Meighen

I’m totally excited about this!

I think Meg is getting the hang of kisses. Last night Ben went in for a kiss and she leaned in a bit and took the kiss on the lips! Usually she turns her head so we end up with a cheek or a nose but not that time. We thought it was just a fluke but still awesome.

Then this morning, I went in for a kiss and she did the same thing! She leaned in and tried to pucker but it ended up being a little open mouth. It was so sweet. Thinking it was a fluke I tried again and so did she. This went on about three times. I can’t explain the warm rush of emotions… it was totally amazing.

Today Meighen’s seven months old! Things are going great. She’s really enjoying all the new food she’s on. She likes all the orange vegetables so far and is starting to dislike like peas. I’ve done up some broccoli and green beans for the next week. She seems to like the green beans so far. She likes all the fruit she’s tried and banana seems to be her favourite. The next week we’ll try kiwi, avocado and cantaloupe. She really enjoyed the home made apple sauce with cinnamon – smells just like apple pie. It’s nice that since I’m making all this food I don’t worry about putting it in my mouth, sometimes it encourages her to see Mommy eating it too. One of the Moms at my baby group told me about Mum-Mums. They’re a rice wafer that melts in your mouth. Meg seems to like them and gets it all over herself – fun!

We spent the last few days up in Brighton visiting with Grammy and Grampy. Meg’s discovered how to torment the puppy. She waves her soother or spatula (kitchen toy) at Nelson and he goes ballistic. He barks, races around and puts his paws up on the couch. Meg loves this and it always gets her giggling and smiling. I’m surprised that all the barking doesn’t upset her. She always blinks and looks surprised but then starts smiling -what a good girl. She spent a good part of the visit sitting on the couch playing with her toys. She’s so pleased with herself now that she can sit up. She’ll sit there for an hour playing with her toys and only topples sideways a few times. She can even reach, bend over, grab a toy and sit back up.

I didn’t make it to the baby group today. I was so busy yesterday and driving in that terrible snow I didn’t want to go out today. It was the last day for the “Playful Babies” group but she starts “Bouncing Babies” next Thursday. That runs the month of February. I’m going to check with the doctor about Meg taking swimming lessons because of her delicate skin. I don’t know if the chlorine would affect her. If she says its ok I’ll hopefully get her in lessons for April.

Only five months of mat leave left. I want to make the most of them.

Reading over a few of my previous posts I realized I haven’t reported much on her physical progress. Here’s a brief update for 6 ½ months. Meighen has wanted to move since day one eager to get up and go. She’s well on her way now.

Meg loves her dumdum (soother). For at least a month now she can locate, work her way to it if she’s in the crib, grab it and shove it in her mouth. Most of the time it’s going in the right way! It’s crazy. She’ll go to bed without one and when I check on her in the morning she has one in the right way.

Meighen’s really good at flipping over to her tummy and returning to her back. She has a way of crawling along slowly on her back and can make it quite a distance if you let her go long enough. Since joining the baby group Meg’s seen a few older babies crawling. She watches them with great interest like she’s studying every move, taking it all in. Sure enough yesterday I caught her almost pulling her knees up under her and pushing. She’s not holding her tummy off the ground but I think she’ll figure it out quick.

She’s pretty much sitting up on her own now although she’s still a bit wobbly. Meighen’s been trying to stand since the first month or so. She can now hold her own weight for long periods of time while we hold her around the middle. She’s been taking little steps up our body or across our laps but today she took a good 10 steps or so with us supporting her. She’s completely wobbly and nowhere near ready to stand on her own but she sure has the concept of walking. When we’re in the tub together she totally stands up and marches after her rubber ducky.

Next on the list to master… sitting alone for a while with toys and crawling.

Yesterday was fun. I think Meighen really likes it. There were some new moms and babies there. We read a story then moved onto the activities. At the first one we made a rattle out of a laundry soap cap and some beads. The next one was like a little sandbox but with Cheerios and Rice Crispies. Meighen enjoyed spilling them over the edge and running her hand though it. Some of the older babies (with teeth) ate them so Meg gave it a try. Freaked me out a bit – she’s not ready for hard cereal. The last activity was finger painting but the paint was Kool-Aid. I put blobs of it on the paper and Meg went to town smearing it around. I think she enjoyed it. The baby group ended with Meighen getting one heck of a scratch. Another baby girl crawled over to check Meighen out. They were just looking at each other when the other girl pawed at Meighen. Turns out she got a good finger nail full of Meg’s forehead. Meighen freaked out, the other mom felt terrible and I was trying to let her know it’s no big deal – these things are bound to happen. Meanwhile part of me is freaking out thinking my poor baby’s hurt.

