Here we go again

That's right Followers, Alli's second tooth has busted through! Just like the Afghan prisoners, tooth #2 burrowed its way to the surface without being detected until it was too late. Actually that's not entirely true... the prisoners allegedly had inside help. We actually had fair warning that this baby was coming in, thanks to Alli's tell-tale whining. Overall, she's never sad and doesn't cry unless something's really wrong. So when she started being really fussy a week or so ago, we knew something was up. And sure enough, just like the first one, tooth #2 breached the surface of her gum line a few days later.

At this point, her first tooth is almost a quarter of the way in, and #2 just popped through. Mommy B and I try to get her to laugh and smile as much as possible now so we can catch a glimpse of her teeth. She's starting to look like a jack-o-lantern with one tooth partially in, one just starting, and the rest are MIA. It's rather strange seeing her with any teeth at all. I got so used to seeing her gummy smile, that when I see her with teeth now it makes her look so much older.

I mentioned to Mommy B just a week or so ago that it's going to be really strange to see her when her hair starts filling in. She has some hair now, but it's really thin (just like Dad-E's was at that age) and she looks rather bald from far away. But just like the gummy smile, I'm used to seeing her without much hair and I think she couldn't possibly be any cuter than she is right now. But I have a feeling that before I know it, she's going to have a full head of hair and look soooo much different than she does at the moment. Whether it's going to get full and wavy like Mommy B's or stay straight and baby-fine like Dad-E's, we'll see. Then we'll really know who she looks like...

On a side note, my parents are coming to visit this weekend and are excited to see Alli's teeth as well. I told them that they will probably barely recognize her since she has changed so much since the last time they were here. Regardless, in true South Carolina fashion, the weather is going to be gorgeous this weekend and we're looking forward to spending time with family since we didn't get to on Easter weekend.

Six Month Stats

Our sweet little baby girl is halfway to her first birthday already!! At six months old, she has become such a little person, it's just amazing. She giggles at us, dances around, talks and babbles, cuddles with her teddy bears in her crib, rolls all across the living room and her bedroom, is really trying to scoot (and gets mad when she can't quite get to where she wants to go). She is still quite the Houdini in her crib, too. We will lay her down on her belly facing one direction, and come back to check in on her, and she's on her back, facing the other way. How did you do that?? Her crib seems to be the place where she practices all her fun acts before showing us the main event. Her second tooth, the other bottom front tooth, popped through this morning, so she's got the right bottom front tooth about 1/4 of the way in, and this one just showing it's little jagged edges. It's adorable to catch her giggling and smiling with her one and a half-toothed grin.

The Stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 9 oz (22nd percentile)
Length: 26.75 inches (78th percentile)
Head: 16 inches (7th percentile)

All are up from last visit, looking great on the growth charts as a consistent, appropriate pattern, the doc says she thinks she's going to be tall and slender... we will see!

Diaper Size: 2 (finally!!)

Clothing Size: 3-6 months (the dress she wore to meet the Easter bunny was a 3 month)

Shoe Size: what shoes, it's South Carolina!! =) (ok, she has sandals that are 1's!)

Food: 2/3 momma milk, 1/3 Similac, and three "meals" a day (usually rice cereal and a fruit for breakfast, and a veggie for lunch & for dinner)

Naps: definitely has an attitude when she doesn't get her normal, routine naps... she's quite habitual (about an hour and a half in the AM and usually two hours in the afternoon)

Sleep: Asleep for the night by 7:30pm and up around 5:30 or 6

Teeth: Two!
Sounds: Jabbering and squealing like crazy... no definite "dada's" or "mama's" or "doggie's" yet :o)

Play: Jumperoo, tummy time (which usually equals roll all across the room time), Sophie, walks in the stroller, and she'll grab and try to play with just about anything that is not hers (our water bottles, our cups, our kitchen utensils, the newspaper, etc etc etc...)
New buddies: Scarlett (she's really started to notice her, grab for her, and giggle and play with her!)

And now, the downward countdown until her first birthday... less than 6 months to go....

Speaking of her first birthday... we already have the date picked out for the party! (Yes, we're big planners!) All are invited to come down for Alli's 1st birthday bash, Saturday, October 29th!! Save the date :o)

Happy Half Birthday!

I honestly can't believe it... our little girl is 6 months old today! It wasn't that eventful of a day, she went to daycare and we both went to work... pretty typical. Tomorrow she has her 6 month check up and shots, so I'll be sure to blog after that and give an update of her stats and what she's up to these days!

Hide ya kids... hide ya wife

I heard about this news story on TV this morning, and had to check it out for myself. Too funny, if you ask me. Some people just can't handle the spotlight.

"Hide ya kids, hide ya wife, hide ya marijuana
'cuz they arrestin' everybody up in here..."

Just one of those days...

Let me start off by saying that we had a great Easter weekend hanging out together as a family. While we didn't get to spend time with relatives on Easter Sunday, we just had some visit earlier in the week and my parents will be visiting this coming weekend. As you can tell from the pictures in Mommy B's previous post, Alli seemed to enjoy going to the beach and playing with her presents. But, you ever just have one of those days where things don't seem to go right from the moment you wake up in the morning? Well, I had one of those on Sunday...

