The Bankston Family: Tantrums and Texas!

I'm a little bit behind on blogging so this will be a long post! While we were in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago, Melody got to visit with her great-grandparents. It was a sweet visit and she definitely laid on the charm! They had a blast loving on her.

Here is Addison trying out her tricycle again. Totsie and Papa got it for her awhile back and she just never really took to it. So, we pulled it out again and we think we made some progress. See, anytime Addison really likes something she gets REALLY frustrated with it. So we have to be pretty careful with the things we give her. That sounds kinda sad huh? "Oh, Addison would LOVE this toy! That means we can't let her have it." Horrible. She will grow out of it soon though.

Melody has been doing great. She just tags along as you can tell by the pics. She just goes with the flow and is laid back all the time! Oh, and she started sleeping through the night at 9 weeks! Fabulous! It is really a hit or miss thing though. Sometimes it will be for several nights in a row and then she will have a few where she will wake up around 4 or 5. That's pretty wonderful to me! She is smiling and cooing all the time. I really think she is starting to notice Addison- her eyes perk up when she sees her and I have caught her smiling at her a couple of times. I know Addison will be thrilled when she starts to crawl and interact with her. She is already the best big sis a girl could ask for!

I have posted these next few pics of Addison to show you what's been going on with her in the past few months. Have I mentioned that she's 2??? Good gracious. This little lady can go from hot to cold in .5 seconds with absolutely no warning whatsoever. I'm thinking it's just part of being a girl! So, we have been dealing with some temper tantrums and we really have been avoiding this whole discipline thing. I mean she knows what "No" means and listens to us but that's about as far as we have taken it. We've tried the corner and she actually likes it. She will go sit in it when she's not even in trouble. We need a plan and need to stick to it. We're just not sure where to start. I believe I have around 10 books on discipline but have absolutely no time to read them. I rarely have time to take a shower! So, showering definitely wins over reading! Oh, and this outfit.........she LOVES her tutu! When she sees it hanging in her closet she insists on putting it on. So that day I got it on her and then she saw her boots.......so we put on the boots. We were on our way to the backyard so I figured why not?? Who knows, maybe she's got an eye for fashion!?

This is her FAVORITE baby doll right now. She carries it with her everywhere. Funny thing- she only prefers bald-headed babies. She will suck her thumb against their heads and smell them at the same time! She does this to Melody every chance she gets! Hilarious! The one thing that frustrates her is that she can't take her clothes off. They are permanently on the baby and that pretty much ticks her off.

Addison has also been doing some funny things that I really want to document on here so that I will never forget! So here goes! Right now she LOVES yogurt raisins, mandarin oranges and cherry tomatoes. My gosh have we come a long way from a year ago! This time last year she wouldn't touch a thing! It was so bad that we had to start giving her Miralax on a regular basis. Thank goodness we are over that! She is OBSESSED with ants and bugs. Anytime she sees ant beds she will bend down, point, and go EEWWW! GROSS! YUCK! Same for the bugs. She loves to run and get us a paper towel to pick up dead bugs or flies. She squeals sooo loud when she sees one too. For the past few months she has been fixated on BO BO'S. She will talk your head off about all of her bo bo's. She loves to point them out and wants a bandaid (specifically Dora) on anything that remotely resembles a bo bo. She wants you to kiss it and acknowledge that she has one even if she doesn't. I have caught her several times in the kitchen on the hard, tile floor walking on her knees trying to create a bo bo. She would stop and check her progress. If it wasn't red enough she would keep doing it until she was happy with the outcome. THEN she would run and point it out to me and drag me by the hand to the bathroom cabinet that contains Dora bandaids. She would say, "bandaid, bandaid, bandaid."
One of her favorite movies is Beauty and the Beast. She loves the music and sings it all the time. She especially loves the dancing towards the end and she will stop what she is doing and start twirling and twirling. She makes sure that you have noticed her too! She does this at night while taking her bedtime milk with Matt. He says it's one of his favorite moments of the day! He says when he sees her doing this he can almost see her dancing at her wedding and he gets sooo choked up about it:) Such a good Dad! He loves his little girls!
She has also been talking on the phone a lot. She use to just listen to what everyone was saying, but know she will take the phone from me and start jabbering away. When she plays with her toy phones she will always pick them up and say, "Heyyyo? Ok, Bye bye." And she says it really fast. I guess she's listened to a few of my conversations? Ha! Short and sweet:)

We spent Thanksgiving in Ruston and I really should have taken more pictures! But juggling a toddler and a newborn doesn't give me much free time. I do have this one of Matt and Melody snuggling on the couch. Melody was so good during the whole day. She slept a good bit and was so sweet when she was awake. She is one easy going baby!

The day after Thanksgiving we brought Melody to Dallas with us and left Addison with Honey and Pop. Matt and I were missing Dallas sooo much and just needed a good ole break. It was wonderful! We stayed 2 nights in Southlake Town Square. This is our old stomping ground. We use to live about 10 minutes from there and it's where we spent all of our time! Not much has changed. We always get a little sentimental driving around that area. Addison was born in Grapevine and every time we pass the hospital (you can't miss it) a flood of emotions come over me. I always try to find the room I delivered in and picture us on that day. Such a wonderful, emotional and scary day. That is also where our specialist was located. Dr. Graham-that is one special man for having to deal with me! No really, he was a wonderful doctor. He kept me sane throughout my pregnancy! Melody enjoyed the scenery and just let us be. We brought the pack n' play and she slept great. I think she got more sleep on this trip than in her whole life cause big sister wasn't around keeping her awake! I look forward to taking the girls when they are older! The pic below pretty much describes Melody right now! She was excited to go shopping!