Meighen

Grammy and Grampy left this morning so Meg and I took advantage of sleeping in. It was a whirlwind few days. Saturday was our annual bbq and Meg had fun playing with Little Ben. I’m surprised she’s not overly interested in babies but it comes in handy when I get to hold the little ones. We had 10 adults and 5 kids so it was a good group. The weather was questionable but it stayed dry for most of it. I think that was the theme for the week.

Monday we toodled around east Toronto with G&G getting an oil change and shopping. Grampy was in his glory having Meg pull him around by the walking stick. It  kept her close but she moves a bit too fast for him. We stopped at Chapters on our way to lunch and Meg got a new Llama Llama book. She adores the one Benny got her when she turned 2 so Grammy got her a new one and also a Rubix Cube. Meg loves colours and puzzles and has fun spinning the blocks around. Lunch at Red Lobster was great as usual except they didn’t have any fish or lobsters in the tank. Meg was disappointed but we knew she’d have her fill at the zoo on Tuesday.

Meg had a blast at the zoo although she was tired going in. We were this close to being the 1 millionth visitor. The winners made it in about 30 seconds before we did and won souvenirs, one year Toronto Zoo Family Membership, FREE Zoomobile rides, lunch, a Behind the Scenes Tour for 6 people and overnight accommodations, including parking and buffet breakfast, at the Toronto Delta East Hotel! (pulled from website) Would have been nice! Anways, back to Meg… her favs were the rhino, fish, turtles and snakes. The kid is crazy for icky things (she loved the maggots at the museum). She insisted on riding the carousel and had a huge smile plastered on her face the whole time. We hit the gift shop, got a couple things and called it a day. Meg was pretty tired or else she would have loved the water park. Ah well, maybe next year.

Wednesday we had a quiet morning at home then picked Grammy up for a couple hours at the museum, which is free on Wednesday afternoons. We did what most parents/grandparents do and went straight to the dinosaurs. Meg called them “dragons” which is a pretty good observation. They could be dragons by today’s definition. We also hit the bird observatory and other interactive things waiting for Daddy to come for dinner. We went across the road to Gabby’s which is our 3^rd fav wing place.  Meg loved the sweet potato fries but not the chipolte mayo so much.

That brings us to today, our first morning sleeping in. It was nice. I’m spending the afternoon going through Meg’s clothes and getting her ready for fall. Shoe wise – a six is pretty snug on her but a seven is a bit big. Better big than small I guess. I’ll have to pick her up some warm socks soon. Otherwise I think she has lots of stuff from her cousins so we’re set. Don’t need to buy boots or a snow suit this year, hooray!

Another good weekend for summer 2010! Saturday I took Meg to Oshawa to go swimming with my girlfriend and her stepdaughter. We checked out a rec complex in north Oshawa and it was pretty sweet. Somehow Meg and I got in for $2.80 total, wow! The pool was huge and totally kid friendly. There wasn’t much of a deep end but had a kiddie pool with shoots of water coming up, a waterslide, whirlpool, hot tub and other water type fun. Life jackets were available so I put one on Meg hoping it would give her confidence to float without me but had no luck. As long as she can touch the bottom she’s totally ok with being away from me, when she can’t touch, she prefers Mum. That’s ok, lots of time to learn to swim. We spent about two hours in the pool and will probably end up going again.

Sunday morning was my day to sleep in. When I got up Ben had come back from a mini shopping spree with Meg at Walmart, after the ritual Timbit run of course. She came home with Hot Wheels, a placemat, a jumbo Cars colouring pad and I think there was something else too. She was quite pleased with herself. Good job Daddy Later that afternoon we headed to my Aunt/Uncle’s who were having a family bbq. Another afternoon in the pool. Meg was great, shy at first but once she went swimming she opened right up. She loved floating around in her Cars boat and jumping into our arms from the deck. She also had fun chasing Uncle Rick around, playing in the swing with Aunt Kathy and tossing beanbags. There were a lot of people there I didn’t know but one of them was my Mom’s cousin. As soon as we arrived she was asking me if Meg was potty trained and if we could use any training diapers. Hell yes! She had her daughter bring us two cases of girls pull-ups. Amazing! Talk about luck, were getting ready potty train hard core now that Meg’s showing all the signs (again, should of jumped on it the first time around). If it doesn’t happen before our vacation in two weeks, that will be a perfect time.

