Meighen

Our little baby girl, we couldn’t have asked for a better kid. She is amazing, a true delight. Even now while men are tearing up parts of my house making lots of noise she’s sleeping soundly in her playpen.

We’ve had a great week now that the teething pains have stopped. She’s slept through the night (at least 10 hours) for the past four nights and thankfully she has her appetite back. Because she’s pretty skinny to begin with I was worried when she only wanted half of her food. This went on for a couple weeks but now she’s back up to two/three cubes of food per meal.

Now that Meighen is crawling she’s into everything. She loves to play with our wall of cds and scatter them all over the floor. She’s discovered the book shelf and our DVD racks. Its pretty awesome when she crawls down the hall and into the kitchen to follow me. She loves to pull on Boober’s tail. She’ll get over to him, touch it gently and he’ll move over a few steps. She scoots over, touches his tail, he moves a few steps. This goes on and on. You’d think Boo would get it and just leave the room but he doesn’t.

We went to our last baby group yesterday. I wasn’t able to get her into a program for May so we’re all by ourselves. I figure I’ll increase our trips to the pool and maybe make a daytrip day where we go explore parts of the city. I want to take her to the beach before she starts daycare. She’ll be spending a lot of time along the boardwalk and I want to experience a bit of it with her for the first time. I’d also like to take her downtown to the waterfront, Vaughn Mills, the zoo and a few other places. I’m super excited for our trip to the zoo when Ben’s off after the long weekend in May.

So back to baby group. A few things happened yesterday that I was appalled at. There were three super young teen moms there with their babies (four to seven months). There was a painting activity that I ended up at with them. I put a smock on Meg and she had fun smearing paint on her paper. The other moms stripped their babies down to their diapers (nothing too wrong with that) and let them loose. They were covered head to toe with paint (moms were speckled too) but the thing that really upset me was that they were letting their babies mow down on paint. It was in the hair, all over their faces and totally in their mouth. The moms thought this was funny and were too busy laughing at the other painted babies to see their own kid gobbling mouthfuls of the stuff. It was non-toxic but still! So after they all had a good giggle one of the girls took her baby to the washroom to wash her down in the sink. We didn’t find out till a bit later but she ran the water too hot and scalded her baby’s right leg from hip to ankle. The whole leg was really red. She pretty much acted like it wasn’t a serious thing and just an “ooops”. This totally frustrates me. While most people have the ability to have children that doesn’t mean they should! There’s more to having kids than love and cute outfits. Geezus Murphy. I’ll stop now before I go on and on.

To end on a good note, I’ve started thinking about Meighen’s first birthday. It’s only two months away. I’m hoping to have a bbq at our house if the weather cooperates – burgers, dogs, balloons, cake and lots of yard for the cousins to play in. If not we’ll figure out an indoor option.

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?

Yesterday was a crazy busy day but one of the best we’ve had in a long time. We left at 9 am and got home at 7:45 pm. It was Ben’s last day off for the Easter weekend and his friends from Ottawa were in town so we made the most of it.

First we had an appointment at the bank way across town. We have the best personal banker ever and we’re always in there at least an hour just chatting. Last time we saw him I was about five months pregnant and he was very excited for us. He has two little boys of his own. This was his first time meeting Meg and he just ate her up. She really took to him too and let him pick her up, snoogle and kiss her. It was cute.

After the bank we headed downtown to meet our friends for lunch across from the ROM. We ate at Gabby’s and it was good (as always). They had their three year old son with them and he really likes Ben. Meg was her usual self in the restaurant – good as gold and eating up the attention. She also enjoyed the mac’n’cheese and banana I brought for her. After lunch we went across the road to the museum. We were there about four hours and did a good skim of the place. Meg seemed to enjoy looking at all the new things and took a nap part way through. Since we were leaving the museum during rush hour we called Auntie Julie to see if she wanted to do dinner. We parked at her condo and walked over to a great little Mexican place. Meg slept in the car from the museum to Julie’s and without waking up made it to the restaurant and up a big flight of stairs. She woke up just before dinner arrived. Meg still loves limes… its crazy weird. She’d get the ones from our glasses, gnaw on them a while then drop them on the ground. The waitresses had fun bringing her more and watching her chow down. This is one kid who isn’t shy of strangers making a fuss over her – she encourages it.

After dinner we came home and Meg was so happy to see her toys. She was full of energy and played by herself for a few hours before passing out. Unfortunately she didn’t have a great night – we were up three times. She just wouldn’t let me put her down so we slept together in the spare room. I think it’s her tooth. It’s really shot up the last week and she calms down as soon as we numb it. Poor doopy. She’s taking it well though. Eating a bit less and getting up a couple times a night but she’s still smiley.

Not much going on for the rest of this week. I’m planning on taking Meg swimming again at the rec centre before the weekend. We missed baby group yesterday but it was worth it. Saturday we have a UFC play date with the couple we went to Montreal with last year for St. Pierre vs. Serra 2. Their son is about seven weeks younger than Meg but more mobile. It should be a good time. Meg really sparks up when she’s around other little people.

Happy Easter everyone! It sure has been a busy week. Tuesday we had our Playful Babies group and we had a good time. After that we went downtown to pick up Daddy for an appointment. Ben took a few extra days off around this long weekend so he was off Thursday returning next Wednesday. Thursday Meg and I went to the Pickering Recreation Centre to go for a swim. Meighen loves the water (well the bath anyways) and I’ve been wanting to take her swimming for a while now. I picked up a cute little bathing suit last week so was eager to get to the pool. Meg took the whole experience like a pro. She was happy checking out the change room, loved all the attention from the ladies at the front desk and most of all loved splashing around in the pool. She didn’t make a peep when we waded into the training pool and went to work splashing and kicking away. When I’d put her on her front with my hands under her belly it was like she knew how to swim. She was moving her hands and feet with such fury I thought for sure she’d be doing laps around the pool. We met another little girl a bit younger than Meg and the two of them had fun. I don’t think Meighen will have any trouble learning to swim (or making friends).

Friday I got to hang out with my sister without Meighen for a few hours. She’s getting ready to move in a couple weeks and wanted a break from the boxes so we grabbed some dinner. She and Ben hung out on Thursday so it was my turn on Friday. Today we had Easter dinner with Ben’s dad and brother. Meighen loves spending time with her cousins, it was nice. Tomorrow we’re off to my Mom’s for Easter and might spend the night. I’m not too sure yet cause I was looking forward to taking Meg swimming again on Monday but this time with Ben. Tuesday is going to be a super busy day with a bank appointment, baby group and lunch with activity with Ben’s friends from Ottawa. So much for a vacation, we’ve been so busy!

The only progress we’ve made this week is she can now go from her laying down to sitting up. Now that she can do all the steps I imagine she’ll go from laying down to standing in no time. I’ve caught her a couple times trying to get up in her crib but hasn’t done it on her own yet. It won’t be long though.

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.