Like Father, Like Daughter

Sometimes the resemblance is uncanny...

Daddy and Megan - enjoying a cookie together

And anyone who knows Tom, knows that sometimes he looks like this when he gets behind the wheel.

On a sidenote... Uncle Dan, we are thinking of you and know that when you read this you will be out of the hospital and hopefully feeling much much better. Megan was very upset earlier when she found out she couldn't talk to you and make sure you are ok..... We love you and are thinking of you. Grandma and Papa just got here so we are all wishing you were with us!

More food fun

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner... words that both make me smile and strike fear into my heart! You just never know what they will hold and if it will require a "costume change" at the end. (I have to admit I always cover her with a kitchen towel as well as the bib to try to avoid those.) Since Megan has started finger foods, we do a lot more laundry around here. And I've gone through more Oxyclean than I ever imagined possible.

Today, Megan just did not want to eat lunch - I pulled out all the stops and got all her favorites. Here are some of them.... OK, one was added after lunch. The Ravioletti was actually part of my lunch. Tom was working from home today so I thought I'd actually try to make something for lunch. That is no small task with Megan hanging onto my leg. Well, she was all about watching the water boil (have I mentioned yet that she weighed in at 22 lbs and 12 ounces last week and that my back hurts), and then after refusing all her food.... she kept pointing to my plate. So I gave her a ravioletti (a mini ravioli) and another, and another, and another, and another...
As you can see by the smile on her face, the tomato on her nose, and the mess all over her face, hands, and her high chair... she loved it! I was even able to sneak in some green beans (pureed, she still won't tolerate green bean pieces) Basically, she ate my lunch. She ate my chicken, she ate my pasta... but on the other hand - she ate! So can I really complain?

Try to get past the tomato sauce that is smeared all over face. Ignore the tomato chunk on her nose (it's hard, I know) and focus on that cute little grin.
Not that you can really see it - but she's about to have tooth #5 poke through. It's on the left side of her bottom teeth.

As a side note to a previous post about bathtime... yeah, we tried co-bathing for awhile and still do it at times (if we are both home at bath time but that's pretty rare), but megan just hates the big tub. It doesn't matter if we are in there or not. I don't know what to do about it at this point. She loves water and will play with things in the tub while she's outside it... but put her in the tub (with or without water) and she freaks out. It's something about the tub... I think we are going to try a shower - she's still so little for it and it would have to be with one of us since she can't stand alone for very long --- but anything to help her over this fear.

Jeronimo!

(this is the 2nd post of the day - so be sure to check out the first one)

Or, Jeronimo Jumps as the case may be. Megan and I met up with some friend earlier today for a fun outing. If you read my earlier post you'll know she slept late and I didn't know if we would make it. We did and Megan had a blast. OK, so I had a blast too...

If you are in the Atlanta area and are looking for something fun to do with toddlers or crawlers (or bigger kids), I highly recommend it. They have 3 rooms which made it perfect for us. One room was a 2 and under room - it had soft shapes to crawl over, under, around, and different toys, and little ride on/rocker animals. Megan was in heaven. She could just GO and I wasn't worried she'd get hurt. Some of our friends... Abby, Eli, and Toby - all enjoying the fun soft shapes to crawl over.

Megan and Sarah Michelle.

Megan especially enjoyed playing peek-a-boo as she crawled through a long tube.
The other rooms included a room for 3 year olds that had one jumpy house in it and other toys (with chairs and couchs for moms in all of them), and the big room with all the other inflatables in it. Moms can jump with the little ones. Megan and I attacked a couple of the slides.
Did I mention that I had a blast also. The hardest part was figuring out how to climb up the slides while holding onto Megan. But it was fun.

Most of our friends had to head out a bit after we arrived. But since we got there late, we stayed. Our friends Nancy and Sarah Michelle stayed and played with us. We literally were the only ones there. The kids had the run of the place!They got to take a tour in a 2-seater wagon, and loved their double airplane ride.

It was such a nice day today that we had the place all to ourselves because everyone else was outside enjoying the mild winter day... we did that later. But you know, there are only so many leaves that you can allow your baby to eat - so the indoor activity was great!