It started first thing in the morning - when our little "Ru-ster" got us up at 7am on the dot. This is becoming routine for us since she doesn't know the difference between weekdays and weekends. However, I was feeling unusually tired that morning... no matter what I did I just couldn't get going. Even when Alli took her morning nap, Mommy B and I took a snooze as well - but I still didn't feel up to par afterwards.

But I couldn't forget Rule #76 - "No excuses, play like a champion." So I sucked it up and got things ready for our trip to the beach. I went out to the garage to get our beach chairs ready. I leaned one up against the back of the car and took the other inside to put Alli's things in it. We figured we could just jam it full of her stuff to avoid taking her diaper bag to the beach all together. After a few minutes of packing things up and getting ready, I decided to pull the car out of the garage to give us more room to pack things up. I climbed in, put it in reverse, and heard a crunch. Awesome... I had just run over the other beach chair I had left leaning up against the bumper. The thing was mangled and no longer usable - so I tossed it across the driveway to clear my path.

Luckily, Mommy B had just bought a new chair last week so we still had two functioning beach chairs. We headed off to the beach and enjoyed some "therapy time" in the sun with Alli. We came home and she took her usual afternoon nap. While she was sleeping, I decided it would be a good chance to run to the grocery store. So I jumped in the other car, put it in reverse and heard a familiar crunch. That' right, I had just run over the same mangled chair I had earlier that morning... again. Good lord, just let me run my errands and get home. Good thing it was the one I was tossing out anyway.

I made it through the grocery without incident and came home safe and sound. After unloading the groceries, I remembered that I needed to replace the battery in my MP3 player. Yes, I'm one of those cheap bastards that doesn't have an i-Thing that you just recharge with your computer. This one actually takes 1 AAA battery. Hey, the thing works great and hasn't failed me yet - so if it's not broken, I'm not fixing it.
Anyway, I was upstairs in the bedroom with a handful of things I needed to bring downstairs and I grabbed my MP3 player to bring down and swap out the battery. Only problem was... I got downstairs and looked in my hands - and I had grabbed my watch instead. Talk about being a space cadet... but I guess becoming a parent does that to you.

Needless to say I had to make a return trip upstairs to return my watch to my nightstand and actually grab my MP3 player this time. When I got back downstairs, Mommy B asked me if I had gotten her any cereal at the grocery store. I said, "No, I thought you said you had cereal already... so I didn't get any." She replied, "No babe, I said I need cereal." Ugh - shoot me now. So over the course of the day I managed to destroy a beach chair and forget to get my wife food for breakfast for the week. Good thing she got called off today so she can make a quick run to the store and get some other things as well.

There were some other small incidents like these that happened throughout the day... but I think you get the idea. As I said, overall it was a good day and I really enjoyed spending some quality time with Alli and Mommy B - but it was really just one of those days...

The weekend: Photo update style

We had a pretty good Easter weekend... hung out most of the day Saturday, went for a walk, ran a few errands, nothing too exciting. Sunday morning, we got up early (thanks to our own personal rooster... in our case, a "Ru-ster" who doesn't understand the concept of weekends) and made breakfast as a family. Alli was such a little helper, although that mainly consists of her knocking over all the utensils and laughing about it. Pretty funny for her, just more stuff to clean up for us :o)

Anyway, she took her morning snoozer for about an hour and a half, then we were off to the beach! We enjoyed an hour or two out there, then it was time for a nap again, and even though she really tried, she just couldn't fall asleep in her little sun dome on the beach. So, we packed up and headed back to the car... and as we were walking back to the car, she fell asleep on me. It was adorable, it doesn't happen a lot anymore, and I just wanted to keep her on me! We put her in the car seat and she slept the whole way home. But of course, it's like she's got some radar alert... as soon as we pulled in the driveway, she was awake again.

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening opening Easter presents and playing with toys... check out the cool bunny slippers from Grandma C, and then the fun toy from us..

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

Meeting the Easter Bunny

Happy Easter everyone! Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow, we'll be missing spending time with family... but hopefully some beach therapy will help. :o)

Cartoon of the Week

I'm a little behind on my cartoon this week! I've been busy with family here, then working 3-12 hr shifts in a row... I'm a little exhausted! But anyway...

So, Dad-E has obviously gotten to spend a lot more time with Ru in the past three days than I have, and he can't stop commenting on how much she's "talking" and giggling all the time. This morning when I heard her in her crib starting to wake up, she was just talking away. Not crying, not making any fuss, just babbling away. I walked in to get her, and she had one of her stuffed animals in her arms... it just looked like she was telling it a story. It was so adorable... I can't wait until she starts really talking, like this comic here... haha! I'm sure we'll be in for it, seeing how sarcastic both Dad-E and I can be... she'll probably be the same way!

Don't Blink

Since Mommy B had the first-half of the week off from work to hang out with her family that was in town for part of their Spring Break, that means she's had to work 3 days in a row to close out the week. I know, boo hoo for her. Well, keep in mind that she's working almost as many hours in 3 days that most of us work in 5. I used to give her grief over her nursing schedule because before we had a child, that meant she busted her tail for 3 days and got to sleep in/do nothing the other 4. I mean, I work pretty hard for 5 days straight and only get 2 to relax... how is that fair? Well, not so much any more thanks to Alli Ru. Sleeping in for us is now waking up after 7am on our days off - whenever they might be.

