It was a sad day. Mallory received her 4-month shots today. When the doctor walked in, I said, “I told her she was getting shots, right in her leg.” He looked at me mockingly and said, “We call them vaccines in front of the children.” I said, “Okay, then. . . you’re getting vaccines. . . right in the leg.” He laughed and said, “I guess anything ‘right in your leg’ is bad.” I love a doctor with a sense of humor. This time was worse than last time. Last time, she cried a little and got over it. This time, she screamed. . . and screamed. . . and screamed. I eventually just had to suck it up, put her clothes back on her and put her in the carrier. We couldn’t hang out in the exam room all day. Plus it was really hot in there…I suppose they do that for all the little naked babies.
So we have some good news and some bad news. You don’t get a choice; I’ll start with the bad. She has had a runny nose for about 3 weeks now. That’s a long time for a cold. We need to be more diligent about washing our hands, I guess (someone tell that to the little baby boy that held her hand the other day during a stroller ride at daycare. . . not even 4 months old and she has a boyfriend!). Apparently, she has some fluid behind her right ear. The doctor said that it could be the start of an ear infection or the end of one (that may explain the really bad night she had last week. . . on Johnathan’s shift, I might add). We have to watch her for the next couple of days to see if she’s a little more irritable than normal (how can you tell??).
The good news is that she’s growing like a weed. She is now 12 lbs. 5.44 oz. That keeps her around the 25th percentile. And she is 24 inches long. She is officially around the 25th percentile (probably about 35th). But in head circumference (which shows brain growth), she jumped from the 25th percentile to the 50th percentile! Sing it with me now. . . “Mallory got a big ole head, oh yeah!”. Goodness! You would think the child looked like a one-ended Q-tip. But she looks perfectly normal (you’ve seen pictures, right?). Anyway, I thought it was funny.
She has found her hands. I noticed this yesterday morning when I was feeding her (I was so excited that I almost called my mom but it was 6:30 am. . . way too early for her on a weekend). She was trying so hard to focus on them that her eyes were crossed. Too funny. And she’s trying to hold her bottle. (It’s the little things.) I’m really enjoying watching her learn new stuff. She will follow us around the room with her eyes and head now. Today, when I left her with the nurse to go blow my nose, she was straining trying to watch me (yeah, that was cool). Johnathan put her exercise saucer together. She was in it the other day and Cole walked by. She looked him like, “Hey! When did we get a dog??” Pretty cute.
We get to try spoon feeding tonight! Yay! I’m so excited! I’m sure that it’s going to be very messy and very unproductive, but I’m dying to try it. We’ll take pictures and video so be on the lookout.
The doctor was surprised by one thing today. Usually, babies get stranger anxiety around 6 months. Well, Mallory is already exhibiting signs of that. I was holding her, and he started using a stethoscope to listen to her chest. She was looking at him and got fussy, so he put his hand in front of his face. She calmed down. She did the same thing when he laid her down to examine her (I wasn’t where she could see me like I was with the nurse). When he was done, he picked her up and kind of swirled her around the room until she saw me. Then, she got his huge smile on her face. He told me it was because I was a face she recognized. He said, “She’s smart”. . . like there was any doubt.
So hand/eye coordination is good. . . she’s already showing signs of intelligence. . . now, if she would just roll over. . . but her motto is “Tummy time sucks!”

I don’t really have time to blog right now…sorry. I spent my spare time uploading new pictures (time well spent). I’ll write something next week after her 4 month doctor visit. Until then, enjoy the pics and videos!

I just have to brag on my sweet baby. ;) She went down at the normal time last night and slept until almost 5 am. I had to wake her to feed her. And it was MY night! Can you believe?! We’ll cross our fingers and pray that it continues. It’s probably because she only took 3 little capnaps yesterday. I spoke to the director at her daycare. She said that it usually take 7-10 days for babies to adjust. That made me feel so much better. My baby is normal…how did that happen?
Johnathan is going to pick her up today for the first time. I told the girl that she would actually get to meet the parent that Mallory looks like. She said, “I was wondering where all that came from.” Great. People are going to think I adopted her…not that it’s a bad thing. ;)

