Crafty

We've been trying to work on crawling a lot lately, and so far Mali can get from a sitting position to her tummy. But since she still doesn't love tummy time usually she just gets frustrated and rolls over onto her back and giggles. In the meantime, Christmas has made me really crafty. I've made a bunch of these square/ears hats, several burlap door hangers, a stocking for Mali, a onesie for Mali, and I figured out an awesome way to display our Christmas cards this year. Just festive yarn wrapped around a blank canvas a bunch of times. Cute, huh?

Cuteness

Yesterday was Mali's 8-month birthday. It's so hard to believe! She's beginning to think about scooting or crawling, though she's still not super happy about being on her tummy to practice, and I'm okay with having her in one place for a little while longer. It's also starting to get a bit chilly here, and I had to share her cute mittens and cozy boots. She has a new hat I knitted, which, if I do say so myself, really adorable. I'll try to get a good picture of that this weekend to share, because not on her head it isn't nearly as fun.

Spooky

Things I learned about the baby this week:

1. Halloween is full of cute. It was a lot of work, but on the upside, I don't think she minded her costume at all.

2. Mali likes pickles. I eat a lot of sour things myself, so maybe that's why? She sucked on the end of a pickle my mom gave her until almost nothing was left. She didn't even make a face.

3. My baby thinks I'm funny. This is quite an accomplishment, since I don't normally consider myself a comedienne. James is the funny one. But Mali laughs at everything. She's so sweet. Big chuckles until I think she's going to lose her breath. We like to laugh in our house.

Punkin'

A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkinpatch with my brother's family and had a blast. I wrote more about it for Freshfully.com, my new gig, but here are some pictures of all the fun we had :) I cannot wait to show you Mali's Halloween costume next week either!

Sitting Pretty

The sitting up unassisted is coming along! I still feel like I need to prop pillows around her or hover in order to be ready to catch her, but she can definitely sit on her own for a minute or more if she doesn't get too excited and start moving/wobbling around.

The adorable headband is courtesy of my friend Rebecca at hugsandkissesdesigns.etsy.com. Lots of fun baby stuff over there.

We're anxiously awaiting the birth of Mali's friend Ruby. I'm hoping she isn't giving her momma too hard a time!

Bussssssy

My original goal was to post here once a week, but luckily things have been super busy lately, so I'm finding it hard to stick to that goal. On the good news front, I'm going to be a professional blogger for Freshfully.com, a new website promoting local, healthy food, connecting farmers with consumers and showcasing local restaurants and markets. So far I've interviewed a turkey farmer and purchased organic apples for making baby food, and it's been a lot of fun. The website launches officially in November, so I'll keep you posted.

Baby food making is going great. Mali still loves her sweet potatoes, but she also really likes peas. We get to try the apples tomorrow, so I hope she likes them too. The biggest problem with baby food is the stains. She now spits up orange, drools orange, and mushes her face and hands into her clothing to cover them in orange. I think I need to buy some stock in Oxiclean.

Mali's getting close to sitting up on her own. She can go for a few seconds at a time, but then the wobbles set in. Also, in one day this week she learned to say Ba, Ma, and Da! I don't think she's associating those sounds with us yet, but the fact she can make them means we're getting closer!

Good Eats

Mali's 6-month checkup went really well for the most part. She's in the 75th percentile for height and head circumference and hitting most of the markers she's supposed to be development-wise. The only issue might be her weight. She eats great and is a happy baby, but for some reason she's not getting chubby -- she's down from the 12th percentile to the 10th. Dr. Habeeb wasn't super concerned yet, but wants to keep an eye on her weight over the next month as she starts real food. Maybe she'll just be one of the lucky tall and skinny people?

But, like I said, she's a good eater, and she seems to be loving real food. We started her on sweet potatoes Monday. About a month ago I'd bought two tiny jars of baby food from Publix because they were on sale, so we started with that. And I'd always said that if I was home I was going to try to make my own baby food, so after a little research on the internet yesterday I went out and bought two sweet potatoes, a bag of carrots, and two ice cube trays. That's it. No expensive baby blender or storage equipment necessary. All I had to do was roast the sweet potatoes, scoop out the flesh, and puree them in the blender with a little bit of water. James scooped the puree into the ice cube tray, wrapped it in plastic wrap and popped it in the freezer. Now we've got individual servings ready to defrost. We'll keep them in a ziploc so the trays can be reused. Since carrots are next on the list we went ahead and peeled, chopped, and steamed the carrots before pureeing them and giving them the ice cube treatment. I'd say we spent about 8 bucks for over 20 meals.