Anyway, Mommy B made a comment to me on Tuesday night before her work marathon began. She said, "Geez, I'm not going to see her awake from now until Saturday morning." Except for any unforeseen middle-of-the-night encounters, of course - which have become very infrequent. She continued, "I won't even recognize her by then..."

While this is a slight exaggeration, it is a very slight one. It made me think back to the first few weeks after Alli was born and I was back to work already. Heck, I was back to work 5 days after she was born... Anyway, I made similar comments back then, noting how much she would change in just a few hours. I typically wouldn't really see her from the time we put her to bed the night before until I got home from work the next day. Sure, I'd "see" her when I'd rock her back to sleep in the wee hours of the morning, but my eyes were barely open at the time.

I'd come home and say to Mommy B, "Geez, who's this little girl in my house? I don't even know who this little girl is anymore!" It was amazing to see her grow and change that much in less than 20 hours. Well, believe it or not, it's pretty much still that way now even as she's closing in on being 6 months old. Mommy B will go almost 84 hours basically without seeing her at all - which I'm sure will feel like a lifetime.

People who have grown children always say to me, "Don't blink. She'll be off to college next week." I didn't really believe them for the first couple months - it felt like Alli would never get out of the up-every-couple-hours phase. But I sure do believe them now. It's like we went from having a little blob that we could barely interact with to having a little person around the house - overnight. I'm sure I'll say that same thing again 6 months from now, and every 6 months after that. For the time being, I'm just trying not to blink - I might miss something...

OK, enough already

I came across this news article today on ESPN.com that really ticked me off. It's an article talking about the other jobs (or lack thereof) some NFL players are turning to due to the owner's lockout. What's worse, it tells how much two current players made last year and how they've had to "adjust" to a now different post-lockout lifestyle. I wanted to reach through the computer and slap these jocks upside their concussed heads - because that's how they are acting, like dumb jocks.

Here's some of the article:
You might be thinking: I'm on the owners' side in this lockout mess because NFL players are all spoiled, hat-backward millionaires who will no more miss a year's salary than they'll miss their eighth Lexus.

OK, but maybe you should meet Brian Schaefering, Cleveland Browns defensive lineman.

He has a wife, three kids -- all 8 and under -- and a rented house. He doesn't have a shoe deal or a Lloyd's of London policy or a super agent willing to float him till this is over.

"I'll do anything," says Schaefering, 27. "If I have to work for UPS, I will. I got a family to feed. I've paved roads, fixed roofs, done landscaping. I'm not better'n anybody else. I don't want any handouts. I'd be happy with $12 an hour if I could get it."

You hear anything about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanting to run a road paver lately?

You might be thinking: What the hell has he done with his money he has made so far in the NFL?

Well, he went undrafted in 2008, barely made the practice squad in '09 and finally started nine games for the Browns last season, making $395,000. He says he netted just over $200,000 after taxes. And he had plenty of bills to pay going into last year.

"I hear people joking around about this thing, but it's no joke," he says. "If this goes into the season, my wife might start panicking a little."

Oh really? Your wife might start panicking after you cleared over $200k last year?? You'd be happy with $12 an hour, you say? All right, we'll write that into your next contract extension you greedy bastard.

But let's take the argument one step further... what about the college kids that haven't been drafted and signed to any type of contract?

Maybe you should meet University of Wisconsin All-American lineman John Moffitt.

Moffitt's got no job and no endorsement deals -- "Nobody wants to see my face on anything," he says -- and "my parents stopped sending my allowance." So George is paying for training and living expenses until something breaks.

After that?

"Well, my dad paints houses in Guilford, Conn.," he says. "I think he'd maybe take me on doing that. But it's kind of hard right now. I hope it doesn't come to that."

Yeah... but you have a degree right? Did you attend class for reasons other than staying eligible?? And what's that... you might have to actually work a crappy job before you're pretty much guaranteed to land your dream career? Welcome to the real world, sonny boy! You got a free education - maybe you should consider using it. That's what the rest of us have to do...

Don't get me wrong, I'm completely on the player's side of this whole thing... but reading an article where they are portrayed as "scraping by" makes me sick to my stomach. Promise me $200k for the next year, and I think I could muddle through.

Family fun

Sunday afternoon, my Uncle Tim, Aunt Trisha, and cousins Zach and Paige came into town to spend a few days of their spring break hanging out in Charleston with us, and of course, for them to meet Alli Ru! This was Paige's second time getting to see Alli since she had come down with some of the other family members around Thanksgiving, but Alli was just a lil peanut then, and now, she's so much more fun! We grilled out on Sunday, played with Alli, and just caught up on life. It was great to see them all again, spend time with them, and most of all, see them interact with Alli. It's almost a strange feeling to see the people I grew up with watching my baby learn and explore things. I think the fact that I held both Zach and Paige as babies, and now they were here holding my baby was a strange, yet wonderful feeling.

