15lbs, 14.8oz

Jeff took Melanie in to get weighed yesterday, and it looks like a week of 30+oz days of formula is finally paying off! She's getting close to 16 pounds, and we've also noticed her growing into her clothes better. She's wearing 6-9 month clothes finally (still wearing some 3-6), and seems to be doing great! She's been a bit spoiled the last two weeks with a break from daycare; I'm a little nervous about sending her back, since every time we leave her sight she freaks out (especially when tired)

I need to get pictures posted of Christmas; there are so many to weed through! In the meantime, I wanted to give an update on Melanie. Also, she is walking across the room now. 4 nights with Charlie convinced her she needs to master walking!

Follow up GI appointment

Mel hasn't gained even an ounce since her appointment last Tuesday, but at her appointment yesterday (one week later), her prognosis was much better. She is now eating more than 30 ounces of formula a day, in addition to her cereal, fruits, veggies, etc - and she's keeping it all down. The doctor was pleased with her progress. He took her off the Prevacid that she's been on for a while now (I was never a fan of having her on it, because I didn't think she truly had reflux). We're hoping she continues her eating habits and gains a few pounds for her January 9th appointment. Jeff is thrilled by the fact that Miss Melanie has such discriminating tastes in formula. If we bought this at the pharmacy (because, alas, you can't actually buy it off the shelf), it would cost $300 for 6 cans. Ordering straight from the manufacturer saves about $120 - and so our daughter's elite tastes begin! It's worth every penny!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Melanie ate over 30oz of formula today in addition to her cereal, fruits, veggies, and mac&Cheese. She hasn't thrown up since Thursday, and everyone in the Worzala house is doing better because of it!

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We spent the night in Frankfort Saturday night to help my parents celebrate their new kitchen - it looks great! We had a good dinner with Julie, Matt, Molly, and Laura, and the cousins got their picture taken with Santa. Both of them did great! (this may be due to the fact that neither of them actually LOOKED at Santa. They were placed on his lap, photographed, and whisked away...)

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We're looking forward to a weeklong celebration of the true reason for the season. Jeff's parents arrive tomorrow, and we'll have a lot of time with them, my parents, Randy, Cory, Charlie, Sammie, Julie, Matt and Molly! Doesn't get any better than that! Have a very Merry Christmas!!

She's Eating!

The little monkey seems to have her appetite for the bottle back. She did throw up on Friday night, but it didn't seem as bad, and she still got 20 oz in her belly. I have a prediction that she will be walking consistently by the end of the year - she's up to a dozen or so steps at once now!!

Never mind, she vomited again!

Miss Melanie got sick today at daycare.... so maybe it's not just bananas. Still happy little baby though - she had a zerbert war with me the entire way home from daycare, came home and played on her new rocking horse, and was happy all night. We can't even get 15oz per day in the kid's tummy, though. Ugh.

Could it be....bananas??

