HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELODY!!! (Part 1...the actual day)

Happy Birthday SWEET MELODY!!!  This post has been in the making for sometime now but you are currently 13 months.  I loved all the pictures and I would never be able to choose!  I want you to be able to see just how precious and full of life you really are!  These are all on your actual birthday September 9th.  I pretty much documented throughout the day starting with breakfast and a nice helping of organic whole milk! 

You had cinnamon toast waffles and peaches for breakfast.  The waffles are one of your favorites and you tend to just devour them! 

I'm sure your thinking, "Really Mom?  It's only 8 AM!  Put that thing away!"

I was super excited about starting the whole milk.  I knew you would love it and I was so excited that we weren't going to have to mess with all those bottle parts.  Y'all have the same cups but Addison's are 10 oz and yours are 7 oz.  That makes things sooo much easier!

You took to the milk just as I expected.  AND as of 13 months old, I am still nursing you.  Because you love it so much, I have had a hard time thinking of stopping.  What I truly want is for you to make the decision on your own.  I was hoping this milk in a cup thing would help things along and it certainly has!  You just drink so much and it is so easy for you that you have really cut the nursing in half!  That was YOUR decision not mine!!!!  That makes me feel so much better.  I didn't slowly take a session away week by week or anything like that.  You just continued to show interest in the mornings, before morning nap and at bedtime.  Any other times you wanted nothing to do with it!  You are my last baby and I just want to hold on to some things for as long as possible (and not be too weird about it!) 

Addison was so happy it was your birthday and sang to you all day long.  She also wanted to share the attention and insisted on having her picture made during breakfast!

Totsie came in town so that we could take the Birthday Girl out for some lunch.  Addison stayed home and we just got to have some time with you and reflect on what a wonderful blessing you are to us.  You truly make our family complete!

 

 

You of course hammed it up for the camera and totally enjoyed your one on one time with us!

For your age I would say you are an incredible eater.  You really don't turn that much away.  One night I made a roast with potatoes and carrots and you just went to town.  I just stared in amazement.  Addison of course had nothing to do with it and am sure ate something like chicken nuggets or mac n' cheese.  You know- typical toddler food!  You aren't old enough to realize all that stuff yet.  I'm sure your day is coming and you will soon refuse good healthy food.  Until then, I will continue to give you things like roast, broccoli soup, spaghetti and blueberry muffins!  Another hilarious thing is that you will sometimes moan when you eat!  You will be stuffing your face so fast and be moaning at the same time.  You keep it honest sweet girl!

You loved biting on your table topper!

You still do your signature move!

Some things that you do right now: You stand by yourself all the time and have started cruising around furniture.  I'm thinking you will be a 14 month walker as of right now.  (Addison was 16 months). I am in no way wanting to rush that though!  It's hard enough keeping up with you when you crawl!  You are SO fast and sneaky!  You are one big cuddle bug!  You love to snuggle and for ME to hold you CONSTANTLY!  If I put you down for a split second you will completely lose it!  That makes things quite challenging some times when I'm struggling to get everyone out the door or having to dress Addison/ help with the potty.  You are definitely a MOMMA'S GIRL!  You still freak out if anyone other than me tries to pick you up or if I walk out of your sight.  Gotta say, it does make me pretty happy:)  You have a very pleasant personality.  You are bubbly, silly, and oh so sweet!  I can already tell you have a kind heart.  You still love to play with Addison and get sooo excited when we go and get her up in the morning.  You will be on my hip and just start bouncing and laughing and light up all over as we get closer to her room.  You are still pretty easy.  The thing that is most difficult is being on the go so much between school and therapy.  You love napping in your crib and if we are on the road you get pretty mad!  You eventually fall asleep but can fight it really hard.  You also would love it if I could just hold you while driving- HA!  Oh, how that would make things sooo much easier!  You have such sweet and honest eyes.  They look like big blueberries sometimes!  You love to play peek-a-boo.  That's a big thing around here along with patty cake.  Addison really loves doing those with you!  You love to take my phone and hold it up to your ear and say,"Hi Daddy!" But it really comes out as, "Hi Dadoo or Dadun."  It is sooo cute!  Your words are Mama, Daddy, Uh Oh, Thank you (comes out as Tank U), and you bark like the dogs!  When you hear them bark, you will pucker your lips and make a "Woo Woo" sound but with a deep grunt.  Sounds like a pretty good bark!  You are a MAJOR dog lover.  The pups are great entertainment for you and they let you love all over them.  I think they know they can't win and they better get use to it!  We have recently introduced Addison to The Little Mermaid and you LOVE to sing along with Ariel!!  You will go, "AHHH AHHHH AHHHHH!"  You picked that up sooo fast.  I remember singing that part to Addison after she watched it for the first time.  Then, I all of a sudden hear you repeating me!  It was hilarious and now you girls just sing that part all the time.  I can sing any part of a song and you will try to mimick the sound and beat.  Definitely got a musical bone!  When you dance you always throw your hands in the air, wiggle your booty and get the biggest smile on your face.  Sure does make me smile!  You can't stand to wear bibs.  I always try and put one on you before you eat cause you get sooo messy.  You will immediately rip it off and if it's a snap one you will pull and scream until I take it off.  I pick my battles.  Then, when it's time to wipe your face it becomes a huge battle.  I basically have to hold your head still and wipe as fast as I can!