So Mali's breakfast today was homemade sweet potatoes. I think she liked them :)

Fall Rush

August (and September so far) have been slightly more crazy than usual around here. We had family in to visit, hosted and helped host two baby showers, had friends in to visit, and, most importantly, attended Sidewalk and Artwalk, two of our favorite Birmingham events. Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival is where James and I met, and we both volunteer every year (him since the beginning), so it's a major event for us. This year was a little trickier, as you can imagine, since we had to figure out how to manage our former rock (film) star lifestyles with a baby in tow.

Mali came with us to the opening night reception and had a blast, I think. She loves to be carried around in her sling, so we walked her, fed her, and even let her nap while we met filmmakers and enjoyed the rooftop sunset view of the Alabama theater. My mom babysat while we saw the opening night film the next night, and Mali came with me to see our friend Heidi's film on Saturday morning. Things were a little rougher from there. I spent the rest of Saturday at home with her while James worked (he's pretty much owned by the festival the entire weekend), and then I dropped her off at mom's that afternoon for her first night away from home. I cried when I dropped her off. I tried not to cry when I got downtown. And I really, really cried when I got home from that night's after party and she wasn't there. It didn't help that James had elected to stay on for a bit, so I was home entirely alone, and even though if she had been here she definitely would have been asleep, I still missed her. Part of the problem was that attending the festival gave me a weird identity crisis. Who am I now anyways? I can't be my former carefree self, staying up late just for fun and not seeing home for more than a few hours for three days, but neither do I want to be a stuck-at-home mom who never sees anyone or does anything. I wanted to be two people - one to party it up like old times and one to play and cuddle with Mali. Instead, it felt like I got the worst of both worlds. I couldn't fully enjoy the freedom because I missed the baby and worried she'd miss me, but neither could I 100% enjoy the time I did spend with her because I felt like I was missing out on what I consider James' and my annual event. Honestly, I'm not sure why I was so surprised and upset, because this is what being a parent is, finding that balance. I guess things just came to a head because of the intensity of the weekend and the fact that I didn't have James here to help me sort through it all.

But, I'm happy to report that tomorrow night we're going to attempt the night away again. A friend is hosting a cookout karaoke party, and rather than make mom wait up for us to get home to pick up a sleeping baby, we're just going to pick Mali up the next morning. Wish us luck!

Other than that, I've been seeing a lot of fun developments in Mali. She's getting very good at rolling from her tummy to her back as well as reaching for and grabbing things. She likes to chatter and giggle, a lot (I never could get my video to load). AND, we started her on rice cereal last week. So far she seems to like it. We have her official 6-month checkup today, so I'll report back after that.

Slacking

So much has been changing with Mali lately, so I've definitely been slacking on the updates. The good news is that work has been keeping me quite busy, but not too busy for plenty of Mali time. Recently she's discovered the dog, the cat, her toes, how to grab and shake things, and possibly even how to roll over!

Maeby and Talula are much more interesting than they were just a few weeks ago. One day last week Maeby was tossing one of her toys around after dinner and Mali couldn't take her eyes off her and even burst out into giggles. And she loves it when Maeby kisses her feet and ears. The cat is just fun to watch and occasionally touch, since her fur is so soft. Luckily the cat's antidepressants seem to be making her a much mellower and nicer kitty these days!

When we have playtime on her mat, Mali has been getting more and more rolly. She grabs her toes and wobbles from side to side. And now she grabs for the toys and rattles hanging from the overhead arches, and of course immediately puts them in her mouth. But she loves the sound of the chimes and rattles and all the bright colors.

Yesterday James was down on the floor with her for some tummy time and as we watched she wobbled over to her back. It was so slow motion it almost didn't seem real. We tried to get her to do it again, since I thought the tummy bolster under her chest and chin might have been helping out, but we haven't seen her repeat it yet.

My mommy anxiety comes and goes, which I assume is normal. I feel guilty when I have too much work, but she gets to play beside me if I have to finish up while she's awake, and she seems to be doing great. Just now, for instance, I was finishing up writing this post while she played on her mat after her bath and I look over to this sight. Just put herself to sleep!

Too Cute Not to Share

This was too cute not to share. Mali has been super talkative all day today, so thankfully I finally got her to cooperate for the camera as well :) She definitely sounds smarter than me!

Mali's Baptism

Yesterday was Mali's baptism. We were lucky enough to be able to borrow my niece Natalie's dress and bonnet, so little Margaret Alice looked like a sweet doll in white and lace.

