The Basement

As most of you probably know, Matt has been working on finishing a room in the basement so we'll have a computer/sewing room (the computer currently resides in the kitchen, which is kinda starting to drive me nuts!) He has put in all the electrical outlets and two phone jacks, as well as installed additional lighting. He finished most of the framing in the fall, and then for Christmas he got me drywall (what more could a girl ask for?) which he has since completed hanging, with some assistance from his brother, John.

Here are some pictures of the work-in-progress.

Framing out the closet

The drywall starts to go up!

Let the mudding begin!

Needless to say, I'm very excited about the progress, but starting to get antsy to have my kitchen back to being just a kitchen, as well as having a permanent place to keep my sewing machine set up. One of the reasons for wanting the computer out of the kitchen in pictured below.
As with other electronic/technological devices, Melanie is fascinated by the printer. She pushes buttons, plays with the paper, opens the scanner lid, climbs on it, and recently has started to play with the abundance of cords that come out of it and the computer (I was hoping we could skip that particular toddler rite of passage) - more than once has she succeeded in unplugging a cord that affects the color of the computer monitor, resulting in an interesting purple hue taking over the screen. I've even had to put an appliance latch on the scanner because I was worried she would slam her hand in it one of these days. So while I am truly thankful for the progress that has been made in the basement, I am anxiously awaiting the day when I don't have to rush across the room to stop Melanie's growing technology fascination from making an expensive/painful turn for the worse.

These are a few of her favorite things...

As Melanie continues to grow she is becoming more and more inquisitive and playful, which is fun for us to watch her experience things for the first time, and to see what tickles her fancy. Here are some shots of her at some of her favorite activities.

We baby-proofed everything in the kitchen except the plastic storage container cabinet, so it is now a frequently visited location when mom is working on dinner.
Helping mom do laundry/climbing into things. If I'm folding laundry I have to be sure I put it out of her reach, because if it's close enough Melanie will take it upon herself to clear the couch of any eye sores, such as folded towels and the like.

Now that I see the two pictures next to each other it has occurred to me that Melanie probably started climbing into the laundry baskets as a hint that she wanted to go for a spin around the living room, like her dad does with her on occasion.

Bath time is definitely a favorite around here. When Melanie gets crabby, a bath always brings out a smile!

Playing peek-a-boo is one of Melanie's favorite "tricks". For a while she just thought she had to have something in front of her face. The concept of not being able to be seen wasn't quite within her grasp, so she happily played peek with us, lifting this book cover from her face and grinning proudly every time she would "peek" out from behind it. Now she pretty well sticks to playing peek from behind the coffee table, but she likes to watch us from under the table as we "search" for where she may have gone.

These blocks are by far the coolest Christmas gift Melanie received. In the set there are two wedges, a cube and a cylinder. Melanie especially likes the wedges, but is getting into climbing on top of the cube now too. At first we had to slide her down the wedges ourselves since she hadn't figured them out yet, but now she can crawl up the wedge and slide down backwards, or, as shown in the pictures, lean over the top edge and slide down on her stomach. It's so funny to watch her land at the bottom, roll over with a grin and go back for more!

Books are becoming quite the entertainer as of late. I keep several on the coffee table for her, and several times a day she puts them all on the floor (much like she does with any folded laundry that may be within reach) and picks which one she'd like to examine. The one in the picture is a frequent favorite. She's spent upwards of 20 minutes just turning the pages and looking at this book- by herself! And apparently its a very funny book as well, because she frequently bursts into laughter when she's looking at it. Who knew a book of baby's first 100 words could be so hilarious?
Walking! And juice! Melanie took her first steps right around nine months, and she hasn't slowed down since. At first she only walked when she was really focused on something, but after a couple steps she would realize what she was doing, come to her senses and start crawling like most other nine month old babies do. Then came the bottle. We've started giving her one 1/2 juice, 1/2 water bottle a day since her nursing has decreased as her mobility has increased. That sealed the deal on this walking stuff. After giving her this bottle she happily toddled around the kitchen island a couple times without stopping. It's official, we have a toddler!