On Monday, we took the day to hit up the Tanger Outlets so they all could shop for some great deals while Alli and I tagged along. It was a great day with beautiful weather. After Eric got off work, we headed downtown to catch a Riverdogs game. (The Riverdogs are Charleston's minor league baseball team) This was Alli's first game, and she honestly had a BLAST. With all the music, noise, people, etc... she was just having a ball. She was bouncing all around, it even almost seemed like she was dancing! It was adorable. Two little boys that were sitting behind us were ohh-ing and ahh-ing over her, while Dad-E gave them the evil eye (He's already worried about chasing the boys away! haha) We just all had a wonderful time, and the Riverdogs won too, which always makes it a better game!

Tuesday, we headed down to Isle of Palms, walked around on the beach (while Alli slept for the most part), and Uncle Tim caught a bunch of starfish (he was so proud!). We ate lunch at Coconut Joe's, right on the water, and had another great weatherday. However, during this lunch outing, Alli made it a point to make sure she went through every single diaper in her diaper bag. Yes, I believe it was 4 diapers... she just kept pooping! I don't know if it's the precursor to teething again or what, but it was awful. So, it was time to go back home because we were fresh out of diapers. Once home, everyone just hung out on our back porch and patio, some people getting sun, others just talking and visiting. They hit the road later in the evening on their way up to Asheville to continue their spring break trip, but we're so glad they got to come down to visit and see Alli! We'll be home in another month to see everyone else too, and we're so excited! Now, it's back to work for me (boo), and Alli has 3 days in a row to spend at daycare (double boo!)... but it'll be the weekend before we know it, and more fun adventures I'm sure.

Battin' a thousand

So it's official, I'm 2 for 2 on guessing the gender of unborn babies. I correctly guessed that my brother would have a boy three months ago and this past weekend I correctly guessed that Mama G and Papa Rob would have a baby girl! I'm super excited that Alli will have another girl "close by" to grow up with. Funny how a bunch of Damn Yankees from Ohio had their first-borns in the South.

It seemed like everyone else we knew was pregnant ended up having a boy - at least 4 or 5 that I can think of. The only friends we knew who recently had a girl still live in Ohio, which isn't exactly close by for Alli to meet and play with very often. But now that we have friends that are only 3 hours away, Alli will have another girl friend to hang out with when we see Mama G and Papa Rob.

Their baby girl was born Friday evening, and all weekend I couldn't help but recall the day Alli was born. Mommy B and I even pulled out the video camera and photo albums to remind ourselves how cute (and small!) Alli looked right after she was born. Now, I wasn't one of those dads that filmed the moment - but was able to get some good footage soon afterward. After they had taken Alli off to the nursery, bathed her and cleaned her up, got her swaddled and brought her back - that's when I started filming. It was so weird seeing her now (rolling over on the living room floor) compared to that day - she's about 6 inches longer and has doubled her weight. Crazy to think that she'll be 6 months old in just nine days!

It also made me think about those first couple of weeks we had Alli home. We had Alli on a Wednesday and I started a new job at my same company the following Monday. 4 days isn't really a whole lot of time to figure things out. Those first few weeks were really rough on everyone... and having to try and focus on a new job made it even more difficult for me.

But as time passed, things got easier - as I know they will for Mama G and Papa Rob. I know they are going through the tough phase right now, but just like I was told when I could barely stay awake any longer - "It'll all get better soon." All the smiles, giggles and wonder that I can see in Alli's eyes now makes all those sleepless nights worth it, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. They are going to be great parents, and I'm so happy Alli will have a friend "right up the road" to play with soon.

It's a Girl!!

Rob and Gena just had their baby... a best friend for Alli Ru!! Anneliese Sophia was born 4/15/11 weighing in at 8 lbs 5 oz! Great job Mama G & great supporter Papa Rob, you guys are going to make amazing parents, and Wallace is going to be a great big brother. (let's hope! haha) We are so excited to meet her and for the two southern belles to grow up close by each other. Congratulations!!!

Cartoon of the Week

Not a lot needs to be said with this one... wouldn't this be nice, though? Babies born with an automatic rear-wiper?? Well, these goofy grins and giggles are worth having to clean a poopy butt every once in a while...

Sickness... a good thing??

Dad-E previously mentioned that while Alli was sick with her cough/double ear infections/teething/whatever else it may have been, she was getting up through the night again. Not a whole bunch of times like when she was a newborn, but she still got up at least once or twice a night, which she hadn't been doing previously. I would go in, breastfeed her, change her, and put her back to bed, and usually, that would be all she needed to fall right back asleep. I think it was a little bit of needing comfort because of the pain of teething, and not really hunger so much, but regardless, whatever we did worked. She is starting to get back to normal, slept through the night again last night, and I'm so "pumped" (no pun intended), about how much my milk supply has gone up! While pumping at work, I was getting frustrated the past month because I just wasn't able to keep up with our growing girls needs. Now, maybe because of those extra night time feeds, it's like all of a sudden there's a milk factory again.

