Happy Halloween!

So I think we're on the hook for trick-or-treating in the future!  Melanie is figuring it out.  Next thing we know, she'll figure out where Mickey Mouse lives and learn about Chuck E. Cheese.  Hmmm....
I worked with Mel this year to teach her about the costume part of Halloween, so that she could pick her costume, and help pick Joe's.  Melanie was a ladybug and Joey was a bumblebee.  Once she finally made up her mind, she did a good job sticking to it.
The weekend started early for Melanie, as she went to Beef & Boards ("The Little Mermaid") with Gigi, Aunt Julie, and Molly.  She did all right, but got scared toward the end.  The verdict is that she was likely scared by the big, loud king who was yelling at the mermaid "Melody."  Easy mistake!  She sat out the end of the play in the lobby with Gigi, and had fun playing with them for the remainder of the day.

Saturday, Melanie & Molly went to a costume party at Gymboree.  They were both really into the activities, and had a great time playing together.  As you can tell from the photos, Mel's costume apparently got a little cumbersome for her while playing.

Sunday, we went to the "Pumpkin Path" at ZPC, where Melanie warmed up her trick-or-treating skills.  I love how Melanie is holding onto the baby carrier strap in this picture.

Then, we had to wake her up from a nap to go to the neighborhood Halloween parade.  I struggled with the decision to wake her up, but she'd been looking forward to the parade all weekend.... I think it was worth it!  She got some candy there, and then we trick-or-treated at Paula & Tom's (Paula had made special cookies!) and then went home to welcome our own trick-or-treaters.  Melanie shocked us by being completely excited about handing out candy to all the kids.  During any lull, she would announce "I want to see more kids."  Every time the doorbell rang, if she wasn't sitting on the stairs waiting for the kids, she would beeline for the door to see who was there.  It was awesome.

That's right, I didn't get a good photo of both the kids together in costume.  Maybe I'll try again this weekend.  The family picture was going to be a good one - both the kids were complying for a few minutes, but other kids kept running in front of the camera, so Mel lost interest.

Another highlight of the weekend was that both kids napped at the SAME TIME on both days.  Magical.

Perfect Fall Weekend!

We spent all weekend outdoors...playing in the yard, going to the Zoo (Saturday), going to the Pumpkin Patch (Sunday), going to the park, watching Grace's family carve a pumpkin, and generally enjoying a perfect fall weekend.  We have been working on learning the letter P this weekend - pancakes, pumpkins, park, Paula, Poppy/Pawpaw, pictures, popcorn (a main staple this weekend), playing....P is a fun fall word! 

The BIG news of the weekend is that Joey is CRAWLING!! He hasn't found his knees quite yet, but he is inching along very well!! Between his rolling, pivoting, and army-crawling, nothing is off-limits! He loves to put anything in his mouth, so Melanie has been tasked with not dropping ANY food in the house. This picture depicts the scene of....I left the room with Joey ensconsed in the blue pillow shown in the lower right corner. This is where I found him. One minor example of how this kid is moving...since he is the second child, we'll just see if any of this gets on video :) 

Joey did such a great job in the nursery at church this morning that two people gave me their phone numbers and offered to babysit. They haven't met the other half of that offer :)

 
The zoo was fun, especially since we haven't been in a while.  Melanie was so excited for the dolphin show that she wore her dolphin shirt; but then we had to leave the show early since she was so uninterested.  Some days the show is great, some days not so much.  Even for adults.  We rode the train, the carousel, saw all Melanie's favorite animals, checked out all the Halloween decorations, and played on the playground.  When Paula asked what Mel did at the zoo, she said "ate a turkey sandwich and apple slices."  Joe was a bit bitter that he had just learned to move, and then we packed him up in his carseat all day. 

On the "hay ride" (sans hay) at the pumpkin patch, I looked down and caught Mel and Joe holding hands - Mel was on Jeff's lap and Joey was on mine.  I also caught her licking his head today (and licking Jeff's headlight), but who's counting?  We got to the pumpkin patch, all ready to have Joey strapped to me, and realized "mother of the year" forgot to bring a hat or any shade for the baby.  So we improvised with something Mel got at last week's pumpkin patch/safety session at Clarian North!

As for Melanie, her sleeping is getting better (knock on wood).  The last two nights, not only did she sleep through the night, but she didn't even cry when we left her room.  Big progress; let's hope it continues!  Saturday she was up at 6am, but Sunday she slept until 8am!

We still don't know what these two Worzala kiddos will be for Halloween - Melanie is supposed to be choosing for both of them, and it changes every day.  Today she said she's just going to wear her pumpkin shirt. 

Melanie is getting into what everyone's NAMES are.  She's learned that Mommy & Daddy's names are Angie & Jeff - and wants to know our full names - and makes me recite Julie, Matt, Gigi, Grandma, Pawpaw, Poppy, Matt, Randy, Cory, .... you get the picture - everyone's FULL names - first, middle, last.  She has now mastered saying "Worzala" but if she's not up to it she'll say "ala."

Chewbaca & Her Puppy

Sunday night, Melanie and Molly played together when we had the family over for a Halloween dinner. They get cuter every time they are together; they truly love each other. I got a suitcase out to show my sister (Mel's "Going to Grandma's" suitcase), and Mel went in, got her Elmo suitcase, and brought it out and said "This is Molly's," and the two of them rolled those up and down the hall several times. They chased each other, they climbed stairs together, they hugged and kissed....and hugged and kissed.... they shared spaghetti, crawled all over Poppy, and generally had a great time - therefore, so did we, watching it all!

Trick or Treat!

On Halloween night, we participated in the annual Westons parade, starting at the neighborhood park and winding down to our house. Mel was surrounded by bees, lions, monkeys, oh my! She had a great time taking it all in, and then we headed to her friend Aya's house for a party. There were lots of little kiddies there, and Mel did well, until Daddy determined she was getting hot, and took her outside to cool off. Several kids followed her, and she started having some sharing problems, at which point we realized our little Puppy was sleepy! When asked if she was ready to go, she waved and told everyone "bye-bye!" - so we headed out. She didn't make it to Party #2, but after putting her to bed, the crazy pregnant woman headed back out for the campfire party around the corner.

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We simply left candy on the front porch, we weren't home for the trick-or-treaters. The only trick-or-treating Mel did was at Paula & Tom's house; she's not really into candy, so we skipped that for the parties.

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During the day, Melanie was eating a banana, and a bee landed on it. Therefore, every time she saw a bee or a banana the rest of the day (which was frequent, given the Halloween costumes!), she would say both words. They are forever intertwined in her mind!

Zoo Boo!

Sunday was a gorgeous day, so we headed out to the ZOO BOO! Melanie, dressed as a ferocious puppy, had a great time seeing the animals - she's been learning her animals & the noises they make, so she seemed more interested in this zoo trip than she has in previous trips. She waved "hi" to all the animals, waved "bye-bye" and blew kisses when we left each exhibit, and did a great job. We took a "frightful" train ride, and saw lots of other kids dressed up for Halloween!

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.