Weekend Playtime

Mallory's favorite time of the week is the weekend, since both Mom and Dad are around and there are plenty of fun things to do.

It isn't all fun and games though. Here Mom and Dad make Mallory help out with the grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.

After getting home and getting everything unpacked, it was time to get down on the floor for some playing.

Today's special activity was a light saber duel with Dad. Mallory won, of course.

Then it was time to hit the stairs so Mallory could show off her climbing skills.

After this, time to head up the rest of the stairs and up to bed. All in all, it was a pretty good Saturday.

Holiday Fun

On one of the Fridays Jamie had off in December, Mallory, Jamie and Nani Judie decided to head downtown to Macy's to check out the annual holiday display.

Here is Mallory modeling her new Santa hat (while still in her jammies).

Luckily, Jamie also brought her Santa hat (Samesies!).

Mallory was enthralled with the display: the lights, the activities, and all the other kids around.

Here the three pose after a successful holiday trip.

Decorating the Tree

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we put up the Christmas tree in preparation for Mallory's first Christmas. The only change is that we put it upstairs this year, to limit the amount of damage that she could do.

Before she would help out, she wanted to get the lay of the land first.

Here are Mallory and Mom. The tree is up, but looks pretty bare. We need some lights and ornaments.

Luckily, Mallory agreed to help with the lights. Here she is testing the lights before they go up on the tree.

And now she is trying to figure out how she is going to put them on to the tree.

Hide and Seek

So Mallory is completely mobile now. She has mastered crawling, and now like to pull herself up on anything she can reach. She can even stand on her own for a few seconds.

Here she is pulling herself up on the coffee table, which as you can see have been babyproofed.

And she loves walking around her exersaucer.

With all this movement, this is about the only place Samson feels safe. So he has chosen to hide under his blanket (he is not a very good hider).

But someone is hot on his trail...

"I found you!"

Baby Mozart

Mallory has already started to show some of her musical potential.
Look at that concentration.

Mallory definitely did not get her musical abilities from either of her parents. She'll be taking after her Aunt Jill if she pursues this activity.

Lunch at BBY

Steve's cousins were in town from Texas and Seattle for Thanksgiving. Before they departed, we all met Steve at Best Buy for lunch. Steve's godson Ethan was very helpful. He picked up some of the peas that Mallory dropped on the floor and before I get react, put them back into Mallory's bowl.
Then the two smiled nicely for a photo. They definitely had a good time together.

Great Grandma Betty

For Thanksgiving, the family packed up and headed south...well, to southern MN. We surprised Steve's grandparents.
Here, Mallory let her great grandmother hold her while she ate breakfast.

Iowa - Part 5: Uncle Erik

Because it was a football weekend, Uncle Erik was working hard. Sunday morning, however, before we left, Mallory and Uncle Erik were able to have a little quality time.
Mallory was obviously very excited to see Erik. She told him all about the fun she had the night before at the game.


We had a fantastic trip with Uncle Erik and Aunt Jill and we look forward to many more to come. Thanks guys!