Grandparents' Love

Melanie, as I've mentioned before, is so very lucky to have all of her grandparents wrapped around her little finger. A girl couldn't ask for much more (other than the aunts, uncles, and cousins - oh yeah, and the parents! - who are also pretty enamored!)
--
This past weekend, Gamma and Gampa Worzala were in town, and got some good Mel time. G'ma W even got to spend the afternoon with Mel while the boys were on the golf course and I was at work - they made a special trip in to see my co-workers. Saturday, while all the boys played golf, all the girls shopped (and shopped and shopped....) Melanie ended up with a few new clothes. She's somewhat officially FINALLY in 0-3 month clothes (up from newborn, now that she's almost six months old) - and so I had to get her some new "school" clothes. However, i say "finally" - and yet it's sad to see her grow, in some ways. They DO grow up so fast, the people who said that aren't lying!!! It's so fun to see her do new things, though. From fighting to get a toy (I love the attention span she has now!), to chasing the cat around, to thinking she knows what she wants/needs when really something else is in store for her (like "I am pretty sure I NEED to be playing with this piece of paper right now... but, oh, wait, no, I'm asleep...") - it's nonstop entertainment watching this kid navigate life.

--

Anyway, back to the weekend.... Grandma & Grandpa Doan joined the Grandparents Worzala Saturday night for dinner and Melanie enjoyment. I have to say, to have all of your grandparents showering you with love at one time is fairly rare, and Melanie is one lucky girl. We're very lucky, too, that our parents get along so well. I'm sure I have talked about it here before, but our parents are actually friends with each other. They go on vacations together, get together without inviting us, etc. My mom is even trying to get them to buy the house behind theirs.

--

Our church is under some major construction, which means our DAYCARE is under some major construction. It's closed this Thursday and Friday, and so Grandma Doan is on baby duty! Melanie will have a really rough couple of days hanging out with Grandma and being shown off all over town. We hope she comes back in one piece - just in time for Labor Day weekend with a bunch of kids. We have Kate and her family, and Gretchen and her fiancee, in town this weekend - they, combined with my friends Shelly & Rick from Kokomo, will add four little girls into our mix, and provide Melanie some nonstop fun!

Weekend at Grandma & Grandpa's

Friday night, Jeff, Melanie & I walked to Stone Creek and ate outside - Mel was a great baby and just played with her feet while we enjoyed a beautiful evening. Mel and I were asleep by 9pm. We must have been sleepy!

-
Saturday we headed to Frankfort, and Jeff & my dad played golf while Mel played on Grandma's porch (and slept). She seriously takes the best naps at my parents' house! I got some pool time, and then we had dinner and stayed the night. Melanie got lots of play time with Molly on Saturday and Sunday, and Molly is doing great; she's becoming a lot more alert, and even smiling! Sunday we left Mel in Frankfort while we toured Lucas Oil Stadium with the season ticket holders. No, we don't have season tickets - but my company does, and so we got to check out the Lauth suite and see the sites. My parents brought Mel back over Sunday evening and we had dinner with them to end a great weekend. Gorgeous weather, lots of Grandma & Grandpa and Molly time, and the Colts - can't beat it! Mel even got some pool time herself!
-
The big news of the week.... Melanie is CRAWLING!! She's not so much using her legs - more of an "army crawl" - but even the doctor was impressed she's doing this already! The doc called while we were at dinner on Friday night to share the results of her latest testing (from a couple of weeks ago) - which were all normal! And he was proud of her progress in the crawling department. Between that and her two teeth, I'm a little worried that she's going to be driving next month!

Melanie's latest accomplishments

Mel is now eating three things a day other than her formula.... At daycare, she gets her cereal and her fruit, and in the evenings, she gets her veggies. So far she's only had peaches out of the fruit category (I'm sure applesauce will be the fan favorite if she's anything like Mommy!), and she's had all veggies available except for sweet potatoes - green beans remain her favorite, and squash is bottom of the list.

-

Mel, while having been mobile for a while, is now literally pulling herself forward with her arms. She is getting herself all kinds of dirty by going places she's not allowed (it's seriously time to deep-clean the porch). Between that and teething, I honestly can't believe it's been five months already!! She's a little charmer, smiling all the time - she definitely has a softer spot for Daddy, and when she sees her Grandpas or her Uncles, she gets a different kind of look on her face than she does for the "women in her life." The little flirt. Again, the curses of genetics....