One day she'll kill me for this one

We have had a rough transition from the baby tub to the real bathtub. It's still not a great experience. Megan loves the water, but she LOVED her baby tub. But when she can stand up in it, it's time for a transition.... At any rate, it hasn't been easy for her (or for us).
This was back in December... we knew she needed to go to the big tub (she was 9 months old here) but she so loved her tub and being able to play with that fun baby who took a bath at the same time she did.

We've found 2 things that seem to help.

1. let her help get the bath ready. She loves watching it fill up and listening to the water. Megan is very inquisitive so if she hears the water turn on she'll crawl in there as fast as she can to see what's going on. She likes to help throw her toys in the water.

2. Blowing bubbles during the bath. The bubbles seem to take her mind off the fact that she's in a huge tub. The toys will keep her occupied for about 4 minutes and the bubbles for a few more - enough to get her hair washed. I'll have to update this with a picture of her trying to catch the bubbles.

What I need to do is figure out how to put a mirror in there so that she can talk to herself and feel like she's not so alone. Unfortunately, I don't think any overnight guests would appreciate a mirror in the shower with them....

Last night I went to check on her and I found her all cuddled up with snowball, her bear. It was so cute I had to snap a photo. What a sweet memory to hold onto as she grows up.

As for a health update... she seems to be much much better today. She hasn't really had any major coughing spells. I was planning on joining some friends today at one of the inflatable playrooms - but Megan is still sleeping (and we were supposed to meet up 30 minutes ago). With her getting over whatever she had, I definitely don't want to wake her up. Yesterday I did note that she's getting another tooth (#5) - one of the bottom teeth. It hasn't broken through yet, but you can see it. I'm sure that's played a role in her fussiness and ear poking as well.

Sick baby update

What a day. We had a great time celebrating Justin's (my nephew) birthday. Always great to have that family time. Megan was a trooper. You could tell she didn't feel well but she was still as cute as ever - especially when trying to chase Avery, the cat. She hasn't eaten very well all day. We ended up feeding her dinner early because she was fussy and she had not eaten much at lunch. She still didn't eat much but it helped her mood. Then about an hour later, Tom and I were eating our dinner....

Have to stop there and tell you about our dinner. I got out one of the cookbooks Tom's mom gave me when we got married, and whipped up a "spaghetti hotdish" (a hot dish is a casserole for all the southerners). I haven't been brave enough to whip up the "tater tot hotdish" - I'll have to save that for a special occasion. :^)

... back to dinner.... Well basically we were eating a spaghetti pie, and Megan acted like she wanted some. I don't know if the tylenol had kicked in and knocked out her temp or what, but she devoured my spaghetti. It was good to see her appetite kick back up again. We put her down early tonight because it was obvious she was sooooo tired and still didn't feel good. Don't know what we will do about tomorrow and going to church. Megan definitely hasn't been fever free for 24 hours and still is coughing really badly so she's not going to the nursery. I do hope she wakes up feeling so much better.

All clear

(This is the second post today so keep reading)

Well our visit to the Dr ended in the good news that Megan's ears are clear. I know she's teething so we are chalking up the waking up and the finger in the ear to that.

The bad news, she was wheezing. If you remember a previous post when we took her in and she had RSV - I had to give her a breathing treatment in the office and it was quite a sight. Once again, she was wheezing enough (that started when she woke up from her morning nap so I was glad I had made the appointment) that they suggested doing a treatment in the office. Well, I learned my lesson and approached it differently this time and although Megan still didn't like it - she was a champ and put up with it and I walked away without any injuries.

The little pumpkin is doing well and is currently napping. May it be a long and peaceful sleep for her!

Can we go outside and play in the rain????
Megan will pretty much put anything in her mouth. She looks for things to use as a pacifier. This is her newest find. Looks like a paci - acts like a paci - but what is it? Any guesses???
(The answer will be at the end.)

Note the pitiful look on her face.
Maybe it's because we are stuck inside on a rainy day,
or maybe it's because she didn't sleep good last night,
or maybe it's because we are headed to the Doctor's office in a bit to see if she has another ear infection. Ugh. I hope not! I'll post later today to let you know if its a random cold and teething, or if indeed Megan is sporting ear infection 6 of this cold season.