When my nephew Hudson got baptized a few months ago I was an emotional wreck. I cried from almost the moment the minister started talking until the ceremony was over. We're sprinklers in the Methodist church, and I don't know if they do this everywhere or not, but our minister blesses each baby's head, feet and hands. So sweet. I was able to hold it together a little better for Mali, luckily. And a good thing too because when we were asked her given name I remembered not to say just "Mali" and James didn't blurt out Emily Margaret, which he almost did :) We were given her first bible and a baptism certificate that I'll put in her baby book. She squeaked a little bit, as you can see in the video, when the water hit her head, but she slept through the rest of the church service like the angel she is.

Afterward, my family came over for brunch to celebrate. We wished James's family could have been here too!

Not much else has been going on here, just lots of work, baby giggles, and getting ready for a few baby showers for several friends. Mali's going to have a lot of babies to play with before too long.

Mali and Maeby

Mali and I are settling back into a routine. In the mornings we read books, she naps while I work, and we try and get some tummy time in the afternoon. Its amazing to see her grow and change though.

This week she had her 4-month checkup at the pediatrician's office (with shots, boo). She's now 25 inches long with a 16-inch circumference head and weighs 12 lbs 2.5 oz. She did really well with the shots, just a quick cry before I picked her up to comfort her, and just like last time she ran a low-grade fever for about a day and was puny and wanted to be held/comforted a lot, plus lots of napping. The doctor said she's doing great.

Last Saturday was Mali and Maeby's first car ride together. We took my car in for an oil change and decided to take Maeby with us. Mali was fine -- she never seems to mind much when Maeby licks her, and Maeby was surprisingly well behaved. She didn't try to get in Mali's face too much, and she didn't try to sit on her either. Look how happy she was!

Our other big first was sitting in the Bumbo seat. Cousin Hudson had been borrowing it (since he's 3 1/2 months older), but he's grown out of it just in time for Mali to be ready to use it. She looks so grown up sitting up like that. But she really seems to like the seat, especially when there are rattles to shake, monkeys to dance in front of her, and hands to investigate. We're very lucky to have such a good girl.

ProMali

Isn't our little nugget adorable? I am in love. The photo today is one from our photo shoot last month with Alison Carpenter (http://allisoncarpenterphotography.com/). She did such an amazing job.

This has been my first full week working from home, and I am loving it. Mali's smiles and coos make the financial sacrifices all worth it.

She's been sucking on her thumb lately, rather than just her whole hand. It's funny because once she figures out how to get just her thumb in her mouth she has a hard time figuring out what to do with her other fingers. Sometimes they end up in her eye, or squeezing her own cheeks, and at least once she's given herself a gash on the nose with her little fingernails. Time to trim them! Now that I'm home we've been getting in some serious tummy time, and she's getting much happier in that position. She loves her playmat and looking at all the animal toys hanging from it. Yesterday she even grabbed the rabbit rattle.

James has a link to more of Allison's photos on his Picasa site: https://picasaweb.google.com/jamesbrownjr/ProMalishots

Guh Gah

I've been sort of impatient about Mali cooing and gooing, but in the past week or so she's been trying to verbalize a lot more. It's really the cutest sound. Most of the time she's smiling while she's gurgling, so the combined effect is enough to make my already mushy heart melt completely.

This past weekend we took Mali on her first trip to Hiawassee, Georgia to see her grandparents and meet a gaggle of aunts, uncles, and cousins. To say she was a hit would be an understatement. I'm not sure James and I got to hold her for more than a few minutes at a time all weekend, and she loved the entertainment. We had a big family/neighborhood reunion/picnic on Sunday to celebrate the 4th of July weekend, and Mali was dressed in festive red, white, and blue stars.

The cousins shot off amazing fireworks on the dam that evening, and Mali was a trooper. Even though it was near bedtime she was happy in her baby carrier, alternating between looking at the pretty lights and dozing. The loud booms didn't even make her flinch. I guess she figured fireworks were passe after that, since the next night when we watched Thunder On The Mountain from right underneath Vulcan, she slept through the entire thing. She's a really good baby :)

Hopefully you'll be able to hear her talk in the attached video, but either way, here she is in action!

She's Got Hands!

Mali's latest trick is that she's discovered her hands. They're in her mouth constantly, creating drool puddles down her clothes, so the daycare has kept her in bibs all week to keep her from having to sit in wet dresses. My favorite, though, is when she clasps her hands together. Her little fingers grip each other and pull at each other like she's worrying over something. Adorable and tiny! She can also keep a pretty good grip on her paci.

