This Monday, Melanie began a new adventure - Day Care! Brian and I found a home-based daycare provider minutes from home. I liked Ms. Tami and her business right away. Ms. Tami is a positive, energetic and wise woman who is passionate about her job. Her home is sectioned off so the are the children stay in is filled with age-appropriate and safe equipment, toys & furniture. Ms. Tami keeps a schedule, but lets the children learn & grow through playing. Since Melanie's age is in the middle of the kids Ms. Tami takes care of, Melanie will grow up with these kids. I think she's already got a good couple of friends, from the pictures Ms. Tami texts me.
Monday Melanie was a pro and there were hardly any issues. We accredit that to Linda taking Melanie to Ms. Tami's last week & letting Melanie get used to the surroundings.
Tuesday was a tough day for Melanie. She was pretty fussy all day and didn't want much to do with Ms. Tami - or her big girl food & big girl sippy cup.
Wednesday was a little better. Melanie adjusted to drinking from a sippy cup & let Ms. Tami feed her. Melanie also played a little more with the other kids. She loves playing outside!
And so far today, Melanie has warmed up to Ms. Tami - maybe a little too much. Ms. Tami texted, "Melanie has warmed up to me! Yay! But now she doesn't want to share me. Haha!"
...Oh boy, Ms. Tami - you're in for a bumpy ride now!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
We Think We Figured It Out
On 02/26, Melanie had an allergic reaction to something at Serafina's Birthday Party. She ate 2 grapes, a cupcake with no frosting and a bite of pizza. Her eyes got red, puffy & watery, her nose was dripping and she was rubbing her face like she was tired. We got her home, gave her a bath and she was much better. Melanie had cupcakes and pizza before but not grapes. So we cut grapes out of her diet, thinking that was the cause.
Fastforward to Melanie's birthday party yesterday (no pics unless Betsy/Jason or Linda share theirs - we didn't take any). Melanie had a smash cake and a few minutes after her experience with it, she started getting red splotchy spots where the frosting was. No terrible reaction, but we did wipe off the frosting pretty quickly.
Today, Melanie had a piece of chocolate/chocolate cake with Gramie, Daddy and me and there wasn't a reaction at all. Well, not a skin reaction, anyway. She LOVES chocolate!
The culprit? We're 99.9% sure she had a reaction, possibly allergic, to food coloring/dye. The cupcake she ate at Dana's was the confetti kind, with food-dye spots throughout the much consumed cake, and the frosting she ate yesterday was yellow, pink and blue dyed. We will, of course, confirm/check with Dr. Hiben when she goes in for her next routine checkup, but that's got to be it! In the meantime, I'm tempted to smear a little red frosting on her arm to see if it gets irritated. I got a lot of frosting I can test her with...
Fastforward to Melanie's birthday party yesterday (no pics unless Betsy/Jason or Linda share theirs - we didn't take any). Melanie had a smash cake and a few minutes after her experience with it, she started getting red splotchy spots where the frosting was. No terrible reaction, but we did wipe off the frosting pretty quickly.
Today, Melanie had a piece of chocolate/chocolate cake with Gramie, Daddy and me and there wasn't a reaction at all. Well, not a skin reaction, anyway. She LOVES chocolate!
The culprit? We're 99.9% sure she had a reaction, possibly allergic, to food coloring/dye. The cupcake she ate at Dana's was the confetti kind, with food-dye spots throughout the much consumed cake, and the frosting she ate yesterday was yellow, pink and blue dyed. We will, of course, confirm/check with Dr. Hiben when she goes in for her next routine checkup, but that's got to be it! In the meantime, I'm tempted to smear a little red frosting on her arm to see if it gets irritated. I got a lot of frosting I can test her with...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Melanie's Birthday Party!
http://www.slide.com/r/9i-jPWIL3j9vNhxHcI7LuXKpX0RjEJGi?previous_view=lt_embedded_url
We threw Melanie's Birthday Party at Lettuce Lake Park on March 12. The day was a little cool, but it was a gorgeous sunshiny day. We couldn't ask for better weather! Harry, Maribeth, Linda, Dan, Mona, Becky, Camden, Luke, Betsy, Jason, Wil, Elsie, Bill, Becka, Wyatt, Ramona, Bobbie, Dana, Ken, Serafina, Kaleb, Amy, Madison, Alexis, Kaitlyn, Jason, Rhett & Amanda joined us. While Brian played chef, grilling the burgers and dogs, I played hostess by trying to organize everything and make sure everyone was having a good time.
Lucky for us, Linda was a willing babysitter for Melanie. Melanie was everywhere having fun playing with her cousins & friends. Brian and I knew we wouldn't have time to take pictures ourselves, so we were very fortunate that Linda, Betsy and Jason took tons of pictures and shared them with us!