Just a quick update on Meg’s molars. I found the two news ones the other week and now the last two are breaking through. She’s a trooper, hardly any fussing.

Got a short week this week. We’re off Friday and Monday for the long weekend. Got a few things planned, hope it works out.

This month is going by so quickly. In a few days it will be the middle of July. I think we’re making the most of summer so far, can’t complain.

This weekend we went to hang out with Auntie Julie for a bit, which we’ll do again this Friday. Auntie’s off to Disneyworld for a writers convention soon so we need to make sure Meg gets her fill before she goes. The rest of the weekend was spent lounging by the kiddie pool and continuing my work in the gardens.

This is going to be an interesting week for Meg. Our daycare has enrolled two of her sons in a day camp this week which happens to be two city blocks away from my office – sweet! While the older kids are in camp, she’s going to hang with Meg and her youngest boy downtown during the day. It makes pick up/drop off easier being so close to the office but I’m a bit worried about Meg missing naps and the comfort of air conditioning. It might also rain this week so I’m a bit worried about that too. Otherwise I’m thrilled Meg gets to spend a week downtown. I wish she had more time down here, the sights and sounds seem to have a calming affect on her, just like Mum.

I’m not sure what possessed me to do it, but I stuck my finger in Meg’s mouth this weekend to see how the molars were coming. The bulges appeared months ago but nothing ever broke through. Sometime in the past month two have come in! Maybe it was the slight fever or couple grouchy days when it happened. It’s hard to tell with Meg, she cuts teeth unbelievably well.

The last thing on the go this week is a trip to Oakville on Saturday to visit our friends and meet their new baby. We all went to UFC in Montreal back in ’08 while we were expecting our first babies, now they have number two. I’m looking forward to Meg having a play date and being around a newborn – she’s been interested in babies lately and I’m curious if she’d take to a sibling. I’m sure she would, she’s such a sweet girl. Now don’t be starting any rumors. We’re nothing thinking about a second anytime soon. Meg needs to be closer to kindergarden for that.

Meg’s still talking up a storm. She’s getting new words and sentences on a daily basis. Lately she’s been asking us what we’re doing… “What you doin’ daddy?” “Washing the car” “Washing the car?” and this goes on over and over… hehe. It’s very cute. Each night she tells me where she wants to sleep, either in Meighen’s bed or Mummy’s bed. Thankfully she’s been choosing her room lately, we’ve been on a “sleep with Mummy” kick for the last month or so. As much as I love sleeping with her, I enjoy getting my half of the bed without her.

Now that Meg’s birthday is out of the way the next exciting thing is our vacations at the end of August, which reminds me I need to start planning our summer bbq… but back to vacations. Our daycare is off for two weeks towards the end of the month so Ben and I are each taking a week. Grammy’s thinking about visiting while I’m on vacation to hang out with Meg. There so much I’d like to do (but won’t be able to do it all). The CNE will be in town, not sure if we’re going with Ben’s friends or just ourselves. Buskerfest is also happening while I’m off (coincidence!). I’ve took Meg last year and want to make it an annual tradition. She’ll love it this year. I’d also like to take her to the zoo. She’s learned so many animals and gets excited when she seems them in books and on tv. She’ll have a blast this year and they have an amazing water park too!

This turned out to be quite the post… till next time!

Yesterday Meg had her two-year check up. Everything’s just fine. Considering Meg’s two and has only been to the doctor once that wasn’t for a check up and that was for a treatable rash.

So, our little munchkin is now 24 lbs (25%), 35 1/2″ tall (90%) and still has a big noggin coming in at 19 3/4″ (95%). Although the doctors not too concerned about Meg being a skinny minny, it is something to keep an eye on. It’s nuts, she’s decided carbs aren’t her thing and has been turning down muffins and breads, although she gets really excited for chips (and eats only five). She loves her fruits and proteins (eggs, lunch meat, chicken). She’s not too into sweets but enjoys the occasional cookie (when asks for it) and loved her birthday cake. A healthy toddler by choice, who would have thought?