I’m not quite sure why everyone thought I would have an emotional meltdown over leaving my baby in daycare. I knew that it was going to happen even before I got pregnant. It’s a fact of life (well, my life anyway). Am I sad? A little. Would I rather be looking at her than at a computer screen? Sure. But the reality is that I like to work, and I can’t bring her with me. So for all of you concerned individuals (a.k.a. mom and dad), I’m fine. Sorry to disappoint you. ;) Actually, it was easier to drop her off than it was to come into the office. Does that make me a bad mom. . . or just a bad employee? ;)
How was her first day? Well, for starters, she slept until 4:00 am. Because it was my first day back, Johnathan took the night shift (figures that she would sleep so long on his watch, right?). Quick tangent: After feeding her, he just decided to stay up. He worked on his computer, made muffins and brought me coffee. It was great! All this from the man who usually says, “So how was Mallory’s night?” Yes, even on the nights that I eventually take her into the closet to muffle her screams so he can sleep. I have offered to let him take the night shift for good. . . he has yet to take me up on that. Okay, tangent over. When we left the house, she was smiling and happy. When I dropped her off, she was still okay. She didn’t even acknowledge that I was leaving (she’s 3 months and premature. . . what did I expect?). But I picked up a very different baby. She seemed happy to hear my voice, but she was lethargic. They said she had slept all day. Ms. Johnson said that she tried many times to wake her up, but Mallory was just not having it. Unfortunately, she has a cold. So now, I’m not sure if it’s the cold or the over-stimulation factor (there are a lot of babies within earshot of her room). She was still groggy at home. . . that is until I tried to help her breathe by cleaning out her nose. She lost her mind. Don’t get me wrong. She doesn’t like it when I clean out her nose, but she usually gets over it when I stop. Not this time. She yelled and cried for a good 30 minutes. We ate dinner and then she fell asleep on Johnathan’s chest until it was time to feed her and put her to bed. Long night.
After sleeping all day, of course she did not sleep well (yes, I had the night shift. . . just figures). We didn’t go to bed until almost midnight. Then, she had me up at 1:45, 2:30, 3:30 and finally 4:00 (now who’s lethargic?). I fed her and put her back down. Everything was fine. She slept until it was almost time to go (just like yesterday). We went upstairs to say bye to Kylie (who got up late. . . but that’s another story), and we left. We were headed up the interstate, about to get off on our exit, when I heard her start gagging. . . snot, I suppose. . . or “sinus drainage” if you want to be nice about it. I had no clue of what to do. Then, it happened. She puked. I was still okay at that point. She was upright enough that I knew she wouldn’t choke. Then, she took a deep breath through a very stopped-up nose and immediately “passed out”. I’m doing 60 on the interstate, and I now have an unresponsive infant in my backseat. I called her name a few times. . . nothing. So I reached back (still driving), grabbed her forehead and tried to wake her up. She cracked her eyes slightly so I at least knew she was alive. She didn’t open her eyes until Ms. Johnson laid her down on the cold changing table to change her clothes. Yes, it freaked me out a little. But she’s okay, and day 2 at school was better. She still came home tired and cranky. She’ll get use to those screaming kids eventually.
I have to share a story real quick. Dad and Kat were in town, and I was in the kitchen making blueberry dumplings with Kat. Johnathan came in and said, “Mallory wants you.” Translation: “Mallory has a dirty diaper, and I don’t want to change it.” It didn’t work, so he went to take care of business. A minute later, I heard, “Honey. . . I think I’m going to need help with this one.” Our daughter had exploded again, this time out of the back of her diaper. When I walked in, he said, “I don’t even know where to start.” (I do. . . get a grocery bag) It was one of those where you have to decide if you like the outfit enough to salvage it or just cut it off. It was given to us by a family friend; so thankfully, he was successful in removing it without getting it on the back of her head. Then I held her feet up in the air while he wiped. Teamwork at it’s best.

