Rob's family

We went shopping for Melinda's birthday this weekend. Tried VERY hard not to overbuy - we've been to kid parties where the kid get bored of opening gifts - not a situation we want to find ourselves in. Inspite of our best efforts, we probably still over bought, so in an effort to avoid the boredom problem, we decided to give a gift early. The gift we selected was a "adult push / kid pedal" big wheel like thing. Figured it was a safe bet - for the last two weeks when ever we take Melinda to the park, she's tried to take advantage of other kids wheeled cars. Giving it early also meant that she could use it for the last month or so of summer. So after dinner, we assembled it, Melinda clamoring to ride it in the house. Finally, got out to the sidewalk. We figured we'd head to the "Big Park" (Melinda's term) because it's a good far walk - give her pleanty of opportunity to pedal / be pushed. Melinda lost intest in both pedaling and being pushed be...

The subject describes Melinda's activities over the past couple weeks. Rolling has become more common. After doing it once at four months, and once at five months, the frequency has increased dramatically as we approach seven months. Melinda enjoys sitting and reaching for toys. If you put things just out of her reach, she will scoot, and even get up on her knees before she comes crashing down on her nose. Hey, how else are you going to learn how to walk? Friday night we brought her down to Tracey's folks place. Tracey and I relaxed on the couch as Jim and Sharon played with her. No chance of her falling on her face down there. After the first close call, Jim spent the next hour (until her bottle) with one arm wrapped around her, if she should try to fall. Tracey says that at some point babies are supposed to be able to sit up from laying down on their stomach. I'm not at all certain how that will work. The physics seem to be against it. I can see her getting back around to...

from Tracey Melinda picked up a new skill this weekend at the wedding. No, not how to shotgun a beer like Rob taught Teddy! :-) You know the trick where you take your index finger and rub it against your lips making a "b b b" sound? (Hard to explain in writing but hopefully you can figure it out.) Norm Potochney did that to Melinda several times over the weekend to get her attention. (He must be a good grandpa!) Well, Melinda has her own version -- she sticks her right index finger in her mouth, wiggles it around and says "ba ba ba". She's quite pleased with herself. That's all, just a little humor on a rainy day. Tracey

It was a great wedding. Lots of emotion, lots of dancing. I'll get through the obvious - Debbie was beautiful and Matt was handsome. Great to see family. The Potochneys were there - getting some last minute pointers on what to do and what not to do (Karen's wedding is August 1). Carol's flight got delayed and delayed and finally cancelled. She couldn't get anything that would get her to Newark in time for the Saturday ceremony. One of the things that I really wanted to do was to have Melinda sit with Grammy. High on everyone's list - except Melinda's. Our timing was just wrong. I think we got a couple good photos inspite of Melinda's crabbiness. Tracey's pretty convinced that Melinda prefers men to women. I think it's just that no other women comes close to Mommy (or Ma, and Melinda likes to say (to everyone)(still no Da)). Melinda is a such a ham! This weekend, she figured out that when people point cameras at her, her job is to smile. I'm not k...

My daughter is right handed. (I think). That was definitely a cool realization. At first, with her sucking her left thumb almost exclusively, I thought maybe she'd be a lefty - a rebel, an aggressive, unorthodox thinker. But no, she prefers the right. She must be a conventional, stodgy, play by the rules woman. I know she a righty, because she likes to grab toys with the right, even if they're more convenient to the left hand. It's fun to watch her make that sort of decision, and laboriously reach across her body to pick something up. Oh yeah, she picks things up (and drops them). One of our magazines said that we're (Tracey and I) supposed to pick them up for her (even once it becomes a game). It seems that controlling her environment is good for her self-esteem. Who knew that babies had self-esteem? Melinda started on solid (mushy) foods. Her first food was peach mush. My first attempt was very much like the stereotypical Dad feeding his child. I think it was Dave Ber...

from Tracey Sorry, couldn't resist. It's been kind of quiet on email lately, so I thought IÂ’d see who was reading. :-) In real Melinda news, she goes to the doctor tomorrow night for her 6-month checkup (can't believe she'll be 6 months old on Sunday!!). So on Friday we should be making our first attempt to feed her cereal. Winnie, that highchair mat you sent will definitely be put to good use! Melinda would love desperately to sit up'if she's lying on her back, she will lift her head and her legs, but of course she isn’t strong enough to pull herself up and she's not real happy about that. But she can sit up and play with toys if my arms or legs are there to keep her balanced. And she loves being held in a standing position. No more signs of rolling over yet. At this rate, she’ll walk before she crawls! Rob's boss and his wife are coming over tonight so we can teach them how to play bridge. His boss is a very competitive guy and loves to play games...

All those hours of the "Da" song have finally paid off. Just days after her fifth month birthday, Melinda started making her first real sounds. Sure, we've been getting "Ardsfsdfsdf sdf sdf" for weeks now, but we've been hungering for real sounds. Well, the weeks of waiting are over. Melinda has said her first sound. Was it "Da?" No. Infact, instead of saying Da, she said Ma. Not just once. Not like an accident. Non stop. MA MA NA MA MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA. I figure that when I'm off at work, Tracey picks up Melinda and says "Forget that Da stuff, let's talk MA." So, her first sound was Ma. I hesitate to say words because I associate words with comprehension. So far, Tracey's been "Ma", Abby's been "Ma", her plastic keys have been "Ma". Actually, nothing's been Ma, she's just saying it over and over. Early on, while I was teaching Melinda the finer art of saying "Da...