Yay, the long weekend is here. Four days of sleeping in and chilling with the doopy. Being in the advertising industry here in TO, it’s almost the norm to get extended long weekends in the summer, which officially starts tomorrow! Unfortunately the weather doesn’t look too promising but we’ll still make the most of it. I mowed the lawn last night so we could go home tonight and start enjoying the back yard.

Tomorrow Ben’s taking the car in to get the windows tinted. He says it’s for Meighen, it’s true she will benefit from it but I still think it’s more a Daddy thing. Meg and I will make the most of the weather and hopefully get up to something. I think we’re visiting with Pere this weekend and will be seeing Auntie Julie on Sunday for a belated Ben birthday. Monday, if the weather’s nice, we’ll be taking Meg downtown to the circus festival. It’s at Harbourfront and looks a lot like Buskerfest. Meg’s turning into a total monkey so I’m sure she’ll love watching the acrobats and tumblers. As much as I was hoping to do the zoo this weekend we’ll hold off for another weekend. It’s only 5 minutes away and we’ve got all summer.

It seems the terrible-twos are upon us. The past few weeks Meighen’s been having minor meltdowns on a regular basis. She doesn’t take ‘no’ very well. She’s been so awesome and well behaved the last two years so she hasn’t been denied much. These days it’s a daily event. Sometimes she’ll be easily distracted by something else but other times she just won’t let it go. She’ll throw herself to the ground and cry. Not the most pleasant scene in the world so I just leave her to it. I tell her what’s going on and why and let her know where I’ll be when she gets over it. It can last 5 minutes or so and she eventually gets over it. She’s still a great, sweet kid but is turning out to be a bit strong willed (just like her Mum).

Meighen’s getting really good with her manners. She almost always says thank you or will do so with a short prompt. Please is another story. We almost always have to remind her but she’ll say it. She’s learning that the quicker she says please, the sooner she’ll get what she wants.

On the milestone front, Meighen can go down the stairs upright like a big girl while hanging onto the wall with one hand. She thinks she’s so grown up. We don’t let her do it without supervision, don’t want her to tumble. We have total confidence on her going up/down the stairs on her knees and bum but not quite there with the standing up thing.

I’ve been trying to get Meg to accept ponytails. It’s either that or keep her hair cropped. It’s aweful the way it hangs in her face but she keeps pulling out the elastic. Ah poopy nu, you’re girly in so many ways, please get used to a ponytail, you’ll be amazed at all the things you can see.

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it a million time more. Meighen is such a good little helper.

Last night while I was making dinner she wanted to play with her sponge painting kit. I gave her just the sponges and let her play on the floor. She took them out of the plastic wrapping, went over to the garbage can, took off the lid, put the plastic in the can, put the lid back on and went about playing. I’m astounded! I knew she loved to clean and tidy up but now she knows what’s garbage and how to get rid of it.

Later on, when the fridge was open Ben asked her to get Dad a wa-wa (her word for water, she knows the difference between milk, juice and water). She went over, grabbed a bottle of water and took it over to him. She’s so eager to help out – what a good girl.

Meg’s been a bit moody lately, nothing we can’t handle, just a bit more irritable than usual. I think I saw why, she’s cutting her back molars. I see the huge bulges forming under her gums. Poor kid. Almost done after these come in. Her eye teeth have all broken through and are almost in place.

When we picked Meg up from daycare last night, on the way out to the car she said “Mummy!”. She said it a few times on the way home and a bunch more last night. I’ve been mama and mum till now, now I’m Mummy! It’s cute. She says it so matter-of-factly.

Meg’s been obsessed with her shoes for many many months now. She always gets hers from the closet (always a matching pair) and brings them to us to put them on. Then she’ll bring me my shoes and Ben his shoes. Well, last night she put on her own boots! She’s been trying for a long time to figure out how to put her shoes on and the other day at our friends she successfully got one boot on. Ok, they’re not her winter boots, those are too hard but they’re her rain boots. It was super cute. She lined them up, leaned with one hand against the wall and tried to smoosh her foot into the boot. Well, it worked and she wore her boots for the evening. Crazy kid.

I’ve finished categorizing all the blog posts and also added my posts from my pregnancy. It’s all on this site now = )

Christmas has winded down. We spent some more time with Auntie and went for dim sum on Saturday. We haven’t been in forever so this was the first time Meg was able to eat with us. She tried everything we put in front of her and ate most of it. She liked the lotus rice, har gow and LOVED the taro balls. Auntie finally has someone to eat taro with. Good stuff!

