7 Months Old!

Over the 11/20/10 weekend, Joseph Pierce started pulling to standing.  He can sometimes move his little feet a slight bit, and has very good balance.  He can get EVERYwhere he needs to by "army-crawling" - but he can find his knees, and rock.... and just over Thanksgiving, he made a couple of movements on his knees.  Also, at Rick & Sandy's for Thanksgiving, he climbed two stairs!! 

Joey continues to be a happy,laid-back baby as long as his belly is full and he's well-rested.  If he's fussing, you can guarantee that one of the two previously-mentioned things is off.  He is getting up every day at 4am for a bottle, but then he goes right back down.  He is still averaging nearly 30 ounces of formula a day, and is not a big fan of his "baby food," but we keep trying.  He's wearing size three diapers, size 6-9 month clothes, and is sitting up in his baby bathtub now.

I can hardly believe it's been seven months since he entered our lives.  While everyone says his happy nature is because he's a boy, I'm still sticking with the story that it's because he's the second-born.  What a peanut.

Hello, Handsome!!

Usually, Gigi's phone has a screensaver of Molly and/or Melanie.  The other day, Molly picked it up and it had a photo of Joey staring straight at the camera.  She said "Hello, Handsome!!"  I love my nieces and nephew. 

Happy Birthday Friends!

On 11/20, a group of friends went out to celebrate Laura's and my THIRTY-FIFTH birthdays.  We had a good time, and the photo above shows Laura in her natural element entertaining children.  Laura and I have been "best friends since fourth grade," and I am older than her by an eleven days that she never lets me forget.   Aunt Julie stayed with the kids so that Jeff & I could have dinner with grown-ups. 

On the day after Thanksgiving, we met to surprise Suzi for her FORTIETH birthday, which was actually on Thanksgiving.  I have looked up to Suzi my entire life, and it was so fun to be there with her friends from elementary, high school, college, and beyond, to help her celebrate her birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We truly have SO many things to be thankful for.  I can't even begin to list them here, but let's say that at the top of the list is a wonderful family who loves our children.  That might be cliche, but I hope some day Mel & Joe realize how lucky they are not only that they have all four of their grandparents very involved in their lives, but that these four grandparents love each other - and them - enough that they spend holidays together.  That is very unique, and Melanie, when asked, tells me how lucky she is for this. 

She had been looking forward to our trip to Yorkville for weeks, naming all the people who would be there ("Uncle Rick, Aunt Sandy, Becky, JJ, Uncle Randy, Aunt Cory, Charlie, Sammie, Gigi, Poppy, Grandma, Pappaw....")  We also saw Sandy's sister Diane & her husband Larry; a little too much to prepare Mel for.  Melanie & I went ahead of time to buy JJ some treats, which somewhat helped ease the transition.  She was still fairly terrified every time JJ got close, but it was definitely progress from the last time we went there.  Eventually, we will get over this dog aversion.

I so missed getting the family pictures we usually get when all the Worzalas are together.  I guess that means we'll have to do it again SOON!

Medical Update

Joey's eyes had been goopy, so I talked to the dr's office on Monday, and the nurse said if they're still goopy in a couple of days, call in for a prescription.  I called Wednesday thinking it would be an easy thing to do before the holiday weekend.  Alas, it wasn't.  The doctor reported that if kids have "goopy eyes" at this age, it is often an ear infection - bring him on in!  So the day before Thanksgiving, we were with Dr. Peterson, who diagnosed Joe with a left ear infection.  That explains his crazy sleep for the past few nights.  Just one round of antibiotic later, he seemed "back to normal."  And his eyes cleared up.  Weird connection.  My natural question inquired if we would've been more diligent about his antibiotic three weeks ago (which we gave him, but he often spit out, we might have missed a couple of doses....um, yes, we're fabulous parents...) - Dr. Peterson said this could very well be a completely different thing.  She also said it wasn't highly contagious, so we continued on to our Thanksgiving plans, including infecting our favorite Worzala cousins!

Then came Friday morning.  Melanie slept with me in Becky's bed on Thanksgiving night (she is only allowed to do this on "special occasions.")  She woke up Friday morning freaking out because she couldn't open her eyes.  Once she saw them in the mirror, she thought it was hilarious.  Not sure what her goopy eyes mean compared to Joey's.  She doesn't seem to have any ear problems - she's old enough to tell us if so.  Both of them are very "snotty," and runny all over.  But otherwise, they're the same kids as always (I tried to come up with a different adjective, but no one adjective describes both of them, so I had to go with "same kids as always")

I love this picture of them together.  I hope I can get the same pose in 10 years, and again in 15....

Fun with Grandma & Papaw

Grandma & Papaw Worzala came to town for the combined birthday weekend (Ron's was November 10, mine was November 13).  First of all, this cake cracked me up, since Jeff was the one who ordered it, and I'm not sure the last time I heard him call either of us by these names:

I woke up on Saturday morning to Melanie coming in my room and saying "Happy Birthday Mommy." A great start in my opinion!  I then took a long walk - just my iPod and me - on the Zionsville Rail Trail.  Around noon, Grandma & Papaw got to town, and Diane & I went to lunch (Plum's in downtown Zionsville; a whole other story!), got pedicures, and did a bit of shopping.  A great way to spend the day!  We had a great dinner of steak & crab legs that night.  Sunday after nursery duty (which Melanie insisted upon "helping me" with), I had my favorite lunch of Chipotle, and we spent the day getting things done around the house - such as replacing the ceiling lights in the upstairs & downstairs hallways!  I know, I know -it's a glamorous life!!  Later Sunday evening, Jeff & I got a "date night" at Noah Grant's, which was delicious.

We had a great weekend with G&P Worzala, until, of course, the bug got Grandma overnight Sunday.  She's finally now back to "normal" - so we hope she trusts us enough to come back and visit us again soon!

I love you, I love you, I love you

Mel either whispers or SHOUTS her love for her baby brother on a nearly daily basis. If you ask her to tell Joey her "secret," she'll whipser her love to him.  Otherwise, her new thing is shouting it at the top of her lungs. When she tells him, it's either in the format "I love you I love you I love you" or "I love you buddy."  Nothing is better.