Who's got the best co-worker? That's right, I do!

Not that I need an excuse to post cute pics of Mal, but I have to say, every Wednesday, I get truly blessed; she is the best co-worker ever! Who could complain about doing work with this cute face next to you.

Daddy is getting old!

Happy 30th Birthday Mike!

We spent Mike's birthday weekend in Ocean City, Maryland with his family. We left on Friday after I got home from work and to our surprise traffic was awesome! It was still late when we got there, so basically we just unpacked and went to bed; though Mallory decided she didn't want to sleep in the pack n' play, so she spent the night sleeping on Mommy.

Saturday we decided it was pool time. Mallory liked the water as long as it was just her feet. If she got any other part of her wet, she was not a happy camper. The water was pretty cold; even I was just sitting on the top step down into the pool. Overall, it was a nice day, though pretty hot. And poor little Mallory's face and elbows paid the price for that. No sunburn (since we were using SPF 60) but her ezcema flared like crazy!

We decided no more outside time for her for the rest of the long weekend. Mommy took full advantage and we snuggled, watched tennis, and Mommy finally got some down time to read while Mal napped. I think we used almost an entire tube of Aveeno lotion to try to get rid of the redness and by the time we left on Monday, there was some definite improvement. This week we are testing out "California Baby" cream. After only one day of use, we are almost ezcema free. This little jar might become my new best friend!

Daddy had a nice birthday and we know he will enjoy his presents! A giftcard for a massage from Mommy and "Daddy Day Care" DVD from Mal. Here's to many, many more birthdays to come!

Baby's First Fever

Last Tuesday I got a call mid-day from Mike, "I think Mal has a fever. She feels like she's burning up." He took her temperature while I was on the phone with him and sure enough, 100.4 degrees. I spoke with Dr. Hirsch and he said we could give her Tylenol or Motrin (though Motrin works better with fevers) and if it doesn't go down within 24 hours to bring her in. It was close to the end of the work day, so I wrapped up my stuff and booked it out of there. Mommy just had to get home to the little princess. Of course it had to be the day I was working in Virginia, so I had at least an hour and a half long drive ahead of me.

I finally got home and surprisingly little miss wasn't fussy or crying, just tired. So we snuggled until it was her bedtime. It took about two days, but the fever was completely gone. Then her nose got all stuffy and yesterday she was just so out of sorts, screaming and crying, which is totally not like her at all, I decided we should take her to see Dr. Hirsch just to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or anything. She got checked out and everything is just fine. He said she had a little fluid around her eardrum which is normal when having the congestion, but no infection. Phew!! We made it through our first bout of baby sickness just fine (with just a small bit of worrying).

Vegetables and Father's Day

On Saturday (Mal's 5 month bday!) we made the big step and started giving Mallory vegatables. Mike wanted to start with sweet potatoes, but I thought she might like them toooo much and not want to eat anything else, so we started with carrots. She had three days of carrots and she seemed to like them more and more each time she ate them (but overall, I don't think she was impressed). Today we gave her squash, and boy oh boy, she likes squash! I had been giving her about a half a tub of the food since we are just testing out each type, but ended up giving her the whole thing because she just wasn't satisfied with half.

And now, I know exactly why we got 40+ bibs at our baby showers! Talk about yuck!

On another note, we had a very nice 1st Father's Day with Mike! We slept in, had a nice lunch with Mike's family and overall just had a nice fun day together. I tried to coax Mal into saying "dada" instead of the "baba" she has been saying hoping to make Mike's day, but she just kept looking at me like I was crazy. Hopefully by next year, I can get "I love you daddy" out of her. Here's a cute pic of them from earlier today.

First trip to the beach

I envy Mike and his flexible work schedule! On Thursday he took Mallory on his first solo trip (for two days) to Ocean City, Maryland. I was a little nervous because I haven't spent a night apart from her yet. But from all the pictures he sent, it definitely seems like they had a wonderful time and Mallory LOVES being in the water.

And though I anxiously awaited their return home this afternoon, I have to admit, it was nice to have a few free nights to have dinner with friends...and sleeping in this morning was heavenly!

We are now scooting...backwards

Wednesday was my day to work from home this week and Peanut was her usual wonderful, well behaved self all day, so that I could get my work done and we could play all afternoon and evening until bedtime.



During the day, I did find that she had learned a new trick, scooting...though she hasn't quite mastered the art of going the right direction (She started out completely inside her play pen with her head waaaay up by the orange monkey hanging off the side).

Wonder how much longer till we start crawling in the right direction.

Poop News and Feeling Blessed

Not too much new on the homefront with Miss Mallory, but I about fell off my chair at work when I got this txt from Mike on Wednesday.

I always check up on her during the day and one of my standard questions is did she poop? I know, but I am always worried that she is gonna get constipated. Well she certainly hasn't been having this problem as of late. One day last week, she had a huge blowout and when Mike went to change her, she got her feet in it and since she is a little wiggle worm, the changing table was covered...and yesterday...when he went to change her...these are Mike's exact words...the poop literally shot out of the side of the diaper. It got all over his shirt, which he subsequently threw out. I did offer to wash the shirt, but it was a no go.

And on a more serious note, after reading about all of the issues some of the babies (and mommies and daddies too) on my birth board are going through, especially little Elliana, I feel so extremely lucky and blessed to have a happy, healthy baby! I will never, ever again complain or question why we have to deal with eczema. Ezcema is absolutely NOTHING compared to microcephaly, pachygyria and polymicrogyria. Please keep Elliana and her family in your prayers as she continues to go through tests to determine how severe her problems are. Elliana, I believe you can fly! Stay strong little one!