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!

-

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...)

-

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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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!!
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.

-

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!

-

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!

-

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!

-

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.

-

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 :)
-
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!
-
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!
-
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!!

-

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.

-
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!