I’ll start by saying that I knew I was in trouble when I picked her up and her back was wet. . .
I had a “mommy moment” today. By that, I mean I had a situation that really ingrained in my brain that I am a mommy. . . and I need to get use to it. I have had a couple of these. For instance, last Friday I went to lunch with some friends. They were passing the baby around (after all, that’s what “the girls” do at lunch with a baby). When she got fussy, they handed her to me. All my life, I have handed off fussy babies. Now, the fussy baby was coming towards me. Of course, I instinctively sprang into action and went down the list of things that will make her stop crying (which she eventually did). But later, as I reflected on that moment, it made me smile. Today did not arouse the same nostalgic feeling.
I was on the phone with Johnathan as I walked past Mallory in her swing. I sniffed the air and said, “Ooff, you’re a stinking girl.” I had seen her straining and grunting a few minutes earlier so I figured there was a dirty diaper waiting for me. I planned to change her real quick before heading off to Lindsey’s. No biggie. I washed bottles and went to pick her up. At this point, I’ll refer you to my opening remark. I thought it was odd that her back was wet, and then it hit me. This is going to be bad. . . really bad. Oh, I had no idea how bad it could be. I have seen my husband open her diaper and actually jump up and down yelling “ewww” before. He has stood over her and yelled, “How did you get it there?? Poop is not supposed to be there!!” I think that diaper pales in comparison to the carnage I saw today.
I laid her down on the changing table and started talking to her. She smiled a big ole toothless grin. I actually think she was mocking me (can a 3-month-old do that??). I unsnapped the onesie and went to lift it up. That’s when I saw that it had oozed. . . really more like “exploded”. . . out of the top of her diaper. It was all over the inside of the onesie. It was also coming out the sides of the diaper around her legs. My first thought was how in the world I was going to get the onesie off without smearing it all over her face (it was hard, but I managed it). Normally, I use the diaper to wipe off most of it. Then, I use a couple of wipes, put them in the dirty diaper, wrap it up in a neat little ball and throw it in the diaper pail. This time, there was no way the diaper was going to be of any help. I got a grocery bag and just started throwing dirty wipes in it. But the problem is that a 3-month-old is kind of wiggly. She got it on her thumb once. . . on her foot once. I pretty much had to clean her from head to toe and then the changing table. I actually had to get a Q-tip to clean out the child’s belly button. It was so nasty.
You know, at some point, she is going to be a teenager, and I am going to look back on this moment. . . and use it to blackmail her. ;)

Amazingly enough, I don’t find a lot of time to write anymore. Sorry about that. Mallory really had us going for a couple of days. She slept through the night 2 nights in a row. But alas, that is no more. She has been getting me up around 2:00 or 3:00. Actually, last night it was more like 1:00. So today, I am keeping her awake more. Of course, that makes it a little louder around here because she’s ticked at me. But it’s for her own good (how many more times will I say that in my lifetime? ha).
I have taken this opportunity to update the web album (I made Johnathan tell me how). I added a lot and did some organization by month. The folder called “Mallory” is from birth to 1 month. The others are self-explanatory. Check them all out because I even added some to the older folders, including the “Pregnancy” one. I was even able to include a couple of videos (be patient with them loading). There are also new folders for a visit we just took to Maw’s and for Brady’s Birthday. Who is Brady, you ask? He is the son of our friends Rich and Leigh…also known as “Mallory’s future husband”. Yes, we believe in arranged marriages…of course, not until they’re 30. But she couldn’t marry into a better family. ;) There is even a picture of the two youngsters and their dads.
Other than that, life is pretty much the same. My days all run together. Mallory and I get out almost every day to at least run some errands. She loves riding in the magical car (it’s the cure for everything wrong with the world). The reflux seems to be better, although not gone completely. She still pukes on a regular basis, which is almost every day, even with the cereal…which, incidentally, has made her “diapers” very, very stinky. ugh Yes, I have called the pediatrician about the puking. No, they are not concerned. How could they be when she jumped 22 percentiles in less than two months? It’s just an annoying part of life at this point. She should out grow it sooner or later.
The day care is ready for her next week. Mommy, on the other hand, is not ready to take her. ;) Everyone asks how I feel about going back to work. I have mixed emotions, really. I am looking forward to adult interaction and to thinking about something other than when was the last time I fed the baby. I just wish I could take her with me. It saddens me deeply to know that from 8:00 to 5:30, Monday through Friday, someone else will feed her; someone else will comfort her; someone else may get to see her “firsts”. Of course, that’s another annoying part of life. Next week, I plan to drop her off a couple of days for a couple of hours at a time. Maybe I’ll get a massage or something relaxing…to take my mind of things. Or maybe I’ll actually use some of that wall paint we bought over a month ago (just for the record, we did paint the kitchen and Mallory’s room…yes, it’s pink and I’m fine with it).
Well, she has cried herself to sleep now so I’m going to make the most of it by eating lunch and taking a shower. What? It’s only 2:00 pm. I might even get all crazy and brush my teeth…oops, spoke too soon. I’m being paged.

