Fall pictures!

Here are some pictures showing what Meredith has been up to over the past few weeks (she has a very busy social schedule, as you can imagine!). I'm learning why you never hear people say that the ages from 12-18 months are their favorite! Meredith has definite opinions about everything these days. She says "this" and "no" all the time. It's so much fun to watch her becoming even more independent. She can be forcefully making her thoughts known one second and want to sit in your lap and snuggle the next. Welcome to toddlerhood, right?!? Just when I think she can't be any more fun, she surprises me with something new. What an amazing little girl!

These pictures are from our first adventure with sushi. As you can see, it was a hit! Chris brought sushi home from work as a surprise on our anniversary. Mere decided she needed to use chopsticks just like Mommy and Daddy. It was an interesting experience trying to let her hold them without poking herself in the eye.

On Sunday morning with her purse. This is a pink purse with a poodle on it and she loves it. Let me rephrase--she LOVES it! She's constantly walking around, carrying her purse.

Birthday pictures. The first one is of her eating a cupcake on her actual birthday (think she liked it?) and the second is one of my favorites from her party two days later.

Anyone who asks me how trick-or-treating went should be able to get an answer by looking at the second picture. We did not have a very happy bear! She loved watching all of the trick-or-treaters that came to our door, but she wasn't too happy to wear her costume. I think this picture will probably follow her for many Halloweens to come!

Pictures from the pumpkin patch with Mimi on Halloween afternoon. Mere was only interested in getting out of the stupid pumpkin. She didn't seem to care that we wanted cute pictures!

When we got home from the pumpkin patch, we saw that a birthday present had come from Uncle Drew, Aunt Erica and Skyler. The time out chair is adorable! Meredith said that she could get behind the idea of the chair as long as she can still make calls while she's in time out (maybe she was texting--guess I'll find out when my cell phone bill comes!).

One year checkup!

Meredith had an appointment with her pediatrician on Friday. The bad news: she got three shots. The good news: she's in wonderful health! She weighed in at 20 lbs, 14 oz (45th percentile) and was 30 3/4 inches (90th percentile). Her head circumference was 96th percentile. She got the go-ahead to try whole milk again, so we're hoping not to cause tummy troubles with it this time. She has really started walking this weekend and can now make it all the way across the playroom without any help. I'm sending her to school tomorrow in shoes for the first time because I'm pretty sure she'll be walking all over the place! We also did her one year pictures with Heather yesterday. I can't wait to see them--it looked like she got lots of cute poses! Stay tuned--I'll post the link ASAP!

Meredith's Birthday!

Happy birthday Meredith! This is a link to some pictures from the big party on Saturday (thanks, Mimi):

http://mccainfamilyfun.shutterfly.com/

I can't believe our little princess is 1--where did the last year go??? We love you, Merebear!

Pictures!

Finally, some pictures! Aunt Erin and Aunt Meghan have been very patient with me and hopefully these will be worth the wait! :) I tried to get some video of our new walker yesterday, but she wasn't willing to show off for me. Apparently, she took two more steps yesterday at daycare, so now I know this isn't all in my head! Meredith and I went shoe shopping over the weekend and she is now the proud owner of some cute white Stride Rite shoes (as well as a pair of brown and pink mary janes that squeak when you walk--I'm sure they'll be cute for about three seconds once I hear her squeaking all over the place. Thankfully, the squeaker is removable). A few pictures of what we've been doing over the last few weeks...

These are both from Auntie Janae's rehearsal dinner in Columbus. Meredith and Mimi came with me and we had a great time. The wedding was absolutely perfect! Mimi bought Mere this adorable dress (Skyler has a matching one actually) and I just love it. The pigtails complete the outfit, don't you think?

This is also from the hotel in Columbus. I was trying to get dressed for the wedding and Meredith was playing outside the bathroom. Somehow, she ended up with a roll of toilet paper and proceeded to unroll it everywhere. I have a feeling Mimi was involved, especially since Meredith couldn't reach the toilet paper by herself!

We bought Meredith a play kitchen for her birthday (she got it a little early!). She's been playing with it nonstop. These pictures are from the first day that Daddy brought it home. She was playing with the spoon and/or fork just hanging out of her mouth--I guess she wanted to keep them close by in case she needed a bite of some of her play food. Her blender makes noises and has little balls inside that bounce up and down, so that's why she's carrying it with her (or she wants easy access to it for margaritas during happy hour--she's a smart cookie).

This is why you don't let Meredith play with the mail! She was reading the paper and maybe ordering something from Williams Sonoma. I guess I'll see when I get our credit card statement next month! The black and white thing she's playing with is the bottle bag from her diaper bag. It usually has a sippy cup in it and she likes to pull it out of the diaper bag to play with it. I promise she doesn't play with it all the time (it just looks that way from these pictures). If you look closely, you can see her hair is starting to get some actual curls. So cute!