We grilled some burgers & hotdogs - and made sure to have plenty of condiments (LOL Betsy!). Harry brought his famous macaroni salad and Dana brought her delightful bean salad. We had a few veggie & fruit trays as well - and sweet tea to wash it all down. A very nice spread, I must say!
Then we opened Melanie's presents. I didn't want to waste too much time waiting on Melanie to open the presents herself - she was fascinated with a doo-dad and I figured it'd take a long time to wait for her to open the presents - and there were a few eager helpers, so I made the decision (which I later regretted) to let everyone open Melanie's presents - one at a time. Well, that didn't work out like I planned... everyone tore through the presents at the same time, and with such eagerness, I got lost in the flying tissue paper and bows and I have no idea who gave us what. Lesson learned, for sure. So if you got us something awesome, and I didn't thank you for it, shoot me an email and I'll send you a picture of Melanie in the outfit or playing with the toy you got us.
We bought a CareBear birthday cake from Publix which everyone loved - especially with additional sprinkles. Star sprinkles makes the cake taste 10 times better, apparently. By the time we cut the cake & presented the smash cake to Melanie, she was already ready for a nap. Melanie didn't dig into her smash cake with much relish, but she did get a little messy. (Later we've discovered that Melanie prefers chocolate frosting and she'll stuff her face with that!)
After everyone was fed, the presents were opened & the cake was cut, the party began to die down - as they typically do. Linda took Melanie home for a much-needed bath & nap.
We're so grateful to everyone who attended, brought a dish/gift and helped set up, organized & clean up. We're totally planning on making this an annual thing - at Lettuce Lake - until the kids grow out of the playground. So pencil in your calendar and join us next year!
We threw Melanie's Birthday Party at Lettuce Lake Park on March 12. The day was a little cool, but it was a gorgeous sunshiny day. We couldn't ask for better weather! Harry, Maribeth, Linda, Dan, Mona, Becky, Camden, Luke, Betsy, Jason, Wil, Elsie, Bill, Becka, Wyatt, Ramona, Bobbie, Dana, Ken, Serafina, Kaleb, Amy, Madison, Alexis, Kaitlyn, Jason, Rhett & Amanda joined us. While Brian played chef, grilling the burgers and dogs, I played hostess by trying to organize everything and make sure everyone was having a good time.
Lucky for us, Linda was a willing babysitter for Melanie. Melanie was everywhere having fun playing with her cousins & friends. Brian and I knew we wouldn't have time to take pictures ourselves, so we were very fortunate that Linda, Betsy and Jason took tons of pictures and shared them with us!
We grilled some burgers & hotdogs - and made sure to have plenty of condiments (LOL Betsy!). Harry brought his famous macaroni salad and Dana brought her delightful bean salad. We had a few veggie & fruit trays as well - and sweet tea to wash it all down. A very nice spread, I must say!
Then we opened Melanie's presents. I didn't want to waste too much time waiting on Melanie to open the presents herself - she was fascinated with a doo-dad and I figured it'd take a long time to wait for her to open the presents - and there were a few eager helpers, so I made the decision (which I later regretted) to let everyone open Melanie's presents - one at a time. Well, that didn't work out like I planned... everyone tore through the presents at the same time, and with such eagerness, I got lost in the flying tissue paper and bows and I have no idea who gave us what. Lesson learned, for sure. So if you got us something awesome, and I didn't thank you for it, shoot me an email and I'll send you a picture of Melanie in the outfit or playing with the toy you got us.
We bought a CareBear birthday cake from Publix which everyone loved - especially with additional sprinkles. Star sprinkles makes the cake taste 10 times better, apparently. By the time we cut the cake & presented the smash cake to Melanie, she was already ready for a nap. Melanie didn't dig into her smash cake with much relish, but she did get a little messy. (Later we've discovered that Melanie prefers chocolate frosting and she'll stuff her face with that!)
After everyone was fed, the presents were opened & the cake was cut, the party began to die down - as they typically do. Linda took Melanie home for a much-needed bath & nap.
We're so grateful to everyone who attended, brought a dish/gift and helped set up, organized & clean up. We're totally planning on making this an annual thing - at Lettuce Lake - until the kids grow out of the playground. So pencil in your calendar and join us next year!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Melanie is Enrolled in Daycare
Starting March 28th, Melanie will begin attending a home-based daycare! We've signed up with Ms. Tami - a very kind and intelligent woman who thrilled us with the environment in which she takes care of her children. And Melanie is thrilled with being amoung children close to her own age to play with.
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