The Mallorys Online

It’s disgustingly hot in Sacramento right now so we had to limit our pool visit to about an hour. Jacob didn’t like his hat and wasn’t sure about the water for the first five minutes. We put him in his floaty and I swam underwater at him and came up with a small splash and he loved it! After that Jennifer played some cruising around the water games. We had a great time and can’t wait to get him in the pool more!

Jennifer went all out for me this weekend for my 30th birthday. It started Saturday with a professional bass fisherman trip on the Delta for largemouth bass. Grant joined me for the trip and we got into some big fish. I had the time of my life out there. Sunday we had fun on Folsom Lake with Grant and Heather and then came home for a family birthday dinner where Jennifer and mom prepared my favorite dinner… cheese stuffed shells. To wrap it all up we headed to the Giants vs. Braves game at AT&T park in San Francisco with our closest friends. The weather was great, the Giants won… what could be better?! Click the read more link for the full photo gallery. Read the rest of this entry »

I woke up with JD at 6am on Sunday (Mother’s Day) and noticed he was very warm.  I fed him a bottle and Jennifer got up shortly after.  We took his temperature and, sure enough, his fever was 102F.  Since he wasn’t showing any symptoms of a cold or flu we thought his ear infections were back because he just got over ear infections two weeks prior.  We had no idea our clinic offers a pediatric urgent care from 9am-12pm on Sat-Sun so we took him into the ER.  By the time he was seen in the ER his fever climbed over 103F.  They took a look in his ears and confirmed the ear infections were back.  We know the routine, a Zithromax prescription and TLC for a few days, right?  Wrong.

By Sunday night his fever climbed to 105.1F.  This is the hottest he’s ever been.  He was understandly becoming more and more irritable and refusing to eat/drink.  Toward the end of the evening his fever tapered off into a more managable 102F and we prepared for a rough night.  Monday was more of the same and he refused to eat or drink anything.  He was tugging at his face and shrieked in pain whenever he attempted to take food.  We got a different antibiotic prescribed and some numbing drops for his ears because we thought the eating motion was causing pain from the infection.  We knew something was different.

Tuesday morning he still wasn’t any better so we got him into the pediatrician that morning.  She took a look in his ears and said they look like they’re healing nicely with the new antibiotic.  Then she looked in his mouth and discovered the reason he’s so upset, his mouth had erupted with little sores from a viral infection.  It’s called Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease and it’s fairly common in children.  There are four viruses that cause the illness and once a child is exposed they’re immune to that specific virus for life.  The bad thing is if he comes in contact with any of the other three then he can get it again.

It’s now Wednesday and he’s able to get some food and liquids down, but he’s still very uncomfortable.  Jennifer’s doing a great job with him at home, but we feel so bad for him.  The tough thing with Jacob is generally even with a minor illness he’s in great spirits.  The fever is usually the only clue we have that he’s getting sick.  With this virus everything is different because of the amount of pain it inflicts on kids.  Testament to his resilience are the adorable photos I got of him on Sunday night.

We took Jacob to get his first haircut today.  There is a small shop called EJ’s Little People in Old Fair Oaks that is well known as THE PLACE to get your kids’ first haircut.  We got there to find the place is an absolute dump.  The front window is riddled with BB holes, the ceiling has multiple water damage spots, one of the windows on the side is boarded up and there is ripped wallpaper throughout.  I don’t know if it has changed ownership, but the place is definitely not the glorious first haircut destination people talk about.  We were already out there and Jacob was in good spirits so we decided to get his hair cut there anyway.  One neat thing they do is give you a certificate with a before/after photo and a lock of his hair.  Here are photos of JD’s first haircut.

The quick background on my recent purchase is we just celebrated Jacob’s first birthday.  Our great friends, Grant and Heather, were given a Nikon D60 as a Christmas gift and they took pictures during the party that made our Canon point & shoot photos look like garbage.  Anybody that knows us is well aware of our affinity for taking photos (right, Jill?) so I was immediately 1) stoked that Grant brought his camera and took photos and 2) disgusted that the photos from the first year of Jacob’s life were just OK and not GREAT.