Given Jeff's and my history with bananas, it should come as no surprise that Mel might just be allergic to the evil food. Looking back, her diaper and vomiting episodes over the last couple of weeks just may have been banana-induced. Along with banana allergies, i've read, also come reactions to avocado, kiwi, potatoes, and other evils. Incidentally, Mel has had avocado and potato over the last week, and neither - especially the potatoes - agreed with her. So, for now, we'll lay off these foods! Oddly, she's had bananas in the past with no issues. So, after throwing up three times on Thursday, once on Friday, once each on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we are hopefully through it.
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On Tuesday, we visited a new pediatric GI, Dr. Fitzgerald with Riley Hospital. Mel was back up to 15lbs, 1oz. Dr. F shared my concern with her general lack of weight gain, and he did some blood work, changed her formula, and he wants to see her back next Tuesday. Now, let me make something clear. Mel's lack of weight gain is not something I'm constantly worried about. In my heart, I'm convinced that she is totally fine. However, being a mommy, I want to make sure we explore everything and that we don't miss anything. So, needing a second opinion, and with this recent puking (which, again, I think was just an allergy or possibly a bug), we went to Dr. Fitzgerald. Thankfully Grandma Doan went with us, as I don't know how I could talk to the doctor and keep her in one place.
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Mel met Santa Clause for the first time at the doctor's office. She was a BIG fan of him from across the lobby and up a story - she was such a big fan, Santa himself looked up and waved at her screeching. However, when we got closer, she was not such a big fan. We got our photo taken with him and he gave her two presents. Maybe next time she sees him she'll be warmed up by the gifts.
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Mel has picked up on "monster noises" that Grandma taught her, and this morning she even made the hand motion to go with it (Like a bear with his paws raised). Last night, she started laughing, and put her head on the floor because it was just too much. I think she liked Chandler's joke on "Friends." She also had a playdate on Sunday with her cousin Lily (my cousin Megan's baby who is two months older than Mel) and it was fun to watch her interact with a child her age. I can't wait for Molly & Sammie to start moving around and interacting :) Granted, Mel has a lot of kid-interaction at daycare - but I don't get to watch it! So watching Mel & Lily was fun; hopefully next time Mel can be a little nicer to Lily.

Smiling through sickness

Well, after Mel's fever, teething, and ear infection, she has been refusing formula for a few days. She got sick last week as noted in the last post - and continued through the weekend - once on Friday night and once (which should really count for four times) on Sunday. Poor peanut. But she seems to be fine otherwise - other than not wanting ANYTHING to do with formula.
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She has been very cuddly and thumb-sucky, but also pretty active and very happy otherwise. We started her on Pedialyte on Sunday, and got a few ounces down her that way - and then finally overnight she had about 7 oz of formula. I'm hoping this continues throughout the day today and on. She hasn't had her bedtime bottle in several nights - and the doctor, despite frequent calls, doesn't seem to be worried. It's one thing if she's not eating formula and making up for it elsewhere, but that's not the case. She's eating okay, but not more than normal. We're also continuing with our quest to have her eat table food - but it's a long journey. She had a chicken nugget on Saturday night, a pancake on Sunday.....and got way more on the floor than in her mouth! Practice makes perfect, though!!
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I will note that Mel's pediatrician is still out on leave, so I'm concerned that no one is taking me very seriously. Grandma Doan took Mel in this morning for the second part of her flu shot - so hopefully they'll start listening.
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Edited to add - Grandma & Melanie just left the doctor's office. Mel is down to 14lbs, 15oz due to her hunger strike. Still as happy as can be though - and no crying for the shot!

Pukie McPukester

Melanie got sick three times yesterday!! We're chalking it up to her not being a big fan of the fortified-formula mix we've been trying - adding more formula to the water to increase calories. She was perfectly happy and Melanie-ish all day, but just kept rejecting stuff. First, she ate breakfast and then since she was trying to steal other kids' bottles, they gave her one. She took it all, and then threw it all back up. Luckily Daddy had taken another change of clothes (since the day before she had to change because of food getting all over her!) Then, later in the afternoon, she got sick again.....and then, when Daddy tried to feed her KFC mashed potatoes, she let him know what she thought of THOSE! Change of clothes again. She hasn't been taking her bedtime bottle, which is odd; but she's been sleeping just fine. We are trying to get into a new pediatric GI specialist - this one was in Indianapolis Monthly as the best pediatric GI in Indy! Mel's records are being sent over there, and we'll hopefully have an appointment confirmed soon.
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Odd that Mel, who is really never sick, has so far in December had a fever, her first ear infection, a day o' puking, and on Monday has a flu shot (since she wasn't able to get it at her scheduled appointment because of her fever) She's trying to make Mommy SURE that working downtown is the best idea. With six weeks of vacation, I won't have a problem going forward, but I can't really use any of it this month!!

Mel's noises.