Before bedtime last night--she was "mooing" at the dogs

The last few weeks have been filled with lots of firsts. Mere is talking up a storm. She can now tell you what a cow says ("mmmm"--close enough to moo, right?) and says "mama" when I ask her what my name is. She's getting better with saying Daddy's name too (she gives him a loud "DA" when she sees him now). She can give high fives, clap her hands when you ask and blow raspberries on command. I'm happy to report that the snoot face is back and she gives us snoots regularly. She has also started shaking her finger and saying "na na na" when she doesn't want to do something. She knows some body parts (gives us a snoot face when we ask where her nose is, can point to her toes and mouth and points to our noses, eyes and mouths). It's really fun to see her personality. The red hair is not just for show! She has also developed quite a close relationship with Lambie, her pink stuffed lamb. He goes everywhere with us. When we come in to get Meredith up from bed or from a nap, we often find her holding on to Lambie and standing in the crib, waiting (sort of) patiently. Chris bought a stand in for Lambie the other day (just in case of a Lambie catastrophe). She's warming up to the idea of Lambie 2, but he's a poor substitute for the original.

Houston, we have a walker!

I have pictures to post, but I wanted to do a quick update about our day before I head to bed.  Meredith and I were in the playroom this afternoon and she took three steps!  I thought I was mistaken until she took two more.  She's been walking like crazy behind her push walker, so I knew we were getting close to her starting to walk by herself.  This totally took me by surprise!  I expected fireworks or music or something dramatic the first time my baby walked on her own.  The only sound I heard was the squeaking of the toy she walked over to.  She was definitely not impressed with herself, so she had no idea why I was cheering and clapping for her.  I'll try to get some video and I'll definitely post pictures soon.  It was an exciting day!

In other exciting news, baby Ian arrived fashionably early on Tuesday.  He was 9 lbs 4 oz and 21.5 inches long.  Aunt Vero, Uncle Patrick and Cousin Ian are all doing really well.  We can't wait to see them (hopefully soon!).  He's such an adorable little guy!

Weekend

What a weekend! Meredith, Mimi and I went to Columbus on Friday for Janae's rehearsal dinner and Chris joined me on Saturday for the wedding. The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous and we had a really wonderful time. We headed home on Saturday night, thinking that we'd come in, kiss Mere and go to bed. Meredith had different plans. My dad was staying with her after she went to bed, but she woke up just before we got home and was having a tough time breathing. Chris and Papa took one look at her and decided we should go to the ER. After a two chest X-rays, an IV, some bloodwork and four and a half hours, we found out that Meredith's respiratory distress was caused by a developing fever. She spiked a temp in the ER and, once she had some Tylenol, she started breathing better, her heart rate slowed back down to normal and she was finally able to sleep. I've never been so scared in my life. Amazingly, she was her happy self yesterday and seems no worse for the wear.

Goin' on a picnic

Want to have a picnic? We've got a new table for you! Mimi and Papa dropped Meredith's birthday present off a little early. They got her a picnic table and she absolutely loves it. It started out where picnic tables belong--on the deck. As I type this, it has gotten a new home in our playroom. The playroom started the week as Chris' office. After getting tired of seeing way too many baby toys cluttering our family room, we decided that the office would be a perfect playroom. As you can see, Meredith agrees. She's still struggling with her new teeth, so we hope they all pop through soon so she can stop with fevers, drooling and diarrhea. Sounds like a fun weekend, doesn't it?

Here's the table in its original location when Mimi and Papa brought it over on Saturday:

24 short hours later, here's the new spot:Getting ready for cousin Eric's graduation/birthday party. "What do you mean I have to wear shoes? Have you seen my adorable little feet?"Some pictures from playtime today:

Having a drink with Lambie

Hey Lambie, want a goldfish cracker?Anyone who knew me as a little girl knew Sparky. We went everywhere together (I even took him to college). Mere and Sparky were introduced this evening and they're best buddies. It was a little emotional watching my baby playing with my favorite childhood toy. It's a big step for me to let someone else play with him! :)Come over to our house--this is the face that will greet you at the entrance to the playroom (and the voice! She loves to stand at the gate, shake her arms and yell). What you can't see is the reverse view. Our dining room (aka greyhound hangout) is directly across the foyer from the playroom. The dogs have started laying in the doorway so they can see Meredith, but she isn't able to touch them. It drives her crazy. She keeps yelling to try to get them come over. If you've met our dogs, you know what a monumental feat it is to get them to get up at all. So far, Mere has not been successful.
I saved the best for last. Meredith has started making this face all the time. We call it her "snoot face" and she's even doing it on command now. It's a crack up. She saves her best snoots for Daddy during dinner.Hope everyone has a great week!

Ten months!

Chris was putting the screen door on that leads from the kitchen to the deck. Mere was amazed that she could see him through the window, but was dying to get out there to play!

You can just barely see the beginnings of her two bottom teeth here

Meredith crawling in her favorite spot--the step from our kitchen into the living room. She must do this 30 times a day lately.

Meredith will be ten months old tomorrow. I can't believe it! We've had some excitement this week. Meredith never does anything in a small fashion, so we knew teething would be a major event when it finally happened. Last week, I noticed four teeth coming in--two top front and two bottom front. I'm happy to report that, as of this morning, her right top front tooth has broken the surface. She's been running a temp for a few days now, but seems pretty happy otherwise. Her lack of teeth hasn't been slowing her down with eating at all, so I have no idea what she's going to be able to tackle now that she has some chompers!

