Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I spent the day with my whole family, Mommy, Daddy, Auntie Kat, Grandma Alice & Grandpa Bert, Grandma Marie and Great-Grandma. Wow, it was so much fun! I had my first taste of mashed potatoes and that was a sublime experience. I want to eat mashed potatoes for the rest of my life. With gravy. Yummmmmm. I also tried cranberry sauce, which I think I liked pretty well. I really wore myself out, that is for sure, since I refused to nap all afternoon. I was a good girl though and I didn't cry, I just got really tired and after dinner sacked out for two hours. I think Dad might have too while he and Grandpa were watching football. Mommy and "the girls" took care of the kitchen and talked, but I missed all this since I was finally sleeping. It was such a fun day! I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving too!!

In other news, I am now 9 months and 2 weeks. I am 24 lbs 15 oz and 30 inches tall!!! Wow.

Love,

Melody

Not long ago Melody noticed that when she dropped food on the floor that our family dog Browser was quick to eat the scraps. She liked this so much that she learned to feed him by hand. But she's not always generous, as this video clearly illustrates.

Yesterday was "Treats in the Streets," an annual event in downtown Orange when they close off the historic traffic circle to cars, and the businesses hand out candy & treats to trick-or-treaters. Melody decided that she would like to go to this fun event with her friends Burke & Cassidy, Gavin & Abby! In order to make her day complete, she selected a Princess Leia costume, replete with "cinnamon bun" hairstyle. She channeled The Force as she silently persuaded perfect strangers to give her mother candy. While there, she made contact with Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda, although she was not impressed with the Sand Person at all. Sand People are so Episode 4. It was a fun and exhausting day, as fighting the Empire always is!

Take a look at the new pictures of Melody the incredible time travelling baby. :-) The pictures were taken at an 1862 themed event called Riley's Farm Remembrance Fall School of the Soldier (or something like that, it's a long name). Anyhow, they were taken September 15 & 16. Melody had recently started pulling herself up to stand, so you'll see some shots of that. She enjoyed the long weekend even though there was a lot going on! She met with General Stonewall Jackson to play peek-a-boo, Mr. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, and Mrs. Akkerman of the Temperance Society. These contacts are very important to establish early in a young woman's life! Melody also was featured in a fashion show and also sat for a portrait with her mother by an esteemed travelling photographer.

Since she returned to the 21st century, Melody has been not just crawling (fast!) but also cruising! She is now 23 pounds, stands at the edge of the couch and you can tell just how proud of herself she is! No pictures of this yet, but there are some new pictures added of her first and second time in a restaurant high chair. It's a big day in a girl's life when she sits at the table like a grown up!

That's about it for now. Enjoy!

Last night, Melody finally put together the moving of her legs and the moving of her hands in concert and crawled for a few feet. She did it again later. Of course, both of these episodes were NOT caught on video. We are expecting that she will do this more and more until she is fully crawling. WE ARE DOOMED...and incredibly proud of our little girl!!