Meighen

Last night was a big night of changes for Meg. We started using her booster seat at the table instead of the high chair. She did amazing, like she’s been doing it forever. Then again she’s been to a lot of sit down restaurants with us so she knows the drill.

We also took the crib and change table out of her room and moved the queen in (without the rails). Unfortunately it takes up most of her room but she still has her bookshelf and dresser (which now doubles as a change table). We don’t use the glider much anymore so it’ll go into the play room. Anyways, I did up the bed with just a fitted sheet and the feather duvet. I sat with her a while till she fell asleep, which didn’t take long, and she stayed there the whole night. I thought she’d take advantage and wander the top floor but she didn’t. She still cried once overnight but I snuggled up with her and she fell asleep quickly and I went back to bed. For the first night in a while she woke up in her own bed this morning. I think she really likes it. It’s comfy, cosy and just like our bed so I think she’ll sleep much better having the freedom to move. The crib mattress seemed so firm (which it should be) and cold somehow. She always looks so comfortable in ours.

Meighen’s really gotten into her advent calendar which she gets every night after dinner. She runs into the kitchen and points at it now when she’s decided its time. We find the right door and point to it then she opens it and steals the chocolate. She’s so proud of herself. She doesn’t get the concept that there’s only one chocolate a day cause she always tries to convince us she should have another. Something tells me that’ll be an issue for a few years. She gives up easily when given the option of a cookie.

It’s only been a couple weeks and already there’s so much to tell!

Meighen’s getting new words really fast. We’ve added “hot dog”, “duck” and “juice” to the list and she has something that sounds like “Christmas” and “done”. Oh, and she’s mastered “mama” and says it all the time now. I’ve only waited forever for this cause she’s been saying “dada” since May.

She’s also really starting to mimic me. It’s adorable. In addition to tidying up and keeping house like Mum, she’s taken to using our spare camera bag as a purse. She grabs it by the shoulder strap, hikes it over he arm, babbles something like “let’s go” and prances around the living room, so cute. We may need to get her a play purse for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I took last Friday off to hit the Samko Toys warehouse sale. I took care of all the kids in the family (6 Christmas, 2 birthday) and squeezed in a couple gifts for Meg too. I’ll have to get a few more things for her though. I got her a tea set, a sort of etch-a-sketch and the chair my folks are giving her. I think chair is a great idea cause Meg’s all about being a big girl lately.

Speaking of big girls, Meg’s decided she no longer needs the high chair and can sit at the table like me and Ben. She climbs up in our chairs and looks pleased as punch with herself. Last night I cleaned up the high chair and got the booster seat from the trunk. We’ll see how that goes tonight. Also on the big girl front, I think Meg’s ready to give up her crib and move into a big bed. She gets up every night at some point and comes into our bed. Knowing how much she tosses and turns I imagine she’s running out of room in her crib and that wakes her up. She hardly gets up when sleeping with us. So, having kept the queen mattress set for her we’re going to move that into her room this week and see how she takes to it. We’ll keep the box spring/mattress on the floor for now so she doesn’t tumble out and we have a removable bed rail to keep her safe. Lucky girl – she’s getting one heck of an amazing duvet and the most comfy sheets. I bet that does the trick and gives her a good nights sleep. Finally on the growing up scene, Meg’s been showing interest in potty training. She sits on her potty everyday in her clothes and now I have her comfortable sitting on it with her bare bum before a bath. She’s yet to actually pee in it but at least she’s comfortable with it. I don’t think she’s going to get it just yet but there’s no harm in giving it a try. Over Christmas since I’m home for two weeks I’ll take her up every few hours and see if we can get her using it.

It’s going to be a busy month! Ben’s been at training for work this week. Saturday was Meighen’s annual holiday photo. We got the photos back Sunday so it was a mad dash to get our Christmas cards out. We also went to our niece’s 6th birthday on Sunday with the rest of the family. Thursday is Meighen’s photo shoot for the print ad – that should be fun! Saturday is a Christmas brunch with Ben’s family. Next week we have our work holiday parties and then I’m off the week after that. I still haven’t decided when we’ll put the tree up. Meg is going to love it but I imagine it’ll be challenging keeping her away from it.

