So Fun!!!

Melanie is so much fun these days! She is quite the active baby. She will crawl around and get to whatever room you are in- she does NOT like to be left in a room alone. Clint's parents and my parents are amazing with her. I get such a detailed report of her busy day when I pick her up each afternoon. My dad hung a swing on our backporch and Melanie thinks that it is the greatest. She sucks in air when she goes backwards and just laughs and smiles as she comes forward. Shelby is not too bright though- she just hangs out under the swing and gets hit in the head- I guess she will learn someday. The rash under her eye turned out to be no big deal. The doctor thinks that tears may get in her eye folds (AKA- fat folds...) and dry up and cause an infection. She just told me to keep it real clean and if necessary get this special ointment (which I have not done yet). Melanie is also loving big people food. She tries many of the things we eat for dinner. She eats Cheerios, shredded cheese, graham crackers, noodles, bananas, watermelon, some ground beef and she loves water from a straw. We suck the water up with our finger and then put the straw in her mouth and she thinks it is grand. She will drink LOTS of water that way. Here are some cute pictures from my mom's house.

Fun Pictures

She has a little rash under her eye- you can see it in this picture. She has a doctor's appointment on Wednesday to see what it is.

She loves to be in the grass

Check out her silly mohawk!

Making a typical Melanie face...

Quick Update

Hello everyone....life is a bit hectic right now since I have returned to work but I thought I would share a quick update. Melanie is continuing to successfully crawl around- sometimes even with her booty up in the air. Nothing is out of her reach anymore-AAAHHH! Yesterday I heard her grind her teeth and I thought to myself...how could she grind her teeth when she only has 2 bottom teeth...well she doesn't only have two bottom teeth she now has two top teeth as well. Clint calls her his little chipmunk. They must have come in pain free because she did not act any different. We've had to readjust her bed schedule now that I am back to work. She used to stay asleep on the ride to my parents or Clint's parents and then sleep for a couple more hours-not anymore! She is awake and jabbering in the backseat at 6:30 in the morning so now she is in bed, asleep, by 8:00 at night. Anyway...pictures will follow shortly.

Here She Comes

The princess and her pup

Watch out world- here comes Melanie! I was washing dishes in the kitchen this afternoon after putting Melanie in the den floor to play and guess what came pinching at my ankles- Melanie! She crawled from the den to the kitchen and up to me. I heard her making noises and I turned around and got to watch her get over to me. Her booty is not completely up in the air but she can dig her toes in and go. Her other big milestone is waving. She loves to wave at people as they come in the room. We had a garage sale this past weekend and when people would come up and she would hear their voices she would turn her head, see them, and wave. It was soooo cute! She is continuously saying "dada" with random spurts of "mama." She said "nana" today while she was babbling but I think it was a fluke and that the sounds she made just happened to have a meaning. I'm trying to teach her to say "bye-bye" when she waves...a definite work in progress. But, I guess I've got to get to baby proofing now that I have a mobile one.

Also, I've gone back to work and I've enjoyed having my "Leslie" time away from home and it is so sweet to come back to Melanie and have her act excited to see me. I am able to get her by 4:00 at the latest so we have a lot of time together in the evenings to enjoy each other's company. This summer I have been worn out by the evening and can't wait for Clint to get home but now I love our time together in between the time I pick Melanie up and when Clint gets home- it is our "girl time."

Trip to Chattanooga

She got a bath in my grandmother's perfect sink. I wish I had one at home!

Melanie posing with my dad's parents.

We went to Chattanooga this past weekend to visit my grandparents. Here are a couple of cute pictures.

Silly Day

Wahoo- what fun!

She loved it!

Caroline tentatively checking it out...

Princess partners posing...

On Tuesday I watched my neighbor's little girl. Caroline turned two in May and so I was able to practice what it would be like to have two kiddos. It actually was way easier than I expected and Caroline was absolutely perfect. Melanie was fascinated with just watching Caroline. At work I let my kids play in shaving cream so I thought it would be a fun idea for Caroline. So, I set up shaving cream on the kitchen floor. Caroline thought I was insane- she had no desire to get shaving cream all over her but Melanie thought it was fabulous. Here are pictures of the two princesses together.

Fun Family Day

Melanie with her new piano
She loves money...uh oh!
Is this a face or what?
Showing off her two teeth
Our little chunk
Her pouty model face
And one last happy pic for the camera...