Okay, I just had to brag for a minute. Yesterday was awful (no, that’s not the brag). Johnathan is in New York and Kylie is at band camp, so I was here all by myself. Not a big deal. I love having alone time. However, Mallory was not having a good day which translates into mommy not having a good day. Last night, I fed her around 8:00. Usually, she goes to bed after that feeding. Well, she was not interested in that at all. I rocked and patted that child for an hour with no luck. I turned off the tv and the lights to get rid of any stimulation. Nothing worked. She just stared at me. So finally, I decided to lay her down. Just a couple of weeks ago, she was able to put herself to sleep like that. That arrangement lasted about 10 minutes. I was on the phone with Johnathan when she started wailing again. It was so frustrating, I couldn’t even finish our conversation. I got off the phone in tears. I picked her up and went upstairs to watch tv…and the little snot feel asleep. I just held her until it was close to time to feed her again. I laid her down, and she lasted until around 11:00. I fed her again and this time she was asleep by the time we finished (I love it when that happens). But the good news is that she didn’t wake up until 5:30 this morning. Woo hoo! I feel almost human with that amount of sleep.
Apparently, free time is over. I’m being paged again. Guess what Johnathan gets to do when he gets home tonight. ;)

We have entered a new phase of baby life. It started weekend before last. Mallory is now officially a fussy baby. At first, I was convinced that someone stole our precious baby and replaced her with a screaming banshee. But once she falls asleep, I still see the same sweet face that I was accustomed to. Running the vacuum works. She gets quiet, but it really only lasts as long as the vacuum is on. Unfortunately, it’s not practical to leave it on 24/7. The dogs also come in handy sometimes. When she really gets going, they started howling and barking. It’s great fun for all (note sarcasm). When the dogs join in the action, Mallory stops crying and makes a face like “what the heck is that?” The good news is that the dogs stop on command so I just let them make noise to stop her crying (come to think of it, I should give them treats for that).
We went to the doctor on Monday. She now weighs 9 lbs. 11.5 oz. Yes, she is officially a chunk. She jumped from the third percentile to the 25th. Amazing. But the problem is,in addition to the near constant crying, she spits up a lot and has periodic episodes of projectile vomiting. By “periodic” I mean every other day or so. Her doctor proposed that, before we medicate, we try giving her a little bit of cereal in her bottle. He said that normally they don’t recommend starting them on cereal until 4 months, but sometimes the cereal helps keep the food down. And we’ll make an exception if it helps. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be helping yet. So they called in a prescription for Zantac today. It could take up to a week for it to be fully effective. I hope it helps. Watching my baby cry and not being able to do anything about it really stinks, not to mention that it’s really frustrating.
On a positive note, we had portraits taken last week. We had seen a lot of work from this woman and were impressed (that explains why we drove an hour to get there). Hopefully, we can post some of them on here. Most of the pictures were taken with Mallory in her birthday suit. We were worried about her peeing all over us, but that wasn’t the problem at all. She puked all over Johnathan a couple of times (I should mention that, one time, he was lying on his back and holding her over his head). And she pooped a little on the photographer. The only time she wet, I was holding her with a diaper underneath the business end. She got very worked up a couple of times and was hard to calm down, but we were able to get some really good shots.
Well, I have to cut this short. I’m being “paged”. No rest for the weary.