Every night when we crawl into bed as a family and wait for Meighen to pass out we can’t believe how lucky we are to have such a beautiful, smart, kind little girl. I hope she stays this sweet forever.

I got a nice surprise at work today. My co-worker brought in some toys from her little girl for Meighen. Her little one is three years old and outgrowing some of the toys so Meighen’s going to inherit them – how awesome. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting – maybe generic toys but she came in with an inflatable ball pit! Gosh, I never thought about having one of those. We haven’t blown it up yet but it sounds and looks amazing online. Hopefully we’ll get to try it out tonight. My friend also gave us one of those wire puzzles that you slide wood beads along, the ones you see in doctors offices. Meighen loves these things. It looks brand new so we’re going to tuck it away for Christmas and maybe have that as her stocking gift.

Yesterday was also the day of many words. Just as I thought she’s been mulling them over till perfect in her mind and they started coming out yesterday. The babysitter said she heard “stop” in the afternoon and when I was walking Meg back to the car she said “Hi da-da” a few times – very cute. We also heard “apple” and “cheese” over and over again. The other night when we were watching home videos of Meg she pointed to herself on the computer and said “that’s me!” how awesome!

Wow it’s been a long time since I wrote but not too much has been going on.

Right now we’re all sick. Nothing major, just a cold. I think it came from the babysitter. She wasn’t well the other week now me, then Meg and finally Ben has it. Since we’re not well we didn’t get up to much this weekend. Just hung around the house taking turns resting and chasing Meg. Even though she’s sick she’s still playing, smiling and all her usual activities. She has been a little cranky but I think she’s sprouting another four/six teeth. You can see the bulges under her gums waiting to cut through. It must be rough on her having that many at a time come in but at least she gets multiple teeth every now and then instead of always having one on the way.

Last weekend was a bit more productive. Auntie Julie had a condo-warming party on Sunday so we were there most of the afternoon. After that we went back to Pere’s for dinner while Ben finished up some computer stuff for them. In just a week they saw huge progress with Meg’s walking. She’s walking about 90% of the time now – it’s awesome. I’ll be in the kitchen and she’ll come running up behind me hugging my legs. She’s been very affectionate lately. She won’t give hugs and kisses when asked but often out of nowhere she’ll come up to us and give us four hugs in a row with a kiss then run away again – aawwweee!

Over the course of last week the new (used) playset arrived for Meighen! My cousin was getting rid of it and thought of Meighen – awesome! My aunt then picked it up in Barrie and brought it to our house for us – again, awesome! I spent an hour out there one night trying to get the frame together but couldn’t. Sure enough five minutes outside the next night and Ben had the frame ready to go. Meg really enjoys it. Right away she figured out how to climb up the platforms, go through the hole and head to the slide. The first and second afternoon she kept trying to go down head first but by the third afternoon of showing her “on your bum” she figured out and does it every time. What a treat to have something like that for the backyard, we certainly have the space for it.

Ben’s brother dropped off a bag of clothes from his little girls. It’s a huge help getting hand me downs (contrary to what I thought). They always have really nice stuff. We’re also borrowing a halloween costume for Meighen. It’s a butterfly costume. It’s got a big puffy belly with shimmery wings and a strap on headpiece with antenae (kinda like a winter hat). It’s sooo cute. I just have to grab some green leggings/pants and a long sleeve shirt. I imagine it’ll be a chilly Halloween this year.

