Meighen

Being back to work has been for the most part alright. The hardest adjustment has been getting up at the crack of dawn after spending a year sleeping in till 9 or 10. A benefit to being back at work is you appreciate a long weekend that much more… especially when we get the Friday & Monday.

Work’s been slow so I’ve been putting together a document of summer festivals, events and other things that I’d like to do with Meg. Being in Toronto we have all standard attractions – Wonderland, Science Centre, Museum etc. We tend to save those for when company is in town. There are a ton of free festivals and events in/around Toronto that I want to start checking out. I think it’s amazing we can expose Meighen to so many different things and hopefully create wonderful childhood memories for her.

On Friday we’ll probably just putter around home, do some shopping, Ben has an appointment, maybe go visit my sister at work and pick up some free books. The other things I want to do this weekend (in no particular order) are check out our local Ribfest (ribs, midway and more), picnic in High Park (Toronto’s version of NYC’s Central Park), go to Brighton to see Grammy & Grampy and if time/weather allows check out the Cobourg Sandcastle Festival. I’m quite excited for all the fun things we can do = )

Some other things on the list for the next couple months are: Highland Games, a Pow Wow, Cobourg beach, Trenton Splashpad, the CNE (Ex) and Buskerfest. Later in the fall there’s Nuit Blanche (free outdoor art exhibits all over downtown from 6 pm – 6 am) and of course all sorts of great Christmas activities. I know, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

Since the last post Meg’s been a bit grumpy and moody but she just cut three more teeth. She can go up and down the deck stairs standing up while holding onto the railing. She can walk a bit with a push toy and I’m still trying to get her confidence up to walk on her own. Slowly but surely.

Now that I’m back to work it seems my posts are getting father apart. Ah well, lots to talk about this week. I guess the first thing is that we’re all sick. Boo! Ben brought a cold home last week and I got it this week. I think Meighen’s fighting it cause she’s been running a fever the last two days but not actually getting a runny nose or cough. Last night was a bit worrisome though. We were all home on a sick day and Meg was really hot all day so we gave her a couple doses of Tylenol. By evening she was boiling. When we took her temperature it was at 103! Poor little girl. She was still still her happy self though, just tired and a bit weak. She was still crawling and giggling though. We gave her a luke-warm bath, more Tylenol and some fluids and checked our copy of “The 24 Hour Pediatrician” by Christina Elston. It said to do what we were doing and warned of the dangers of temperatures slightly higher than Megs. After that we called Tele-Health. The nurse we talked to was awesome and reassured us we were doing everything we could. If her temperature went up any more we’d have to take her to emerg. Thankfully it went down a degree after the Tylenol kicked in and continued to go down overnight. By this morning it was down to 100. I took another day off to make sure she was ok and got lots of rest. Now that the serious stuff is over, onto the cute stuff!

Last weekend while I was doing dishes I noticed Meg got into my dish towel drawer, again. I don’t worry when she does. She’s entertained and pretty safe. When I finished and turned around to dry my hand Meg was sitting in the drawer. She pulled it all the way out and onto the floor, removed all the towels and climbed right in. It was so cute. She was very proud of herself.

I don’t know what got into her that day to make her super cute but her next new thing was to share her snuggy blanket with Sprocket. Meighen was sitting on the floor snuggling her blanket. She crawled over to Sprock and pushed the blanket towards her muzzle. Meighen likes to hold the blanket to her mouth and yell into it. Then she tries to get you to do it and laughs when you do. I think this is what she was hoping to accomplish with Sprocket but with no luck. She ended up just putting the blanket on Sprocket’s shoulder. Cuter than the drawer incident.

Later that night we were all puttering around upstairs and our closet doors were open in the bedroom. That’s where we keep our laundry basket but this time the basket was downstairs so there was a big open space. She thought it was great to wander in and hang out peeking around the door. Again, very cute!

Meighen’s been doing well at daycare. This has been a great week! She still whines a bit when we drop and pick her up but otherwise she’s happy all day and doesn’t fuss. What a girl! I knew she’d do well with Robyn. She’s starting to accept the boy her age – she was giving him kisses and he pats her head when she cries. Awwwe. Since Meg spends most of her days outside in the park or at the beach with Robyn I think she’s associating her sandals to going out. Yesterday while we were home she went over and grabbed her sandals, crawled over to me, lifted a sandal and a foot and went “ba!” She wanted me to put them on, she wanted to go out! Even though she was burning up with fever she still wanted to go play, what a doopie. Then today, she was trying to put her sandals on all by herself. She pulled the Velcro to open it up and tried putting her foot through. 13 months old and trying to put on her own shoes… I can’t believe it. Her dexterity is amazing. She can put together baby Lego and put blocks on a peg.

