Lots of playing

She fell asleep like this during tummy time.

She just got real quiet and I looked down and she was sleeping.

Kisses for mommy

Playing on her play mat

She will stay in the bumbo seat for about 10 min now.

Playing in the sun.

Mark was playing with his camera, but I got snuggles.

I see Mark all in her face in this picture. Had to share.

This was a great week. Mallory seems to be settling into a "sort of" routine and has developed a pretty predictable personality for the time being. There is a LOT less crying these days which is great news for Mark and I and has done wonders for our sanity. We finally feel like maybe we can do this. Ha! She is best in the morning and is full of smiles and energy. She usually plays on her play mat for about 10 minutes while I get my coffee and breakfast in. Then there is tummy time, sometimes outside time, and lots of smiles (which make our whole day). We have even heard what Mark calls her "first baby sound" when she is playing and really gets excited. We have smiles off and on through out the day but we get the most in the morning. She is still only getting up 1 time in the middle of the night to eat and that has moved somewhere between 3:30 and 4 pretty consistently. If we get another hour it will be all through the night. Go Mallory! At night she eats around 6 or 6:30 and usually takes a little cat nap of about 30 -45 min before bath time. Then Mark gives her a bottle around 9 and she goes right to sleep. We are even pretty much done with rocking at night and during naps. Not completely, but if we are at home pretty much. She is becoming such a good little sleeper. During the evening 1 of us gets to make dinner while the other plays with her and she is content. So we are back to eating real food again. We went through a phase where it was take out, sandwiches or whatever was available that we could shove in our face quickly. Not any more! We aren't eating together all the time but 1 of us eats while the other plays and then we swap. Sometimes she naps at the perfect time and we get dinner together.
Last week we ran lots of errands, we had lunch with Tiff, Hailey, and Nana at a "Tea Room." She was awake the whole time until the end when we had to hold her with the paci. Mallory and I went to visit my office and all the ladies loved on her. She even handed out a couple of smiles. We had lunch with a friend of mine from work and her little man, Cash, who was born 2 weeks after Mallory. They both took naps while we had lunch. Saturday we had a great family day. We hung out around the house and then we went to Bracken, a little town down the road, so that Mark could play with his camera. They have lots of old buildings and stuff he could take pictures of. Then we all went to dinner. The munchkin was great she sat in her car seat and then eventually just fell asleep for a little nap. Sunday I got to have some adult time with my best friend Amber. She has a 5 month old and we have had very little time, if any, to chat and hang out since babies were born. So Mark watched Mallory and I got to have lunch and shopping with her. No babies or hubbies. I came home to find Mark had done better than I do at that time of day. I usually have a hard time getting her to really go down for a nap and she played with him and then went right down for a good nap. Daddy had the magic touch! We are truly enjoying every minute with her. This week should be another good week as we get ready to go see Mallory's Mia and Paddy. We cant wait for them to see all that is her cute little personality.

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!