A General Life Recap

Whew! Where has the time gone? I was going to save this update until Friday--Melita's 7 month milestone--but she's growing up so fast she might have already left for college by then!

Christmas was nice and only semi-hectic. It came upon us way too fast but luckily since I am so anal and a planner, we had all our presents bought and decorations hung. But we literally woke up on Christmas morning asking each other 'Is today Christmas? Already?' For the first time since Reagan and I have been together, we hosted a blended Christmas at our house for all of our families. Basically, if anyone wanted to see Melita on Christmas they had to come to our house. Not surprisingly everyone went for it as it relieved them of any hosting duties at their own house. We liked it too and have offered to continue doing it.

Melita got loads of gifts for Christmas including her first aquarium from Reagan and I which she loves. Most everyone got her wooden toys that do not make noise on their own but require a little imagination to play with, which is what I was hoping for. However, there were a few family members who got her electronic toys that talk and sing at the touch of a button or many buttons. Right now these are the toys Melita loves the most and mommy and daddy are already a little sick of. But, they do keep her entertained and she can play for hours without fussing.

She has been teething for awhile now, but over Christmas her top right tooth decided to make an appearance. The left side is still red and swollen and should be here fairly soon too.

Melita is fully mobile now with her crawling and is into everything. We took the tree down on the 26th because I was so tired of telling her no or pulling her out from beneath the branches. We had to create a make shift gate to block off the kitchen as there have been more times than I can count that we have found her shoving handfuls of dog food in her mouth. Other things that she shoves in her mouth are leaves, grass, and rocks.

And lastly, the big news is that Melita has learned how to pull herself into a standing position. It's pretty cute when she does it while she is playing with her electronic toys because it usually involves her shaking her booty to the beat of whatever tune is playing. But her favorite place to do it is in her crib. Once she's up, she squawks until we come to see what is going on and then she giggles when we walk in the room. No doubt very proud of herself.

Merry Christmas Y'all

Busy Beehive

Hiding in the bathroom from Reagan.

Taking a bath in the big girl tub.

Hating having to bundle up. Thanks for the hat Bethany!

Things have been crazy busy around here. Hence, the lack of updates. But things have been crazy in a good way. With Melita now mobile, most of my free time is spent chasing her around. Her current favorite things to do are eat Bungy's dogfood and crawl underneath tables and chairs and get 'stuck.' It's fun to watch and play with her and I can only imagine how much more fun it is going to get as she gets older. She loves the Christmas tree and especially the bows on the presents under the tree. She's only shredded 4 bows so far :) I am also surprised about how fast she moves. If we turn our back for even a second she has disappeared down the hall.

I Swear She Loves Me

Progress Report

Melita had her 6 month check up on Tuesday. She is still in the 75% for everything: 17lbs, 26 in., and her head is 17in. I was surprised at how little she weighed but the doctor said not to worry especially since she is crawling now. I am also pleased to report that she is crawling like a champ. She is racing around the house and nothing can stop her. And now that she has conquered crawling, she has moved on to drinking from a sippy cup and standing while holding onto something.

Bottles are so 1997.

Best Friends.

Month Six

This month Melita not only learned how to crawl, but she also learned to sit up on her own. All day I have been asking who took my baby and left this little girl. This morning she played 'possum' when I went into her room to check on her. When she caught me turning around to check on her, she quickly closed her eyes and then giggled when I said her name. Also, she discovered the joys of crumbling, chewing, and sucking on paper. But my favorite thing is how she now constantly giggles and talks while she play.

Happy Six Months, Moo Berry!

Baby Steps...sort of

Last weekend I had predicted that Melita would be racing around the house by Thanksgiving. With not much progress from getting on all fours and rocking, Thanksgiving morning came and went. The day after AKA Black Friday started off just the same with Saturday being no different.