I think we’re getting close to “mama” She’s said it a couple times but still resorts to a loud “da” for me and “dada” for Ben. She’ll get it eventually.

That’s about it. We were supposed to go to a BBQ tomorrow in Oakville but Meg and I might stay home and rest, let Dad have a nice afternoon to himself. Our plans to go to a PowWow on Sunday have changed. It wasn’t going to be quite what we thought so we’ll wait for the bigger ones that come to TO. We’re looking forward to the long weekend next weekend. Ben and I both get the Friday and the Monday *yay*. I’d like to get out to my folks for an afternoon to use the pool and let them visit with Meg. After spending a week a month there during mat leave it’s weird not having been there since early June.

Wow. Life has certainly been busier than expected the last few days. We were supposed to have a quiet weekend but we ended up spending it with Ben’s family. His aunt, uncle, cousin and her kids were in town from up north. On Saturday we met them at the Woodbine mall that has an indoor amusement park in it. Meg was astounded with all the lights and sounds. She loved the arcade, watching the rides and watching her cousins running around. Too bad she’s too little to go on any of the rides. It was a nice day.

Sunday was more or less like Saturday except this time we went to Wonderland! I think I was more excited than Meg and Ben, although Meg didn’t know what was coming. She behaved well all day and took a couple naps in her stroller. Our first stop was in front of what used to be Top Gun. We got as close as possible to the track so she could see the coaster swooping down and rushing past her. When it did, she just turned to us and smiled – approval! She’s going to LOVE rides when she gets bigger. After that we took her on the carousel. She didn’t quite know what to make of it but sat with us patiently and went round and round. We spent a couple hours in Hannah-Barbera land with the fam and had a nice visit. Meg loved the kids music surrounding us and would dance in her stroller – very cute. We broke away from the pack for a little while and took her to Splash Works so she could play in the splash pad. I think this was her favourite. We got changed into our swims suits and started heading to the kiddie pool. When she saw it she pointed and started jabbering with excitement. We hung out in the pool a bit, mostly walking around the pool, that’s all Meg wants to do these days – walk. She’d see Ben on the side, climb out and crawl over to him to say hi, then head back to the pool. It was sweet. It was a very long (and expensive) day but well worth it. I don’t think we’ll go back till she can at least do a few kiddie rides. When that happens we’ll likely get a family pass since it’s cheaper that way. For the next few years we think we’ll get a family pass to the Zoo since it’s just a few minutes away from our house and has a new splash pad for the kids. It’d be nothing to pop over after dinner and spend a few hours.

Meighen seems to be doing well in daycare. She still fusses a bit when we drop and pick her up but Robyn swears she’s not like that all day. She’s been getting her own toys out of the toy box, exploring the house and park and venturing over to the splash pad. She’s napping and eating well. What more can we ask for? Eventually she’ll calm down and be happy to be there.

A funny thing happened this weekend. While we were getting ready to head to the mall we had the TV on in the spare room. I’d never seen the show that was on but it was like a Dora the Explorer but a Chinese version. The little animated girl had a sidekick and spoke English but would throw in the occasional Chinese word. So the little girl was telling her friends to push the car and gave the Chinese word for “push” which sounded like “fway”. She’d turn to the viewer and say, “can you say fway?” At that point Meighen made a noise that sounded like “way”. Ben and I looked at each other and thought “ok, coincidence” but then it happed again. The little girl said “fway” and Meg went “way”. It was craziness!! Meighen is speaking Chinese before English! (Ok, I doubt she is but it was sure funny!)

That’s about it for now. We have another busy week/weekend ahead of us. Yesterday we did dinner with Auntie Julie and tonight we’re visiting with Ben’s step-brother and family who are also down from up north. This weekend Meg’s cousin is having a birthday party and then on Sunday we’re going to a bbq at Ben’s aunt/uncle. Lots of family things going on. = )

This week was Meighen’s first full week with our sitter. She seems to be doing just fine. She whines a bit in the morning and at night when we drop her off but she settles quickly. Meg’s eating great, taking two naps a day and doesn’t seem to mind the commute (yet). I’d say I’m doing fine being back at work. It’s not as great as staying home but it’s a nice change of pace. I love lunch hours now – one hour to sit by myself and read a book. Ahhh bliss.