Okay, so I'm a slacker...

because there have been no new postings since Father's Day. Sorry! I really can't imagine how our family could have packed more into one month though. A quick rundown of our highlights:

--Aunt Meghan got accepted into law school at Ohio Northern and starts at the end of August. While we're excited for her, we're pretty darn sad that she's moving two hours away. Watch out, Ada! You're in for some excitement!

--Aunt Erin and Uncle Mike took a quiet, relaxing trip to Hawaii to celebrate their engagement and forgot to mention that they were getting married while they were there! Check out the website from their beautiful ceremony--www.wilsonrooneywedding.com. We couldn't be happier for them!

--Aunt Vero and Uncle Patrick found out that Ian (due in September) is going to be a big boy--he's already measuring a few weeks bigger than where the doctors expect him to be. That just means he gets to wear those cute 3 month clothes a little sooner!

--Meredith went on her first trip to the beach. It was a lot of fun for about three days. We packed a lot into those three days though! On Tuesday morning, she woke up from her nap with a fever that eventually went to 103.2 degrees. We found out that Hilton Head Hospital has a beautiful ER and that Meredith hates the taste of bubble gum-flavored Amoxicillin. I just wish her first trip to the beach hadn't gone hand-in-hand with her first ear infection. Before she got sick, we got a chance to take her to the beach. She wasn't so sure about the ocean, but she loved the sand. She ate more than a few handfuls and was a gritty mess. Mimi had the genius idea of buying a canopy and putting it up at the beach so we had some shade. We took an inflatible pool and filled it with ocean water and toys. Meredith had a blast playing and entertaining everyone.

--Mere also got to meet lots of family on vacation, including Uncle Drew and cousing Skyler. I wish Meredith had felt better so the girls could have played together more. Skyler is a beautiful and sweet little girl and she was so much fun to play with!

--Meredith had nine month shots. She weighed in at 19 lbs (47th percentile) and 29 inches (89th percentile). Her head circumference was 93rd percentile. It's a wonder she doesn't tip over when she stands up!

--Speaking of standing, Mere has been standing by herself (it still scares me when she lets go and claps while she's standing in the middle of the living room) and is starting to cruise the furniture this week. She's also babbling up a storm and started waving recently. She has also decided that her two days at daycare are way too much fun to waste them napping, so she's been taking a 30 minute power nap while she's there. At least she's in a good mood!

Here are a few pictures from the beach:

Father's Day

Yes, I realize Father's Day was last weekend, but I'm just getting around to posting pictures--sorry! It's been way too long since I've updated the blog, but these pictures are pretty cute, so they might make up for it! Meredith is wearing her new dress and sun hat from Aunt Meghan. She's so adorable! What you can't see from these pictures is what a ham Meredith is (okay, maybe you can tell that) and how spoiled she has become. When I was taking these pictures, everyone was standing around telling her how pretty she is and making silly faces. Aunt Meghan took some video and all you can hear are a bunch of cackling women. I love this hat. It looks like she should be heading off to the Kentucky Derby!

We've had a rough day today. Meredith woke up with some serious eye goopies and a really stuffy nose, so off to the pediatrician we went. She had a fever of 100 degrees and was sent home with some eye drops. She has been such a trooper today. Her fever seems to be better after some Tylenol and she went to bed early to catch up on some sleep. I hate it when she's sick! They weighed her at the pediatrician's office and she's up to 18 lbs, 8 oz.

Meredith has been getting really good with table food. She had roast beef and noodles the other night and loved it. She refuses to eat baby food anymore. Some of her more complex foods so far have been pizza, green bean casserole and baked beans. She had her first few bites of popsicle today to help with her fever (cool her down from the inside out, right?). The reviews were mixed. She kept opening her mouth when I offered it, but she made terrible faces!

We had pictures taken last Friday, so stay tuned for those! Hopefully, they'll be up on the photographer's website soon (we check 50 times a day!).

Sunshine!

In case you're not sick of Meredith pictures, here are a few more!

These are from the other day when we were sitting out on the deck, enjoying the sunshine. Mere usually wears a sun hat too, but I think she'd already pulled it off by the time I was taking pictures. Sunscreen for babies is a pain in the butt, by the way!

I have discovered that we have the only two dogs in the world who don't like to be outside. This is what they do when we try to sit outside. Apparently, the yard is for pooping only. If you don't have to poop, your mom should let you go back inside to work on that 20 hours of beauty sleep that greyhounds need every day.

One of Mere's favorite mealtime things is to get her hands nice and gooey and then stick them in her hair. The first picture is a yogurt melt on her forehead and the second is what happens when you put the baby in the high chair with a teething biscuit while you put the groceries away. Obviously, I won't be doing that again anytime soon. This is why parents come in pairs--it took two of us to get her in the tub!

From Papa's birthday dinner

These make me a little sad. They are pictures from the last day at our old house. I love our new house, but it's tough to say goodbye to a place that has so many wonderful memories. Philly was apparently feeling nostalgic too because he kept coming over next to Meredith to cuddle with her. Don't worry--we were watching closely!