In addition to "dadadadadadadadadadadada" and "baba" and doing raspberries with her tongue and lips - and screeching when she's excited, Melanie now clicks with her tongue on the top of her mouth. Just suddenly as of today. She does it on her own, she will do it in response to the noise, she's incredibly patient while she's doing it, it's really cute.

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I decided I really liked the photo of Suzi with Mel from back in June, so I left it and added the ones from Saturday night here. Thanks for the pictures Alli!

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Mel is even happier now than she was before she got sick. She's nonstop laughing and smiling. Well, I guess that is how she was before she was sick, but it's just been a long couple of weeks between the reaction to the strawberries (at least that's what I think it was) and then the fever/teething. Despite not feeling well, Mel was still a trooper and still had a lot of smiles - but is now making it very obvious that she is 100% back!

New textures and habits

Melanie has learned the art - from her week or so of being sick - of throwing a temper tantrum. If she's upset, she now knows how to just stop, lay her head on the ground, and cry. She usually is honestly distressed by something - it's not entirely a manipulative tool (yet). Also, she has learned to cross her fingers. Well, she learned this a while ago, but man, has she been practicing lately!

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Two of Mel's new textures that she has discovered - scrambled eggs and running water - are photographed above. The water typically needs to follow the eggs!

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With her 1.5 teeth coming in up top (I'm still waiting for confirmation on how many teeth will pop through) - Mel is also learning how her mouth feels with these new inhabitants. She is making new noises as she explores her lip and gum/tooth interaction.

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Melanie continues to feel better - we got a little nervous over night/this morning, as she felt really warm to us, and then daycare called to report a low-grade fever. However, the doctor said that as long as she was acting and eating okay, there was probably nothing to worry about, so luckily daycare let her stay! She went to bed at like 5pm last night (after her 3.5 hour nap after returning from Suzi's!) - and woke up a few times over night, but didn't really want to eat or anything. She slept through the night at Suzi's - or at least that's what she reported - and then only took a 45-minute nap today!

Thank you Suzi!

I was in Jenny's wedding this weekend, and so Melanie had a fun weekend too! She stayed the night with Suzi, Ernie, and Wyatt, and had a fun-filled trip! She helped Alli celebrate her birthday (Happy Birthday Alli!) by going to the zoo and to dinner on Saturday night. Then, this morning, she went to church and on errands with Suzi - because, apparently, when my daughter is in good hands, I don't rush to pick her up! Suzi had to fly out of town today, and here I am making her cart Mel around while she does errands :)
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I can tell that Melanie had an awesome time, because she was asleep when I picked her up - and was asleep for the next 3.5 hours! - and then was back in bed after playing for no longer than 2 hours! I loved hanging out with Suzi when I was growing up (I still do!) - and now Melanie gets to see how fun it is!
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Thanks again Suzi - and all of the Maines and Boyetts - for taking such good care of Melanie while we helped the O'Donnells celebrate their new life together!
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Obviously the photo above is a few months old - but I haven't gotten the pictures of the weekend yet!

Happy Nine Month Birthday!

Happy 9-month birthday to Melanie Grace! She had a rough birthday week - she was out of daycare for 2.5 days, and pulled an all-nighter (as did her parents) on Tuesday night. She's on the mend now - she had a fever due to her teething, and she is on antibiotics for the start of an ear infection. She's getting at least one, if not two, of her top teeth - first teeth since her two bottom ones came in over her 5-month birthday weekend! She is 99.9% better now, and thankfully sleeping much better. She even took a 2-hour and a 1.5-hour nap at daycare today!!