On my days off of work with her, I try to exclusively breastfeed too to keep my supply up, and it really seems to have kicked in lately. We have only had to give her a formula bottle every once in awhile, and mainly because we want to for her night feed to keep her a little fuller longer, but regardless, I'm excited. I know that's probably not exciting to some people, but to me, it's a big deal. So, thank you sickness? As silly as that sounds? :o)

And PS... Our friends Gena & Rob are in the process of having their baby today, please pray for them to have an uneventful, pleasant delivery! Can't wait to meet lil Squishy, boy or girl, come out, come out whatever you are!!

Gena, Rob & Squishy!!

Post worthy

When I first started posting in This Space, I found myself struggling with any blogger's dilemma - what is really "post worthy"? Sure, there are lots of things going on out there that I could discuss, but what do/would people care to read about? What do the masses yearn for day in and day out that brings them back to this blog?

Is it just to get an update on All Things Alli? Is it in the hopes that Dad-E will post another funny story/rant about something random? Or is it all of the above? Judging by the almost zero comments left by our Follows... I couldn't really come to a conclusion. Come on people, let's make this thing interactive, yeah? Mama G gets a pass because she's about to have a baby - like tomorrow.

Now, then...

Alli has been finished with her antibiotics for about 4 days now, and I can tell she's completely over her ear infections. No more coughing, hardly any sneezing (remember it's still Spring time - even down here) and just an overall better attitude. You may recall that towards the tail end of her infection, she also began teething - which just increased her discomfort exponentially.

Her first tooth has popped almost completely through, and we're anxiously awaiting the next one's arrival. Note my sarcasm... The good news is that since the first tooth is basically all the way through her gums, she is in much less pain. As in, none. She had a great day at daycare yesterday - ate plenty of baby food and got two solid naps in. I picked her up at 4:30pm and fed her again when we got home. She polished off a container of prunes (gross!) and 3oz of Mommy-B milk, then another 5oz of formula before she went to bed two hours later.

And the best news of all? She slept completely through the night! She hasn't done this in a couple weeks thanks to the ear infections and teething. She'd wake up once or twice a night thanks to a coughing fit, which in turn would make her flip over onto her back and/or have diarrhea - which meant either Mommy B or I were up for a diaper change. OK, the coughing didn't give her diarrhea, but an infant only has so much muscle control at 3:30am. We call it a "ca-fart" - a combination of cough and fart where the former usually leads to the latter. Although when you're teething, the fart typically has a little more substance, if you will.

Anyway, Alli slept from about 8pm last night until 6:30am this morning. It was fabulous. I think Mommy B and I had forgotten what "sleeping through the night" felt like for a while. Regardless, I felt that this was post-worthy because hopefully it means that her ear infections have subsided and her teething is improving.

I certainly hope this is the beginning of a good streak, because we have family coming to stay for a few days this weekend and I don't think they'll enjoy getting woken up a couple times a night on their Spring Break. But hey, they knew what they were signing up for ahead of time!

Topics of conversation

I remember Dad-E previously writing this post about how much his introductions have changed over the different phases of our lives... from being "Meibs" to being "Brittany's husband" to now being mainly just "Alli's dad." Today, I got to thinking about how much our conversation topics have changed since having Alli Ru. Again, there are definitely different stages and phases of life where you discuss "important" things. In college, so-called "important discussions" revolved around what sorority functions I was going to attend, what my plans were for the weekend, and boys (ok, mainly just Dad-E). Once we got married, discussions changed to how to save money on electric bills, what new couch we wanted to buy, how to mortgage a house, etc. Now, after having a child, our life revolves around discussing everything about Alli.

On the mornings that I work, I get a text message right around 7:45 or 8am from Dad-E. For example, the one from this morning said this: "Ms. Penny put Alli in a jumper and she was bouncing around when I left! Maybe she just started doing this today, but it was cute. She had about 4 oz this morning, happy smiley girl the whole car ride." That's it... no "Hi babe, hope you have a great day!" or "Love you, can't wait to see you tonight." Little did Dad-E know that Alli had started jumping around in her jumper at home the day before... but I hadn't gotten to tell him about it yet.

It's so funny how much our lives have changed, especially when it comes to our conversation topics. When I get home from work, I usually take a look at her daily report sheet from daycare, then ask him, "Did she poop? How was her bath? How much did she eat before bed?" The pooping thing is the part that really gets me. How funny is it that we care about someone else's bodily functions so much now? I recall an entire blog post about one of her pooping episodes. Well, this face is worth all the poop discussions in the world, she's an incredible baby!

Wrist-rolled

Any parent is familiar with the obligatory skin rolls that develop on growing babies, especially around the thighs and arms. I should know as I was a rather chubby infant. Well, Alli has been growing so quickly that she's gotten them around her wrists... which I guess is a good sign that she'll grow into everything. I know it's a stretch, but seeing her "wrist rolls" made me think of the "Rick Rolled" game we sometimes play at the office.

I'm sure many Followers from the younger generation are familiar with the Internet game of being "Rick Rolled". For those of you that are unfamiliar with this little inter-office game, you can click this link for an explanation. Basically it's a game coworkers play where they send hyperlinks to Rick Astley's music video of "Never Gonna Give You Up" to each other to get the other person to inadvertently see the video. This can be disguised in an unsuspecting email, text message or Instant Message - and if the recipient clicks on the link, they've just been "Rick Rolled".