While she has enjoyed looking at the dog through the back window for quite some time,with the addition of walking it has taken on a new element. Before, she would primarily look at Tobey when the curtains were pulled back, but now she walks around between the curtains and the door, banging away, trying to get Tobey to pay attention to her. And she still thinks that all glass doors lead to Tobey, because when we're at my parents' house she bangs on the door and looks around with anticipation, waiting for Tobey's arrival.

Emptying mom's wallet and the diaper bag - an oldie but still a favorite. I have to be sure my driver's license is actually where it's supposed to be every time we leave the house! True, I could put these things where she can't get to them, but it provides her with so much entertainment. Beside, we all know how hard it can be to get a debit card out of those skinny little slots. She's working on her pincher grasp and forming life skills, right?

The dishwasher. This is one obsession that I will not indulge. Before this pictured incident happened, I had taken Melanie to the opposite side of the living room, hoping to get the bottom rack unloaded before she got there. I got two plates put away before she was there, pushing the rack out of her way so she could climb onto the door. 30 feet in the amount of time it took me to put away two plates - this can't be happening! I guess I can only do the dishes while the baby is sleeping, because all other diversionary tactics have failed.This isn't really an activity that Melanie does for fun, I just thought it was a cute picture. On Wednesday nights when I go to PSR Matt and Melanie have their special play time together, and apparently on this particular night they played pretty hard, seeing as Melanie crashed out on the floor. I think the missing sock adds the the charm of the photo!

And finally, cuddling with mom. More accurately, cuddling with anybody. Dad, Gramps, a stuffed animal. If you're slightly squishy and willing to sit still, you're the person for Melanie, I just get the most of it since we spend all day together. This has been more prevalent recently since both of her top teeth decided to pop through at the same time. As her mobility continues to increase by leaps and bounds I know this will become less frequent, so Matt and I will just have to enjoy it while it lasts!

The beginning of the updates...

Ok, so I started this blog back in November, but I was less than faithful about updating, as is witnessed by the single lonely prior post. But it's a new year, so we'll see if I'm more successful at this blogging stuff this time around. We'll start by playing catch-up for the last month or so, since lots has happened.

This Christmas was my first Christmas not working retail since I was 16 - so nine of my 25 Christmases were spent truly caught up in the shopping frenzy that the holiday has unfortunately become. I must say that I truly enjoyed my first Christmas not working. It was refreshing to not feel that I had to use my only day off to run around and get things done. And to get to share that time with our daughter was even more special. While I do miss the people I worked with, I can honestly say that I don't miss work itself one bit. I am so fortunate to have a husband that wants me to stay home to raise our children. The immensity of that gift became so much more evident this Christmas season as I was able to see family whenever I wanted, not having to feel guilty for leaving gatherings early or late because I had to run off to work or take care of something at the store. So I must say that the best gift I had this year was the gift of really getting to celebrate Christmas in the more relaxed, family oriented way it was intended. So thank you to Matt for this opportunity to experience Christmas in a whole new way (for me at least).

With all that said, here are some pictures of Melanie experiencing her first Christmas Eve/Day.

Sleepy baby, and we haven't even had Christmas Eve dinner yet!

Melanie debating whether or not to humor us by opening one of her gifts. Even Uncle John's creative wrapping efforts, with the monkey tail on the outside of the gift, were not enticing enough to get Melanie to tear off the paper. Instead, she crawled behind the chair to where her toy basket is kept and played with the toys she knew were there.

Grins and giggles with Auntie K.

"Scaring" Uncle John with dad.

I like the view from up here!

Silly bow faced baby on Christmas day. This bow from one of dad's gifts was probably her favorite item of the day.

Sitting on my present, chewing my bow, grinning for the camera. It doesn't get much better than this!

Family Photo Opp