And - what was the object that Megan decided would be a great new pacifier?
Have you guessed it yet?




One side of the safety thingy that holds the curtain strings up out of her reach. They tend to fall off when people raise and lower the blinds because there's too much string in there. Megan, being the helper she is, will immediately find the other side - and suck on it.

Driving in Style!

Her first car!

Megan has her first car!

Move over everyone - baby driver on the road!

The birthday fun has already begun.... Uncle Tony and Auntie Dawn bought megan her first real car. We got home from a trip to the park to find a huge box waiting for us. What does this mean for our future????? Do babies need a learners permit??? What will be do???
I can tell you - we'll have lots of fun walks around the neighborhood!
As you can tell, she's so proud of herself - honking the horn, playing the radio, shifting gears. We had a great afternoon and evening playing with our new Cozy Coupe Convertible.
Megan wasn't ready to get out - she was having a blast. Once we got it parked in it's special parking spot (aka - storage closet in the garage), she wanted to climb over it and around it. So fun! I mentioned in a previous post that this delightful car was the match that ignited Megan's first real public temper tantrum. I had put her in it at Toys R Us (my mistake, now I know) to see if she liked it and if she would crawl out (it doesn't have seat belts). She LOVED it and threw an ever loving tantrum when I picked her up and tried to put her back in the shopping cart. Now - no need to fuss... it's at her beck and call!
Thank you Tony and Dawn - you've made a baby (and mommy) very very happy and you went overboard for Megan's birthday! We can't wait for you to come down and race us!!!! Maybe by then we'll take the floor board out and it'll be foot driven instead of mommy handlebar driven.

What to do on a windy day?

It's not freezing outside - but the wind is biting - so what to do?
1. Find something to do inside....
2. It must allow Megan to move....
3. It must allow Mommy to get out of the house....
We LOVE the "soft" indoor playground at a local mall. So much fun! Megan played and played. She crawled all over the place, stood and watched the bigger kids play, and had the best time. I actually got to sit and watch her a bit and I just loved seeing my baby explore in a new place.
She made some new friends (plastic and some closer to her own size).
As she got more adventurous, it was a little more difficult to keep up with her.
It was wonderful! And, when it was time to go - I slathered her down with antibacterial wipes and prayed that our day at the indoor park would not end with some icky virus or cold. Please Lord --- because we want to go back again.... tomorrow.

Steps in the Right Direction

It has been quite an eventful weekend around here! Megan has decided that she wants to test the waters of a new independence (oh dear!). No, she's not walking (yet) but she actually did take her first unassisted steps. No more than two steps- which ended in her falling into our arms - but she loves it! I think she realizes that she's onto something here and wanted to practice all evening. Note the look of glee on her face!
What she really likes to do is try to walk and only hold onto one hand. She's trying to figure out how to balance. There are times when I try to hold out both hands and she looks at me with the strangest look that sort of says, "Mommy, don't you know I only need one of those now?!"
Oh my goodness - my baby is growing up (fast!) and I don't know if I'm ready for it. The next three weekends are full of family birthday celebrations. Next weekend it'll be for my nephew, Justin. The following weekend will be for my niece, Anna. Then rounded out with a hoopla for Megan's 1st B-day. I was at the hospital when all these little ones were born (one in particular is especially vivid) :^) Hard to believe they are going to be 7, 4, and 1. Watching children grow up really causes you to realize how fast time does fly by.

Things that make me smile

I was at a local consignment store early this week and saw a TMX Elmo. It was a steal compared to how much he costs in the stores and Megan saw him and loved it immediately (without batteries). I was leary because my friend Holly got one for her son and he was scared of him initially. But he was so inexpensive, I couldn't pass it up. So I got home cleaned him up really good, put some batteries in and waited for Megan to wake up from her nap.


She LOVED him. He started laughing and moving and falling over and Megan just attacked him with a scream of glee! She can't figure how how to make him move so she grabs him, throws him down, points and grunts at me (Megan speak for Mommy, please please make him giggle and move around). It's been a new fun spot in our day.