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Mel is continuing to thrive. She stands on her own. She can get to standing without support - and she can bend down, pick something up, and stand back up all without support. She waves hello and bye-bye (not really correlated to someone coming or going, but still....) She loves to play peek-a-boo and be tickled, or have her feet kissed, and her favorite things are her silky, her rubber giraffe, and her phone. She's wearing 3-6 month clothes now - some are still a little big, but overall they fit the best. She's going to get her mattress lowered for the second time this weekend, and she's still on Level 3 nipples on her bottles (we've tried 4, but we're easing her into them). She's eating cereal in the morning and night, and during the day she has fruits, veggies, and often macaroni and cheese. She's tried peaches, mandarin oranges, and bananas. She's averaging about 22oz of formula a day. At her nine-month appointment, she was 15lbs 1oz, and 27.5 inches.

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Thank you to Grandma Doan who helped with Mel's daycare absences this week! Since I started a new job on Monday, I wasn't very flexible to take care of the little peanut!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great weekend with all of our family these last several days! My mom stayed the night Tuesday night so we could go out with my Lauth coworkers for my last day. Wednesday Melanie and I went to visit Jeff at work so she could start the weekend out right by being fawned over! Then Jeff's parents got to town mid-afternoon, and were here through Sunday morning. Wednesday night dinner was just Ron, Diane, Jeff, Mel and me.

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Thursday was the crazy day. We hosted (and by "hosted" I simply mean we provided the venue; everyone else did the work!) Thanksgiving dinner for Jeff's parents, my parents, Uncle Rick, Aunt Sandy, Becky, Randy, Cory, Charlie, Sammie, Julie, Matt and Molly! We were thrilled that everyone got to spend the day together, especially enjoying the four kiddos!!

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Friday was a lazy day around the house; Jeff's parents, aunt, uncle and cousin were all here; there were several Costco trips, a fun ladies lunch with Cory's family, some more time spent with Charlie, and Monical's for dinner!

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Saturday saw the departure of half of the houseguests; Rick, Sandy and Becky headed home, and we had family photos scheduled for Christmas. Last year, Randy, Cory, and we got our photos taken - at the time, we only had one child between the two families. This year we wanted to show the difference with all three! So Ron & Diane came along, and we got some good Worzala photos! We were definitely not the only people who had this great idea on the Saturday after Thanksgiving! Saturday night both sets of grandparents watched Mel & Molly while we went to see the Flying Toasters at the bar right down the street.

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Today was a recovery day - not from the bar, mind you - just getting the house back together and ready for my first day at work tomorrow!

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Mel is doing great; after a few days of feeling under the weather, and eating only Pedialyte, applesauce, and bananas, she slowly came back, feeling better every day, (Tuesday she started the Pedialyte). She was never too grumpy about not feeling well, but we could tell she was a little sick. She got back on formula Wednesday night, and has been eating like a champ most of the weekend!

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We have so many things to be thankful for, and our combined family is at the top of our list! We are so lucky that not only do we have great families, but that they get along so great and enjoy each others' company. That makes holidays so great, because we can spend time with everyone together! And Melanie is one lucky little girl!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Poopie McPoopster

Melanie had a rough day today, although you would never know it to see her. She was her typical happy self - but just went through a few changes of clothes! She was always alone with Daddy when these messes happened, so I'm not complaining - I just hope she's okay since with her performances today, she about doubled the amount of times she's done this! I'm sure she'll be so excited to see this post if it still exists when she's 16!

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Mel was in bed by about 6pm this evening, after 2, 2+hour naps. She loves her weekends to get caught up on her sleep - I just wish she'd sleep better during the week! But, she's too busy holding court at daycare!! She continues to change her mood when she gets her silky in hand. Today, she was playing as normal, no sleepiness indicated.... started pulling all the clean clothes out of her basket, one by one. Everything's fine.... oh. there's a silky blanket. Thumb in mouth, head on floor, different baby. It's her kryptonite.

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As of today, Miss Melanie is 15lbs! Well, at least before her multiple changes of clothes (and the reason for them!)

She's Melanie Again

I know it was just one night - and that we'll have lots of them - but I was happy to see that after Mel's "rough" Wednesday night, she was back to her old self on Thursday and ever since!