That afternoon we went outside and put down a big blanket to let you girls play.  This was your first time to play in the grass and you were very hesitant.  You liked the soft blanket instead!

Addison still enjoys loving on you and you tolerate it just fine!  She wanted you to wear your sunglasses just like she was! 

Touching grass for the first time!

We ate dinner so fast cause we couldn't wait to see what you thought of your first cupcake and chocolate icecream!

I put the famous "1" birthday hat on you.  You weren't really a fan and we had to take the pics before a meltdown occurred. 

Here you are diggin' in!  You kinda just played with it at first and then decided to dive in!

Not Sure?!

I'm thinking you liked it ok!

Addison of course wanted to wear the hat, blow out a candle, and have us sing to her!  Yikes!

I thought this was a priceless pic.  I wish we all ate our cupcakes like this!

So Matt was doing a fabulous job of videoing and taking pics, that he forgot to get the main cupcake shot with the candle.  So, in this pic she has already had her cake, but we wanted to make sure and get the candle shot for documenting purposes.

After dinner we let you open all of your gifts.  Boy were you into the paper!  I believed we did all the unwrapping and then you played with all the bags/paper.  I'm really not sure why we get kids gifts at this age.  Y'all really don't care and only want to play with the things that were basically free!

You really liked reading the cards!

I think your favorite toys were the teething fruit ring, keys, and these two cool purple toys that make neat noises when you shake and roll them.  You are totally musical and we knew you would really like these!

What's funny is that Addison is very aware that all of these toys are your birthday presents, yet she refuses to let you play with ANY of them!  On the bright side, it has been a good "sharing lesson" for her but unfortunately ends in some meltdowns and corner time. 

Playing on the boxes!

I just can't believe it's been a whole year since that wonderful day of seeing you for the first time!  It was such an amazing experience that I will always hold close to my heart.  We love you so very much Melody Rose! 

BIG GIRL BED and Grandparent visit!

Honey and Pop came to visit last week and y'all had a blast!  As soon as they got out of the car they set up these cute, blow-up pumpkins.  It was a huge hit with Addison of course!  You LOVE anything blown up that deals with the Holidays!  We have been spending lots of time going outside to check on them and make sure they are ok and to see if they've gone to sleep.  Everytime we back out of the driveway, you always tell them "goodbye" and that you will see them later.  You did the same thing with our Santa last year.  I am loving your excitement for the Holidays and that has encouraged me to decorate more and more! 

 LSU was playing this day and I pulled out the cheerleading uniforms.  I was sooo happy to find Addison's from when she was 1 years old.  It fit Melody perfectly and Addison was super thrilled to match.  She still loves when y'all wear the same outfits.  I really find it hard to swallow when I put your old outfits on Melody.  It just again verifies how fast time goes by and that these baby/toddler days are numbered.  Ouch.  We certainly have our hard days, I won't deny!  There are days when the tantrums, screaming, and time outs are so very frequent.  BUT I love these days and wouldn't change them for anything!  I am always reminding myself to soak it up!