Not much coming up in the next couple weeks. It’s our fourth wedding anniversary this Friday and also my Mom’s birthday. We’ll probably head up and see her over the weekend at some point (if we’re healthy). Otherwise we have lots of little home reno to pull off in the next month. My folks are moving and we’re getting a few sets of furniture. We’ll be tearing out the closet in the master bedroom to make room for the king bedroom set coming in. It’s going to be amazing having all that room. The mornings that Meg sleeps with us she somehow takes up the entire queen bed. It’s crazy! I also want to tear up the carpet in the master bedroom and upstairs hallway. It’s all parquet underneath. The bedroom floor is alright, the bad spots will be covered by the bed. We’re turning the spare bedroom into a playroom for Meg which means disassembling the double bed with headboard/footboard and get rid of it to make storage for our current queen which will go to Meg in few years. We’re then moving the fouton couch up there and putting Mom’s couch/loveseat downstairs. Lots of work but will be well worth it in the end.

That’s about it for now.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the struggle I’ve been having with Elfe/Graco over a replacement wheel for my stroller. A few months ago my Mom bought us a great small stroller for Meg from a used store. It was practically new! About a month after that the wheel started wobbling like mad. Ben did what he could to patch it up but it only held a couple of weeks. That started my quest to get a replacement wheel.

First of all, when I call I’m often put through to the voicemail. A few times I didn’t even get the voicemail, it just rang. I only reach a person one out of every five calls.

On July 8, I placed an order through the customer service line. A couple weeks later after our credit card not being charged I called to find out the status of our order. At that time I was told our item was on backorder. It would have been nice knowing this at the time I placed the order and not two weeks later upon my own questioning. During this follow up call I was told the item is still on backorder and should be arriving to the warehouse the following week. After waiting another week, I called again on August 5 to follow up to see if the part has been shipped because we had still not been billed for it. During this call I find out it’s STILL on backorder but the girl on the phone arranged a special order from another warehouse to have the wheel shipped to us asap. I was told this could take up to two weeks. I thought I’d call and check on the order yesterday (after one week) to see if it had been shipped. Yesterday I couldn’t get through to anyone so I wrote a letter (more or less what’s above) with a paragraph saying how frustrated I was with their service and if there was anywhere else I could get a wheel aside from them. I didn’t expect a reply quickly so when I called today I find out it’s STILL on backorder. Man I was about to lose it. About 20 minutes after the call I get an email back from customer service apologizing for the backorder saying it was another distributor holding things up. To make things right they offered me a new replacement stroller! The catch being they want me to send the old stroller back for “quality control”. They’ll even send me the pre-paid packaging to return it. Sweet!

The new stroller looks alright and I’ve found great reviews online. It’s not our old stroller, which I loved, but I’m sure it’ll do. If not, we’ll just sell the new one and go buy another older model. = ) Hopefully it will be here within the week so we can use it while on vacation.

Old stroller

New stroller

Things aren’t really slowing down and since I’m back to work in a month I want to take full advantage of my remaining weeks with Meighen.

This weekend we went to my Aunt and Uncles house for a visit. Meg had fun crawling around, walking with Auntie and swinging out back under the tree. They bought Meighen the cutest little Osh Kosh sweater and pants. Very spring.

Sunday Ben and Auntie Julie went to a movie so Meg and I hung out at the mall and walked around the park across the road. I’m not sure how or when but the little monkey tossed one of her new sandals out of the stroller. I retraced my steps through the park three times and even went back to parking spot I had at the mall. Since I couldn’t find it I just went back to Wal-mart and grabbed another pair. Thankfully they’re cheap (but cute).

We didn’t get up to too much yesterday and today we went to the Samko sale. I was able to get gifts for the boy birthdays we have coming up and also a few things for Meighen. I couldn’t decide between an easel/activity centre or a little table for her to use out in the yard. We ended up with the activity center. It just has a place to colour, you can stick magnets on it, dry-erase draw, etc. It’s a bit big for her now but in a few months it’ll be fine. I also grabbed some bath toys since she loves the bath. I’m thinking I may also tuck the pool I bought her last week away as another birthday present. I’ve been eyeing them for a while and finally bought one. I also picked up a cute blow up frog that she can float around in Grammy’s pool. It has leg holes so she’ll be in the water and a shade so she’s not completely in the sun. It’ll be great when we’re in the pool together so I don’t have to hold her in my arms the whole time. I can’t wait till it’s warm enough to get in the outdoor pool with her. The training pool really limits what I can do with her.