Weird night for Melanie

I picked up Melanie a little early from daycare today, since I was downtown doing pre-employment "stuff" and got back up to the north side between 4 and 4:30. Decided I'd rather hang out with my baby than go back to work, so I headed to pick her up. When I got there, she was so fast asleep she was out of sorts when she was picked up - like hair matted, face red, couldn't figure out where she was. I caught the little monkey in the middle of some GOOD sleep! That stunk. She was out of it the whole way home -and so I put her back down when we got home. She was quiet, so I thought she was asleep, and went downstairs to do some chores; couldn't hear her on the monitor, but I went up to check on her about 5minutes later, and she was awake. Picked her up, took her downstairs, she just wanted to cuddle and suck her thumb. Okay, this is one of my favorite parts of being a mommy; I can do that! No... now that's not what she wants! So I fed her some cereal (a TON of cereal!!) and then we took a bath. She had to go to the bathroom while she was in the bathtub, and that didn't stop her. So I had a nice mess to clean up from that!! Then we played upstairs in her room for a little while; very low-key play for Mel, including a couple of books, and playing with her basket of hair bows (hence the photo). She got sleepy, and cuddly, so we hung out in her chair and tried to eat some of her bottle, and I put her down. She wanted NONE of that, screaming and crying. So I cuddled with her some more, and Daddy got home. He held her for a minute, and then he was going to go change. NO, she did NOT want to go back to Mommy. Screaming, I tell you. She finally got calmed down, took the rest of her bottle, and went to bed. She wanted to do some more cuddling (as did I) - but it seemed she couldn't get comfortable, and I would rather have her sleep than toss and turn. She was in bed by 6:30.

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So, in all, just a weird Mel night. My prediction is she's teething. When she popped her first two teeth, she would not stand to be anywhere but someone's arms. Still doesn't explain pooping in the tub though!!

Molly's Baptism

Molly Carolyn Miller was baptized this past weekend in the same place her mommy and Aunt Angie were baptized, and the same place her mommy & Daddy, Grandma & Grandpa Doan, and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Doan all got married. We enjoyed being a part of her special day. Since First Presbyterian Church has had so many blessings born this year, they decided to do five babies as part of one service, separate from the Sunday services. We joined together in the afternoon with several other families, and lots of congregation members for a special service honoring all five babies separately. It was well done, and Miss Molly did a great job. Until she stopped being the center of attention; hmmmm.... wonder whose kid she is?? I included a few photos above; the one of her with Gma & Gpa Miller had to be included because this was the first time I looked at Molly and said "WHOA - that's Julie's baby!!"

Waving and Learning "No"??

Melanie has been learning to wave "bye-bye" lately, and while at first it was very sporadic (and drawn out), it seems she's starting to learn the actual event at which waving is called for. For instance, we walked into the dining room of a restaurant on Sunday, and she waved "Hello" to everyone! "Hello - I'm Melanie, and it's time to start the party!" I think was her exact message. When prompted, she now waves at anything - the cat, her reflection in the mirror, the ceiling fan....she was doing some additional practicing in the back-seat mirror yesterday on the way home from daycare.

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This morning, Mel was playing on our bedroom floor, and I was lying in bed (not sleeping - just watching her play). She kept trying to get back into the corner with the power strip and multiple cords. Every time she moved that way, I would say "Melanie" or "Melanie, no." She would stop every time and look at me, then start playing with something else. Now, I know that she doesn't really know what that means yet (nor will she LISTEN to that command for the next 18 years!) - but it was still interesting to see her continuing to respond to words.

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Over the weekend, Mel took a couple of unsupported steps (one each time) - by 2009, this kid may be walking!

New Camera!

I am very excited about my birthday present, and pleased to announce the retirement of the camera that had the batteries taped in.