Not much going on progress wise. She’s still babbling in baby sentences. A few sorta words are coming out, nothing that anyone else would understand though, heh. She’s walking fantastic holding two fingers but not confident enough to try on her own. She’s figured out the stairs on the deck and can go down them without tumbling. We’re no where near ready to let her go down the house stairs although Ben’s trying to teach her to bum scoot.

Meg’s been off baby food for quite a while. She’s done with purees and wants the real thing. She usually gets what we’re having for dinner. She’s not comfortable with pieces of meat yet but will eat ground beef and chicken nuggets.

I think we’re getting ready to cut some more teeth. She’s been pretty cranky the last few days and ran a slight fever for a little while. I was keeping an eye out for measels cause she had the shot a couple weeks ago but forgot about teeth! She has six right now. Hopefully they come in quick like the others.

This will be a quiet weekend but things change next weekend. Meighen will get to visit her three cousins (two from Quebec) at a birthday party in Markham. Then she’ll get to meet Ben’s Aunt and Uncle for the first time on Sunday while we visit with three other cousins. It’ll be a busy weekend. We’re also off to Oakville in a couple weeks for another birthday party. Amazing how things change eh. We used to rarely do kids birthdays and now they’re everywhere!

It’s been a little while since our last update. I started back at work last Wednesday so I’ve been a bit crunched for time. Wednesday and Thursday Meighen was with our neighbour Sandra. It went over as expected – really well! Meg knows her quite well and their house is the same layout as ours so I’m sure it felt just like home. I had the day off on Friday so we dropped Ben at work then went to the sitter (Robyn) for a playdate. It didn’t take long for Meighen to feel at home in the kitchen sitting on the floor playing with toys. Robyn has three sons (5, 4 and 1). The middle boy really wanted a sister so he took an instant shine to Meg. She liked watching the boys run around and play. She even crawled around the back patio exploring. It went well.

After that we had to go uptown for Meg’s one year checkup. Everything’s still great! She’s 20 lbs, 30” and still has a big head at 18.75”. This visit came with two needles which didn’t go over as well as in the past. Now that Meg’s mobile she didn’t want to stay still and hated that she was being restrained. She swatted at the needle a couple times but we got through it after a few minutes of tears (her not me). By time she was dressed and back in the waiting room it was all over and she was happy again… what a trooper!

Saturday we has our annual family photo at the Supercentre. I couldn’t believe it.. Meg wasn’t all smiley like she usually is. We still got great shots and a few with smiles. After that Meg and I went to Oshawa to visit with an old friend of mine from highschool. It was good getting reacquainted and having her meet Meighen. Meg seemed happy there crawling all over the deck and playing with the doggies.

Sunday was Meighen’s first birthday party!! Wow, what craziness. I couldn’t have done it without help from my family. My sister made a small cake for Meg and cupcakes for the rest of us. My mom, aunt and cousin supplied food and snacks and kept tidying up throughout the party. We had a good turn out with about 12 adults and five kids. They all got along well, gave Meg space to check out her gifts then all dove into the presents and started playing. It was sweet. Meg was sure pooped but didn’t want to sleep. My mom spent the night to take care of Meg on Monday.

Tuesday was daddy-daughter day. Ben drove me to work then took Meg over to Robyn’s for another playdate. This time he left her there for a little while to see how she got on without us. He left her smiling and playing with toys but came back to an upset doopy. She cheered up as soon as he picked her up and started waving bye-bye to the other kids…hah. After that they came downtown so we could have a family lunch and a quick visit at my office.

Yesterday (Canada Day) we went to visit Auntie Julie for KFC dinner. We had a nice little visit. Meg enjoys being there and playing with the little girl in the mirror.

I can’t believe the first year is over already. It dragged sometimes and flew by at others. I really enjoyed my time with Meighen over the past year watching her grow and develop. She’s a total joy and better than I could have ever imagined. She is so precious and the light of our lives. People often ask if we’ll have another since Meg is a doll. We’re not sure. Do we want to tempt fate and hope for another great kid? Should we quit while we’re ahead? Who knows. What I do know is that we were STILL in the hospital this time last year. Meg had arrived and we were waiting to come home. A former colleague of mine just had a baby so I’ve been reliving the excitement and anticipation of the whole experience through her Facebook posts. My labour/delivery was so traumatic. I still remember too much and can’t quite bring myself to do it again. Not at this point.

So, not much going on over the next week. We don’t have any plans this weekend but things pick up towards the end of the month. Hopefully Meg has a good first day at Robyns and we pick up a happy doopy later today