Christmas

Malloy had a great Christmas.  I don’t think she fully understood “Santa” but she did want to leave him cookies and milk.  Maybe next year, she will believe me when I say “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”.  When she would misbehave and I threatened that Santa wouldn’t bring her any presents, her response was “I don’t want any presents.  I just want a lump of coal.”

Below – Malloy and her new Madame Alexander doll from Dearie.

 

Malloy left out cookies and milk for Santa, a carrot for Rudolph, and cheese for the Santa Mouse.

Malloy’s big gift from Santa – the Loving Family dollhouse

Kitchen from Grandma and Papa

The aftermath of Christmas morning.

Christmas in the Kitchen

We have been busy in the kitchen making a gingerbread house and Christmas cookies.  The house came pre-assembled so all that we had to do was decorate it.  We had a hard time keeping the gumdrops out of Malloy’s mouth and even now that it’s all put together, I have to keep it out of Malloy’s reach or she’ll pull off the candy and eat it.

We also made and decorated some Christmas cookies.  As you can see, Malloy was a big help.

Another Trip to the Dentist

 

As I mentioned before, Malloy fell and hit her mouth on the bathtub about a month ago.  She went to the dentist to have her “mouth trauma” looked at, but this week we went to have a regular check up and cleaning.  Malloy was surprisingly cooperative.  The only difficulty the hygienist had was keeping Malloy’s tongue out of the way.  She wanted to lick the tools and the tooth polish.  I think she was one of the best  2 year old patients they had ever seen.  She even sat perfectly still for her X-ray.  As you can see in the top picture, her front tooth turned a little grey as a result of the bathtub incident.  The dentist said it might lighten up again.  I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

Visit to Santa

Malloy made a quick visit to Santa yesterday. She wasn't so sure about sitting on his lap, but when he showed her the stocking filled with candy she went along with it. She told him that she wants a dollhouse, a Dancing Dora, Baby Whoop See Do, and a mermaid.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 

Malloy was not too interested in picking out a Christmas tree.  After the tree had been selected, she and I went and waited in the car for Kyle to load it up.  Malloy insisted on getting a package of orange Tic Tacs when we were checking out with the tree.  I let her “hold” them and the next thing I knew, she had eaten the entire package!

Helping with the Christmas decorations.

Trying to get the “perfect” Christmas card picture. 

Trip to the Dentist

Above, Malloy enjoying a warm fall day on her swing set.

Malloy loves Dora the Explorer and we recently got a new book in which Dora visits the dentist. We've been talking about the dentist and what happens there and I was just thinking that it was about time to make an appointment for Malloy's first check-up and cleaning. Well, we got to make an unexpected/emergency visit to the dentist today. Below, Malloy's injury from last night. She was running up and down the hallway (with shoes on) and came racing into the bathroom as I was filling the tub. She tripped and hit her mouth (specifically her teeth) on the edge of the tub. You can't really tell in this picture, but her upper lip is really swollen and her lower lip is slightly swollen too. She looks like she got some bad collagen injected into her lips.

I couldn't get a good picture of her teeth, but the right front tooth is pushed back and up slightly and the inside corners of the two teeth on either side of the front teeth are chipped a tiny bit. We went to the dentist today to make sure she didn't do any serious damage. Malloy was so cooperative - she even sat still for X-Rays with the heavy lead apron on. The dentist said we don't need to do anything - the teeth are not loose and the place where her tooth is shifted is not impacting her bite. Thank goodness these are just baby teeth. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they don't trun gray!

Little Red Riding Hood

After seeing the Shreveport Opera Express perform Little Red Riding Hood at her preschool, Malloy has been obsessed with the story.  She wanted to be L.R.R. for Halloween and she asks me to tell her the story every day.  The same group was performing tonight at Barnes and Noble, so we went to see them.  This time, Malloy was in costume. She really wanted to have her picture taken with the Big Bad Wolf.  She also had to tell him, “You’ve got to be nice!”.  I ordered a toddler friendly version of the book but it hasn’t arrived yet.  The wolf doesn’t actually eat the grandmother and therefore, the woodsman is not required to cut him open.  We’ll see if Malloy likes it.