Not much going on for the rest of the week. We might head up to Brighton this weekend and I’ll stay on a couple days. Gotta get a last visit in before going back to work.

Wow, it’s been a crazy couple of days. Meighen is totally mobile now and crawling all over the place. I think the visit with Little Ben over the weekend really gave her the push to get going. Now that she’s all over the place on the floor I realize how dirty it is. I’ve been cleaning like a mad woman. Dusting everything high and low, pulling out furniture and vacuum attachments to get every nook and cranny. I even moved the fridge and stove to clean behind them. In my quest to conquer dirt I’m also hoping to find the lost dum-dum. The other day Meg threw it somewhere when I wasn’t looking and I can’t find it. It can’t be on the main floor cause I’ve covered every inch. Even checked the potted plants in case she hid it in there… which I now have to relocate to somewhere she can’t grab. She likes pruning the one in the living room. She hasn’t taken much notice to the ones in the dining room.

Another time consuming event these last few days has been teething. The first tooth came up with no side effects. She was perfect. This time… runny nose, screaming in pain in the middle of the night, not eating, fever, etc. It’s been challenging. Thankfully during the day she’s pretty much ok. After 9 pm it’s all downhill. I find that a shot of baby Tylenol, some teething gel and sleeping with me seems to help. We’ve been bunking out in the spare room for a couple nights now. Good ol’ Grammy though, she spent the night on Tuesday and offered to sleep on the couch so me and Meg could take the spare room. I think it was after 1 am when Meighen (and Sprocket) were sound asleep beside me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much snot smeared on things as I’m witnessing right now. She has a super runny nose and it gets everywhere. It’s semi-impossible to wipe her nose, she hates it. I even use a damp cloth instead of tissue but she still twists and turns. This stage is really going to suck when I’m back at work. At least now we can sleep in till after 9 am when she’s had a rough night.

Meg’s new favourite toy is the ball popper. She can press the button to make it go and always picks out two balls as they run down the chute. When the songs done she’ll drop her balls down the tube then push it over. Not sure what the demolitions all about… perhaps it’s like a victory dance?

Phew. I can’t tell you what a relief it is knowing Meighen has a spot for July. The first lady we were really interested in fell through but she recommended a friend of hers in the area who also takes in kids. Ben and I went to meet her last Friday and I talked to a couple of her references this week – all clear! The moms I talked to were very enthusiastic about Robyn and the care she provides. She’s a former Montessori kindergarten teacher with three boys of her own. The youngest is just a couple months older than Meg. She takes in a couple kids during the day while her older two are at school. She’s really nice, has a beautiful home, the location is perfect (20 minutes from work) and the price is reasonable. It turns out a few of the children she cares for right now are either moving or going into school dull time. So far Meg’s the only girl but there’s a chance for another. Robyn fills her days with trips to the park, beach (minutes from the boardwalk), children’s drop-in centres, gardening, cooking and other activities with minimal television during the day. I’m so glad things worked out… now I just have to find a new job.

On the progress front Meighen is waving all the time. It’s cute cause she babbles at the same time. She’s still pulling herself up really well and can stand on her own while holding something for a couple minutes. She’s cruising well with our support. She still has only one tooth that broke through and she’s getting the hang of the sippy cup quite well. Ben’s been teaching her to high-five and she’s getting good at it. I’ve been working on giving kisses, it’s so sweet. The difference between men and women eh. High-fives vs. kisses.

