Maverick is One Month Old

This first month has been pretty crazy.  Sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, and then some more sleeping and eating.  It can get exhausting at times.  When I'm exhausted, I like to fuel up with a nice meal and then recharge with a nap.  It's a vicious cycle, really.

As the weeks pass, however, I'm finding I have a bit more energy.  When I'm awake, I like to look all around and take in all the sights I can.  I particularly love looking at faces and ceiling fans.  I also love to hear people talk and sing, especially in unnaturally high voices.  I communicate mostly with grunts, squeals, and smiles.  Sometimes Mommy and Daddy understand me and meet my needs accordingly, but other times they are just clueless and I have to resort to screaming.  I don't like having to scream, but hey, a baby has to do what a baby has to do.  Usually, I just want to nurse, be held, or have my butt patted.  That's not asking too much, is it?

I will share an online album with pics from my first month at the month's end.  We'll be doing monthly albums by calendar months rather than by our ages so it doesn't get too confusing with Talley and I being different ages and being born in different parts of the month.  Stay tuned - Talley and Maverick's January 2011 online photo album will be released for your viewing pleasure soon!

-Maverick

Look Who Is Smiling!

Guess who is smiling - both of us are!

Maverick just started purposefully sharing his gummy grin with us within the last week or so.  Before that, it was just gas that made him smile.  Anyway, isn't it cute?

Of course, Maverick isn't the only one with a charming smile.  I can say cheese and deliver a heart melting expression on command.  Check out my pro cheese face below:

-Talley

Howl if You Heart the O'Neal Wolfpack!

Since Maverick was born, we've had lots of people come over to meet him and congratulate me on becoming a big sister.  We would like to thank all of our visitors for their love and support and invite them to be honorary members of our wolfpack.  The first perk to being part of our wolf pack is that you get to be included in the "I Heart the O'Neal Wolfpack" album.  Please click on this link to enjoy your membership benefits: I Heart the O'Neal Wolfpack Album

-Talley

Weigh In Time for Maverick the Meatloaf

Hide your scales!  Maverick the Meatloaf is growing at an alarming rate!

At my two-week check up, I was 9 pounds!  The doctor said my growth is fantastic.  It must be because I'm a good eater. 

I may always be younger brother, but I don't plan on being "little" brother for long.  I'm already almost half Talley's size!

I think this bodes well for my future as an NHL star.

-Maverick

Maverick's First Bath

Once my funky umbilical cord fell out, Daddy and Mommy gave me my first real bath.  I found the immersion part to be tolerable, but I wasn't keen on being removed from the tub.  It was nice to lose the old milk smell, though.  It was also interesting to see how light and fluffy my hair is when it's clean.  See "before" hair above and "after" hair below.

-Maverick

Who's Who Photo Fun

 

Check out these newborn photos - can you tell who's who?

Answers from top to bottom: 1) Daddy, 2) Mommy, 3) Talley, and 4) Maverick

Talley is 23 Months Old

This is officially the last month I will refer to my age in number of months! I am almost two years old! I can hardly believe it, can you?

Month 23 was full of excitement ranging from Christmas festivities, play dates, and snow days to becoming a big sister. Some of the things I grew to love especially in Month 23 are as follows: singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm with all sorts of random nouns (i.e. "on that farm he had a house"), dancing around in my tutu ("toot-toot"), riding on Daddy's shoulders, and holding baby brother. Favorites on my Month 23 playlist include "Jingle Bell Rock," "Hakuna Matata" ("Hakuna My-Dada"), "5 Days Old," and "I've Got the Rythym in my Head." I still love all the stuff I loved before too, like singing, dancing, jumping, swimming, stickers, dolls, coloring, playing in the bathtub, and story time. As for my language development, I am a regular talker now. I love to chat about everything and repeat any fun new words I hear.

Here is a link to an online album with a collection of pics from my 23rd month: Photos from Talley's 23rd Month 

 

-Talley

Christmas 2010

To honor Jesus's birthday this year, we hosted Christmas breakfast at our house. Grandma and Grandpa O, Grandma Linda, Andy Pop, and Uncle Colin came over to celebrate with us. Daddy and Mommy cooked up some yummy egg casserole dishes and YaYa's famous Christmas breakfast rolls. We also had some tamales that we picked up from a local restaurant. After we feasted, we opened presents by the Christmas tree. I had so much fun opening all of my presents. I must have been good this year because I got a bounty beyond anything I could have imagined. My gifts included toys, clothes, Barbies, an easel, a toilet, a kitchen, a doll house, a scooter, a laptop, and a dolly stroller; but of course, the best gift of all was my baby brother, Maverick. I'm so glad he came out in time to celebrate with us. Although you may not detect my enthusiasm in the obligatory photo we took by the Christmas tree, I assure you it is there.

Here is a link to an online album with photos from Christmas 2010: Christmas 2010 Photos

-Talley

Maverick Ryan O'Neal Has Arrived!

My brother is finally out! He came out screaming and peeing on December 20th at 10:13 AM. He weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long, just a bit bigger than me when I was born. Eventually, he'll be giving you some updates of his own, but I'm going to get him started since he's still getting settled in to this new world. Right now he's in the other room and my guess is he is sleeping, eating, pooping, or peeing, since that's pretty much all he's done since he got here. Despite the fact that he's not very active yet, I still love him very much. I'm always wanting to hold him on my lap, hold his hand, push him in the swing, and touch his soft hair. I also like hearing him make his little newborn noises. Sometimes he sounds just like a baby elephant seal. It seems so long ago now that I used to speak in that archaic Wookie language of grunts and squeals.

Baby Brubba is a pretty well-mannered baby so far. If he's fed and being held, he's generally content. The things he doesn't really like are diaper changes and sneezing. He cries a lot during the former and he does a frustrated grunt after the latter. The conundrum is that he poops and pees more than any baby on the planet, so he has to endure diaper changes quite frequently. Mommy and Daddy have a hard time keeping up with his excretions. Just about every day, he creates a load of laundry full of soiled clothes and bedding. Mommy and Daddy also have to wipe down the wall by the changing table regularly. All I have to say is, Mav is lucky he's so cute!

For those of you wondering how I'm adjusting to all the changes in the house, I'm doing great! We've been blessed to have lots of visitors and help. I have been loving the extra company and attention. I have also loved getting some really cool Big Sister presents. Thank you to everyone who has shown such love and support to our family during this exciting time! We love you!

 

-Talley

Welcome to Talley and Maverick O'Neal's New Blog Site!

Welcome to the new blog site for the most awesome brother-sister duo since Donny and Marie!  Here we will give you all the updates from our super exciting lives and inundate you with cute photos (see example above).  Sometimes we will collaborate to author an entry and otherwise we will alternate authoring duties as appropriate.  We promise to do our best to keep you informed and entertained!

-Talley & Maverick

P.S.  You may notice a few posts have been transferred from Talley's blog.  We thought Mav's birth would be a good start for this blog.