While Mere and Pere were down, m’oncle and Pere returned the crib and change table to Brampton for us. That was super awesome of them. It freed up a ton of space upstairs and finally all the rooms are settled. Meg has more space in her room since we moved the glider to the playroom. She loves her big girl bed and has slept through the night since returning to daycare on Monday. She’s sleeping so well, if only I could get a blanket to stay on her.

Meighen’s picking up new words really fast. She can now say dinner, boots and something that sounds like dog. Instead of cat she calls them nu-nus since Ben and m’oncle always call kitties minou (French).

Teeth wise, her fangs (eye teeth) are finally coming in. She was uncomfortable for a week about a month ago and they’re just breaking now. Two have come through and the other two should be coming along any time. That will fill in the gaps so it will look like she’s got them all, just missing a couple more molars.

Meighen has this new game that’s kinda cute. At night we all climb into our bed to watch a bit of tv while she falls asleep. We often give her “groupies” where Ben and I each kiss one of her cheeks at the same time – kinda a kiss sandwich. She loves it. Well now she’s started pulling our heads in together to we kiss each other. It’s funny. She tucks her fingers under our jaw or behind an ear (or in my case my hair) and pulls us in. We give each other fishy kisses and she giggles. We pull away and she does it again. This goes on for some time before we’ve had enough and distract her with something else. It’s sweet, she wants to see her parents give each other love like we give her. Awe.

I guess the only other big thing going on right now is that we picked up our new car on Tuesday. It’s a 2010 Kia Forte in a beautiful shade of blue. Ben’s been humming and hawing over a new car for some time and the time was right over the holidays. We filled out the paperwork on New Year’s Eve and picked it up on Jan 5. It’s a bit bigger than our previous Ford Focus and comes with lots of great features (heated seats, heated mirrors, wiper blade de-icing). It’s super safe and practically the whole car is an airbag. We feel way better knowing we’re all safer with a reliable car. Who knows, maybe this car will last forever and Meg will be driving it in 15 years.

It’s been a busy week! Meighen’s photo shoot went good. She was having fun on set running around, lounging on the couch and sharing her toys with the production crew. She didn’t get a haircut there but it was brushed, styled and gooped a bit. She had a bit of moisturizer on her cheeks and gloss on her lips and was ready to go. The actual shoot didn’t go as well though. She was very serious and was nervous about being around a new man without Mum and Dad beside her. They got a couple good shots but ultimately went with the other baby who was all smiles when it was show time. Ah well. We’re not disappointed and fun during the experience. We still have the pics from the shoot and will get paid for coming out so it’s all good.

Meighen’s getting really good with words. She can string a few together to make little sentences like “go see Dad”. It’s cute. She’s also mastered “no”. We hear that a lot more than “yep” but she’s still sweet about it.

Christmas is almost here! Having the week off is helping me get in the spirit. I finally got the tree decorated last Friday and Meg’s picked out a few favourite ornaments she continually pulls off the tree. I didn’t put all the decorations on it because I figured she’d be into it. We’re keeping the presents hidden till Christmas morning – one less thing for her to get into.

Grammy and Grampy are arriving today and staying at a hotel close to our place. We might do Downsview Park’s Trail of Lights tomorrow night then doing Christmas Eve supper at my sisters. Christmas morning everyone will come here to open presents and have brunch. We’re doing Boxing Day day brunch with Pere before Mere arrives to spend a few days with us before heading to Ben’s brother’s for a couple days. I think there’s another holiday meal in there somewhere, just waiting for the details.

Meighen’s still doing awesome without her high chair and crib. She wakes up in her bed most mornings and barely fusses over night. She’s so sweet in her big grown up bed but looks so little.

Yesterday was Meg’s 18 month check up. She got two more shots but now that’s it till she’s four, hooray! She took them like champ and didn’t fuss at all. She’s now 23 lbs and 33 inches. She’s still taller than 90% of kids her age and in the lower 20% for weight. She’s a tall and skinny kid – but so are her cousins.

I think it’s time to go. Meg’s bringing me her snowsuit piece by piece and her boots too. Someone wants to go out.