For many, viewing this video (or just hearing the song) will make them cringe and try to turn it off as soon as possible. However, I love this song and will leave it on as long as I can. I can't help it - weren't the 80's just the best for cheesy pop music?? If the person that sent it to me is close by, I'll turn up the speakers on my computer loud enough for them to hear it. That way, they'll get annoyed by the fact that they are hearing their own joke and seeing that I actually enjoy the song.

Anyway, Alli has been developing so rapidly lately it's kind of scary. She's beginning to really notice things around her & reach and grab for everything she can. She is able to roll over in the blink of an eye, which has enabled her to get around a little bit. She spends a lot of time on her belly (including sleeping) - but really likes leaning up on her elbows to look around. She has amazing head control already - being able to follow someone across the room and snap it right back if she wants to look at something else. I swear she's about 5 minutes away from crawling! Here's her latest adventure...

Carolina Girl

I saw a quote today that pretty much says it all...

"If you're lucky enough to live by the beach, then you're lucky enough."

Dad-E and I have lived down here in Charleston for almost four and a half years now (hard to believe!). We moved here right after we both graduated from college, in December of 2006, when we were both 23 years old. Since then, it seems like time has flown by. Within 6 months, we were engaged, then a year later, married. A few months after the wedding, we had bought our house, rescued our lovable golden, and settled into married life. A few vacations (and years) later, we were expecting our first baby. Throughout all of this, we have absolutely fell in love with Charleston and all it has to offer. Every weekend feels like a vacation. It's such a total escape from reality when you can head to the beach after a bad work week, or out on a friend's boat enjoying the salty sea. It still seems surreal to me some days that we actually live here in this vacation destination. And just knowing that Alli will never know any different, and is a "native South Carolinian", is quite incredible. So, although her parents are "transplants" from Ohio (like just about everyone else around here), she will be lucky enough to say, "Yes ma'am, I was born here."

This would be us...

And this would be Alli... 

I'm on a boat!

Coming into this past weekend, we didn't really have any big plans. Other than dog-sitting another Golden, we didn't have anything too exciting going on. But sure enough, Friday evening rolled around and while Alli was asleep, Mommy B came home and told me that her new manager (a former 7 East coworker of hers) had invited us all out on his sailboat on Saturday afternoon. Mommy B and I had been on his boat a couple times in the past couple years, but never with Alli Ru in tow. The weather was supposed to be beautiful (duh, it's South Carolina) and we didn't have previous plans - so it was really a no-brainer.

Saturday morning rolled around and we prepped Alli for her first actual sailing adventure! We drove down to the Charleston Harbor Marina and met up with Mommy B's new manager Steve, his wife Cheree and their chocolate lab Barnaby. We loaded our gear into the cabin, the winds picked up and off we went!

We sailed out of the marina and into the Charleston harbor, then turned north and used the wind to blow us up the Cooper River. All the while Alli was hanging out on the boat in her pink life jacket and hat, tasting the salty air and checking things out. Meanwhile, Dad-E was enjoying a few cold ones while getting humped by Barnaby. After a couple hours, we decided to come about and head back to the marina to pick up a couple more friends.

Alli was looking tired, so Mommy B took her below to have a bottle and hopefully take a nap in the front cabin. We made our way back to the marina and docked, and picked up Steve's friend Terry and his wife Cathy. We had met Terry a couple years ago on Steve's boat for the 4th of July fireworks, so it was really like hanging out with old friends again. Alli didn't fall asleep on the way back, but she was beat by the time we docked. So, Dad-E worked his magic and got her to fall asleep on the bed in the front cabin while Mommy B got a break to enjoy some adult beverages.

We hung out for a while and swapped stories like always. Before we knew it, an hour or better had gone by and Alli was up and about. Terry brought some cigars for the men aboard while the ladies gushed over the not-sleeping Alli girl. The afternoon had turned to evening, and it was time to get the baby girl home to get fed, bathed and off to bed.

All in all it was a fun little Saturday. Not too bad for not having any plans on the day before. I think Alli had a fun time sailing around the harbor - and never got sea-sick! Already 5 months-old and she's been sailing almost as many times as I have in 27 years...

Relapse? Not quite...

As I'm sure all you Followers could tell from the last few posts, our little Princess has been going through some ups and downs recently. It all started a couple weeks ago when she developed a slight cough at night. We didn't think too much of it and decided to wait it out for a bit. Last Thursday night it got worse... in fact, it was so bad that none of us really slept that night. So off went Super Dad to take Alli to the doctor for her first real sick visit. They diagnosed her with dual ear infections... and noted that she might be getting her teeth soon. Awesome!

Well thank God for mold and modern science - as Alli was feeling (and acting) much better after a few days of Amoxicillin and some better sleep (duh, she's a Meibers). She was feeling so much better that we went to Summerville's Flowertown Festival where she enjoyed being the center of attention and seeing all the pretty-colored flowers. You might recall this post about the trip. All in all, Mommy B and I thought we were on the road to recovery and Alli would be back to her giggly self in no time.

Wrong.