But everything changed this morning...she figured out she needed to move her arms AND legs to get herself mobile. She spent the morning crawling all over the living room trying to get her hands on a magazine. Of course, I kept moving the magazine just out of reach and the more she practiced the better she got at it. Her crawling still isn't perfect; she looks more like an inch worm--stretching out on her belly and then drawing her legs up underneath in almost a hop/scoot motion when she realizes that she isn't quite long enough to reach her prize and she needs to move her whole body. But she is getting from point A to B on all fours.

We also decided to put up the Christmas Tree this morning.

Pandora's Box has just been opened. This Christmas could be interesting.

PS. We made a quick video of Melita in action and once I figure out (read: have patience) how to upload movies, I will. It's quite cute.

Melita's World Command Center

Miss Num Yummy

Had a Bad Day

I lost my wallet in Albertsons on Tuesday. 3 credit cards, debit card, social security card, drivers license, TABC certificaton, library card, and insurance cards. Luckily there was no cash in it. I know it was lost inside of Albertsons because I took my coupons out of it in front of the baby food. When I went to pay it was gone. I saved $5.00, though. Internet, if you find my wallet can you please send it back to me?

Melita isn't crawling yet but she is close. My bet is by Thanksgiving she'll be racing through the house.

She is also a pro at sitting in her high chair and eating her rice cereal from a spoon. She's a little wiggly though. The kid won't sit still.

Last night was the annaul Christmas Tree lighting downtown. We missed the actual lighting but we did get to see all of the pretty lights. Melita loved it.

Ready, Set...Crawl

All morning I have been trying to snap a picture of Melita on all fours in preparation to take off and crawl. But this kid is too quick for me. On Thursday, she got up on all fours for the first time and started rocking and she has kept doing it since. She has the rocking part down, she just hasn't gotten to the part where she moves her arms and legs FORWARD to get somewhere. Usually after rocking for a bit she either collapses and takes a quick snooze or she pushes herself backward and away from the object she was trying to get to. I will admit that we are trying to encourage her by spreading things of desire (toys, cell phones, TV remote) out in front of her, but so far it hasn't worked. It usually just makes her frustrated.

When she wasn't trying to crawl, she spent her morning sucking on a wet paper towel. WTF? I got the wet paper towel to clean off her face after her breakfast and she ended up grabbing hold and sucking the water out. She had previously discovered the endless hours of joy with crumbling dry paper, but never had she been interested in wet paper. We periodically re-wet the towel and she continued to loudly suck the water out. Has anyone else experienced this? She never tried to bite or chew the paper towel, she just sucked.

Tyra Would Be Proud

Perfecting smiling with her eyes.

What's Going On

Since Melita was born (and really even before), our friends and family have been awesome about sending her presents. There were two new recent additions the last two months. In October, Ashley, Sean, and Rhea sent her the Hungry Catepillar.

Last week, Andre and Crystal sent her an elephant.

As the above picture shows, she has finally mastered sitting up on her own. Almost. She no longer tips over sideways, instead she gets so excited screeching and wiggling that she usually flings herself backwards, her head making a loud thunk on impact with the carpet.

She may not be a mensa baby like Isla, but she thinks reading is pretty tiring anyway.

And, finally,the star of this blog, who I have neglected to talk about for far too long, is doing fantastic. He went to the vet today and weighed in at 86 lbs! He probably wishes he could get more sleep, but I think he secretly loves having a wiggly little girl to watch over.

Prison Break Chunn Style

It might be time to put the bumper back in the crib. Anyway, after the excitement of Halloween and Wurstfest things never really died down. Melita entered round two of teething with a bang and as of right now I have lost my voice. It's super funny because Melita recognizes me by sight but when I open my mouth she looks at me like I am an alien. Too cute. She's moving (wiggling) a lot more and protests every time we try and put clothes on her. Her new trick too is to roll under the couch when she is on the floor playing. She loves scraping her fingers on the lining underneath. I'm all for cheap entertainment. She is becoming more aware of Bungy too. She likes to pet him in the morning when she wakes up and then following him around for the rest of the day. Someone help him when she starts to crawl and then walk. Someone also helo Reagan and I. I think we are in trouble.

A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend Melita experienced a lot of things for the first time. Not only did she celebrate Halloween and go trick-or-treating, but on Saturday she went to her very first Wurstfest.