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Fun at the Fair!

Friday was a beautiful day so we decided to head over to the State Fair of Louisiana. I have lived here for 6 years and have never had any desire to visit the fair, but it was so pretty outside and admission and parking were free on Friday before 3:00, so I decided it was worth a look. Malloy got to see a circus, a performing elephant, and a tiger show. She also fed a giraffe and rode on lots of rides. Her favorite was the big slide.

Not so sure about the motorcycle ride.

Wheee! This is great. Let's do it again (and again, and again). We climbed lots of stairs to get to the top of the slide.

Enjoying a little dessert after a hard day at the fair.

Adventures in Babysitting

Yesterday afternoon, we had the pleasure of babysitting my friend’s little girl, Tess, for about an hour and a half. Malloy thought Tess was a lot of fun, but what she enjoyed most was pretending to be a baby. Whenever Malloy has the chance, she likes to get in baby seats, exersaucers, swings, etc. and if she can steal a pacifier she is even happier.

Malloy saw Tess putting the blanket in her mouth, so she had to do the same. Below – Malloy sitting in Tess’ car seat.

Malloy and Tess sure had fun giggling together!

Halloween

 

 

Malloy in the fairy costume.  She opted to wear this outfit around the house on Saturday, but changed into her “real” costume for Saturday night.

Malloy loves to watch this lady on YouTube.  The videos are called Cullen’s ABCs and it is just a nice preschool teacher singing all of the songs toddlers love.  I put my laptop in Malloy’s room while I was cleaning to keep her occupied.

Enjoying a caramel apple!

Her official costume was Little Red Riding Hood.  She’s been obsessed with this story ever since a group from the Opera came to her preschool and performed a rendition.  For some reason, Malloy decided that Little Red Riding Hood needed to wear a backpack and push her baby in a stroller.

 

First actual Trick or Treating experience.  Just a little too short to reach the doorbell.

We had to stop by our old street so Malloy could see Miss Melissa.  We only went to 3 houses last night, so fortunately, we didn’t have a lot of candy to eat.  I think Malloy has already eaten it all.  Aunt Katherine brought Malloy some cotton candy, but after taking a bite, Malloy said it was “too spicy”.

Sewing Projects

Almost two years ago, I took a sewing class to learn how to make a "Jumper in a Day". Today, I outdid myself by making 2 jumpers in about 3 hours. You can't really tell from the picture, but they are corduroy. After I cut out the patterns, I took the front pieces to my friend's monogramming store and she did the turkey and reindeer appliques. While Malloy watched a few episodes of Dora and during part of her afternoon nap, I completed the two dresses. Malloy can start wearing the turkey dress once we get past Halloween.

While I had my sewing machine out (taking up the entire dining room with all of my fabric and sewing junk) I got motivated to finish making the bedding for Malloy's "big girl bed". I made these two pillow shams this afternoon/evening and I made the bedskirt a few weekends ago. I finally got around to purchasing and installing the bed rails, so now the bed is officially ready for Malloy. I told her that she could not sleep in it until she was a "big girl" which means potty trained. I would say she is officially potty trained now so she is eligible to begin sleeping in it. She attempted to take her nap in it today, but I think it was too exciting for her and after she climbed out I put her back in her crib and she slept for 2 hours. I am definitely not pushing her to get out of her crib because she sleeps very well in it!

Brown polka dot pillow shams with striped ruffle. The bedskirt is also made from the stripe. I did not make the white pillow. It was a baby gift for Malloy from my friend, Hannah, but it works perfectly in her new bedroom too.

I think the bed might still need more pillows.

Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon we took a little trip to the local pumpkin patch. Malloy was not too interested in the big pumpkins, but had a lot of fun carrying around these little ones instead.

Malloy and her friend Catherine had a great time looking at all of the pumpkins and running around the patch.

Once we got home, we decorated our pumpkin. Malloy put all of the pieces in after I made the holes.