Variety of Things From the Last Couple Months

I guess I should start by saying "Welcome Back!". It has been a couple months since I have put any updates and pictures on our blog. Thank you for your patience. Today's posting is a variety of pictures from the last couple months... think of it as a kind of variety show of Melanie's life.

Melanie is now 2 1/2 years old.

Melanie has experienced a growth spurt over the last month; some of the workers at the daycare even commented about it. Now, we all know I am only five feet and a quarter inch (and I OWN that quarter inch). Melanie is now easily over half of my height without any questioning it. As I have said in the past.... GROW!!!! Melanie has jumped from wearing size 24 month clothes to 2T and 3T, depending on the style and brand. A couple weeks ago I packed up a bunch of jeans/pants and other clothes that she outgrew pretty quickly.

A little ketchup with her smile. The next two pictures were taken today. :)
And a little "goofy" with that grin....

Swinging on the "see saw" in our backyard last weekend.

Sleeping beauty pictures are some of my favorites....

We recently had a playdate at the "Jump and Play" with some friends and their children. Jump and Play is a fairly large warehouse room with super-big inflated slides, jump houses, and a toddler area. Everything is made so the adults can get in with their kids if needed... or if they want to, in my case. The next several pictures were taken there.

Here Melanie was at the bottom of one of the slides. She was always laughing and giggling at the end of one of them.

Melanie "driving" a boat.

Melanie doing an impression of a great big creature crushing that boat.

Melanie had her first haircut a couple weeks ago. The only thing cut was her bangs, all the length of her hair still remains. It is close to to the middle of her back. My mom and I took her; and I did get a small baggie of hair. I put that baggie in a safe place and now I cannot find it. I hope to come across it. The haircut place, "Cookie Cutters" is geared 100% for kids. All the seats, except for one, are some kind of toy. For example, a fire engine or a race car.

Melanie was scared to sit by herself so we ended up in one of the normal chairs with her in my lap. She was fine after that. In fact, she kept looking around for her friend, Jackson. It just so happened that we ended up there at the same time as one of her friends from daycare. After both of them had their haircuts the two of them spent a good 15 to 20 minutes sliding on the indoor playground. Haircut experiences have sure come a long way since I was a kid!

Here is the best picture I could capture of her haircut.

As you look at this next picture I want to stress that this was NOT a staged picture. Every evening when we put Melanie to bed we read her some books. This particular evening she did a very common bedtime activity which is to take a book to bed by herself and "read it". I went into the room after she fell asleep to check on her and this is what I found. So again... I'd like to say this was not a staged picture and she picked the book out by herself after we had left her bedroom for her to go to sleep. This picture has fast become one of my all time favorites of her. (In case you can't read it, the title of the book says "Go to Sleep, Little Groundhog".)

Matt, Melanie, and I were all eating supper at the table one night. She had one of her stuffed animals, in this case a dog, next to her. When she was done eating she took the dog and layed her head on it. Not exactly an earth shattering thing unless you are aware of a similar picture of me around the same age. It was taken while I was in a Sunday School or daycare class, I can't remember which. However, the pose is practically the same and she did it on her own. Another picture perfect moment. This picture is more a sentimental favorite, but you can't mistake her beautiful smile. In true Smokey-ness, he is in the background. Those are his big black ears that seem to be coming out of her head. :)

Here is a rare picture... Melanie and I together. She likes to look at pictures on my cell phone with me. We are sharing one of those times, Matt took the picture.

For those of you who know me, the fact that I am going to say "Go Chiefs!" will surprise you. (tee hee tee hee). Melanie is wearing a new sweatshirt Matt received for Christmas.

And here she is saying "Go Chiefs!". Matt is so proud. Mommy (me) knows she was just humoring daddy.... she's more of a soccer fan anyway. But.... "Go Chiefs!".