Groove thing

Of all the video and pictures we took on our 3-week vacation, this is posted first because it is, perhaps, the single cutest thing he did the trip. Plus posting it came as a special request, and we (lori) have not gotten through all the other pictures.



He was truly the hit of the party.

Others from the Maloney side of the family:






More to come....

xoxo
DLMA

Roly Poly & the Teeth Monster

It's only halfway thru July and already we have a lot to share. Abby rolled over for the first time last week, the same week she started sleeping thru the night. She sleeps in a bassinet in our room for now; a small moses basket on the floor. She is a fantastic sleeper - unfortunately with the help of her pacifier - the middle three fingers on either hand. She often comforts herself to sleep with small, sweet sucking noises.

Matthew is cutting his far back molars. Poor thing is so crabby and doesn't know why, and has some pretty yucky diaper rash. But he is a trooper and he'll survive this. Just hope his parents do, too!

We also got a parent-mobile. Yep, a van. It is quite accomodating to all our many baby-sized odds and ends, and seats a whopping 8 people, so if you come for a visit, you can probably fit your whole family in the car with us. :)

That's about all we've got to share. Looking forward to an upcoming visit to the midwest to see family. If you're on our way, watch out - you may find our van lumbering up to your house!

xoxo DLMA-C





Matt in his old carseat - he's grown a little since...


Matt (3 months) in his carseat


Abby and her pacifier


New shoes from Grandma & Grandpa






Abby pics:






Matt at 3 months to compare babies. Similar eh?

J is for June

Our matt's vocab is growing faster than he is these days. He can say probably upwards of 30 words unprompted, his favorite of which are still "fish" and "truck". He's expanded from simple nouns like "cup" and "plate" to more complicated and adorably-sounding "octopus" (ashpts or something like it). He doesn't really do much in the way of 2 syllables, so if your name is Katie, you are really "Kate" or if have to go potty, it's really a "pot". It's fun on the days one of us is gone all day to work to come home and hear a word he's never said before.

Allegedly the summer is supposed to be vacation time off for both Dave and Lori, but we've not seen much of that yet. Dave's in his last week of an endless class for his teaching certification and also got a week of summer school left. No, he's teaching it, not taking it. Lori's typically off in June and July but with some changes at work and fall programs starting right around the corner, she's not free yet. We are both so thankful for our jobs in a time when so many people are not able to find work, but are both also looking forward to the month ahead when things should free us up to be on 'break' more together.

The Florida weather has taken its turn, as evident by the lush lawn and sky high humidity. Our thunderstorms have started and we are working with Matt to not be afraid during the storms. So far, so good. We say "boom! boom!" really loudly after a clap of thunder and he smiles and says it back. For us, the thunder is exciting. He also LOVES the rain (showers, too) and signals it with an overturned hand held high and wiggling fingers. I think he knows he has to cue us visually since it's impossible to know if "ray" means rain or raisin. A favorite rainy time activity is to grab the closest parent and head for the door. He stands on the railing on the front porch where the rain mists him and drips off the roof. He's relatively dry and yet has a front row ticket to the show. Pics below are one time he was allowed to leave the protection of the porch. He loved it.

He's also learning the letters through a video and lots of practice. He knows "O" (thank you, cheerios) and Dave taught him "T", so congrats, Tommy - you may be the first to get a hand-written card from boy genius. :) He will repeat all the letters after you and can say them all pretty clearly except for "R". Lori's favorite letter is the "Q", which sounds more like "cooo". He has letters in the bathtub, on the fridge, and our favorite, the "brainwashing" video. They repeat the letters in this crazy monotone that echoes thru the house. Then some of the letters sprout feet and arms and say their name while they dance, float, spin, and whatever across the screen. Brainwashing or not, it's working!! He loves it.

Also learning the concept of size - Matt and Lori read a book with whales in it (of course) and they say big fish little fish on most of the pages. Big is said really "big-ly" while you run your finger along the really long length of the big whale, then little is in a little voice pointing to the little one. It felt silly at first, but now the trash truck is bi.........g, the lion is bi..........ig, and mama is bi.....ig too. Hopefully he means compared to Abby.

We love and miss you all and will see many of you soon!

A day in the rain







Fire Dept Fun








a&m shots from June

Aunt Katie's Visit

We had the good fortune of a visit from Aunt Katie, who took good care of our house and our kiddos while she was here. We call her "super-nanny!"

Out to lunch as a final hurrah






Cuddling and snoozing

With love

-Just a few tidbits to savor-

A favorite Matt story...
One day, driving home from visiting Lori's folks, Abby started hollering. The mirror only can show us one kid from the front seat since Abby is turned around, so it is often trained on Matt. Lori looked back, stifled a giggle and called Dave. Here's the conversation:
L: Want to know what your kids are doing? Here's Abby - (hold the phone in the back seat so crying is clearly heard).
D: Oh that's nice, how about Matthew?
L: He has his fingers plugging his ears.

Words Matt's started saying:
help (hep), stuck, stick, diaper (dipe), click (like for the carseat buckle), ham (for taylor ham and bacon)
Hi-ya and raising a leg like a karate kick

And some great pics and video.