On Monday, she was back to daycare. Well, she wasn't really feeling it that morning. She didn't sleep well the night before and threw a fit that morning while I was getting her dressed - which is very unlike her. She took some long naps while at daycare that day, which is good to see but meant that she still wasn't feeling well. I brought her home that day and she was struggling to keep her eyes open by 6:45pm - another sign that she still wasn't feeling well.

Tuesday morning I got her up and she wasn't that happy while I got her dressed. Again, she took some long naps during the day but wasn't eating as much as normal. She actually looked a little pale and was warmer than usual when I picked her up. I was able to get to sleep that night, but I knew something still wasn't right.

Wednesday morning was worse, she looked sad and uncomfortable all morning as we got her up and fed her. It was almost like she was having a complete relapse and was getting worse. Mommy B and I were getting concerned being that she had been on antibiotics for almost a week and things weren't getting better. But we noticed that her symptoms were different now - she wasn't really coughing or too snotty anymore, she just seemed uncomfortable and in pain.

Mommy B had a class to go to that morning, but then she was going to pick Alli up from daycare and hang out with her at home for the rest of the day. Perhaps she just needed to get out of the daycare crud and get some Mommy B TLC. Well, that afternoon she still wasn't eating much and just wasn't happy with anything that we tried. I was thinking that this meant a return trip to the doctor on Thursday.

It was at that moment that Mommy B happen to let Alli grab her finger and put it in her mouth to suck on - we were basically up for anything that would make her feel better. All of a sudden - OW! That's when everything became crystal clear. Alli cut her first tooth!

We both looked in her mouth at the same time and sure enough, there it was... the bottom right incisor had popped through her gums and was making its presence felt. No wonder she was feeling like crap-ola and was so sad recently - she was teething! Poor little girl. But I must say, she has been an absolute trooper going through all of this at the same time. Come to find out, many of the symptoms I initially thought might have been due to the ear infections - also come along with teething. She really hasn't cried that much for all she's going through, which has been a relief for Mommy B and I.

Sooooo while I think we are over the hump in respect to the ear infections, we have a new culprit to watch out for - teeth! Hopefully the next few come in soon so she'll be over it quickly. It's hard to believe that she's getting her teeth already... I was just getting used to that gummy smile.

Cartoon of the Week

So last night, I got off the phone with Mama G, who, poor thing, is just about miserable waiting for her little baby to arrive. It brought back so many memories of those last few weeks, days, hours... of waiting on Miss Alli to make her arrival as well. I remember going into work, day after day, and having people make those ridiculous comments, like, "You're still here??" Yep, I sure am. "Wow, you're just about ready to burst!" Yep, I feel like it. "You must be due any day now!" Yep, actually, tomorrow. I worked up until the day before my due date, which obviously Alli had just taken as a suggestion, not an actual date she needed to make her appearance. Scarlett, Eric & I were out for one of our daily walks, and a neighbor lady had asked when I was due... and when I said, "Oh, yesterday." She was just taken aback! That's when Eric and I had gotten to talking that they should just give you a due month, or a due week or so, not an actual date. Besides my friend Heather, who had her daughter Hailey on her actual due date, I don't know any other people who actually have their baby on the exact day they're "due". So, hang in there Gena, lil K will be here before you know it. I remember the feeling, but I also remember how quickly you forget it all once he/she is here! And here's a comic dedicated to you!

(The type is a little blurry, so incase you can't read it, it says, "It's Mrs. O'Hara... the one whose due date was 37 days ago... she's angry.")

Meeting the Uncles

Well, not technically... Last Thursday my good friend Dallas came down to Myrtle Beach with the high school baseball team that he coaches. He was literally the first person I met at freshman orientation back in college and we became friends right away. We actually became roommates the next year and he was one of my groomsmen when Mommy B and I got married. He still lives in Cleveland ("At least we're not Detroit!") and was looking forward to the trip to sunny South Carolina to get the baseball season started.

So on Thursday afternoon we packed up the Griswold family truckster and headed north to the Dirty Myrty so Alli could meet Uncle Dallas. Naturally, since Aunt Bacon still lives there we all decided to meet up for dinner. Parents of infants and small children know the dilemma that this presents - where can we go out to eat that will A) have halfway decent food, B) not be filled with smoke and/or drunk college kids on spring break, and C) be somewhat kid-friendly. What better place than Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville? Decent food, no smoke, and it's touristy enough that the crowd is a bit older so no drunk Fratty will try to shotgun Alli's baby bottle.

As the hostess showed us to our table, Alli was mesmerized by all the stuff there. If you've never been to one of these fine establishments, you should definitely check it out. The place is three stories tall, open in the middle, with a giant spinning "hurricane" hanging from the ceiling that pours "tequila" into a 20-ft. blender every couple of hours. Needless to say, there was plenty of visual and auditory stimulation to entertain Alli the entire time we were there.

About 10 minutes after we got there, in strolled The Stork. We nicknamed Dallas "The Stork" because he's tall and lanky and looked like a stork when he pitched for Denison's baseball team. He didn't even give me a handshake or a hug but instead went straight for Alli Ru... go figure. I guess I should get used to being second (or third) fiddle anymore. The two took to each other like they really were related. It was quite entertaining to watch. This is the same guy that got drunk, fell out of his bunk bed and flattened my trash can just 6 short years ago - and now he's blowing raspberries on my daughter's cheek. Ah how time flies...

