The Bankston Family: Happy 13 Months Melody and The Pumpkin Patch!

Happy 13 months sweet girl!! I am a bit delayed with the post as usual but have been keeping notes on what you have been up to this month! Lets see- we have been to the doctor quite a bit recently. I knew it would be like this since Addison started Pre-K. That's ok though. Maybe by the time you start school you won't get as sick since you are catching everything now! Everything Addison catches will usually get to you in a few days and then I bring y'all in for a double appointment. I'm getting pretty good at that and juggling all different kinds of medicines for you girls! You have had an ear infection for almost a month now (that started with a cold) and you are finished with your second round of antibiotics. I have a feeling it's not gone and that maybe you will be a candidate for tubes. HOPE NOT! We have the recheck today so we shall see!

Funny things you do: You like to tickle yourself! You will put both of your hands under your armpits and slowly move your fingers. You do this with a big ole smile on your face! (kinda looks like a monkey)!

You pretty much watch and learn everything from Addison. I have watched you a few times give Addison's baby doll a bottle. You will place it in and tilt it up. So cute!

I have this thing I do when I go to pick y'all up- I will clap my hands twice and open my arms wide. It's something I have always done since having Addison. Anyway, you now will crawl up to my legs, sit up, clap your hands twice and open your arms to be picked up. Melt my heart!!!

You have almost 5 teeth! Once you turned a year, those top teeth just started falling down! It's happening SO fast and seems like every week now you have a new tooth!

You are STILL nursing. I am wondering when to wean but really don't think about it too much. I nurse you about 2 times a day (when you wake up and before your morning nap). I go to the gym at night and Daddy will give you your cup of milk!

You are sooo into puppies right now! You will make the cutest sounding bark ever! You pucker your lips and it sounds more like a deep belly bark. Your eyes get so big when you see a dog and you will point and bark. You still enjoy loving on Sunny and Bubbi. They could care less and love you too.

The other day you saw Addison's Diego doll and you said, "Diego." I couldn't believe my ears! It was pretty clear too. You are a little sponge and it's amazing how much you absorb. Kinda made me sad when you said it cause it proves that you are skipping the whole baby stage with all the baby characters like Elmo and Cookie Monster. You are just jumping right into whatever Addison likes and it is really sad! You also say, "Thank you." You will find tiny pieces of whatever on the floor and hold them up for us and say "thank you." That is WAY better than putting everything in your mouth! You also say, Mama, Dada, and Uh Oh. That's all the words I can think of right now.

You took your first step last week on Oct. 27th. I provoked it. I am in no rush to get you to walk but we were playing in our bedroom and I wanted to see what you would do if I shook a bottle of vitamins. You stand up independently all the time and usually will sit down with control. This time you were standing and took a step when I shook the bottle. You definitely wanted to play with those suckers. Later on that day you took one step and then 2 all on your own. I guess it was all about confidence! I'm thinking we have at least one more month until you become a walker! One things for sure, this household is baby proofed and prepared!!

This is something you have done for the last few months.....when we are just laying in bed cuddling or after a nursing session, you will quickly lay down on me, rest your head on my shoulder and put both arms down to your side. Once you get in position you will make a huffing noise real quick. Then I will do it back. Then you will do it again. This goes on for awhile and then you will lift your head and give me the biggest smile. It's like your own form of communication. You also do this to Daddy when he takes care of you! When you first started doing this I didn't really get what you were doing. THEN I started playing along and it was ON! You were so excited and this has just become a daily routine for you! I LOVE IT!!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch a few weeks ago. It was fun but honestly a little stressful. I remember bringing y'all last year and pushing Melody in the stroller. She was brand new and everyone was trying to get a glimpse of her. There wasn't much you could do with a baby at the pumpkin patch! This year it was a little bit harder cause I was carrying Melody everywhere and we were pretty determined to get that perfect pumpkin picture. Isn't that what every parent strives for at these places? There was this lady that was setting up this photo op for her grandkids and kept insisting we use it. It was a wheel barrel filled with pumpkins. Looked cute and all but pretty uncomfortable for you girls. I couldn't help but laugh. We did the best we could and walked away with our proof of the pumpkin patch 2011! I really was excited to see Addison walk all over the place and pick out all kinds of pumpkins. She talked and talked and talked about all the pumpkins and which were her favorites. Funny little history here- A few weeks after Matt and I met in college, we carved our first pumpkin together at my parents house. It was a last minute thing and my mom insisted we do it. We went to Walmart to find only 1 pumpkin left and it was not very attractive! We didn't care and we carved a pretty cute pumpkin. Well, every year we have always made a big deal of picking out our pumpkins. Like, would take me around 20 minutes to find my perfect one. It was usually the one at the very bottom of the stack! Poor Matt! He was always digging to the bottom for me:) Over the years we have stopped carving cause we realized it was so much effort and pretty dangerous for the kids. Last year I let Addison paint her pumpkin. I LOVE that idea! So anyway, back to my original thought......picking out a pumpkin for us has become way less complicated. We don't have the time anymore to dwell over which stem looks better! This year we were like, "Yep, that one looks good. This will be mine." And BAM there you have it! Wow times have changed!

Picking out your favorite pumpkins!

Melody was just hanging out and enjoying the scenery. I was teaching her all about pumpkins right here. We let Big Sis pick out your pumpkin this year. I'm pretty sure she loved that! I have a feeling that will be the last time you let that happen:)

Being Goofy!

I LOVE these of you! I believe this is the very one you chose! I think you made a fabulous choice! When we got home you insisted on putting yours and Melody's on the kitchen table. I kept trying to put them by the front door with ours cause that's what looks cute. Nope, you wanted them on the kitchen table so that's where they have stayed:)

Here's the lovely wheel barrel. I just couldn't quit laughing! It doesn't look like Addison is very comfy. She was so ready to just be done with it!

I think Melody is still at the age where you can give her something to play with (pumpkin) and all will be fine with her!

We found a haystack setup that was pretty cute. Still humorous though! We did the best we could and it is obvious you girls LOVE eachother!

Melody, I hope you will always see how much Addison loves you. She immediately lights up anytime you are around and is just so crazy about you! You make her laugh, smile (and cry) like no other! We definitely have the normal sibling issues of not sharing and jealousy and such but that is to be expected. Sometimes if it gets quite in the playroom I will peep my head in and catch her hugging or snuggling up next to you. I always say this but I am SO GLAD y'all are this close in age. You play well together and will be able to have things in common! The beginning is hard but I always tell Matt if I could change anything, I might would have had y'all even closer together!!!