Today I’m going through all her clothes. I sorted the stuff she’s grown out of and boxed them up. I put away the cloth diaper kit to free up a bin. I’m gave it a try but it wasn’t my thing – too bulky. I’m now going through all her current clothes and pulling out some new stuff. Lets just say there’s baby clothes everywhere!

Not too much going on over the next couple of days or next week actually.

Lately we’ve been hardcore on introducing new foods and tastes to Meighen. It’s been so much fun. We were out with Ben’s Dad for lunch the other day and Meg grabbed the lemon from my glass and popped it in her mouth! Little monkey. She gave it a few licks and didn’t seem to mind. Then she gave it a good suck and gave us the tradition “I just sucked a lemon” face. Right now she’s still on veggies – peas, carrots, yams and squash. She seems to like them all. I bought some fresh fruit to start her on fruit but it’s not quite ripe enough just yet, still pretty firm. By the weekend I’ll be able to freeze some peach and pear puree and mash up some banana for her. I’m sure she’s going to love it. I tried a bit of applesauce the other day and that did not go over well. She made a face like we were trying to poison her or something.

Tomorrow is another “Playful Babies” group. It’s going to be nasty cold for a few days so I’m not looking forward to taking her out in it. Yesterday we were two ladies on the town. First we did lunch downtown with a colleague and after stopped by the office for a bit. Then we went to Wal-mart for baby supplies (how could they not have formula?) and did groceries in the same mall. Next we picked Ben up (stopped in his office to say ‘Hi’) and went to the chiropractor. After that was dinner and a visit with my sister and finally ending our night at Pet-Smart for kibble. What a day!! We were out and about from around 11 – 8. She did awesome! Taking Meg groceries is fun. She can now sit in the top part with her legs through the buggy. She gets strapped in and hangs onto the handle while babbling to the little 25¢ box and chain. We always get stopped with “how cute, how old is she” or “she’s adorable, look at those eyes”. Then she smiles at them and the ladies feel compelled to chat me up even more. Usually Ben and I don’t mind but when you’re running out of time and have to be somewhere else it’s kinda a pain in the ass. Ah well, small price to pay having a cute baby.

Meighen had her six month check up on Tuesday. She’s now 15 lbs and 27 inches – skinny and tall. She got another two needles and this time didn’t make a sound! She was tired and hungry going in but after half a bottle and a quick nap she was good to go.

Today we went to our first “Playful Babies” group at the Early Years Centre in Pickering. They offer free programs and drop-in sessions for kids up to six years old. The program I’m in right now is once a week on Thursdays for one hour. Today we read a story, sang some songs and rotated to three arts and crafts stations. Meg’s a bit young for crafts so hopefully the activities will change week by week. In February I’m going to try to get her into “Baby Circle Time”. We’re decided to put off the swimming lessons for this season since Meg’s had a few body rashes already. Maybe in March we’ll look into it again.

That’s about it for now. Have a good weekend everyone!

Boy it’s been a busy week! We had Christmas dinner with Ben’s side of the family and Meg got a lot of attention. She loves to watch her cousins play. Next year she’ll be toddling after them = )

Ben’s mom and husband came to spend a night with us and got lots of Meggy time. Mere sure loves her little girls. It was nice that we all got to spend time together. It doesn’t happen a lot given the geographical distance between us.

We had a nice quiet New Years Eve with friends. We had another couple over for a fondue dinner and watched some Russell Peters. Good times. Meighen slept through it but that’s ok, she’s still new.

Meg and I went to visit my Aunt on New Year’s Day and we spent last night at Grammy’s to meet up with my friend and her son in Kingston for lunch. It’s always great to see her and her little boy. He’s just over one year old now and is so big compared to Meg. Meighen sure liked seeing another little person. I’ll have to start checking out some of the Early Years activities with her now that she’s six months. They really didn’t have any programs for younger babies.

We’ve finished eating our first round of carrots (five days). She did great! The first day was so-so but then she got the taste for it and enjoyed the new few days worth. Today we moved onto peas. The first mouthful looked painful but then Meg gobbled up the rest of the serving – good girl! If peas and carrots have been a hit I’m sure she’s going to love the yams that are coming up in a few days. All of this is homemade – I went on a baby food binge and steamed then pureed a few things. I’m glad she’s liking veggies so far and hope she continues to like them when fruit comes her way in a couple weeks.