Man it’s been a crazy few weeks. Work has been really busy so I haven’t had a chance to update in a while.

Daycare’s going really well. Meighen now gives Robyn hugs when we pick her up and we hear she’s giggling and chasing the other little ones around. She’s one happy kid, always laughing and smiling.

Progress wise there’s been lots going on. We’re walking full time now and practically running! She’s also getting good at going down stairs, backwards thankfully. When we hold her hand she’ll go down one at time frontwards and standing up. I have all the confidence in her going up but still a bit nervous when she wants to go down. Once she masters it I’ll feel way better.

We had a ton of rain and poor Meg couldn’t go out back for a couple weeks. Now that she’s upright she loves to explore new areas of the yard and can even go down the little slide on her own. She’s doing so well.

Meighen’s got a bunch of new teeth coming in – mostly molars but a few non-molars. She had a fussy week, which she usually does when the teeth are working their way down, but now we’re back on track. She’s been sleeping awesome through the night with little to no interruption.

Meg can totally feed herself with a fork now. It still gets all over her face from time to time but she’s eating with utensils at every meal. She’s totally off formula now – it took a little while to transition her over to milk. Her bowels weren’t agreeing when we tried back in July but this time we’ve had no problems. It’s cute – she now knows that the milk comes out of the microwave. She waits by it till it beeps and tries to press the button to get it out. When she wants a bottle she goes to the microwave and starts fussing – what a smart girl!

We had Meg’s 15 month check up the other week. Not much has changed. She’s 21.5 lbs and 31.5 inches. We got a couple more needles – chicken pox and a second measles or meningitis – I’d have to double check to be sure, there are so many inoculations. I think we’re going to go with the basic flu shot (two needles) this winter but not the H1N1. Even my doctor agrees it’s too new and not all the risks have been identified. Since Meg’s around school kids every day I think the the flu shot is essential. If we were still in a maternity bubble I wouldn’t worry so much but she’s out and about all the time interacting with all sorts of kids. Better safe than sorry. She handles needles pretty well. Now that she knows what they are she cries a bit but gets over it fast.

Activity wise… hm. On Saturday October 3, I took Meg down to Nuit Blanche, a free art show all over downtown Toronto. She seemed to have a good time, didn’t fuss much and passed out around 10 pm. It was a late night but it only happens once a year so I’m ok with it. I’m hoping this becomes an annual Mummy-daughter night. We did it last year when she was new and again this year.

This past Saturday I scored four free passes to Where the Wild Things Are. Pere was happy to take care of Meg for a few hours and she did well. Didn’t cry or fuss when we left her there – just had a confused look on her face but got over it. They adore her and she’s really sweet there.

This weekend was also Thanksgiving. We did my folks on Saturday for a traditional turkey dinner. Meg ate everything! Potato, turnip, turkey, gravy and stuffing – the stuffing was her favourite. She also enjoyed my pumpkin pie and Grampy’s apple crisp. I put her in the dress my Mom gave me at our baby shower. My grandma gave it to me as a little girl and now it fits Meg. It’s a bit dated but still cute and in great condition. Almost time for me to pack it away and keep it safe for another 20 years in case Meighen has a little girl one day.

Other than shopping, visiting friends/family, eating out a lot and hanging around home, not much has been going on these last couple weekends. Meg’s such a good girl when we’re in restaurants. She loves to colour quietly while we wait for our food. If only we could get her to stop intentionally dropping it on the floor. She doesn’t understand that doggies don’t come with every table, heheh. Today we tore out the closet and carpet from the master bedroom in anticipation of all the furniture coming next weekend. We just have a bit of patch work that needs to be done and a new paint job. I’m in no hurry for that though.

We’re slowly getting ready for Halloween. Meighen’s going to be a butterfly, thanks to her cousins. It’s super cute. We’re only going to take her to a few houses we know in the area. Our neighbour Sandra painted Meg an awesome pumpkin again this year. It’s Pocoyo! She did the whole gang on there – fantastic! We’re also hoping that next time Pere’s friend is over in London he can pick up some Pocoyo dolls for her. They’re almost impossible to get here in North America but apparently easy to find in the UK. If they don’t give them to her for Christmas then we will. She’s going to love them! Auntie Julie just got back from Ireland and brought Meg a cute little hat.

That’s about it for now!