Molly is ONE

I have no no no idea how this happened.

My baby is ONE?!?!

I feel like I should be celebrating, but I swear this creeped up on me and if I blink I can still see exactly how she looked at the hospital.

Oh Molly. You cried a lot. And screeched. And you are LOUD. But we wouldn't trade you for anything. I'd keep you just like this forever, if I could. 

She really is such a fun, fun baby right now. First off, WALKING. My first baby to walk before a year old. She took steps at 10 months, multiple steps in a row at the beginning of 11 months, and is  toddling about at exactly one year old.

She folds her arms before anyone else at the dinner table. Or at bedtime. Or at church. This is one of my absolute favorite things. Her little tiny arms wrapped up inside each other as if she knows exactly what is going on.

Molly has a huge sense of humor. She knows just how to push her sibling's buttons and you can tell by her big triumphant smile when she gets just what she wants from them. She also has this low, adorable chuckle when she is proud of herself. I can't get over it.

Molly screeches. In the upper octaves. It's quite a skill, actually. When Ruth and Will are singing along in the van, she joins right in and she doesn't hold back!

She is the belle of the ball. Everyone in the family adores her. Ruth and Will can hardly stand to be near her without touching her, cuddling her, squishing her, and kissing her. We all rub her head when we pass by. We all ask for her open-mouthed kisses and everyone works hard to get her to wave, clap, and laugh.

There is just nothing sweeter than our little miss Molly Fay. We love you to bits and pieces. To accommodate the med school life, we took the party to campus to enjoy the couple of hours break that Sterling had. Besides the 98 degrees and 100% humidity--it was such a great time!

Cupcake with a candle! Yay!

She wouldn't look at the camera because she was too busy watching Ruth and Will be ecstatic.

 

Presents!

She loved it! She was so excited that she wasn't very interested in her next presents, oops. Haha!

I thought this would be awesome. Then I forgot batteries. But she liked it later that day!  

Balloons!

Sterling had some classmates walk by that stuck around to play with our kids for over an hour! They were so enchanted by Molly's walking and by our kids in general--so that was a lot of fun.

After playing in the heat all afternoon, we headed home and I took the kids for a quick swim in the pool. Definitely just what we needed. And Molly! She decided in the past few times we've gone that she is a mermaid and goes CRAZY in the water. Splashing, kicking, squealing, trying to jump out of my arms, it's hilarious! She thinks she can swim just like everyone else, haha. We need to figure out a floaty situation for that petite little thing, because I think it will be a LONG time before she fits a puddle jumper. She had a great time though, lucky birthday girl.

Chillaxin'. She ALWAYS sticks her one foot out like that. 

We got batteries! They thought it was the greatest toy ever.

 

Dancing to the music, haha.

I can't believe she's really one. She is the smartest, tiniest, greatest little person I know. Her laughs and her grins (most recently, this incredibly impish cheeser-smile) and her baby soft sweetness just keeps us falling in love with her over and over again. We love you to pieces, Molly! Happy first birthday!