We had a fun family day. My parents came and we went to lunch, the park (Melanie loved the swings) and to the pool. Melanie would stay in the pool all day. Anyway, here are some cute pictures my mom took.

6 month pictures

There is a picture similar to the above one that we bought and for whatever reason it did not come through on the email.

We got the above pic. in black and white (way cuter than green!)

She was a modeling super star! We couldn't have been any happier and boy did they suck us into buying soooo many pictures! So, take a look and see why.

6 month doctor's appointment

Melanie went to the doctor today and was a champ. She showed off all of her rolling and sitting skills and was quite vocal. She acted like a perfect child until he checked her ear and then she was sooooo pitiful during her shots. She weighed 17 lbs 1 oz (69th percentile) and was 26 1/2 inches long (73rd percentile). The doctor said she is eating great and growing perfectly-wahoo for Melanie.

New Pictures

She loves sitting up and putting toys in her mouth.

Isn't Shelby a good sport. Melanie is constantly crawling all over her, pulling her hair and sticking her hand in Shelby's mouth.

Are they cute together or what....

Our six month cutie!

I just returned from a three day girls weekend for Brooke Burger's bachelorette party. Clint brainwashed Melanie while I was gone and I came back to her babbling "dada." I better stay home so she will continue to say mama. She is now six months old and has her next doctor's appointment on Thursday and her next set of professional pictures this coming weekend. I will post after both of those events. Here are some cute new pictures from this morning.

Our Trip to Mississippi

Melanie with her great grandmother.
Melanie with her nanna and her great grandparents: Papaw and Memaw
Hello friends!
Okay- I know this is not the greatest picture of her but it shows her sitting up pretty well.

Melanie was an angel on our trip to Mississippi to see her great grandparents. She slept the entire way there and the entire way back only waking up to eat. She was so good at her great grandparents house and enjoyed the constant attention she was getting. She began babbling "ma ma" when we were there. I don't think that she has any type of meaning attached to saying it. I think now that she has figured out how to "talk" that she doesn't want to stop. The other day we were out to eat and she just wanted to scream VERY loud. Not because she was mad or because she wanted anything- she just thought it was funny to hear herself scream so loud that it would echo. Needless to say we had to leave the restaurant. I don't think I need to even write that I enjoy "ma ma" much more than screaming. She is continuing to enjoy her baby food- there does not seem to be much that she does not like. She also loves playing with blocks. She will put them in a container pour them out and knock them over when I stack them up. She also loves to pull on Shelby's fur and I think Shelby secretly enjoys it as well because I can't separate the two of them.

I can sit!

Our 5 1/2 month old daughter can sit- wahoo! She started balancing pretty good a couple of days ago and now she can hold herself upright. We still stay close to her because she does not catch herself too well when she falls but she can hold herself upright for a minute or so- yeah Melanie! Here is a picture for proof- she is kind of hunching over because she is trying to get close to me as I take her picture.

New Pictures and a New Tooth

Father's Day Fun.

Well, Melanie has 2 teeth now! The first one is about half way in and the second one popped up right beside it about a week ago. She is continuing to love her baby food (except peaches). She also is acting much better in the gym daycare. She loves to "talk to" and watch all of the other children. She is so funny at trying to crawl. We will put toys right out of her reach and she will scoot herself to them or roll in the opposite direction and then gear up for a big roll back towards the toys. If she could just get her big old booty all the way up she would be off and going. Anway hope you enjoy the new pics!

Vacation

Could she be any cuter?This was her touching a fish my dad caught.

We just returned from vacation and had a wonderful time. But, going on a vacation with a baby is quite different than the vacations I am used to. Melanie loved the water. We would put her feet in the ocean and she would watch the water come up towards her feet and just wiggle away. She also loved the pool. We had a float for her but she preferred to have us hold her (what else is new?). She did not like sleeping in her pack and play. She sleeps very well at home in her crib without putting up a fuss or anything but she HATED sleeping at the beach. So, the princess that she is, she cried loud enough and long enough to convince us to let her sleep in our bed 4 of the nights. Luckily when we got home she went right back to sleeping in her bed like normal (thank goodness!). She is also getting a tooth. It is soooo sharp. It's one of her bottom front teeth. You can barely see it but boy can you feel it if you stick your finger in her mouth. Other than that she is just getting bigger and more fun by the day.