Melanie on the Move

The Melster was a bit sick when we got home on Sunday; she has runny eyes and nose, and has been a little more clingy than normal. However, the clinginess could stem from the absence of her parents for the past three days! She had a couple of rough nights of sleeping, in that she needed to be held a lot (Mommy was a little more than accomodating there, since I haven't seen her for so long) - and coughing a lot. She has her appetite back; after a couple of weeks of struggling with formula, she's back on track, and eating more than 20oz with no struggle, in addition to her fruits, cereal, and veggies each day.

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Thank you Charlie & Sammie for loaning Melanie this fun toy she's learning to walk with!

Weekend with all the Grandparents!

Melanie was so lucky to spend her entire weekend between the two sets of grandparents while we vacationed in Captiva Island, Florida!

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Thursday, Grandma Doan picked her up from daycare and played with her until Gamma & Gampa Worzala could get to town on Friday, and they played with her until Sunday, when she went back to Grandma & Grandpa Doan's until we got back from Florida in the evening - in time for my mom to have a hot dinner on the table waiting for us!

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We had a great time hanging out with college friends on the beach, by the pool, and with some good food & cocktails! Gretchen & Corey are a very happy couple, and we were thrilled to be part of a very intimate ceremony on the water. I am thankful that Kate and Gretchen are still in my life after 13 years!!

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Melanie is keeping everyone on our toes around the clock. The kid canNOT sit down while awake. She loves pulling herself up, time after time. She loves to be standing!! In the picture above, it looks like she's holding on for dear life, but the kid loves to hang out with just one hand while she waves the other around telling stories.

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Occasionally, she gets back on her belly, to get somewhere she needs to go. There is nowhere off limits to her - including the running shower. My favorite is when she's crawling around, and I walk into the other room, and she cranes her neck around the door to see what I'm up to.

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As active as she is, she's still a little lovebug. She'll play for a while (she's great playing by herself), and then she'll crawl over and climb up me to be held for a little while... then want back down to play for a little longer. She just needs to remember that someone still loves on her!!

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She's still getting up one time a night for some food - but she's eating cereal, fruits, and veggies each day, and tonight she may have eaten a morsel of bread (hard to tell, with the other "morsels" everywhere in her seat and floor!)

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Her new trick as of tonight - we'll see if it sticks - is she can "give a five"! There are all kinds of things we've had her "high five" us for tonight, and she's doing it pretty consistently. For today at least. (they're all low fives, for the record). She's very good now at reaching up to be lifted up - from her bed, from her carseat, from the bathtub, from the floor..... She doesn't really reach for someone else while one person is holding her (she's not rude!) - but it's very cute when you know she wants you to pick her up.

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We got to spend some good time with Aunt Julie, Molly, and Grandma this past weekend while Jeff was at the Ryder Cup. We stayed the night there and i went out with Laura and Christal (thanks again, Grandma!) - and spent the day Saturday lazing around. Melanie loves hanging out at Grandma's, and can't wait to spend time with BOTH sets of Grandparents this weekend when Jeff & I head to Captiva Island, FL for Gretchen's wedding!

I LOVE GRASS!!!

Tonight while Jeff was getting his hair cut, I realized that Mel has never really played in the grass. Not sure why she's never been out there, but now that it's turning into a nice fall, I thought it would be a good experience for her to check out grass. I have established that GRASS is Melanie's kryptonite. She will turn from a happy, giggling baby into a crazy freako when her body encounters grass. It's really quite amusing, to be honest. Only because she snaps quickly out of it the minute she is out of contact with the mean mean grass. Yes, I'm a mean mommy.

Meeting Great Uncle John

Melanie got to meet her Great Uncle John on Wednesday night at her favoritely-behaved restaurant (do you like that new term?), Stone Creek. Whenever we go there, she does so great; we walk, and she is so chilled while we eat. Uncle John was visiting from Maryland (DC area), and Mel's dad and grandpa are glad for his visit not only to spend time with him, but also because they get to go to the Ryder Cup in Louisville this weekend with him! Uncle John enjoyed meeting both of his grand-nieces over dinner!

Bugs Worzala

Monday night, Mel was chowing on her level one carrots (she can now eat level two foods, but we're still trying to liquidate some of the level one grub). She was eating the carrots so heartily, I kept feeding her.... until she had eaten nearly two containers, and seemed done.

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Well, I bathed her, cuddled her, played with her, and then left for small group. As Jeff was putting her down for bed, she decided the carrots did NOT agree with her, and she expelled them all over herself and Daddy.

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After he got them both cleaned up, Mel fell asleep watching Monday Night Football. Rough night.

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PS - this was NOT the first time she ate this much in one sitting, but it was the first time she had this reaction. My on/off switch for feeding is not that out of tune!

Go COLTS!!

