Rainbow Pirate

Early this morning I received an e-mail from the hubby that read, "Yarrrrrrrr! The rainbow pirate is lurking!" and this is the photo that accompanied the message:My husband loves pirates (or at least talking like a pirate) and I guess that's what Ally reminded him of this morning. Regardless, the picture made my day...she's so cute! Thanks, Bud, for the early morning giggle!

Gimme Five!

Daddy and Allyson have been working on a new trick...
Ally "gives fives" now! It's really cute. Daddy says, "Skin it!" and Ally slaps his hand! *I'm not quite sure where David came up with that phrase...I think it might be derived from the phrase, "Give me some skin!", but who really knows. Ally will do it when I ask for a five, so I'm happy. She's growing so much each day...it's amazing!

*After reading this blog entry, David would like me to note that the phrase "skin it" came from the movie Stand by Me and...that I am a smart-ass. ;-)

Wrestle Mania 2009: Ally vs. Daddy

Score: Ally 1, Daddy 0

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha!

Well, since Ally now has two teeth, we decided it was a good time to introduce her to the teeth brushing world. The dentist told me that, although she doesn't need to start coming to see him just yet, it is a good idea to start very young teaching good oral hygiene. He also said that even when babies don't have any teeth, it is a good idea to keep the gums nice and clean.

So...we bought Allyson a stage one, Baby Einstein toothbrush and some special toothpaste made just for infants and let the brushing begin! Ally LOVES getting to "brush" her teeth and she has done a great job of holding her toothbrush and not jabbing herself in the back of the throat with it (I had this vision of the toothbrush becoming this deadly weapon of sorts). We get the tooth brush ready for her (obviously she is a genius, but she is still barely 8 months old) and we "brush" her two teeth and gums first and then we let Ally "brush" for a few minutes. We have been mainly doing this at night, at the beginning of our bedtime routine, but if we forget, we try to make up for it in the morning.

Here are the pictures from our first tooth brushing experience (I think Daddy was having a lot of fun with it!)...

David Drops The Puck

David was asked to represent Coldwell Banker King Thompson (Gahanna/New Albany office) and drop the puck at a recent Gahanna Hockey Game. CBKT is a sponsor of the Columbus Blue Jackets and they sponsor youth hockey teams in the area, so they ask a representative from the office to do the honors. Since David was a GLHS grad, they thought it appropriate that he be the one to drop the puck. It was fun to watch him and Ally is apparently a huge hockey fan...she couldn't take her eyes off the rink. I could barely get a picture of her where she was looking at the camera, because she wanted to watch all the action! Fun night and Daddy was a "star" for the evening...well, our star anyway!

Birthday Boy

Today is David's 31st Birthday and we had a very low key celebration. This is what he wanted, since we had such a big bash last year, but we are going to go out on Saturday to Dick's Den and watch some live jazz with friends. We are going to leave Ally overnight (with my parents) for the first time, so we don't have to worry about coming home too early. David is really excited and I am looking forward to something new and different. So...for this evening, we stayed in and I made a big Mexican feast at David's request, he opened his gifts with Ally, while I took pictures and then...wait for it...he fell asleep on the couch! I let him sleep for a while, because it is his birthday afterall, but keep in mind it is also New Year's Eve, so I did wake him 2o minutes or so before the ball dropped for a champagne toast and a New Year's kiss! It wasn't the most exciting New Year's Eve, but that's fine with me. I'll do my celebrating on Saturday! As long as David had a nice birthday (and I am pretty sure he did), that's all that matters.

Happy Birthday, Bud! We love you!!

Ally's First Bottle

Well, Ally has been doing so well breastfeeding that we decided to give her a bottle for the first time. It was a little bottle, as mama is still a newbie at the whole pumping thing, but she did really well and it was a nice chance for David to spend some bonding time with Ally. We want to get her used to the bottle early on, so we have a fairly easy transition when I venture back to work (YUK!).

Daddy and his girl go SHOPPING!

Ok, I'll admit that I was trying to pull one over on you with the title of this post. I mean, let's be honest...we all know David isn't much for shopping, BUT, he and Ally did venture out for their first time alone together for a trip to...Lowes! It was a quick trip and then a fast stop over to Grandma and Grandpa T's house to borrow some sort of tool-like item, but they had a wonderful time together and most importantly, everyone is still alive (I promise David will appreciate the Cosby Show reference I just threw in there)!!!

Here's Ally all ready to go before the big trip...