It is almost unbelievable that Melanie will be turning 3 years old next weekend (Sept. 6th). We are not planning any king of special gathering. Instead, we are going to spend her whole birthday playing with her. My guess is we'll go to some parks, maybe go swimming if the weather permits, and eating corndogs. I'm also positive that we will have ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.
Melanie is around 32 lbs and continuing to get taller every day. I'd estimate her height to be around 35 inches. She is wearing 3T and 4T clothes... but her 3T clothes are fast getting too small. She won't wear dresses right now, but she will often pick out dresses at WalMart and Target when we go there. I make sure I buy them in a little larger size for when she phases back to wanting to wear them. Her favorite clothes are her gray shorts and her doggie shirt. No matter what she has worn to daycare, the first thing she'll do when walking inside the front door is change into her "clothing staples" of gray shorts and doggie shirt. Her world would come to an end if she didn't wear those gray shorts at least once a week to daycare. Her teachers get a kick out of it and so do we.
Melanie likes to play outside a lot and is not afraid of getting dirty. I love that she enjoys investigating the earth, grass, and trees to find bugs and gets excited with every new discovery. She loves to help me water my flowers on the front porch and the plants inside the house.
A couple days ago Matt took her convertible bed and changed it to the full-size mattress. The main reason for the bed change was due to some sleeping issues that developed over the last couple weeks. Two weeks ago I had in intense week at work that had me missing Melanie's awake-hours. She was not going to sleep or staying asleep very well during this past week. Once we flipped her bed to the next level her sleeping issues phased out over this week.
Melanie gets excited about her "big bed". This bed change should easily take her all the way to the day she heads off to college or her travels of the big world. The only thing we'll have to worry about is when to buy a new mattress. I thought the bed may swallow up her room. I'm surprised at how much room she still has in it.
Melanie and I made a trip up north to visit my family last weekend. It had been awhile since my dad, older sister's family, aunts, and grandma had seen Melanie. The trip was at the tail end of that awful week of work, so it was a great break for both of us. Melanie had a great time seeing everyone and ate so well when we went out to restaurants.
Melanie is making progress on her potty training. At daycare she will go all day without getting her panties dirty. This week she even earned some gifts from her teacher, Beth. Matt and I try to continue the training at home the best we can. Her little face lights up when she goes in the "big potty".
Today the weather is supposed to be comfortable and mild. I hope to take a family trip to the park and maybe even pack a lunch. Melanie and I have been up for 2 1/2 hours; Matt is still asleep. I will pop in after a little while and try to sell him on the idea. The three of us are long over due for a free family outing.
I guess it's time for me to sign off. Melanie keeps asking me for a popsicle... and I need to convince her we won't be eating one for the mid-morning snack. Until the next post, enjoy the pictures above.