always wear one item of clothing on her right foot. Be it a sock, a sleeper, a mitten, a shoe, a bracelet, a puppet or a motorcycle glove, Molly's right foot is always well-cared-for.
Even in the light of Molly's very shocking nature, she's always very obedient and never really challenges us. When Molly gets into something, she's stealthy and completely silent. If she IS caught, she's always willing to stop, repair the damage and come in for a cuddle. If she's in trouble, it's your own fault for assuming she can stay out of trouble for 2.5 minutes. (She can't.) I would say she gets caught about 4 times out of 10. I usually just find evidence of something amiss much later.
Molly loves to read and shows her literary passion by yelling, "BOOK!" and hurling it at your head. Luckily, I'm a great book catcher after a couple of near misses. Molly will sit in a lap for hours, searching pictures and laughing at stories. Her imagination is already quite a force!
Every single day with Molly is different, chaotic, surprising, damaging, physically painful and incredibly good for the soul. She's just about the most interesting 2 foot tall person I've ever seen. Wouldn't trade my naughty little gnome for any girl in the world!

Poor Lucy...

Tonight, it sucks to be Lucy. She has never been a good sleeper. Well, I should say, she has always been a terrible sleeper. She sleeps through the night approximately once every two weeks. It's miserable. We never know how the night will go; she usually balks at sleep and howls and cries until she passes out. Tummy aches, monsters, funny smells, potty runs, noises, you name it. Then she falls asleep. An hour later.
2am. She wakes and needs any number of items. She almost always ends up in our bed where she begs to get up for the day. Every hour or two until 7am.
We're exhausted, we're frustrated, we're lost. Lucy is a sensitive, sweet, funny, obedient kid. We have no issues with her. Until the sun goes down. I don't know what you do with a 3.5 year old - is it too old to cry it out? The cajoling, threats, begging and stern voice isn't all that effective, either.
Yes, a sun/moon wakeup clock is a great idea, for a kid who simply gets up to early. But Lucy is a mess from 7 to 7. He naps are sporadic and she tries to make up for a bad night during the day, but she just uses the naps to keep herself going with the bedtime circus even later. Is it a tough love issue, here? We definitely expect more from them and require good behavior and excellent manners, but the night issues with my otherwise perfect girl just leaves me dumbfounded. Help.

Why Vote?

It does seem like voting is pointless at times, I know. But if we stop voting and allow others to make decisions for us, we throw our rights in the faces of so many people who yearn for the right to cast their own ballot. By not voting, we tell every man and woman with a black-inked finger, voting for the first time, that risking your life for freedom is silly.

Regardless of the outcome, we vote because we're a free people who fought for centuries to earn this right.

Here's a great piece by Peter Johnson on why you should vote - if ever there were a day to feel American, November 2nd is it.