Meighen

I can’t believe Meighen will be nine months old next weekend. Man, the last few months have gone by too quick. I’m trying to make the most of each week. We go out a lot and run lots of errands shopping our way around the neighbourhood. I’m continuing the Playful Babies group through April which will be on Tuesday afternoons. I’ve also been thinking a lot about swimming with her. I had a look at the recreation centre schedule and instead of lessons I might start going to the infant swim session. It’d be about $6 for both me and Meg whereas the lessons are $85 for 10 weeks. By going on our own I can choose when I go and am not locked into a timeslot or if the chlorine bothers her eczema then I’m not out a bunch of money on lessons. I figure Ben and I are strong enough swimmers that we can teach her the basics and get her ready for swimming lessons in a few years. My aunt picked Meighen up a little swimsuit that looks like a wetsuit and has floatation pads sewn in. Should be good.

Meighen’s decided she does not want baby cereal for breakfast anymore – regardless of the flavour. Now that she’s on yogurt and Mini-Danino thats what she prefers. She has little pieces of toast or pancake as well. Just a bit – not too much. She still gobbles down her lunch, dinner and cereal for a bedtime snack – just keep it away in the morning.

This past weekend we had dinner at Red Lobster with Auntie Julie for my birthday. Man those Bahama Colada’s are amazing. Meg was her usual sweet, quiet, cute self and had the waitress and other patrons sucked in. On Sunday we had an unexpected visit with M’oncle Chad and Aunt Steph. Meg loves watching her cousins play.

Things are looking up again on the daycare front. We’re going to meet a lady (well she seems around our age) on Friday who’s in the area that we prefer. She does home care for up to two families at a time and has three children of her own (one is around Meg’s age, the other two are in school). She was recommended by the lady who we were hoping to get Meg with and has an opening at the end of June. We’ll see how it goes, fingers crossed!

I knew it was coming but I couldn’t believe it. Last night Meg started pulling herself up from a sit to standing. She’s been pulling on me like she wants up but couldn’t do it. Last night she did this over and over for about an hour using me as leverage. She was also able to do it on the floor hanging onto the table but needed a bit of support. Holy cow, she’ll be cruising in no time… then walking! Another great thing she’s been doing lately is waving. She opens and closes her fingers while waving her hand around. I don’t think she gets the meaning behind waving but we’ll work on that.

Today we had Meighen’s nine month check up. She’s now 28.5” and 18 lbs – skinny minny. The doctor didn’t seem worried although knowing she’s in the bottom 25% for weight of kids her age is a bit unsettling. Her cousins are super skinny so maybe it’s a Richard thing. Along with the doctors we had a ton of running around to do – groceries, Zellers, Lee Valley, fast-food lunch, the bank, video store, drug store and dinner at Casey’s! Today’s my birthday = )

That’s it for now. The rest of the week is pretty relaxing till Friday when it’s off to baby class.

On Friday I noticed a bottom front tooth poked though! Yippee! Not that I wish my poor girl the pain or discomfort that comes with teething but I’m glad we have another milestone under her belt. She’s been dealing with it pretty good. She’s been a tad cranky (which is hardly fussy at all), eating a lot and sleeping a lot. She’s been taking a good nap or two during the day and sleeping ok at night. She gets up maybe once or twice for a cuddle or soother and that’s about it. Friday night she slept for almost 13 hours straight!! I can’t believe it myself. She put herself to be before 10 pm and got up at 10:30 am. With the new tooth comes lizard tongue. She’s taken to running her tongue over her gums and lips like a little reptile. It’s cute.

Food wise there’s not much new to report. She likes a wide variety of meat (beef, chicken, pork), veggies and fruits. This past week I started her on yogurt. The plain stuff is super bitter so I’ve started blending it up with banana and she seems to like it just fine. She seems to like cheese too. I have a grilled cheese a couple times a week and she likes the little pieces I’ve given her. We’re at the stage now where she tries pretty much anything we’re having. Back to the yogurt for a minute. I’ve read that babies require dairy with a high fat content. Have you tried to find fatty dairy in today’s society? Not very easy! Everything is “lite” or “0%”. I might try the petite danino things – the cheese one. They’re 3% and yummy from what I remember.

We had a good week last week, did a bit of running around went to baby class on Friday. They had lots of activities this week that we really enjoyed. We made an egg shaker (out of a plastic hollow Easter egg) and a cup shaker (two plastic cups glued together with glitter and beads inside). It’s kinda funny but she loves them both! They also had an activity where the babies could bang on pots and pans with wooden spoons and other kitchen utensils. Meg had a BLAST with this one. She was hoarding the pots (had three in front of her) and banging away. Tonight while I was making more baby food I put her in her sled, gave her a small frying pan with a wooden spoon and let her go nuts. She was entertained for almost an hour – it was great.

This week is March break and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. I’m hoping to get out to the park a few times or even just find a bench somewhere and do some reading while Meg soaks up the outdoors. We’ve been spending more time out on the deck over the last few days. She’s totally enthralled by everything going on – trees blowing, birds flying, the dogs wandering, etc. I’ve missed reading so it’s a great opportunity for me to sit with her and read a few chapters. Who knows, I may even end up downtown one day wandering around since Ben and I have an appointment on Thursday.

We almost found a daycare for Meg. It was a home daycare that was close to work, excellent price with good activities. I was going to go meet her this week but it turns out she’s taking another child to fill the spot. We’re looking for June and I think she had a spot open now. She did recommend another home not far from hers that does have a spot at the end of June. That lady is on vacation this week so hopefully she returns my call when back after March break. A few people have suggested a live-in nanny but while they’re affordable, we just don’t have the space. In the meantime I keep cruising Craig’s List.

This past weekend we took Meg to the Pickering waterfront. It was her first time by a lake/beach. She seemed to enjoy checking everything out – the pebbles on the beach, the sound of the waves and especially the seagulls. The main reason I wanted to go down was to feed the ducks. Meg loves all animals she’s encountered so far so I thought it would be nice to feed the birds. Too bad most of the ducks were gone and there were a lot of signs saying “don’t feed the birds”. Boo!