We had a lazy Sunday at the Worzala house. While Mel took her morning nap, I went to church. After I got home, I got us both dressed for the big game (for our couch-side seats!) and then we played for a while. Then, before halftime, we were both asleep for a 2.5 hour nap. Yep, it was a rough day alright! I knew they won, and didn't realize until the next day just what a close call it was! Sleeepy girls!

Miss Melanie came home from daycare today with cereal crusted in her hair. She took a bath, and then as Jeff & I were getting ready to go out, she got extra cuddly and photogenic. I added a picture to a post below about the bath, so I could show her big girl bath :) Check out her teeth in the photo with Jeff!!

Babysitter!

Mel has had many adventures.... staying overnight with Grandma & Grandpa Doan at six weeks old.... staying with them a couple other times.... I've been on a two-night business trip, and a three-night girls trip....She was babysat for one hour by my parents' neighbor Kim who knew me when I was Mel's age....several other times we've gotten a "date night" while grandparents watched Mel, or Aunt Julie has watched her....

But tonight she had her first hired babysitter! Claire was incredible; as I was showing her around, she was figuring things out that I needed to tell her (ie, "should I plug that humidifier in when I put her down?" "Don't worry about leaving a stroller - I have one in my car!")

We went to see Mike Birbiglia, an awesome comedian from Bob & Tom, at the Music Mill, and were gone four hours. It went VERY smoothly, and Daddy is up feeding Mel now. She went to sleep an hour after we left - after playing hard with her new friend Claire!

Girlfriends!

I spent Labor Day weekend with Kate & her family, Gretchen & her fiancee, and part of it with Shelly & her family. Great college memories, great friends! I'm looking forward to going to Captiva Island, FL during the last weekend of September for Gretchen's wedding; we rented a condo with Kate & her family!

Then, this past weekend, I headed to Vegas for three nights for Jenny's bachelorette party! Laura is missing from the above picture, but until I track down a photo with all six of us in it, this will have to do! We stayed at Treasure Island, got lots of pool time, and had a great time! Jenny gets married the first weekend in December; I have known her longer than I have known my own sister, and I look forward to being a bridesmaid in her wedding! I plan to be somewhat more behaved at the wedding than I was at the bachelorette festivities....

Belated Six-Month Photo

I think we're up to speed on all of Mel's six-month marks from my previous posts - but we haven't both been awake in the same place at the right time to get her official monthly picture! Here she is here, slight black eye and all (a mishap at daycare).... She is now pulling herself up onto her knees and climbing over things with frequency.

I returned from three nights away to find her making new noises ("dada" included), looking different - with more hair, and a little clingier. I missed her like crazy, but had a great time in Las Vegas with my girlfriends.

Cousins!

On Melanie's 6-month birthday, she hung out with all of her cousins and her two aunts (oh yeah, and Grandma & Grandpa Doan, too!) She is very grateful to her two aunts for giving birth to personal playtoys for her! She seems to think that Molly & Sammie are hers for the taking :) She did great with an evening trip - the last few times we went to Frankfort on a weeknight just for the evening, it didn't turn out so well!
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Alas, the sleep-through-the-night from Tuesday night was not replicated Wednesday night.
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Mel's 6-month appointment was today. She's in the 5-10% for weight at 13lbs, 3.5oz, and the 50% for height at 26inches. The doctor was positive about everything, and thought she was doing great developmentally. He gave me some feeding tips, and didn't seem concerned at all about her weight. She did great with her shots; screamed bloody murder during them, but was all smiles as soon as they were done and she was back in my arms. Please keep Melanie's pediatrician in your prayers; we got a letter during checkout that he has cancer! Don't know what kind or anything, but he'll be off of work for a little while getting better, and we pray that he will make a full recovery!
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I'm heading to Vegas tomorrow through Monday, while Mel has some daddy/daughter time!

Happy 6-Month Birthday!

Melanie SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT last night! Never mind the "experts" who say that sleeping through the night is like six hours. That's not sleeping through Mom & Dad's night! :) Last night Mel went to sleep before 8pm, needed soothing at about 9:30pm (went right back to sleep), and then I had to WAKE her up at 7am to go to daycare!
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She is eating a ton, other than her formula. Yesterday, she ate cereal with fruit and an additional 1.5 containers of fruit, she ate 2 containers of green beans, and then had some cereal & fruit for dinner. She has been fighting the bottle for the last week or so. Also yesterday she sat in the bathtub for the first time.
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Daycare was closed last Thursday and Friday, so Mel stayed with Grandma & Grandpa Doan on Wednesday and Thursday nights (I stayed on Wednesday as well); they delivered her back on Friday evening in time for a houseful of guests for the weekend. Melanie got to play with Janie & Elise Boschert, Natalie & Abby Nutt, and her cousin Molly at the zoo on Saturday, and got lots of kisses from Janie all weekend. As for me, I had a great time with my college roommies (Kate and Gretchen), who I will get to see again at the end of the month for Gretchen's wedding!