Date Hour!

On Saturday evening, Jeff's coworker Jill and her son Jack came over to play with the kids for a while so we could spend some time together (reference the below post :))  We walked to Stone Creek and took advantage of what is likely to be one of the last few evenings we could sit outside and have dinner.  We haven't done that for a while, so it was nice to spend some non-kid time together.  I'm not sure what is going on with my photography skills above, but I'm trying to capture the kids with their new friend Jack.

Other than that, the weekend was pretty low-key.  Mel got her second-ever haircut.  The intention was to straighten up what I've done to it over the past several months.  Her bangs are still really uneven, but oh well.  She had to sit in my lap this time - she wouldn't sit independently.  Sunday all four of us went to church, Molly came over to play, Mel went to the park....normal fun weekend stuff!

Update on Melanie

Melanie had a fever starting Wednesday, September 15.  She stayed home from school that day - we sent her the next day, but she was sent home mid-day.  Friday, Gigi stayed home with her, and Saturday she woke up fever-free.  The fever never got higher than 102 degrees, but anything over 100 is grounds for no daycare.

During this time of illness, Melanie was, how do we say it, "challenging"??  Yes, I am not a good sick person.  But at least I know my limits and will shut myself off from the rest of the world (when I can).  Melanie, on the other hand, on top of not having an appetite, was taking her bad feelings out on her brother and anyone else who stood in her path.  By the end of that weekend, our mode of survival was to keep the two kids away from each other.  Another coping mechanism was that I went downtown and met my girlfriends before they headed to the Colts game.  Off-topic, I know - but an illustration of how we keep our sanity.

I ended up taking Mel to the doctor on Thursday, September 23 since she still had the cough that started before her fever started.  The doc thought she sounded fine, and spent some time with me discussing some of her - what did we say? - "challenging" behavior.  That which couldn't be attributed to her not feeling well was confidently diagnosed as typical 2.5 year old behavior.  We have a strong-willed child, and I'm not sure where we got her?  Haha.

Over the course of the last week, Melanie has gotten MUCH better in her treatment of Joey and in her sporadic tantrums, leading me to believe she really didn't feel well last week.  Yes, of course she still pushes her limits with all of the above - but it's more reasonable.  She continues to cough, but it seems to be getting somewhat better.  She continues, as well, to cry at the door after we put her to bed, usually falling asleep in front of the door.  This is after she gets read her three books, gets willingly put down to bed, knows we're leaving, and is fine.  THEN she gets up and cries.  I'm hoping this, too, is a phase accompanying her illness and that she'll go back to being a good sleeper soon.

Mel weighs 25 pounds, which is up to 10% on the growth chart.  She was thrilled that the doctor found Mickey Mouse in one of her ears and Elmo in the other (he does great voices!)  Of course she was too shy to talk to him, but she talked ABOUT him all weekend. 

On another topic, Melanie is doing great with potty-training.  She wears underwear all day at daycare, and has only had one accident there. 

Happy Five Months, Joey!

Joey is five months old!!  I can't quite believe it.  He is cooing, sucking his left thumb (hmmm... sounds familiar!) , smiles ALL the time, and likes to look in the mirror, at fans, watch TV, or play with Sophie the Giraffe.  He eats about 30 ounces of forumla a day, has cereal at least once a day, and has tried applesauce.  He is wearing 3-6 month clothes.  He continues to be fascinated by his older sister, and can watch her for hours, with a smile on his face or laughter in his voice.  He loves to cuddle, but also loves his independent time.  He sleeps about 8 or 8:30 at night until about 6:30 in the morning (when we basically "have" to get him up to get fed & changed for daycare).  During the weekends he just takes catnaps all day - but at daycare he sleeps longer.  I think on the weekends he's just afraid he's going to miss something with Melanie (namely, being loved to death).

We have been so excited that we have not had the formula drama with Joey that we had with Melanie - since Day One Joey has been on Similac Advance.  We get great prices on it at Costco, and he has really thrived on it.  Well, lo and behold, this past week, Similac announced a massive recall on this product due to beetle larvae!!!  Our can was one of the "lots" affected, and so now Joey is eating Enfamil.  While I would certainly trust Similac again, I'm not going to switch up formula yet again - so Joey is now an Enfamil baby.  He had no issues whatsoever switching over.  He loves formula in any variety, apparently!

We have not had to take Joey to the doctor for any issue (knock on wood!!) other than his well-visit checkups.  Okay, one time I took him in because he had a few issues that seemed like they would be better to discuss in person than get into all the details on the phone.  He had a chest rash, bad gas, and a leaky eye all at once.  All went away without fanfare, and since then he's been doctor-free!

We love watching Joey reach each of his milestones, and are so blessed with a very happy, healthy baby!!

