My Natalie lets me drive around (ok, so we just pretend) and it's so fun. She said it was too cold to put the top down (wimp, my top is always down!) but she did give me a cookie. It was my first girl scout cookie. Shortbread - yum! Now all she needs to do is paint her car red and it'll be cool, just like mine!
Here's the temper tantrum baby.... (she's throwing herself on the floor because I'm not holding her)
Just a funny "give me what I want and nobody gets hurt" kinda photo...
Here's the "seriously, your really ticking me off" look - You can tell she doesn't feel good - note the grumpy look and non-sparkling eyes. This was pretty much Megan's demeanor all week - it was a long week!
Thank goodness, her antibiotics seemed to have cleared up that horrible ear infection (and another molar finally broke through) because today she was back to herself. I have missed her soooo much!
Here's to a new week and hopefully one in which Megan is feeling MUCH MUCH better. She's slept through the night the past 2 nights so I think we are over the "I don't feel good" hump. I know there are probably many more to come in her life and I soak in all the time to cuddle with her - but the 4am-5:15am shift, gets a little tiring. :^) So here's to sleeping through the night again!
Other days - not so much love for the brushing of the teeth.... So then I have to pull out my bag of teacher tricks. One of the things that most early elementary school teachers are known for is our repertoire of songs. Yes, it's true - I pretty much know a song for about anything - water cycle, days of the week, order of the planets, parts of an insect, layers of the rain forest... It may take me a minute, but I can usually pull one out from the recesses of my memory (or make it up on the spot - like you'd know - not like they are on the pop charts or anything).(look ma, no hands)
And if you get tired of that song... you can sing...
Brush, brush, brush your teeth
brush them everyday
brush, brush, brush your teeth
brush them every way.
(that's to the tune of row, row, row your boat)
Megan was eager to get in on the fun! This was her first official egg hunt!
Since it was outside, they had out lots of outdoor toys and Megan was in heaven. She got to push some big kid tricycles and big wheels around, swing a bit, and just crawl around in the dirt.
Here's what I can the "look of glee" as Daddy helped her to sit on a little tricycle. She loved it!!
Ann is an amazing mom (You go girl!) and she made Nate's big birthday cake and his little cake.
Nate loves Cookie Monster so his little cake was perfect! (OK Ann, I know I'm creative in some things but you have to help me get in touch with my creative baking side).
And lets just say... he made sure his mom knew that he appreciated all the time and effort she went into making the cake. We all left, pretty darn sure that Nate liked the cake. Afterwards he was pretty much hosed down - good thing it was outside and a nice day!
Cole had the coolest cake - he had a pooh bear themed party and the yummy bear cake was a huge hit.
Now, I will say that Cole had the total opposite reaction to the cake from our first party. He really wanted nothing to do with it. His mom, Lisa, did everything imaginable to get him interested in tasting that cake (you rock Lisa!). I really thought putting the cheerios in it would be the enticement he needed - but Cole was so precise in picking out the cheerios and getting all the icing off before he'd eat them. Talk about skill!
It was a great party day - and we want to send out ongoing birthday wishes for both Nate and Cole! Awesome parties guys (and moms and dads).
That was then..... This is now.
Today, a year later - she was on the go and unstoppable (and stinkin cute). She loved hunting eggs. She actually got practice at one of the birthday parties she went to this weekend (that will be another post later this week), so she knew just what to do with the eggs...
After Daddy helped her find some eggs, she was the best egg shaker (and gnawer) out there. Have I mentioned that she got a molar.... wacky - 5 teeth and a molar... But she's working on a couple more teeth so the eggs were great to chew on!
Megan had a great time with her cousins - Anna, Daniel, and Justin. She's got some great teachers out there because my nephews and niece can find all the eggs!
Megan was being super cute and wanted to show Justin where his eyes, nose, hair, and ears were. Grandma was there to supervise and make sure that she was gentle in her anatomy lesson.
Or... was it just a ploy to get close to all of his eggs?????
Here's the other "kids" - my brother Kevin, his wife Kelly and Daniel, Justin and Anna with their Gram Anne. (my parents aren't pictured - but they were there keeping all us big and little kids in line).
It was a wonderful Easter. After all the egg hunting was done, we got comfy and had some good family time - also known as eating. :^) My friend Natalie came over (who is family) and got Megan giggling and having a great time.
Natalie has the magic touch to get Megan to grin like this.
I wish they sold lids in packs for me to buy... lids and straws are the ultimate in car toys.
It all began with the little convertible... then a ride up the driveway in Daddy's lap... I can already hear the plea, "Daddy, pleeeease can I have a car?????"
MMMMMMMMMMM.... Cooooooookies!
Sure you could use your hands to hold your cup... but why?
I keep hoping to get some videos posted but never seem to find the time to do it. They are all still on the camera - maybe this weekend I'll squeak out a little time to upload them. However, we have 2 "First" birthday parties to go to on Saturday and then Sunday is Easter and my family is coming over for our annual Easter cookout/egg hunt. So it may not happen....
