25 weeks, 3 days

Doctor appointment
We met Dr. Cline for the second time today, for a routine OB appointment.  It was a quick appointment - but that's good, because that means there's nothing wrong!  I have gained about 18 pounds (!), am measuring right on target, and Baby Boy Worzala's heart rate is in the 140s; it truly is slower than Mel's, so that "old wive's tale" proves true for us, that girls' heartrates are faster.  This baby is not nearly as active as Melanie was - at least not yet - and we're hoping that trend will continue and we get a laid-back kid!  We're still not sure where Mel came from, having two laid-back parents and having all the energy she does - but of course we wouldn't trade her for the world!  While I thought my pregnancy with Melanie was smooth sailing, this one is even more so; I truly haven't had any complications, complaints, or, really, any symptoms!  To look at me, though, you can definitely tell I'm pregnant! 

How your baby's growing
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. He's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Preparation
Baby W2 will be moving into Melanie's room; her room transition will hopefully come when we return from Florida in mid-February.  I have not bought one stitch of clothing for the new baby; but the photo below is the pile of clothes he already has on hand-me-down from his big sister.  This doesn't even include the clothes she's currently wearing that are rewearable!  I think we're pretty much set for a while - especially with white onesies!  I had to include a photo for Grandma & Grandpa Worzala who are concerned that the little boy will be dressed in pink.

MLK Day

On Monday, Melanie & I both had the day off, so we spent it playing! We enjoyed a nice lazy start to the day before meeting our friends Kate & Sophie at the Traders Point Church's indoor playground. Melanie was a little hesitant about these new surroundings, and carried her "silky" everywhere with her. She usually doesn't need this in public. However, she did discover how to get up top, and played with the big kids for a few minutes before giving me a heart attack trying to get back down. It was predictably busy, given the holiday - and there were a lot of bigger kids who didn't really care that Melanie is the size of a peanut. We had fun, though, and discovered a great "new" place to play for free!

After playing, we went home for lunch and a 3.5 hour nap! After a little R&R, we headed back out to play at Gymboree play gym (just an "open gym" that we typically attend each Wednesday night - but were able to attend Monday during the day since I wasn't at work!) All in all it was a great day of play, snuggling, and fun together. It was quite honestly the first day I thought "I could do this full-time!"

We did have two firsts during the day, though. As I was showering, I let Mel run around the bathroom naked because she wanted to use her "potty" (which she hasn't used lately, but seems to think she has to be completely naked to use). As I opened the door to check on her, I found a little deposit of what SHOULD have been in the potty, on the floor! Not her fault, and ends up as a good story. When I was getting her shoes on to go meet Sophie, I got BIT. I think I made it pretty clear to Miss Melanie that this was not an acceptable way to protest. Other than the bite, she was in a fabulous mood all day, and did a lot of dancing, clapping, and entertaining :)

Fun with Molly

On Saturday, we didn't have plans after Gymboree and a women's brunch at the church.  We had contemplated going to a first birthday party, but it seemed a long distance to travel.  We were pleasantly surprised when Gigi & Molly called and wanted to come hang out!  Upon their arrival, Melanie went tearing up the front hallway yelling "MOLLY!!!!" and delivered a big hug & kiss.  A few minutes later, she remembered to also grant Gigi a hug & kiss, and the girls played hard for the next few hours.  Highlights included wrestling & giggling on our bed, chasing each other around the house, preparing food for each other, coloring, and loving on each other.  When Molly is not around, she is still a heavy topic of conversation, with Melanie reporting things that happened when she was here, and inserting Molly into stories that didn't involve her in the first place. 

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 :)

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!
We weren't able to get a family Christmas picture (something about a strong-willed toddler....) but below are some of our highlights from Christmas 2009! We had a great holiday, and didn't travel farther than Frankfort the whole time. Ron & Diane arrived on the 22nd and stayed at our house until Christmas morning, spent a couple of days in Frankfort, and then came back for the day/night of the 27th; Cory & Randy & the kiddos stayed with us the nights of the 23rd and 27th. The whole family hung out with old friends of the Worzalas on the 23rd - the kids loved having even more pint-sized people to play with! We are truly blessed to have such an amazing family - and one that we can seamlessly blend so we don't have to spend the week running everywhere, we can just relax & enjoy those we love!

Vist from Santa!
On Christmas Day, Santa himself came to the Doan house to visit Melanie, Charlie, Sammie, and Molly. Charlie LOVED it, Sammie & Molly seemed to tolerate it, and well, you can see how Melanie felt about it. She loves the concept of Ho-Ho, but when he is actually within touching distance, she changes her tune. After Santa handed out gifts and left, Melanie stood at the window waving and saying "Ho Ho, bye-bye!" - that was her favorite part - like "don't let the door hit ya!" We hope Santa continues to make his visits in years to come, when Mel gets more warmed up to him!

Melanie's Christmas Presents

Mel is still at somewhat of an in-between stage with recognizing what Christmas is all about. Daycare did a good job of doing daily lessons about Jesus' birth, etc; but the hoopla surrounding the day pretty much escaped her. On Christmas morning when Jeff went up to get her out of crib, she looked over the railing into the living room, saw her craft table (pictured below) set up, pointed, and said "What's THAT?!" - too cute! She was a bit overwhelmed by all the gifts - I think particularly that she couldn't just sit and play with each one, that she was moved to open the next, and then the next....She seems to be really enjoying everything she got, including the 1,000,000 pieces of Little People & kitchen toys that Aunt Julie gave her.

Worzala Christmas

As you can see, the Worzala grandchildren enjoyed their Christmas! Charlie continues to be an entertainment to everyone. In the photo of us below, this was during a little chat in which I asked him if he has an "off" switch. He said "yes, I do, actually." However, I disagree. Melanie is very lucky to have Charlie & Sammie in her life!

Monkey Joe's

Melanie's first trip to Monkey Joe's was just a couple of weeks ago. On that visit, she was NOT interested in the "under 2" play areas; she only wanted in the big-kids' areas. Suzi's son Wyatt was sooo sweet in that he would get in the same jumping areas, run around and tell the kids to be careful with Mel. Together, she and I went down every single slide in that place. That was fun - climbing rope ladders with a toddler, pregnant! On this visit, though, we were a bit tamer. Mel & Molly loved playing in the smaller areas, and they had a great time. This was the day after Christmas, and a great way for Gigi & Poppy to spend the day with the girls :)