So my search for a bargain DSLR began.  I started with the Nikon D40/60 because of Grant’s photos.  The camera has everything I would need with one small exception.  The autofocus motor isn’t in the body, it’s in the lens.  That’s no big deal for Grant because his Christmas kit came with two lenses and he won’t buy a new lens any time soon.  I couldn’t afford a big kit like that right off the bat so I would need to buy additional lenses in the future.  With the autofocus motor in the lens it drives the lens prices up 3-4x.  So, I settled with the Canon EOS Rebel XS because the autofocus motor is in the body and image quality is the same as the Nikon.  I just got the camera Wednesday so I haven’t had a chance to get out in the sunlight and take some great outdoor shots.  Here are a few shots of Jacob.

He’s getting more stable and every now and then he will walk a bit, stop and stand, then continue walking.  He still is wobbly and more comfortable just walking from point to point.

For those of you that know us, you know that we have given Austin/Susie/Momma/Kwazy/Eep many names over the years.  I honestly can’t remember how her latest name, Eep came about, but it’s been her name for 5+ years now.  We call her Eep-a-neema, Guad-al-Eep-ay, Rumple-Eepskin, etc.

Well, Eep has been a house cat for all ten years of her life.  She has always been extremely curious and very daring when it comes to venturing outside.  We had to remove her brother, George, from our house a few weeks ago for reasons I won’t go into here.  Ever since he left she has been more eager than ever to go outside.  Over the last two weeks she bolts out the door at any given opportunity.  Yesterday Jennifer was getting Jacob ready for his 1 year checkup and left the garage door open.  We have a cat door leading out to the garage because we keep the litter out there.  Jennifer didn’t realize it until I got home later in the day, but Eep took the open garage opportunity to venture out into the world.

It just so happens Sacramento is experiencing a rare April heat wave with temperatures in the 90’s.  Eeps a dainty cat and isn’t really built for outdoor living so I was worried when 6:30pm came around and I realized I hadn’t seen her since I was home.  I canvased the block and asked a few people, but nobody had seen her.  Jennifer and I were worried and trying to convince each other that she’ll be ok.  Afterall, she has a tag with my phone number on it and she’s friendly enough to wander up to someone if she needs to be rescued.  We went to bed with the garage door cracked enough for Eep to squeeze back in the house if she could find her way back.

Low-and-behold at 2:30am we woke up to the beautiful sound of Eep meowing at the foot of our bed.  We got up and checked her out and the only evidence of her eventful day was a few leaves and sticks in her fur.  We put down some new food and water for her and went back to bed thankful she was ok.  Now that Jacob is getting older and our lives get busier every day I think this won’t be the last time Eep goes out to play.  I just hope she always returns safely.

The Mallorys had a great Easter with Nani Karla and cousins Kaiya and Aiyana. The day started with a special, surprise delivery from Grandpa on our doorstep.

We then took a few pics outside before Nani & Co. arrived.

Then it was time for Jacob’s first Easter basket!

And then it was time for an Easter egg hunt for Kaiya and Aiyana!

After that wrapped up we headed to Haggin Oaks golf course for a free pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt.

And finally back home for some of Nani’s home cooking. Jacob looked like such a dude!

Today marks the day Jacob took his first steps. I was home with the little man all day. When it was time for mommy to come home I brought him to the front window, which is low enough for him to stand and watch outside. Jennifer pulled into the garage and then came to the front door. This is usually my greeting because Jennifer gets home from work before me. However, today was mommy’s day and once she opened the door Jacob turned to her and took 3-4 steps into her arms! We were both shocked and we had him do it a few more times just to make sure he was actually walking. He will be one in less than two weeks and we can’t believe how fast the time flies.

Hopefully we can get a video in the next few days.

Update 4/9/09: He likes to walk to mommy and has waddled to her more than a few times. He finally walked to daddy tonight and we got it on camera.  You will have to excuse my outfit.