Aunt Bacon showed up a few minutes later and got her Alli hug fix as well. We were able to actually sit down and enjoy a dinner out as a family for the first time in a while. We took turns holding/feeding Alli while the rest ate, but there was plenty going on to keep her behaved. Dallas couldn't keep his hands off her - he kept picking her up and walking her around the place. Personally, I just think she liked being up that high so she could see everything that was going on. We finished eating and said our goodbyes, then drove home in the dark as Alli slept in her car seat.

Needless to say, Uncle Dallas loves kids and really enjoyed getting to see Alli. It was cute seeing the two of them interact, and hopefully she'll get to meet more of Dad-E's friends from college sometime soon. I'll have to keep my eye on Uncle Marks, but I'm sure she'll enjoy meeting Uncle 'Teve and Uncle Worm just as much.

Doc, are you sure she's sick?

Back to work... back to the grind. Li'l Ru is on day 4 of her Amoxicillin, and she's improved SO much! We could never even tell that she was "sick" to begin with... she never cried like she was in pain (from her ear infections), she never had a temp (looks like we did catch it early!), she was still eating pretty well and she was always so happy! Her cough was really what scared and bothered us so much, especially how much she seemed to cough at night. Now, on these antibiotics, she doesn't cough at all at night, only a little when she wakes up, and hopefully her ear infections are clearing up too. We take her back April 28th for her 6 month check up, so not too far away to check back in and see how things are looking. I'm just glad she didn't have any type of allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin, seeing as I'm allergic to Penicillin and they're in the same drug class. So, we're lucky that she didn't have any crazy allergic reaction... but she sure didn't get lucky with the lovely side effect of most antibiotics... diarrhea. Poor girl, poor us, and poor daycare ladies. No fun! But hopefully, it'll all clear up soon. It's just crazy to think she had "ear infections", we honestly wouldn't have known had we not taken her in for the cough... she is just entirely too happy to seem sick at all!

The ear infections also didn't hold us back from having a good time this weekend! We went up to the Summerville Flowertown Festival and had a great time. She was definitely a hit in her sunglasses, we got so many comments on how cute they were... haha, she was a little ham, taking it all in. We also had friends from Charlotte, Katherine & Bart, come by to visit and meet Alli, which was fun too. Here's some pics from the Flowertown Festival... she was in love with all the beautiful azaleas, and so was I! Can't wait for the next weekend to arrive so we can hang out and have time together as a family... just gotta get through a few more work days...

A not-so-funny April Fool's Day...

So poor little Alli Ru has had a cough for awhile now... maybe a couple weeks or so? It's just been a dry cough, only occurring at night, and it didn't wake her at all, just kept us up and worried of course (first time parents, duh!). She was still happy, smiley, eating great and no temperatures, so we thought it could be a few things. It could be teething/drool gathering in the back of her throat causing her to cough, mild reflux, allergies to the pollen, etc etc... and unfortunately, these are all things you can't do much about. Last night, it all just got a lot worse. We noticed she didn't eat as much as usual yesterday, the cough was becoming more wet, she had a runny nose, was sneezing, etc. She already got initiated to daycare once (getting a little cold right when she first started there), so I don't think a second initiation was necessary. But, with the "daycare crud", it seems to just go 'round and 'round. This morning was just miserable for all of us. She was still not crying or upset, just coughing and sneezing up a storm. So, mommy headed off to work (it was too late to call in sick, and I didn't want to get charged with abandonment of my patients or anything!), and daddy played Mr. Mom. Wow, what can I say, I am just more and more amazed and in love with this man every single day.

He woke up with me around 5am, got her ready and headed to the doctor's office to be the first one's there at 7am. Well apparently, the other "sick visit" kids had appointments (Umm ok?? How do you already know your kid's going to be sick the next day??), and he had to wait almost 2 hours. What a trooper. They weighed her (woo hoo, 14 lbs 1 oz, she's a-growin'!), and checked her pulse ox, 96%... which is good. He's texting me this whole time while I'm at work, trying to take care of my sick patients, but more worried about my sick baby. The doctor came in, checked her out, all while Alli was trying to eat her stethoscope and otoscope... and said she has double ear infections! Poor thing! She said we couldn't have brought her in at a better time, they aren't too bad yet, just a little red, could see a little fluid... but no pus or nastiness, thank goodness. She prescribed her Amoxicillin and said that should help the lungs/cough clear up as well if there happens to be any junk/infection festering in there as well. So, Super Dad went and filled her prescription, and took care of her the rest of the day. I called and checked in a bunch of times, but he said she was doing great. He gave her the first dose of her antibiotics without any difficulty... she took them like a champ! I was prepared to have to pull out my "giving babies medicines" tricks we use at the hospital, but our little girl took them with no problems. She is still snot-nosed, but hasn't coughed nearly as much this evening. We took her on a walk this evening (with a hat and bundled up of course, despite the almost 70 degree weather), but I think it helped her too, feeling the cool air. She's upstairs asleep now, and we're just hoping this course of antibiotics kicks this in the butt.

So, for all you funny people out there, this was not the best joke that could have been played on us today, but we're all hanging in there!