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This was a big week in the Worzala house.....I got a new job!! I have loved my HR Generalist job at Lauth, and loved the people I work with (with the exception of one intern.... Kidding!!), but it's time to move on - specifically, out of commercial real estate. When I started at Lauth, we had 440 people. We now have roughly 160; and how many HR people does a company that size need? So I started looking around for other opportunities, and alas, I'm finally going to be working for a University! I will be the HR Generalist for the IU School of Neurology at IUPUI. I'm very excited, and I start December 1. Among the many wonderful things about this job is the SIX WEEKS of vacation that I will get! Yippee! I will be commuting downtown, but this does not bother me, since we are no longer in Chicago :) The "commute downtown" is all of about 15 miles. So, my new job, coupled with my birthday and all of the celebrations (including the previously-mentioned camera) - made for a great week!

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Onto the more interesting news..... Melanie!! Melanie is still just a bundle of energy, learning and exploring new things every day. She has gotten good at standing on her own (unsupported by anything), for extended periods of time. By "extended periods of time" I mean like 10 to 20 seconds, not minutes! She seems to know what she's doing, though, and even claps while she's standing! It's very cute. Today, she climbed to the top of the stairs! Of course, I was right there with her all the time. First we made it to the landing (she was in pursuit of my Coke can, which I kept moving up one step by one step). Then, later, she tried again, and made it all the way to the top, without the glittery Coke can to tempt her. She also has a new "growling" noise that she frequently makes. It's not really associated with any emotion, it's just a fun noise for her to make at all times.

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Mel is spending her afternoon today with Grandma (she also got to spend Thursday evening and Friday morning with Grandma) while we go downtown and do some Christmas shopping.

Sleeping and Clapping

Melanie has slept through the night the last THREE nights! This has been her longest streak, and I don't want to jinx it, but yet I'm so excited!! I give her a bottle as soon as she wakes up around 7am (she's averaging about 12 hours of sleep!!)
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Also, after a long and diligent training session, it seems that Mel has learned to CLAP!! Historically, when she gets excited (which is often), she'll bang on the table, or on her legs, or she'll clap her hands with ours, but she won't put her two hands together to clap. Last night, as I was feeding her cereal, she got excited and, while banging on her high chair, put her hands together!! And then, apparently, was so excited all night long she waved her arms all around and did a little more clapping (I was at a meeting so I missed the follow-up). This morning, she did a tiny bit more clapping.

Happy Eight Month Birthday!

Miss Melanie Grace has been lighting up our lives for EIGHT MONTHS now! She continues to grow and learn new things every day. She is 14lbs, 10oz (we weighed her on Saturday at her flu shot appointment). She is still wearing size 0-3 month clothes, but can wear a few 3-6 month tops. Her little hips just won't keep pants up. She would not sit still for her typical monthly photo.

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She continues to love standing up; can even stand unsupported for a few seconds at a time. She uses her walker toy to get all over the downstairs, so she's doing better with "walking." She is fascinated by Lucas, water bottles (the noise they make), anything she can put in her mouth, and basically anything she's NOT supposed to have. She is eating cereal twice a day, fruit and veggies each day, and is averaging 22-26 ounces of formula each day. Her attention span is getting a little longer, and her determination is funny; when she sets her mind to something, she's going to fight for it.

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She is still getting up once per night for a bottle; she has been a bit affected by the time change, going to bed at 7 or earlier the last few nights. She sleeps great, though; and on the weekends she takes at least two solid naps. She doesn't nap as well at daycare.

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What did we do with ourselves before Melanie came along??

My First Halloween

Melanie's first Halloween lasted a couple of weeks, but for good reason. She hung out with a pirate and monkey the weekend of October 18 when we all headed to Lunchbox's wedding. Unfortunately, the pirate and monkey both ended up sick after that weekend, but we're thankful they're both on the mend now. Those photos have already been posted.....

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Fast forward to Thursday night (10/30) when Mel hung out with her cousin Molly, the penguin. By then, Melanie had made her full transition to monkeydome, and played her role well, despite a slight fall. She even figured out - without any contemplation - how to climb stairs that night! Gear up the monkey! Julie has two steps between her two main living areas. Mel just climbed right up, and kept crawling. Never even thought about it or looked back. And then did it a repeat 85 times.