Ever have one of those nights? Well, I’m having one now. It’s even worse than the night I spilled a brand new bottle of Mylicon all over the bathroom floor. It is exactly 2:27 am. Why am I blogging? I’m “harvesting” food to nourish my child. . . so I have some free time.
Okay, so we’re doing this schedule thing, right? I got so excited because Mallory went for 4 hours two nights in a row (ah, fruits of our labor). WRONG! The next night was only 3 ½ hours. I could live with that. It was better than 3. Well, today, she decided that she was going to be hungry every 2 ½ hours rather than sticking to the 3-hour scheduled that I thought we had agreed on. We made it through the day, and I fed her at 11:00 pm (the last feeding of the night). That’s the magic one. The one that we are hoping gets really, really long. I fed her, put her down, pumped, washed bottles and took a shower. I finally got into bed around 12:50 thinking that, worst case scenario, I was going to get an hour and a half of sleep. WRONG! She didn’t quite make it until 1:30. My thought process kicked in, and I decided that if she was only going to last 2 ½ hours on the amount I was feeding her, I should just increase it a little. Sounds logical. The problem is getting her to eat it. She actually took in less than she normally does. The little stinker was wide awake. She would open her mouth and then make faces when I stuck the bottle in it. She spit up all over herself while I was changing her diaper so we had to have a “costume change” (no biggie. . . I’m use to that). Then, when I tried to lay her down, she protested. That wouldn’t be such a big deal except that I try very hard to keep her from waking Johnathan up since he has to go to work in the morning. I rocked and bounced and giggled and patted and rubbed and finally got her to lay down quietly just before starting this blog. So. . . as I said. . . here I sit with 30 minutes of sleep under my belt and no promise of anything longer than that once I get back into bed. My only solace is that when I go to deposit my “harvest” in the food bank (aka. our refrigerator) I can stop and have a piece of cake.
To add insult to injury, while I have been writing this, I had an issue and spilled milk all over my lap so I will have to change pajamas before I get into bed. Oh, but why go to bed?! Maybe I can make myself useful and verify that our new sprinkler system kicks on at 4:30 am. . . .unless I can’t get that stupid thing to be on a schedule either.

Well, it’s finally here. Mallory’s due date has arrived. Developmentally, from what I can gather in all of the books I’m reading, she seems to only be a couple of weeks behind (for a preemie, the professionals tell you to use the due date as the reference point rather than the day she was born). She is such a great baby. She’ll let you know when she’s unhappy, but for the most part, she is so quiet. We are completely blessed. However, I am still not getting a ton of sleep. She still eats every 3 hours. At first, we were feeding on demand only. I didn’t want to be tied down to a schedule. I have since seen the error of my ways. ;) I believe the concept is to keep the baby awake during the day with scheduled feedings so she doesn’t get her days and nights mixed up. We have only been doing this for about a week so I don’t have much to report. She did sleep for 4 hours Tuesday night (the only time we’re suppose to let her wake naturally) so hopefully that is a sign of things to come.
I have pretty much given up on nursing. It was entirely too frustrating, and she just wasn’t getting what she needed that way. Instead, I forfeit my sleep by pumping. That way she still gets the benefit. The fun part is trying to stay awake in the middle of the night. I needed things that I could do in the dark so I didn’t wake up Johnathan. So I downloaded solitaire on my cell phone. That got old. . . really quickly. Now, I have found mahjong and logic puzzles on the internet. Sometimes they work. . . sometimes they don’t. It’s hard to imagine that I can fall asleep hooked up to this contraption. . . but it happens (told you I’m tired). Yes, I could blog more, but these darn internet games are addicting. ;)
Cole and I started an exercise program yesterday. We did a walk/run around the neighborhood. Gotta start somewhere. He did great, and he really needs the exercise. Mallory is still too small right now for the jogger that Aunt Cindy bought for us, so she can’t go yet. I figure that by the time she’s ready, Cole will be used to it and all three of us can go. Won’t that be fun? Anyway, it made me feel good to get out and break a sweat.
It turns out that the Jeep actually was totaled. We kind of figured that would be the case. We made the decision that Kylie would buy her own car to replace it. She has a job now and is working really hard. Actually, we barely see her these days. But she and Johnathan have spent the last couple of days looking at cars. This should be a great lesson in responsibility. . . I’m certain she agrees. ;)