The Mallorys Online

Update 12/16/09

We have owned this vacuum for about a year and a half.  I posted this review with no idea about the amount of traffic it would attract.  It seems a lot of people need a vacuum for pet hair!  Well I’m sorry to say that I just got word from Best Buy that my third (yes, third) replacement is ready.  When this vacuum works, it’s amazing.  However, there is an issue with the beater brush motor and I’ve had the same problem on two different machines now where the beater brush stops spinning with any resistance.  Thankfully I got the Best Buy repair plan when I bought the vacuum.  I can no longer recommend the vacuum due to this big issue.  There are two critical elements to successfully picking up dirt: suction and disruption.  Without the beater brush the vacuum is extremely inefficient at picking up anything, let alone pet hair.  The search is still on for the perfect vacuum and it seems a few commentors have been pleased with their Dyson.  I’m still struggling with the price, but I’m a lot closer to spending $500 than I was a year and a half ago.

Jennifer and I have been using the same, inexpensive vacuum since we moved into this house four years ago.  The carpet has since been replaced so there shouldn’t be too much dirt in the carpets, right?  Well, we have two long-haired cats with dark gray fur.  They like to chase each other around and pull out clumps of fur all over the house.  The old vacuum was good at getting most of the surface level stuff, but we could tell it wasn’t doing a great job.  Jacob will be playing on the floor soon and I don’t want a bunch of dust and dirt in our carpet.  We finally decided it was time to get a new vacuum this week.

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We’ve now had a month with our wonderful son and we’re compiling some of our favorite things he does.  This isn’t in any particular order.

1. Sleep grins: These are the unintended smiles babies make when they’re first falling asleep.  We know every baby does this, but it’s such a sweet look at what his bright smile is going to look like.
2. Tight lips when he’s had enough to eat: I have a picture of this that I need to upload today.  Once Jacob has had enough to eat and you try to feed him more, he tightens his lips and makes a funny face.
3. “Uh-Huh”: This lasted about a week or two so he doesn’t do it anymore, but when he got upset he would start saying “uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.”
4. The Hasselhoff: We unbutton or unzip his shirt and open his chest up when he eats so he doesn’t soak his shirt.  This is known as the Hasselhoff.
5. Staring at our living room wall art: There is art above our sofa that Jacob will focus on if it’s in his line of sight regardless of the song and dance we perform in his face.
6. The Home Alone: When Jacob eats he puts his hands on his face like the famous McCauley Culkin scene from Home Alone when he puts the aftershave on his face.

I’m sure I forgot some and Jennifer will quickly remind me to add to the list.  I will try to get some photos to go along with the list.

Jennifer and I are blessed with the most beautiful son to ever walk the earth. He has been an absolute joy every second we spend with him. The last time I posted, Jacob gained a ton of weight up to 7lbs 5oz. Well, we went in to see our pediatrician to make sure he’s healing OK after the circ and he weighed 7lbs 12.6oz! The boy is gaining over an ounce a day.

We ventured out today to get Jacob’s newborn photos taken. We were very anxious about how well he would do because most of his life so far he’s either 1) sleeping or 2) fussing so he can eat, then sleep. There are the precious rare moments when he’s wide awake and attentive, but you can’t predict when they’ll happen.

I think the photos speak for themselves, he did amazing! It took a quick bottle break after he got hungry and then he was great.

Jacob had his two week checkup today. Jennifer and I were excited to see how much he weighs now. We plopped him down on the scale and were amazed to see he weighs 7lbs 5oz! That means he gained 21oz (1lb 5oz) in less than two weeks. Jacob is definitely making up for his slim birth weight by eating every chance he gets.

We switched to Dr. Brown bottles to try to get his gassy belly to calm down. He hasn’t had a fit since the switch so hopefully we’re on to something. We tried Avent, Playtex VentAire, Playtex Drop-ins, and Breast-flow bottles and all of them gave him bad gas.

Yesterday Jacob discovered his toys and he had a great time batting at it while papa dangled it in front of his face. Here is a pic of the action:

I’ve been walking around with him in the Baby Bjorn a little bit and he seems to like it. He likes to gaze in amazement in the backyard.

Jacob has been increasingly fussy in the evenings after his late feeding. We were struggling to get him to sleep and getting very frustrated, not to mention exhausted. Yesterday we had a visit from great grandma. After raising five children, she learned a few things about babies. She schooled us on baby gas and what to look for. It turns out Jacob was just gassy and needed a little help getting it out. We can’t thank great grandma enough! Here is a shot of four generations.

Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, Jacob, Papa, and Grandma (Nani)

Earlier in the day we gave Jacob another bath and his hair is getting much lighter! Unfortunately for him his parents both have thin hair and he does, too. Isn’t Jacob’s mommy gorgeous?!

We finally got out of the house today for a real outting and went to the mall. We kept Jacob covered up in his stroller the whole time and he slept his way through the stores. Jennifer is so happy to finally be able to walk for more than two minutes and I’m happy to be able to spend time with her walking around.

Jacob is getting bigger and learning about things he likes and doesn’t like. One of the things he decided he doesn’t like is the first nap around 10:00pm. When he’s just about to fall asleep he fusses awake. It’s like he fights the sleep. He also decided he didn’t like the Avent bottles for a day. Thankfully Nani Karla brought us some different bottles a few days earlier.

Jennifer loves putting his outfits together. Here is Jacob popping his collar.

Grandma Barbara stopped by for a visit and surprised us with a knitted blanket. It was a very sweet gift and I’m sure Jacob will take many naps with it.

Jennifer noticed we had some tiny bugs in the house so we called Terminix for a housecall. We had to leave the house for two hours after the treatment to allow the pesticide to dry. We ventured out to Target. Here is Jacob in the cart. He’s not big enough to hit the normal car seat head bumpers so he likes to sleep on the “Ely” strap pad.

Today Jennifer is going to treat herself and get a manicure/pedicure. She’s still pretty much on bedrest after the delivery so she deserves a day out.