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On Friday, Mel changed from a monkey back to a bumblebee, and wore her outfit to daycare as well as in the neighborhood parade. She was a big hit while handing out candy as well. If only she could've actually stung Lucas.

Eating and Walking - I Mean, Running.

Well, we're throwing the GI's recommendation for increasing Mel's caloric intake out the window. The first night we tried it (the night of the last post), we were up with a very wired baby. Yes, his recommendation was to add SUGAR to her formula. So, next suggestion, please! My seven-month-old baby doesn't need sugar, thank you.
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Mel is, however, going through somewhat of a growth spurt, it seems. She cannot get enough formula into that tummy of hers. Yesterday she was a champion eater, and then ate an additional TWELVE ounces over night! so she hit 34 ounces before midnight last night. That is a lot for little Mel - she averages around 24 ounces a day in addition to her other food. Maybe by the time she's done with this little growth spurt she'll sleep through the night more consistently??
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Mel is now cruising through the house with her little walker toy she borrowed from Charlie & Sammie. After a couple of weeks of being more interested in the gadgets on the front of the toy, she is now pushing that thing ALL around. There is no walking for our Miss Melanie - it's straight to running! She crashes into walls and just keeps pushing, trying to tear down walls (she would have come in handy at Grandma & Grandpa Doans' house over the last couple of weeks!) Once redirected, she's off like a shot again. She's still working on bending her knees, but she LOVES to "walk"! And Lucas especially loves her continued mobility.

GI Specialist

This afternoon Melanie went back to the GI Specialist (she and her daddy have a lot in common here). Mel last saw Dr. Bax in July, and they seemed pleased with her progress today. She is 14lbs, 1oz, and 27 inches. She gained three pounds in three months (not quite on track for where she needs to be!) - but overall doing well. We changed her "recipe" for formula to increase her caloric intake once again. Dr. Bax was impressed with her development and everything else, and doesn't seem concerned with anything at this point. We'll continue monitoring her progress and hope that she gets some meat on her bones for the Indiana winter that is ahead!
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Melanie has had a couple instances this week of separation anxiety AND stranger anxiety. She cried when Daddy dropped her off at daycare Monday morning - cried again at the drycleaner man and when Dr. Bax tried to use his stethescope on her. Our tough little girl is growing up!

Melanie and her Cousins

We spent this weekend in Michigan City with Jeff's family..... G&G Worzala got to babysit all three grandkids while we all went to our friend Lunchbox's wedding reception in South Bend. It was a fun way to get everyone together and yet still have some adult time having a cocktail and doing some dancing. (yes, the two have to go hand in hand for me, unfortunately).

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Charlie, Melanie, and Sammie got dressed up in their Halloween garb on Sunday morning for our entertainment. Melanie is still riding the fence between a bumblebee and a monkey ; stay tuned, as now we have both costumes.

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After spending some time with Gretchen and doing some outlet shopping on Sunday, we headed to Frankfort for dinner with the other set of family. It was great to see all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents and celebrate Chris' big day with him and his family! As you can see, Melanie is quite enamored with both of her babies above.

The Front Door

Melanie loves crawling to the front door - banging on it, licking it, blowing on it....this is just a sampling of tonight's photos, which captures her new nightly activities!

Look Who's CRAWLING!!

After two months of "army crawling," Melanie is now crawling!! Since I still don't know how to download videos to the computer, you'll have to pretend like the above photos are action shots!

Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday, Jeff, Melanie and I went to the Pumpkin Patch at Clarian North - what an event! They had a petting zoo, jumping house, race car, lifeline helicopter, Boomer from the Pacers, and much much more for the kiddos. Melanie wasn't too interested in much of it, but she did have some fun. While we were there, we got Mel weighed (inside the hospital - not at the pumpkin ptach!)- 13lbs, 9oz. Still a little peanut!

