Or else...

Video of the Week: Feeding Frenzy

One more quick entry:

This photo corresponds with yesterday's entry.

6 month photo

Here's Maureen's 6-month photo, taken last week.

Just a test.

This is just a test to see how the AbbeyGus, Dolberry and/or CarrieGabe bloggers respond. Just keep pushing that Tech Button.

Tummy time.

The latest in Maureen's bag of tricks is rolling over in bed and sleeping on her stomach - new last night. We knew the night would come, because she has been sleeping on her side, with her neck crooked back. All it took was a little more umph and bam, on her stomach.
She is gaining a great deal of strength - she can prop herself up with her arms when she's on her stomach, and she can also get her knees under her while on her stomach. She's not yet able to coordinate the two to start crawling, though. But it's only a matter of time.

Baby of the Week.

Our little baby is baby of the week in this Week's Voice Tribune society section. This is a huge honor. Go out and buy a few copies, she can be found on page B-18, slightly above the fold.

Caption says: Maureen Lally, at 6 months, is the daughter of Tim and Kristin Lally. Her Grandparents are Joe Lally Jr. and the late Alma Lally, and Paul and Karen Dolwick.

I couldn't sum it up any better!

Photo of the day - Happy Girl.

Asleep.

Brand new photo sent via Kristin's phone.

The Easter Joby.

Happy Easter!

This is Mojo's first Easter! When we woke up we put the rabbit ears on Maureen and took her to the mirror - it was literally a jaw dropping experience for her as her pacifier fell to the ground on first sight. Mom and Dad got a good laugh out of it. To all of those numbers that click in to our counter, we wish you and your family a happy Easter.

PS: our shamrock may not be as full as Katheigh's, but how can we expect it to grow with our little plucker around?

Mojo video of the week #2

Maureen at play.

Real comedian!

I have a meeting this morning so I had to dress up a bit. Maureen thought she'd have a little fun with Dad and spit up inside his front shirt pocket. Hilarious - the little twerp. She seemed especially spry this morning - little did she know that she would be getting some shots in her little butt this afternoon. Yes, today is Maureen's 6-month birthday - hard to believe we all made it that long.
Tonight I will be getting together with other PDO (Parent's Day Out) moms and dads for the first PDO band practice. We will be performing at the Family Fun Night later in the month. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll be bringing my trusty Ukulele - the one with a pick-up, to be played through the amp, as opposed to my everyday Ukulele.
We are waiting to see how Maureen's Aunt Carrie did with her interviews yesterday, and how potential Uncle (Tio) Gabe is doing with his appendix woes. Let us know.

Swinging Mojo

Maureen's first time on a playground swing.

Fun Day.

We watched cousins Abbey and Gus play baseball today. What a hoot. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Following the game we went to visit Mojo's Great Grandfather "Doc" at the nursing home, and hosted a cookout later at our home. In attendance: GM Karen, GP Paul, GGM Betty, Kathy (Katheigh), Scott (Skot), Abbey and Gus. We are dreading the end of a great weekend.

MoJo top ten.

It's hard to believe that Maureen (pictured here with cousin Claire) will be six months old this Wednesday. She has developed so much in those months you can really start to see personality shine through - its been so exciting to us to see the transformation. With a nod to my counter-blogger Dolberry, Kristin and I have come up with the following list of the top ten endearing MoJo qualities, in no particular order:
10. Her Smile. From early on, I believe in the hospital at birth, Maureen has been an excellent smiler. You can tell just by looking at my past entries that she already figured out how to work the camera, not to mention working her grandmother and grandfathers. At my most grumpiest times (usually about 6pm), one of her smiles changes my outlook. Enough about the smiles?

9. One of Maureen's latest developments is patting my shoulder when I pick her up. It only started this week and I think it's her mimicking me.

8. Her kisses for Mama are some of the more hilarious moments we've witnessed. This has been something she's been doing for a couple of months, where she grabs both sides of Kristin's head and brings her in for a big sloppy, wet one. Its more of an open mouth cheek suck than a kiss and it only happens with Mama because Daddy's cheek is a bit too rough.

7. Maureen goes nuts when she sees herself in the mirror, especially the one in the dining room that we have since dubbed "The Magic Mirror." It helps to calm her down when she's in the crabbiest of moods.
6. MoJo is a morning person. When she first wakes up in the morning, she just lays in bed waiting for someone to come get her, and she beams at the first sight of either of us.

5. Maureen is at the top of her class when it comes to friendliness and following the rules. Ok, this may be a stretch, but we do know that the teachers love Maureen and have the fewest problems with her when the room is full of kiddos - trust us, they've said so. Even the director of the program makes a point to see her every day (of course this is our good friend Amy and she's a bit biased.)

4. Maureen has great facial expressions. One of my favorites is the lifting of the eyebrows at something interesting or surprising. She also has the furrowing brow down pat; not to mention the doe-eyes. She's a charmer.

3. Yesterday when I came home from work Maureen was in a particularly good mood, squealing and laughing. She was playing peek-a-boo on our bed with the sheets and also played bounce-on-the-bed with Mama. The laugh was adorable. I guess her laughter constitutes #3.

2. She has Michelin Man arms and legs - maybe they're more like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

1. Just look at her! That's reason enough!

Must eat camera.

Happy Spring (or is that summer?)

We went from Winter to Summer, with a few flowers thrown in for effect. Saturday was family fun day at the zoo, for us and for every other family in the city. Every parking space was full, and strollers were in abundance. Funny thing is, many of the strollers (including ours) obstruct the view of the babies inside them. Maureen was asleep for the first leg of our journey, and her cousin Claire fell asleep for a good three quarters of the trip. I think zoos are really made to wear kids out with all the walking, while giving parents something interesting to look at along the way. Take all the animals away and fill the pens with accountants and the kids will have a blast just the same. And they would still want to go to the gift shop at the end of the line to buy pocket protectors or stuffed CPAs. We got some great photos - this was the first time Mojo ever sat down in grass. She is loving the great outdoors.
Anyway, a good time was had by all. On a personal note, I am leading the Dolberry Invitational NCAA pool, with all four teams left in the final four - of course they are all Top one and two seeded teams. Go Gators!

Aunt Ang's quilt.

New photo taken today on the quilt (Great) Aunt Angela made for Maureen. She reportedly loves grabbing at "All the cool things" on the squares.

Mojo can't wait until her first sleep-over guest, cousin Claire! We're going to the zoo and have all our toys ready for some serious play time.

Have a great weekend.

Pura Vida!

In Costa Rica, the locals use the greeting Pura Vida, literally meaning "Pure Life." The context in which they use it is more of a "This is Living" or "Life is Good." I love this expression, and think of it more and more at special times with Kristin and Maureen. Even at the most stressful times (and they seem to be coming more frequently) I need to realize that I really have a great situation - a great family, wonderful friends, and a comfortable life.

On the baby front, are getting good reports from the parent’s day out teachers. One is so in love with Maureen and has offered her babysitting services during the summer when PDO is out. Maureen is not a whiner (except when Granny is trying to put her to sleep), is really laid back, and loves to sit back and observe the other kids.

We’re on rice cereal twice a day, and she is getting better control of her body. She is great at sitting up; she’s rolling over more often; and is much better at being on her stomach – pushing up with her upper body and even raising her tail up. She seems poised to go mobile any day. It seems like she matures a little more each afternoon when I come home from work. Life is good.