Saturday, we took Melody over to Auntie Sam's for a haircut! She did great. She really loved sitting on the booster, and she held still while Sam clipped just a little bit off the ends. She really enjoyed looking in all the mirrors, and all around had a great time. Unfortunately, Mom and Dad hadn't decided whether we were going to actually get her hair cut that day, so we left the good camera at home. Once again, my iPhone to the rescue and we did get a few fun shots of her enjoying her first beauty treatment. :-)

I added some new photos. Enjoy!

A very happy Easter to everyone! We went to the Cypress Community Easter Egg Hunt, and Melody did great! She just wanted to play with the toys at first, and then, just eat the eggs, but she got the hang of it after a few minutes. Pictures posted in the gallery!

Below is a little video of Melody, tired. I think you'll get a kick out of where she decides to sleep.

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!

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. :-)