Random Melanie Update

At 2 years and 10 months, Melanie weighs 25.8 pounds.  She recently changed daycare classes, and she is now in with the 3-year-olds.  She was one of only two kids to transition, due to the fact she's potty-trained (she still wears a pull-up at night).  We had a really rough first week in the new classroom, since she is dropped off and picked up in the gym with bigger kids.  This is the second week in the new room, and now she looks forward to going and talks about her new friends.

Melanie's vocabulary cracks us up on a daily basis.  She never hesitates to let us know what is on her mind, and will repeat it until she is sure you understand.  She is still a finicky eater, but it's more about her mood.  She likes a lot of food, it's just a matter of what she wants that particular meal. 

She loves playing with her friends, playing with Joey (this usually results in Joey's tears, because she will steal his toys or sit on him), bossing us around in her playroom, and putting all of her stuffed animals night-night in random locations throughout our house. 

Another random child update, but I just wanted to get her weight and other information recorded for my memories!

Melanie's 2-year well-visit checkup

Daddy took Melanie to the doctor this morning for her 2-year checkup.  She passed all of the tests with flying colors - he got to answer "yes" to the developmental questions that Dr. Megremis asked.  She weighs 22.4 pounds (4%) and measures 33.25 inches (40%).  He advised us to keep her on whole milk;  I had read to reduce the fat in the milk at 2 years - but since she's still so little, he said to keep her on the whole milk.  He agreed that it's TIME (okay, past time!!!) to get her off the bottle.  As of last week, she was down to 2/day; over the weekend we did pretty well, and were at ALMOST 48 hours without a bottle until Mommy caved this morning due to Mel's lack of oxygen from screaming.

Some recent funny Melanie-isms in the meantime....
-On Wednesday, we were sitting in the kitchen having a snack before her birthday guests arrived.  Julie & Molly came through the front door, and Julie yelled back, asking where the birthday girl was.  Just based on Julie's voice alone, Mel screamed "MOLLLLLY!!!!" and ran to the front of the house looking for hugs!

-Sunday morning, she picked up the house phone, pretending like she was talking on it.  She was all jibber-jabber, and then suddenly threw her head back, laughing, and said "MOLLY!"  I guess her imaginary conversation with Molly was pretty funny!

-Sunday night, she handed me a book, and out of nowhere, yelled "STORYTIME!"  While we do a lot of reading, I have never said "Storytime" along with reading - so it's obviously something she learned at daycare.  She immediately knew how funny it was to announce this, and was giggling along with me.

-This morning I was up checking my work email to see if I had been able to get out of my morning meeting so I could take her to her appointment.  I heard her climb the stairs, walk up and down the hallway asking "Mommy??  Mommy??" - and when she didn't find me, she slid back down the stairs.  No fussing, no worries (the computer room had no lights on, and the drapes were still closed; I didn't answer, trying to find out what she would do....)

-The other day Jeff went through the Starbucks drivethrough.  Melanie said "Look! Look!  Trucks!"  Jeff told her she should ask me to get him a truck.  She said "No, airplane!" (her new obsession).  As they were leaving the drivethrough, she asked for french fries.  Apparently we've made a few trips through McD's for french fries for her!

-When she wants you to go somewhere, she motions you with her finger (like "come here") - and says "C'mon Mommy" - or whoever else she is wanting to follow her lead.  She will even tell inanimate objects to "c'mon" - like they're going to follow her command on their own.

Melanie's Latest & Greatest

I had to share some of Melanie's latest antics, as she is a constant source of entertainment.  She has mood swings of needing to be entertained, or being able to entertain herself.  She loves her "new" playroom and all of the toys at her disposal.  She can play for a long time just "preparing dinner" and serving it over and over.  Aunt Julie gave her millions of toys that accompany her play kitchen, and with these, she can whip up a gourmet meal of cheese and mustard, or pizza with ketchup.  She still takes several bottles a day, and call me a bad mom, but it soothes her, and I'm all for a calm kid.  She is very "helpful" - helping with laundry, loading/unloading the dishwasher, etc.  When she is done with a dish - be it her plate, her bottle, etc., she will go put it in the sink herself.   Her favorite activities other than her kitchen include puzzles, coloring, and anything Elmo.  She is also enjoying her Little People sets (also courtesy of Aunt Julie, of course, since there are one million pieces).  Sometimes she helps and cleans up all of her toys, other times not so much.

She got her second H1N1 shot on January 11, and she weighed 22lbs 9oz; still a little peanut.  She's still wearing some 18-month clothing, but transitioning to 24-months, particularly the tops.  She is wearing size 6 shoes (she just got a new pair of shoes she doesn't like to take off!)

She is very aware that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy.  I'm not sure if she knows what that means, but she will show you where the baby is, give the baby kisses, put lotion on the baby, say bye-bye to the baby when she leaves the room..... Boy, is she in for a surprise when an actual baby emerges and comes to live with her!  I asked her the other day if she wanted to feel the baby kick.  She replied "NO" with a shake of her head.  I pulled my shirt up slightly so she could see my belly, and asked her again, at which point she ran over, pulled my shirt down, and continued playing.  Just in case I wasn't clear.....

She's been sleeping really well lately; she still likes to be held until she falls asleep (I know that every book tells you not to do this, but it's a habit she picked up over the summer that we haven't been able to kick); but before she goes to bed, she will tell everything & everybody "Bye-Bye" - everything from her "colors" (her coloring table), to the clock, the pictures on the wall, Elmo, etc.....even people who aren't there like Gigi, Molly, etc.

Melanie is talking a lot - and repeating even more.  She can say sentences up to about three words (such as "I need Elmo.")  Sometimes she gets a word or phrase in her head and will say it over and over - a lot of times, this involves saying Molly's name until it's ringing in my head.  She is also imitating a lot of things we do, like putting on deoderant, doing her hair, talking on the phone, etc.  She does a good job with "thank you" - and hearing her say "Thank you Mommy" or "Thank you Daddy" (unprompted) is one of the cutest things I have ever heard.  She can do most animal names & noises, even ones we didn't teach her, she's constantly amazing me with the things she comes up with that we didn't teach her.  Obviously she goes to daycare; but it's just funny to hear/see her do things that are a mystery to us - for instance, showing me "what an elephant does."

We are still going to Gymboree twice a week - to the "open gym" on Wednesday nights and to class on Saturday mornings.  Mel is making friends and enjoying the activities - particularly the stamps she gets on her hands & belly at the end of class.  She has been known to pull up her shirt 10 minutes before class is over to await her stamps.

She is still touch & go with food.  Sometimes we just have to try a few different things before we figure out what she'll eat for that meal.  When she's in the mood, she can do some eating - a full egg and some toast, and chicken, pizza, blueberries, are some her favorites.  She enjoys drinking out of a "big girl cup" (non-sippy) - until she dumps the cup.

Just some updates since this is my form of journaling/keeping up with her baby book!  I don't want to forget a single thing, and want to treasure every moment :)