We are growing up.

Smiling

Tummy time.

Lots of smiles!

Looking at Daddy.

She likes to stick her tonge in and out to "taste the air"

Happy 60th Pop Pop

Hailey pulling Mallory in her cart.

Relaxing as Hailey pulls her around

We have had a great week! Mallory is growing up and we are starting to see changes in her little personality. She is settling into a small routine. During the day she eats about every 3-4 hours and after she eats she is awake for about an hour to an hour and half. During this time she plays on her play mat, has tummy time, and even hands out several smiles when you talk to her. Then she goes down for a nap of about 1-2 hours depending on how long she stayed up. Then at night she gets a bottle from daddy about 8:30-9:30 and then goes to bed and it is about 6 hours before her next feeding. We usually have to feed her about 3-4 AM and she goes right back down for another 3 -4 hours. Such a good little night time sleeper we have. So we have officially narrowed it down to 1 feeding in the middle of the night. Wooo Whooo! Mark and I have also learned her cues and can keep the crying to a minimum now. She has also decided to use the pacifier more regularly which has been very helpful, especially in the evenings. One of us will fix dinner and the other will hold her with the pacifier until it is bath time. Love that! Friday we made another big advancement. We put her down for the night in her crib. I was completely paranoid that I would spend all night watching the monitor trying to figure out when she was ready to get up, but surprisingly I didn't. We put her down, she went her new usual 6 hours, I fed her and put her right back down in her crib (by the way...love the rocker for feeding, both Mark and I agree it is perfect) and she didn't get up until 7:30 Sat morning. Mark and I had a beer and sat outside together enjoying each others company on the patio for the first time in almost 2 months! We have also started putting her down and not rocking her to sleep at night ( and for some naps) She will usually fuss for about 15 minutes and then goes right to sleep. So many things changing for her who knows where next week will lead her.
We also had my dad's 60th birthday party this week. We all had fun and all of my parents friends loved meeting and holding Mallory. She was all about it too. She stayed awake between an entire feeding period just looking around at everyone. He little eyes would get heavy and then pop back open as if she didn't want to miss anything. Hailey was also there and a friend taught her how to pull people around in her little cart. So on Sunday she decided she needed to pull "Mowaree" around in the cart. She loved pulling her little cousin (who she tells "love you" to all the time) in her little cart. It was adorable. She really does love Mallory and wants to see her and hug her all the time. I love that little nugget!

6 weeks old can you believe it!

Playing on the play mat

The magic swing

Getting a big kiss from Bella

Naked outside time makes 100 degree heat better.

The nugget holding Mallory

The words of Hailey "Awww Mallory"

So sweet.

Still working on the bumbo seat. She only makes it 2 min.

She is going to have crystal blue eyes.

Bella chillin on her new bed.

We have used this position many times now. She loves it!

Well we have reached the six week point. We had a pretty good week. My parents went out of town for the week for a diving meet so we doggy-sat Maggie. She did great with Mallory although when we pace Mallory around she follows trying to figure out what is wrong. It was funny. Travis came to visit and helped me through one of Mallory's rough naps. He is such a great uncle. So calm and loving to his little girls. She is following everything with her eyes and loves to watch moving things. So I have been trying to find a mobile to go out the pak-n-play or on the crib. The pak-n-play may be a lost cause because it has to snap onto the outside and they dont sell them separate from the package. I did find this really neat mobile and brought it home and the wood on the crib is too wide on top so it wouldnt fit on the crib. So it had to go back. Still looking because I know she would love it. We also went over to my sisters for Mexican food and beers and a lot of adult conversation which was so nice and well needed. Hailey got to hold Mallory for the first time. She was so gentle with her (almost a little too gentle Mallory kept slipping down in her lap) and loving. When Mallory started to cry she stated "Awww Mallory" and bent down to kiss her for comfort. Love that little girl! Plus Tiff broke out her swing and we swaddled her and put her in the swing. She fell asleep and slept in that swing for at least an hour and half. And we only woke her up to put her in the car seat and bring her home. Good strides in the sleeping category this week. Every night except 2 Mallory slept for 5-6 hours from the last nighttime feeding. Only 1 middle of the night feeding 5 out of 7 days. Lets hope this continues in that direction. :) She still really loves it outside. I think because it has so many things to look at and hear. It has been so hot here that on Sat. we sat outside and she was so content we didn't want to take her in so we stripped her down to her diaper to keep her cool so we could stay outside a little longer. Bella also got a treat this week. She now has a therapeutic memory foam bed for her arthritic legs! She loves it! Thanks Ric, she sends a big slobbery kiss your way. All in all we had a pretty good week. 4 out of 7 evenings (over 50%) were pretty good, that means limited to little crying/screaming, so we'll take it. Here's hoping this week will be 5 out of 7 :)