Today, Tom was working from home and on a business call... Megan was so upset that I shut the door to our home office that she threw one heck of a tantrum. No matter where I took her in the house and what I tried to get her interested in - she crawled right back to the door, stood up and banged on the door while crying hysterically. She wanted her Daddy. As frustrating as it was (dealing with her tantrum), it also warms my heart to see how much she loves Daddy.
Megan has learned that when we get in the car we go "zzzooooooommmmmm!" She's gotton that down pat, only her version comes out as "ppphhhtttttooooo" - very juicy - just don't be in her face when she starts zooming...
Note the extremely curly hair. We went swimming yesterday and I gave her a shower at the pool and her hair curled up like never before. It was so cute, I just left every little curl in place. Here she is on the way home from the pool - totally exhausted and sporting her shirley temple curls. 
Megan likes to make sure everyone knows where their eyes, nose, mouth and ears are. Unfortunately for Will she really likes to point out all his facial features. We also got to celebrate with Will because he started crawling on Sunday. He showed off his suave moves - Megan was quite impressed!
Go, Will Go!
It's amazing what a lid and straw can do for a child in a car seat. Who needs toys when you have lids with great finger poking holes in them!!!!
After our nap this afternoon (and Megan did make it home without falling asleep - barely, but she made it), we went for a stroll. And I did the one thing that I said I wouldn't do...
It started off yesterday when my neighbor, Mandy, did it with her baby - and let Megan participate a bit. And I thought - wow, that is great - and she loved it and it made our walk/outing even more enjoyable than ever (and they are always fun!).
Are you wondering what it is????
Yeah - I gave her snacks in the stroller. I've always been paranoid that she'd choke - but you know what - she was so entertained trying to pick up cheerios while we walked. She chattered even more than normal. I think for Megan it was like having popcorn at a movie. Now I will still hold to the "no messy snacks" in the stroller - but cheerios and freeze dried fruit - I think I'll keep a stash handy for our walks.
And then there was our trip to the swings..... Megan had a great time (although in the picture she just looks tired) - but I'm thinking ---"yep, she's definitely working on some new teeth." I think this confirms that idea....
So, I do wipe that sucker down with several antibacterial wipes before she goes in it... but as I'm snapping the picture, I'm thinking....."huuummm.. wonder if there is lead on there? I'm sure rust can't be that good for you either. huuuummmm???" So we cut that swing trip short and headed home with more snacks to munch on (I'm thinking cheerios might taste better than the swing anyway). After all, to Megan, I'm sure the world does sometimes seem like a huge IMAX theater.
Well, Tom had been gone all week and right as he was scheduled to arrive - I was hearing news that we were under a tornado warning.... I'm thinking - great, home alone, Megan's in bed, and we're under a tornado warning. I tuned in to the TV to hear that it really wasn't anywhere near us - it was in downtown Atlanta... Right where Tom would be about the time he was headed home from the airport. A small blessing is that his flight was delayed and I was able to tell him to not rush because he'd be driving in Atlanta right as the tornado was predicted to hit. So he missed it - but was not far behind it and saw a lot of the aftermath of debris and all the flashing lights in Atlanta. Wild.
(Note the big red splotch on her pants.... she tried strawberries for the first time. She ate a couple but didn't love them. I never realized how juicy strawberries can be. Evidently one slipped out of her mouth/hand and fell on her chair... and then she sat on it for the rest of the meal.)
Sunday's are hard days for Megan. She's got a great 2 nap a day schedule and unfortunately Sunday school falls in the middle of her morning nap. If I'm really lucky, I can get her to fall asleep on the way to church (Tom has to be there early) and then I can sit in the car with her so that she gets at least a 30 minute nap in. But with her car seat turned around now, it's not working so well. After church, we go out to eat to keep her awake until her 2pm nap (and she's starving at that point). Then she collapses on the way home. I've gotten really good at getting her out of her car seat without waking her up.
This afternoon it was in the upper 60's so we went for a family walk to the swing set at the front of our neighborhood. Megan loves it!
On the way up there, we ran into our next door neighbors who had the same idea. Megan and Cooper (He's 2 months younger) got to go "swingin".
The adults were all in on the fun as well... Mandell and Hunter were flying high (with a little help from their mom and dad), while Cooper and Megan were happy to gently swing and watch the big kids.
The other big event from the weekend was that Megan has conquered the straw sippy cup! YIPEE! She's got it down pat. After our walk, she slurped up almost a full glass of water. No wonder she wasn't all that hungry for dinner. And she's proud of herself. Occasionally she get super excited and pulls her mouth off and water goes shooting out (usually straight at me), but it's a small price to pay for her to be able to use straws.
I'll post some more fun pictures tomorrow. It was such a beautiful day, we spent most of our "non nap time" outside.