Slurping noodles... I love to watch it (Mess and all) because Megan is so funny doing it. She'll grab a noodle, slurp it in, and then make lip smacking noises. Hey, some days get long and I need a humor break.

We had a playdate this week. So fun. Someone said I was stacking the cards in Megan's favor... all boys and Megan. Hey.... all good little bachlors and all on Tom's short list of acceptable future boyfriends!
Nate and Andrew
Megan and Nate - something's come between us....
And Will - having a great time wooing Megan with his jumping ability.

And one of my favorite...static hair girl. Megan loves holding onto our recliner and rocking it. One day when she was really really fussy, I sort of threw her into it (she loves to jump on pillows) and she loved it. Now it's a daily ritual to throw her (that sounds so much more violent than it is) into the chair and she rocks and rocks and then turns herself over and rolls out into my arms only to point to want to be flung back into the chair..

WELL - all that fun stuff and this week has just somehow flown by. I'm having the hardest time getting anything accomplished. I think the root of the issue is that Megan just doesn't like playing alone. I can get her interested in something and she'll play by herself for a short time (like 10 minutes) but not long enough to do anything - like get dishes in the dishwasher (because then she wants to climb in and help pull things out), or clothes in the washer (our laundry room is seriously not babyproofed!), and no way can I get dinner cooked before Tom gets home. Megan hears any noise - water running, stove fan on, something cooking and she want's in on the action. I love it because it's so cute to see how fascinated she is with the world.. but I'm also coming to a new realization that I'm just in a new stage of life where everything seems to be left half done....

Everything except raising Megan. That's the trade off. Everything else has gone to the back burner for her. A worth investment and wonderful trade UP. But a shock to my organized, check it off the list personality type. Maybe one day I'll adjust... until then. I'll just have some fun, make some laughs, and enjoy every moment with Megan and hope Tom doesn't get sick of a not clean house or not fancy and exciting food. Although I must say here that for Valentines Day I made us crab legs (after Megan went to bed). It was my first attempt at making them at home - so fun and easy, it'll become a more regular habit.

Sooooo Proud!

Megan is so proud of herself now that she's figured out how to balance and stay on her hippo! Thanks cousin Anna for handing it back down to us!

But, lets just say she needs some work on her dismount! At least when she's dismounting without our help, on the hardwoods. :^(

(Ouch!)

She's also becoming a master of the stairs. It's cute because she wants to practice every day. She'll pull up on the gate and point down to the bottom. So we go down there and she makes her way to the top. She definitely still needs a spotter for this feat, but she's so proud when she gets to the top.

And as only Megan could say...

TTTTTHHHHHHHBBBBBBPPPPPPTTTTTTTT!

What no one ever tells you (about lunch)...

When you have a baby, you quickly realize that there are so many things that no one ever told you about. How could they, there are so many things to learn... but still, seems like there needs to be certain warnings posted at each stage of development.

For example, we are in the "I want to feed myself" stage. Wow, that's an interesting place to be. There are days that I wonder if Megan has actually consumed anything of nutritional value. Now that she is rejecting baby food over "real people food", it makes breakfast, lunch, and dinner very very time consuming. You see there are some things she loves, and some she hates. I did learn early on in the feeding process that when a baby clinches her jaw, you would have a next to impossible time trying to pry it open to get food in there.

Are you thinking... what do you mean that this is an interesting place to be? How is it time consuming... oh let me not tell you, let me show you...

Note the face covered in food (she loves chicken and lasagna) and the food stuck to the inside of her hand - I think it's chicken, a bit of banana and maybe a green bean. (feeling hungry yet?)

As you can see, she's enjoying it to the last drop. That would be yogurt mixed with fruit baby food dripping down her chin. Yogurt is the one food that I'm guaranteed that she'll still let me feed her. We mix one container of YoBaby with one container of fruit and split it into thirds so she has a little at each meal.

There is that hand.... green bean anyone?

And let me just say that Megan does still like baby food green beans - but she is not a fan of "real" green beans. I put 3 on her tray and she ate them all (or so I thought). I was so impressed that I gave her more. I thought we were over the green bean issue (we try them several times a week, but no luck liking them yet).