Dinner tonight was a fun experiment at recreating a festival dish we first had at a local music festival. Atomic corn dogs. You remove the stick from a corn dog and split them open. A ribbon of mustard, a healthy topping of slaw and Siracha hot sauce to taste makes a spicy, yummy treat. Daniel George restaurant in Mountain Brook came up with these. We also made one of our low-carb favorites as a side - turnip fries. They taste, oddly enough, like onion rings.

A Question of Parenting

I've been reluctant to leave Mali with babysitters/family on weekend nights these past several weeks that I've been back at work because I feel like I get to see her for too short a time during the day as it is. That will change soon though, since I've turned in my notice at work and have taken a freelance position where I can work from home! But, in the meantime, we've been choosing our weekend activities based on whether or not we can bring a baby. This gets a little tricky since she's generally very good, and places that might be questionable seem totally reasonable since she's happy wherever she is. Last night we'd made plans to meet a friend at a, well, bar for around 6:30. It technically is a restaurant, but since they're known for their expansive beer selection (and we're into that sort of thing) I tend to think of it in those terms first before I think food. We'd had some storms come through, and so we got off to a later start than we'd originally planned. First problem. But, I fed Mali at home just before we left, and I had a bottle defrosted for later since I knew I'd have a beer or two, so timing seemed to be working out fine. We sat down just after a party of 12 though, so the restaurant's already notoriously laid back service slowed down to a ridiculous crawl. Second problem. But, Mali was fascinated by the porch fans, and the couple next to us oohed and ahhed over her so much they got nostalgic for their 7-year old twins at home and spent the rest of their time looking at pictures of them on their phone. We were "the couple with the baby," and lots of servers came by to meet her, and that seemed okay. But 9:00 p.m. rolled around and we were just served our food, and Mali, understandably, was starting to get fussy and tired. Third problem. Luckily our friend has kids, and sine he wasn't eating he offered to hold Mali, and she was out within minutes. We finished our meal, another giant party sat down, and we ordered our last beer with our check. The baby was asleep, totally fine and safe. But the place was starting to get crowded with the just-there-for-drinks set, and I was starting to feel like an irresponsible mommy. I think part of the problem was context. Partying 20-somethings and sleeping babies don't mix. We weren't doing anything wrong, technically, but it sure felt like it. And it's not as if people were giving us dirty looks. This was just me feeling awkward. We didn't have a whiny two-year old we were forcing to stay up past her bedtime because we wanted to stay out. Mali could not have cared less where she was sleeping. She was warm and clothed and taken care of. We weren't drinking in excess, so all of us were safe on the drive home. We were just enjoying a rather late dinner with a friend ... in a bar. I should probably just appreciate how portable she is at this stage and not worry, but I don't want to accidentally do something harmful to my child because I'm blase about bringing her wherever we go. I guess this is the balancing act of parenting. Maybe we are horrible, but it didn't feel that way, just awkwardly timed. Either being a parent doesn't have to mean I change who I am and what I enjoy, or I'm still naive and selfish and I'll find out the hard way. All I know is that I love my baby and would never do anything intentionally to harm her, but I still feel like apologizing to the world for having her out last night. Mommy guilt, I guess.

P.S. This rare lily bloomed in front of our house this week. Beautiful, huh?

Beach Baby

This past weekend we took Mali on her first ever road trip to the beach. We drove down after work on Thursday, which worked really well, and that meant we got to spend a whole extra half day enjoying the sun. My mom, brother, sister in-law and their two kids had been down there all week, and unfortunately everyone but my mom had to leave the morning after we got there. But my dad joined us the next day, so we still had plenty of fun.





My general philosophy with baby stuff is to try and get by with as little as possible (which sometimes works better than others), but I think we packed the perfect amount for taking a three-month old to the beach. The one indispensable item was the baby tent my brother and sister in-law left down there for us. It kept Mali shaded and off the sand, and she loved napping in it while the waves crashed nearby. 60 spf sunscreen and giant umbrellas helped too. Friday was Mali's three-month birthday, and to celebrate she got to stick her toes in the sand and sit in the surf. She wasn't too sure about the cold waves at first, but she liked the feel of sand in her toes I think. What she liked even better was the pool. After lunch, and more sunscreen, we splashed and bobbed in the pool until it was nap time.






Overall I'd say the trip was a success. Mali liked all the new sights and sounds, and she loved spending time with Nonni and Pop Pop. Plus, she got to celebrate Father's Day with her daddy this morning.

