Well, Melody has successfully crossed the year mark and is now officially a toddler! We celebrated her "official" birthday with Grandma & Grandpa and we had a nice time. She only fell down on her face once so there wasn't an awful lot of blood on her birthday shirt. Seriously, she gave herself a fat lip on her birthday. We are such bad parents!

A couple days later we went out to Calico for the Civil War Days there. I posted some really cute pictures in the gallery of Melody enjoying the day and stealing the show - no surprise there.

We had our 1-year appointment as well. We managed to keep her alive for the first year and in relative good health. She is 25 lbs 13 oz, which is a pound up from her 9 month appointment. But, she is now 31.5 inches! She is just growing like a weed.

Yesterday we had Melody's first birthday party! It was so much fun!! Her friend Delaney was there, both Grandmas, her Auntie Kat, her favorite babysitter Rhonda, and of course Mom & Dad. To say that Melody likes attention is an understatement. She definitely was hamming it up for the cameras. Yes, multiple cameras, lol. We had video, we had still shots, we had snapshots! And you can see by the pictures that Melody knows how to work the camera to her best advantage.

But, when all was said and done, her favorite part of the day might just have been the cake. She did not hesitate for one second to put her hands into the frosting and dig in! Looking back, I wish I had turned the cake so the green leaves were on the far side from her hands, because her face, hands and right arm were all tinged green for a while. Thankfully, it washed off without any problem. She liked the cake, but didn't like the feel of it on her fingers, shaking her hands a little between bites, as if to say "ewww." Too funny!

She was not interested in calming down at all after everyone went home, and played all afternoon. She had a good nap before the party, but then was awake for about 6 hours, which for a baby can be quite a long time. She fell asleep (read: crashed) at 6:45 and was royally annoyed when we woke her to put her into pajamas. All told, she slept the clock around and then some. She was exhausted but so happy!

Thank you to everyone who came to her birthday party! It was a miraculous day for us and only three more days until her birthday. We're looking forward to spending the evening with Grandma A and Grandpa.

P.S. A special thank you to Melody's friend Finn in England. She loves the bracelet and outfit!

Melody is 11 months old. Holy moly! We are on the final countdown to her first birthday. How fast this year has gone!!!!! Here's a recap of some of Melody's milestones and moments during her first year.

February 13, 2007. I am born.

February 14, 2007. I have kept my parents awake for 36 hours straight. Serves them right for forcing me out into this crazy place they call the world. Happy Valentine's Day Mom & Dad!

February 27, 2007. Lost my umbilical stump...ready for action!

March 20, 2007. Dad brags about getting first smiles. Whatever. I love my mommy best!

April 11, 2007. Shots. If I see that nurse come in with the little tray behind her back one more time I'm going to go commando on her. What's the big deal stabbing me in the legs. My legs are cute and chubby! And furthermore...

April 24, 2007. Dad bought a new camera, more appropriately suited to photographing his gorgeous daughter and future American Idol winner. They will need good pictures for the montage they put together.

May 29, 2007. First shopping trip with Dad's credit card.

June 12, 2007. It's that nurse with the little tray again! Waaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

August 1, 2007. I steal everyone's heart with my sleepy jumping. When will my parents ever send this clip to that TV show and win a bunch of money for my very expensive college education? Or, was it for my singing lessons?

October 24, 2007. Made contact with R2D2 and stored the plans to the Death Diaper in his memory. The Death Diaper is a bomb that could destroy all of human kind if the smell were to ever escape. Help me Obi Dad Kenobi...you're my only hope (of getting the trash taken out).

November - December, 2007. My parents couldn't be bothered to update this blog, so really nothing significant must have happened. Yeah right! I got my first flu bug! I can walk! I can eat table food and man do I love mashed potatoes! I have to work on these parents of mine and really just nag them to put in more updates. Huh, they hardly even take pictures of me any more...cue violins...they just don't love me! They make me go to bed at 8:30! They make me play in the living room with all those toys I got at Christmas time! They give me macaroni and cheese for dinner! Woe is me, sob sob sob...I want my Grandmas! They will let me do anything!

Well, here it is the 29th of December already and it seems like Melody was just posting her Thanksgiving message a week or so ago! Time flies sooo fast these days!

So, what's been going on? We went up to Calico Ghost Town and Melody enjoyed the Lane House quite a lot. She managed to walk a bit with assistance and get her white dress incredibly filthy. Then, shortly after Thanksgiving, Melody had the flu, but kind child that she is, she managed to share it with Mom, Dad and Grandma Marie. It was a week of real difficulty and we felt really bad for Melody. Not only did she come down with the flu on a Friday, by Monday she was cutting her two top teeth, and by the following Saturday she had an ear infection. It was a rough week for her! Two doctor's visits and three phone calls to them should indicate that it was rough on Mom and Dad too. After 10 days of antibiotics and lots of TLC (thanks to Grandma who stayed with us for five days!) she is all better again. And, coming out the other side of this, she now has seven teeth and we are just waiting for the final bottom tooth to appear.

After that, we all got colds, yay! 'Tis the season for sharing germs, apparently. Fortunately this one we didn't give to anyone outside the house. After we felt better again, again, we went to Grandma Alice & Grandpa Bert's Christmas party, and boy was Melody the star of the show! She had on a really pretty plaid Christmas dress and she was showing off her black velvet shoes. Not only was she showing them off, she was showing people that she knows how to use them. No, not by kicking people, although she has been known to do that on occasion (entirely by accident, I'm sure), but by walking! By December 13th, her 10 month birthday, Melody was taking two to three steps on her own, and as of today, she is walking across the room on her own. She is doing great! She's definitely keeping us busy chasing after her.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day brought lots of family visits and visiting, opening presents, and new toys to play with, sometimes even things that are intended to be toys, lol. She loves, loves, loves her Alphabet Pal and will sing along with the song when we sing it. Of course, Melody's version of singing and what you and I define as singing are vastly different, but she is singing none the less. As we wind down the year, we know that Melody will be walking on her own with confidence and talking in really no time flat. It's unbelievable how fast this year has flown past us, but I guess with a new baby on scene, there really is a reason why we aren't focused elsewhere, only on her.

Pictures of various events posted in the gallery. :-)

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I spent the day with my whole family, Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Kat, Grandma Alice & Grandpa Bert, Grandma Marie and Great-Grandma. Wow, it was so much fun! I had my first taste of mashed potatoes and that was a sublime experience. I want to eat mashed potatoes for the rest of my life. With gravy. Yummmmmm. I also tried cranberry sauce, which I think I liked pretty well. I really wore myself out, that is for sure, since I refused to nap all afternoon. I was a good girl though and I didn't cry, I just got really tired and after dinner sacked out for two hours. I think Dad might have too while he and Grandpa were watching football. Mommy and "the girls" took care of the kitchen and talked, but I missed all this since I was finally sleeping. It was such a fun day! I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving too!!

In other news, I am now 9 months and 2 weeks. I am 24 lbs 15 oz and 30 inches tall!!! Wow.

Love,

Melody