 Little Miss Rosy cheeks!  We spent ALOT of time outside that day.  We didn't realize it until bedtime that you got a little dose of sun!  Not to worry, it went away within a day.  Because your cheeks are naturally rosy, a little sun makes them stand out even more!

 Here you are with Pop helping him clean their car.  Boy did you love this!  This was right down your alley.  You REALLY were a good helper!

Cheesin' it up with Pop

 You loved sitting in the driver's seat.  You thought you were a cool cat wearing some shades and sitting in the convertible!  I was worried you would never want to get in a car seat again!  They said you sat in the car for a couple of hours refusing to get out!

 Ok, SOOO this was all VERY unexpected.  I love the phrase, "Why mess up a good thing?"  This is usually how I would respond when people asked if you were in a toddler bed yet.  You loved your crib and absolutely never showed any signs of moving on.  I figured we would ride this out until you show us otherwise.  *Note* we tried the toddler bed back in December on the day you tried peanut butter for the first time.  Obviously that didn't work out well, so we decided to convert the bed back to a crib and try another time.  Anyway, it was a normal day when we came home from therapy or school (can't remember) and we ate lunch and I put y'all down for naps.  Well, you for some reason decided not to nap and Melody was out.  Even if you choose not to nap (which is only like 1% of the time) I will leave you in your crib to rest for around 2 hours.  So, I listen to you on the monitor talking to all your Doras, Diegos, piggy, kitty etc. for 2 hours.  Then, I hear some weird crying and assume you've just had it and are ready to get up.  This wakes Melody up so I go and get her and as soon as I walk in your room there you are playing on your rug with all your "friends!"  I just froze as I looked at you.  I was so confused/ stunned and for a second questioned if I had even forgot to put you in your crib! (I do have Mommy Brain by the way!)  So, I just said "Addison! Oh my gosh, what did you do?  How did you do this?  Why?"  Then I asked you if you were ok and began to worry cause we of all people know what can happen when someone has a weird fall.  You were fine and I assume you just spent your nap time trying to figure out how to get on the floor with your friends!  (When you're done with nap time, you always throw your friends out of the crib.)  When that happens we always know that is the cue to hurry up and get in there or else a major tantrum is right around the corner!  I just couldn't believe you never gave us a "heads up" that you were thinking about doing this.  I mean, we are SO baby proofed around here that had you given us the SLIGHTEST sign, we would have converted that bed in a second!  So, that night we made it into a BIG GIRL BED!  I talked it up all afternoon and told you how cool it would be!  You couldn't wait to go to bed and we were sooo worried that we wouldn't sleep that night.  We just knew you would be getting in and out all night long.  WELL, since the skittle thing works for the potty, I decided to entice you with starbursts.  When we tucked you in we told you if you went to sleep and never got out of bed until Mommy came to get you, then you would get a starbursts!  You were PUMPED!  You slept great and I told Matt that the first thing you would ask me for would be that starbursts.  I was right!  I opened that door and you said,"I get a starbursts!  I stayed in my bed!"  So, now after every nap and when you get up in the morning you get starbursts- specifically orange ones.  They are your absolute favorite.  AND when you go to the potty, you only want yellow skittles. 

 This is the first time in your BIG GIRL BED!  We kinda made a big deal about it:)  Melody was really excited too!  Oh, and she can pretty much crawl up in your bed by herself.  Yikes.  She loves your bed and loves playing with all your Dora/Diego clan!

Lovin' on sister!

 Since this all happened out of the blue, we weren't prepared with bedding or anything! (You always slept with your favorite blankets in the crib.)  I have been excited about this cause I feel the bedding kinda determines the feel of the room.  I have really put off decorating your room cause I wasn't sure what direction we were gonna go with the bedding.  I am on the lookout now!  AND when we go to a double bed I'm not sure we will even keep this one.  It does convert to the double and that's really why we got it in the first place but now I'm thinking something cute and white.  Funny how your sense of style can change in just a few years!  If we keep this one we will probably paint it white and possibly give it a distressed look. 

So proud of her bed!