-

She's able to sit up every once in a while on her own (if placed in a sitting-up position - she doesn't get there on her own!) - and she's giggling a little more, but only when provoked. Her two teeth are getting a little more pronounced, and she's sleeping in her crib every night. We're trying (or talking about trying) to break her of the habit of moving to our bed at 5am. At least when she falls back asleep I put her in her pack & play; is that at least a step in the right direction??

-

This blog is serving as a journal of Mel's adventures - thanks for reading her little milestones :) And sorry for including waaay more details than you might want to know; but it's now all recorded for posterity! :)

Meeting Sammie

We spent the weekend in Chicago with Randy, Cory and the kids, and were thrilled to meet our new niece Sammie. She is just perfect, and unlike the rest of the Worzala grandkids, was blessed with a ton of hair! Charlie is a great big brother, and loves to give Sammie kisses. It was fun to see how much Charlie has grown, too - he talks a lot, and is 110% boy! He will definitely show these girls a thing or two as they grow up! Melanie also got to see Grandma & Grandpa Worzala, who she hadn't seen in two months! She saw them both over Memorial Day weekend, and got to see Grandpa W for Fathers Day; so she was able to show them some of her new tricks, and Grandma got to feed her carrots, which of course ended up on Grandma! She did great on the car rides; the car ride from Chicago back to Indy she was only awake for about 20 minutes of it, and that was just to down one bottle. I think all of the cousin excitement wore her out!! If you know anyone interested in buying a single-family home in Chicago, send them Randy's way - since they don't have enough other stuff going on with the new baby, they're trying to move to the 'burbs!

Happy Doan Days!

Saturday we spent the evening with my parents, Julie and Molly, and Sunday we spent the day with my parents and had dinner with them, Julie, Matt, and Molly. This is how our last week has played out:

July 31 - Jeff's birthday - and Samantha Paige Worzala was born!

August 2 - Jeff's & my anniversary - five years!

August 3 - my parents' anniversary - 34 years!

August 5 - Dad's birthday

August 6 - Julie & Matt's anniversary

August 13 - Matt's birthday

-

So we were happy to do some celebrating with the family; there is a lot to celebrate, especially with Melanie & Molly now in our lives! I didn't get good pictures of Mel & Mol together, since I have been sick and needing to stay away from Molly. She is doing very well, and very alert! She loves to eat, just like her mommy, and is an adorable little baby that it's killing me I can't get my hands on! We go meet Sammie this weekend, and can't wait to get to know her!!

Happy Five Month Birthday!

Melanie's five-month birthday was ushered in by a weekend of TEETHING. Yes, that's right. Melanie's lower gum is sporting some white spots. That's right spotS! Soon we'll be seeing TWO teeth! She had a restless night of sleep on Wednesday, got grumpier overnight on Thursday, and by Friday was in full-blown teething mode, with nonstop snot, needing to be held all the time (well, that was Thursday night as well), and feverish. Jeff had to pick her up from daycare on Friday and cancel his golf game, and we were on baby duty around the clock. She got progressively better and better (as I got worse and worse) over the weekend, and now, other than the ever-present snot, she is back to "normal" - and we're just waiting to see the full teeth, versus the little white dots.
-
At five months, Melanie's new loves are "swimming" - ie, kicking her arms and legs nonstop while lying on her tummy, her exersaucer, Lucas, the blue Baby Einstein octopus that plays music, green beans, reaching for everything in her line of sight, sitting in her Bumbo, and taking naps at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Her ongoing love affair with mirrors, bathtime, huge smiles, and "flying" continues. She is giggling a slight bit every day or two; we're trying for a little more regularity there.
-
We can't believe it's been five months already; how the time has flown!

Girl Cousins!!!

So excited to report that Samantha Paige Worzala was born yesterday - Thursday, July 31 - at 3pm! Sam is spending some time in the NICU to develop her lungs, and everything is going well. Since she was premature, her little lungs just need a little more work.

We can't wait to meet our new little niece, and are so thrilled to welcome her to the world!!!!