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Mel also started this week attempting to eat some "meats" - chicken meals in a jar. She's not a big fan, but we'll keep trying!

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The last few days, she's been finding her knees while crawling - graduating from her army crawl. Today she is getting even more consistent with it, so maybe she's a big-girl crawler now! We'll see if it sticks.

Weekend with the Cousins

Cory beat me to the post! More photos are on her blog.

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Melanie (and we) had a great time this weekend with Randy, Cory and the kiddos. Melanie is so torn between Charlie and Sammie; Charlie can teach her so many fun things (he was helping me teach her how to clap this weekend, he rode around with her on his truck), yet Sammie can be climbed on. Who to play with, who to play with? Charlie was a great sport with some of Mel's curiousity/pulling/etc - Sammie of course was a sport about it - she couldn't really fight back! It was a fun weekend of shopping, golf, grilling, wine, and catching up!

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Mel had an added bonus on Sunday night, getting to play with Grandma & Grandpa Doan, Aunt Julie, and Molly; but there are no photos on my camera of it! She has decided that grass is, after all, not her enemy, and she can't wait to run around and keep up with Charlie!

Happy Seven Month Birthday!

Where does the time go?!?!

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At 7 months, Melanie is a constant joy - cheesy to say, but so true. This kid always has a smile on her face. So many things bring her joy; hitting her hands against the desk/her legs/paper/anything that makes noise....seeing her cat....."cheering" (anytime you say YAY!! - she loves it!)....clapping (she doesn't do it herself yet, but loves to hear clapping).....standing up....someone looking at her.... seriously, it doesn't take much. She was giving her daddy high fives this week when the Cubs were doing well (of course, the high fives didn't make them actually win any games!); she LOVES the bath, and can sit for a long time splashing around and putting all of her toys in her mouth. She likes the bright lights of the TV, but doesn't get to watch very often, unless she's snuggling with Daddy watching sports.

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She hasn't cut more than the two teeth she had on her five-month birthday, but her favorite teething toy is her giraffe Sophie. Sophie's legs can fit to the back of Mel's mouth, so I tend to think her molars are bothering her. She pulls to standing by herself (over and over and over and over and...), can get herself to sitting on her own, "walks" a little bit with a push toy (see previous post picture), stands up in her bed when she wants to be picked up, is still army-crawling everywhere - the other day, she went all the way from her bedroom to her bathroom, following me with the washcloth and towel - got all the way to the tub, pulled herself up on her tiptoes, and was attempting to get in the tub.

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Each day she eats cereal mixed with fruit, and a Level 2 fruit and Level 2 veggie, in addition to 4-5 bottles. At dinner she sits in her booster seat while we eat, and she is exploring bread crumbs; it's possible a few have even made it down the hatch. She doesn't use a sippy cup yet, but we've played with it.

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She still doesn't sleep through the night; but when she gets up she eats and is back down - typically only once per night. The doctor agreed, once he figured out what her pattern is, that she just needs to eat - she knows her nights (has been a-ok on that for months and months) - but just needs a little nighttime snack. When it's time for bed, she takes her last bottle in her room, and knows that she's going to sleep. She can even get put in her crib fully awake (she was even sitting up the other night when I left her) - and she gets herself to sleep. She prefers to sleep with her "silky" as she sucks her thumb, with the knit piece that Aunt Cory made her covering her legs. Waking up is a bit of a potluck - some days she's up early, some days I have to wake her up for daycare - but she's always happy when she finally opens those big eyes.

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She's wearing size 0-3 month clothes, and size 1-2 diapers. Size 1s are too small, 2s are too big, based on some experimentation we did - but she wears Costco diapers, and they come in "size 1-2" - lucky for us!

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We look back at the long and curvy road that we took to get Melanie here, and it all seems a blur now, since we have been so blessed every day since she joined us.