We spent a few days at Grammy and Grampy’s earlier this week. The weather was terrible so we were stuck inside for most of it. Our one outing was to Belleville to check out the baby store. We picked up a new chair for Meg, ironically the same one Grammy has. Meighen loves her bouncy chair but she’s just too big. She hangs off of it and can easily escape. She’s now graduated to a little rocking chair that can be stabilized and can probably hold a two year old. It’ll be her own chair in the living room. We brought the Jolly Jumper back to our place so Meg can get good use of it. Too bad we don’t have any suitable doorframes on the main floor. Ah well, she can use it in the basement, out on the deck or upstairs. Grammy says Meg doesn’t wear enough dresses so she picked up three. Nevermind that it’s been winter out for so long and dress season is just coming up now. Meighen has so many beautiful dresses for the summer.

We were hoping to get away at some point this spring but since we have to come up with the first month’s daycare fee in advance we’re deciding to put money away. I think we’ve decided to stay here but do a couple little things with Meg when Ben takes some time off. I’ve been dying to take her to the Toronto Zoo but I want the weather to be a bit better. It’ll be great in a couple months while kids are still in school and the weathers nice. We’d also like to take her to a movie. Cineplex does a Stars and Stollers program that I still haven’t checked out. I’d also like to take her across to Centreville on the island at some point this summer and spend time at Grammy’s in the pool.

Time is going by too fast now. I’m back to work shortly and there’s still so much I want to do.

A few people have asked me about Meighen’s little round saucer toy. It’s a Bilibo Mini that she got for Christmas from my friend Ali. Here’s a link to the site. At first I thought “what the heck do we do with this?” It’s a toy for kid’s imaginations. Although Meg doesn’t use her imagination just yet she loves to hold and gnaw on this toy.

Yesterday was our first “Bouncing Babies” group and boy was it packed. I’d guess at around 20 moms and babies… craziness! We all sat on the floor in a circle and sang interactive songs. The babes loved it and Meg wanted to sing along near the end. This one runs the month of February and I think I’ll go back to the activity program next month.

As far as food goes, she’s still working through batch I made last week. She didn’t like the avocado so we’ll add that to her list of “do not like” along side peas. Thankfully she likes broccoli and green beans so she’s still getting green veggies. Next week I’ll start on the more complex recipes. I hope she likes them.

Meighen is now 24 weeks! I can’t believe she’s almost six months old. Time has gone by fast but slow at the same time. The first couple months are a blur to us now. She’s become such a part of our lives, family and household it’s like she’s always been here. I love her more and more each day – I just want to hug her and squeeze her and make her pop! Just a figure of speech – I don’t want to see her hurt.

Meg’s still doing awesome. She grabs at everything, still sleeps 10-12 hours at night, eating cereal three times a day, can roll from side to side (not front to back yet) and has stopped teething for now. The tooth that was about to come through became covered up again. Ah well, slowly but surely it will come.

Meighen had her first Christmas dinner last night at Ben’s Aunt and Uncle’s. Her three cousins (all girls) were there and they all adore her. They had fun putting on a concert for Meg complete with instruments, singing and dancing – it made her smile. Meighen received some amazing gifts, all toys to help stimulate her. She’s already having fun with the activity walker and guitar. The turbo air balls (not sure what to call it) scares her a bit now but it is for slightly older kids. I’m sure she’ll love it shortly – we already do, ha ha.

On Thursday we went for our second family portrait at the Supercentre. The prints came out amazing – we couldn’t be happier with them. No sooner were they in the house than they were cut up, put into Christmas cards and dropped in the mailbox. I usually have my cards out earlier but I dropped the ball on making our photo reservation.

We have a busy week ahead of us. Tuesday we go downtown for a chiro appointment (me and Ben). Wednesday we go uptown for Meg’s doctor appointment – she wants to check on her rash which has totally cleared up! Thursday Auntie Julie is going to baby sit for a little bit as it’s both mine and Ben’s company Christmas party. I’m skipping the first half of mine and just doing the dinner. Next weekend we’re having a holiday dinner out with Pere (Ben’s dad) and then we get a few days to rest before heading to Grammy’s on Christmas Eve for a few days.

That’s about it for now. More on the way.