Dancing with daddy.

And then falling asleep in quite possibly the loudest tent there was.

On Sunday, she was understandably tired and helped me out by hanging outside with her dad and her dog while I cleaned the house.

Later that afternoon, Melita and I hung out and played and she showed me all of her new moves she uses to get around the house. She also showed me how much she loves to grab my hair.

Melita capped off her weekend by trying a new food - PEAS. I think she loved them.

Month Five

After a week of trying to get photographic evidence of Melita's teeth, she finally cooperated on the morning of her fifth month! Too bad her dad left the camera strap in the photo. This weekend also marked round two of the teething war.

Happy Fifth Month, Moo Berry!

Happy Halloween

Since Melita is a few days shy of being 5 months old today, I hadn't planned on her having a very 'spook'-tacular Halloween. I had decided to throw together an age appropriate and inexpensive 'costume' for mine and my mom's (who keeps her during the day) pleasure. And the picture potential. And then Reagan came home with a pumpkin to carve. AND then the grandparents offered to take her trick-or-treating while we went to the opening night of Wurstfest. An instant First Halloween!!

The reluctant witch.

Melita's first pumpkin.

Melita's first pumpkin after the morning after the deer feasted on it.

There are TWO!

After the last week or so of teething hell, we have progress! You can't tell in this picture (try looking really hard) but she has two teeth that are coming in on the bottom. They are poking up through the gums now and are pretty and white. I can't believe my baby has teeth. And two of them!

The First of Many

What I discovered when I went to check up on her after we left her playing in her swing while I made dinner.

Seconds later after the flash from the camera woke her up.

The Belly Shot

Not sure why she looks so pained but she was having fun seconds before.

Ms. Brightside

As the picture indicates, we are all smiles over here. It seems that we have either weathered the teething storm OR Reagan and I have finally got the hang of controlling it. I think it is a little bit of both. I did some reading yesterday and the best advice I found from seasoned parents was 'dose long and early.' Dosing being Tylenol. It worked. Melita got the sleep she needed and everyone else got some quiet time. Yay for Tylenol, yay for cooperative babies. Seriously, she sees the bottle of Tylenol now and nows the relief it will bring so she opens her mouth and swallows her entire dose in one go with no spit ups. This kid is amazing.

In other news, she is a pro at rolling over. When we put her in her crib at night she flops immediately onto her stomach where she stays for the night. A stomach sleeper just like her mother! She is also trying to crawl like a maniac too. It is too cute to watch her move her little legs trying to get some leverage to propel herself forward. She's got the concept down, I just don't think she can lift her chest high enough off the ground yet. She looks like a beached whale. Reagan seems to think she will be a full on crawling baby within the next few weeks. Sooner rather than later. I have to agree. It seems she mastered rolling over in about a week.

Watch out world, M-Rex is growing up!

Happy Anniversary

Two years ago today Reagan and I got married after 9 years of dating. This means that we have been together 11 years! We celebrated on Friday night with terrible Mexican food and a teething baby. Good times.

Melita is now rolling over one way. It's super cute and supplies hours of enjoyment for everyone. Her teething is still getting the best of all of us and she is needy as ever. At least when I'm holding her she is not crying. Always look at the bright side of things. Also, she has been eating rice cereal with baby food for the past week. She has mastered sweet potatoes, squash and now carrots! Seriously, time flies when you are having fun!

She also discovered that sucking her thumb is fun too.

Black and White

Today has been interesting. Melita's gums/teeth have really been bothering her causing one meltdown after another. After some Tylenol, she napped for a bit and now she seems content playing in her stationary activity center. Her meltdowns consisted of her only wanting me and wanting to be held. Which I don't mind. But it makes me sad to see her that upset. Also, we had been trying to start her on rice cereal without any luck. She'll drink it from her bottle but will not cooperate with the spoon. Helpful suggestions are welcome. Ugh. Despite the meltdowns, she has been super cute this week. She is amazing.

Thom Yorke reappears.