Trip to Chicago

The weekend of September 11, we headed to Chicago to meet Charli O'Donnell and visit Randy & Cory and the kids.  Jenny, Matt and the baby are doing great; and Charli is a sweetie-pie.  She is still sooo tiny, and doing great! 

Melanie loves hanging out with her cousins, and has recently learned that they all share a last name.  She's fascinated by that fact, and reminds me any time she says her last name that it's also Charlie Worzala and Sammie Worzala.  "Joey too."  Charlie & Sam taught her their moves while they danced to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" - over and over.

Charlie has a lot of things to teach his only boy cousin.  Hopefully his dance moves are part of the lessons.

He seemed less thrilled with Melanie in this photo:

It was great to get caught up with our old friend Lunchbox and his wife over dinner.  Chris (Lunchbox) and I worked together at Ernst & Young, and he ended up rooming with Randy for a couple of years. 

We also got to see Uncle Rick, Aunt Sandy & Becky Sunday morning for breakfast.  For some reason I don't have pictures of that!  All in all, it was a great trip - short, but fun!  Both of the kids were asleep before we hit the city limits - so much excitement!

LAUGHTER

Tonight (9/10), while Joey was in his carseat on the front porch, Mel was playing with the toys hanging off the handles.  She was doing it so incessently, Joe LAUGHED very distinctly.  He did it at least one more time the same evening, and both times were Melanie-induced laughter.  It was great!  They also had a great time rolling around in the grass together the same evening.  Joey doesn't seem quite as frightened as Mel did early on.

Picnic

Monday, after all our guests had departed, we headed to Coxhall Gardens for a beautiful day outside.  We packed a picnic and ate by the fountain.  Mel really wanted to put her feet in the fountain, but was not allowed.

After we explored the fountain area, we were headed to the kids' garden area for some activities, when this happened....

So we went home and regrouped, and then all headed to the neighborhood pool for what was probably the last dip of the summer.

 

Joey had fun too....

Joey's Baptism

We were very blessed to have all of Joey's grandparents, aunts, uncles (okay, Matt had to work), and cousins in for Joey's baptism at Zionsville Presbyterian Church.  He wore the baptism gown that both his Daddy and his Uncle Randy wore when they were Christened, which was made from his Grandma Worzala's wedding dress train.  When he got dressed on Sunday morning, Melanie proclaimed "Joey, you look beautiful!"

He was baptized with water from the Jordan River that our neighbors Tom & Paula brought back from their recent trip to Israel.  Glenn McDonald, senior pastor at ZPC, performed the baptism, with Pat Smith as the Elder (as he was for Melanie's baptism in May 2008).

Cousin Fun

The Worzalas arrived Friday evening, and we spent the evening at our house with them while they played with Mel & Joe.  Saturday, Grandma W went to the park with Melanie and me.  Unbeknownst ahead of time to Diane, we had a surprise birthday party for her on Saturday evening!  My parents, Randy, Cory, the kids, and Brenda all came over, and we enjoyed a beautiful evening outside.  Sunday was the baptism and corresponding celebration afterward.  It was a GORGEOUS weekend, and we were blessed to spend it with all of our family!

Joey had fun too......

It's official.... Joey knows how to sleep through the night!  For the last few weeks, we've been waking him up for a bottle before we go to bed (10pm-ish).  For a while, he would still need a bottle overnight.  Then he got to the place where he could sleep through if he had that "late-night" bottle.  Then I pushed it and tried to see what would happen if he DIDN'T get the late-night bottle (he woke up and needed a bottle).  Well.... last night, Joseph Pierce Worzala SLEPT from 8pm-ish until 6:30 with NO waking up and NO bottle!!!!!!!  I'm not getting too ahead of ourselves here, but that was a darn good accomplishment!

Check out Joey's big sister showing him the toys he can play with :)  She's SUCH a good big sister!  If only she could stop climbing on his head, we'd be good!  She loves him sooooo much!

Toby & Trace

Saturday night I headed out with my friends for a gorgeous night of sitting outside and listening to some good music.  Trace Adkins opened for Toby Keith, and a good time was had by all!

Things That Go Rodeo (Subtitle: "I Want Bub's!!")

Saturday morning the whole family went (to?) downtown Carmel to the "Things That Go Rodeo..." which promised many vehicles to climb in.    Mel enjoyed the different vehicles, but for some reason had to carry her school-blankie with her for most of the trip.

Mel caught wind of us talking about going to Bub's Burgers, so she started saying "I wanna go to Bub's."  Her proclamation was so cute, we went.  Never again will we trust her promise to behave herself in a restaurant as long as she gets to sit at "the table"  :) 

Melanie was particularly excited about the school bus....

She also sat in a police car....

She played with the bubble truck....

She loved the model airplanes, one of them was flown by Cookie Monster!!

There was an old-fashioned fire truck....

Joey had fun too....