And then... she turned her head... I realized, she hadn't eaten them -she'd simply mushed them into the back of her head.

Lovely.... Now I bet you are really hungry - and perhaps craving green beans????!!!

For all the "ick" of the lunchtime process - Megan certainly does have a good time. And she actually does eat well... just not real people fruits and veggies (except for peas, bananas, and some occasional broccoli). Although I'm not sure how much actually gets in her mouth.

Very interesting huh....

Oh time consuming... well with a green bean in our hair, lasagna all over the face and hands, random banana in the ear.... it's time for a bath.

And just think - in 5 hours, we eat dinner! Yummo!

(of course all this doesn't include getting lunch ready, cleaning up from lunch, getting food off the floor, and giving the highchair a good washing - notice her hand gripping the side of the chair - what did I do with all that time before she started feeding herself, and what's it going to be like when she actually tries to use a spoon... oh dear, another stage to conquer)

11 Month B-day

11 months... how can it be? Oh how we've grown...
That was then (3 days old)...
This is now (11 months old)...

We actually don't use our changing table very much anymore because Megan is such a roller. Diaper changing is no longer fun - she see's it as a form of torture (how dare we try to contain a baby on the move) and it usually ends in a half naked baby crawling away with a parent in close pursuit. I call it "nakey time" - anything to take the stress out and make it as fun as possible.

Caught Red Handed

From across the room, I can see it about to happen. Something catches her attention and she throws down whatever she is currently playing with to hightail across the room to the red bag.

It's amazing that Megan can spot a container of cheerios, puffs, or veggie crackers (her absolute favorite) from a mile away. She knows they are in the diaper bag, and without hesitation she goes for it. It's not like she can get the container open (yet) but she shakes it and grunts her commands for a cheerio.

It's been a crazy week - we've had some really fun days and some really really bad days. Megan had her first real temper tantrum in a store. It's really probably my fault. We were at Toys R Us and I wanted to see if she'd like the Cozy Convertible Car (the ride in car with the handle on the back and the floorboard you can take out later so she can push herself). It doesn't have a seat belt so I wondered if she would stay in it. So I put her in it and pushed her up and down the aisles... oh my gosh - she LOVED it. Now I'm looking for them at local consignment shops. At any rate - I got her out and she had a meltdown because she wanted to play some more. I learned my lesson and got my answer!

Some Firsts, Some Just Funny

I started to log on to say - nothing is really happening here. We are getting over the double ear infections and a nasty cough. But then I realized that we did have some firsts today, and my camera was out a lot - here's why...

First time Megan has taken formula out of a sippy cup, instead of a bottle. This is a big deal because she is not a sippy cup fan. At one point she got tired of it and I took the lid off and let her drink it from the cup. I wish I could've gotton her milk mustache - but she was too quick for me. But I figure she's closing in on one year and since she's just now getting bottles - why not try to skip it all together and just go to cups (sounds so much easier than it is).
A mother's torture. This really could be a blog of its own. A book I read on brain development (yeah, it's that teacher in me that must "study" whatever I'm currently working on) - anyway, it said that a fun task for a baby is to try to get off a piece of tape. That it stimulates their problem solving skills on a baby level. Let's just say it also stimulates mommy's laughter!!!! During some random moment of the day, I stuck a piece of scotch tape on her arm and it took her a little bit to get it off. She didn't seem to regard it as torture (although I was feeling guilty about it as I laughed my head off watching her try to figure out what was on her arm), and had fun. She even smiled once she got it off.... that was right before it went into her mouth. And she did all this - standing up leaning on a chair. That surprised me.
Is the lady of the house home????? Megan loves her "Laugh and Learn Playhouse". You should see me trying to crawl through the doorway to chase her (yeah - those pictures won't be showing up here!!!!! I do have a little pride left!)
For the first time we took our doggie push toy outside. It ended up being such a nice day today that we went out. Megan loved it. She just pushed it around the driveway. Of course I was somewhat nervous thinking that she would fall on her face but nope, she was a pushing champ!
Once we got inside she used her own special baby sign language to say, "Hey mom, I'm hungry"... either that or she was fishing for crumbs that had fallen earlier. You decide.