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!