Kick Party

Mali seems to have discovered her hands in the past week. She's constantly playing with them and sucking on them. Her feet are next, I'm sure, because one of her favorite things to do is kick and kick and kick. We need to take some more video of her in the bath because that's when her kicking is the funniest. She gets so excited to be in the warm water that she practically wiggles herself out of the tub. This morning while I was getting ready and Mali was hanging out in bed with James, he told me they were having a kick party. I thought he said keg party, which was very confusing, but kick party sounds about right!

So one of the other things I wanted to do with this blog was to share some of the yummy things we make to eat around here. Last night was a winner. We roasted chicken leg quarters with rosemary, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. Then we stuffed halved zucchini (from our friends Valerie and Greg's garden) with ricotta cheese, bread crumbs, more garlic, Italian seasonings and baked those. Yum! The last bit was one of my favorite easy side dishes. You just drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, put them in a hot pan to "toast" them and season them up with black pepper and Parmesan. It looks pretty, doesn't it?

Belly Button

This first week back at work has been both more difficult and not as bad as I expected. I didn't cry the whole first day. I just cried after we put Mali to bed because I missed her. I guess not seeing her all day and being extra tired just caught up with me. The great thing about these past two days has been that I've managed to go see Mali at my aunt's house during lunch, and I've gotten to feed her.

I'm fairly sure she's just as happy as before I started working because she's still all smiles. But she has developed a new behavior that's a little worrisome. I hope it doesn't foretell similar bad behavior when she's grown! Of course, we could also blame the heat, but for whatever reason Mali's decided she needs to show a little more skin. If she's in a shirt or dress (rather than a onesie) her hands are grabbing at the hem and pulling up, showing off her belly button. At least one of us still has a cute one!

Tummy Trouble

A big part of being a new mom is worry, worry, worry. Some of the things I worry about the most are whether or not I'm reading to Mali enough (she likes Russian literature), if I'm giving her enough tummy time to strengthen her muscles (probably not, it makes her fussy) and if she's cooing and oohing enough yet (she's more of a squeaker and hooter). Yesterday I discovered a trick for better tummy time! Her play mat came with a kidney-bean shaped bolster pillow that I hadn't put to use yet, but propped up on this cutie and distracted by some HGTV we've got a winner.

Speaking of tummies, we had an appointment at the Pediatric Gastroenterologist this morning to check on a small "diaper issue" Mali's been having. I'd stopped eating dairy to try and help it, but that didn't seem to be working 100%. Our pediatrician's next suggestion was this referral, and I was glad they could see us before I go back to work tomorrow. Luckily, it's no big deal, just a symptom of an immature digestive system that she'll grow out of and that the doctor isn't worried by right now, especially since she's eating breast milk.The doctor was great, really friendly, and he and his nurse practitioner made me laugh by how much they were cheerleading breastfeeding. Go us! If Mali were formula fed we'd have to use special expensive formula, but since she's not we don't have to make any changes. And I can eat dairy again!

I've had a request for more shots of my new haircut, so here goes. I'm still getting used to it, but man is it easy :)

Rock Star

We had a blast this morning at Mali's photo shoot with Allison Carpenter. Allison was a lot of fun to work with, really creative and she made us all feel very comfortable. I can't wait to share photos when we get them! Mali did really great. We started just after she ate her breakfast, so she was sweet and happy. She posed in a basket and on her tummy in a couple of ruffled diaper covers. Once she got fussy we did some shots in silhouette with James and I holding her. The last setup was pretty awesome. It took a while to make it work because we had to let Mali eat again to get her happy, but I think it was 100% worth it. I'll just say that she was definitely our little rock star. And you might be able to see a little preview on Facebook.

It's still ridiculously hot here, so we've spent the rest of the afternoon napping on the couch. She doesn't look like she has a problem with that, does she?

You can see Allison's work on her website: www.allisoncarpenterphotography.com

Welcome!

As of yesterday, Ms. Mali is 11 weeks old. Which means I'm headed back to work next week. I'm going to miss my little nugget for sure! So I thought I'd start this blog to capture all the precious moments and share them with friends and family.

Today was a big day. I got a drastic haircut. James's sister, brother in-law and niece are coming to spend the night with us and meet Mali. And Baby B (one of her many nicknames and the inspiration for the blog title) has been SUPER smiley all day long. She's laughed at her daddy a few times already, but she's smiling more and more. The best smiles are when we get her up in the morning and she looks up from her giant crib with an even more giant smile, so happy to see us. We haven't had much success capturing this cuteness on camera yet, but we're hoping to have better luck with our professional photo session this weekend.