Meighen

On Saturday Meighen turned 14 months old! It’s not really a milestone but I thought I’d mention.

Last time I wrote we were heading into our annual bbq. As always it was a good time but got off to a late start. We had many familiar faces and a few new additions. Meg seemed to enjoy herself visiting with all the guests and munching on whatever was on the table. It must have been almost 12:30 am before we locked up.

The next morning semi-bright and early we left for my folks house. Ben was dropping us off and spending the afternoon while Meg and I stayed on till Wednesday. While in Brighton we went to the Trenton splash pad with Grammy and Grampy. It was very nice, new and large although it had a cement floor. Poor Meg isn’t fully walking and scratched up her knee crawling around. I walked with her the best I could but I was not dressed to be chasing her under the fountains. After splashing around we went for a walk with Grammy around the park, got ice cream with Grampy then we all went to the hairdresser while I got a haircut. The next day we all piled in the car and went for a drive around the county. We stopped at the Black River Cheese factory and Waupoos Winery for lunch. It was kinda neat going back to Waupoos with Meg. Mom and Dad took me there for lunch and photos just before she came and a year later we’re taking pictures of her there. In addition to being out and about Meg also got some pool time, lots of playtime and some boogie time. I can’t remember if I already mentioned but we downloaded “Spinning as We Go” by Hello Gumption for the iPod. It’s a song in the excel commercial… Meg’s favourite. Anyways, whenever it’s on in the car Meg starts bouncing, wiggling and bouncing her hand to the beat. It’s the cutest! Grammy and Grampy got a hoot of this and we must have listened to the song 20 times.

We got home on Wednesday and went downtown to surprise Daddy. Meighen sure misses her Daddy when we go to Grammy’s. Thursday we took it easy because on Friday we were tackling Buskerfest. First we had to get up early and go to the chiro, drop Daddy at work then come back home for a nap. Someone thought that 1:30 am was a good time to wake up for the day. It took us two hours to get her back to sleep. We were exhausted! Poor Ben, at least I got to come home and sleep. So, after our nap we got downtown around 2 pm and hung out till Daddy met us for dinner around 4:30 pm. Meighen enjoyed watching the acts and seeing all the people out. She really liked the stilt walkers and dancers. She didn’t seem to get much out of the fire acts.

Saturday we went to Auntie’s for dinner. Meg always has fun crawling around and destroying whatever she can get her hands on.

Sunday I had to take the munchkin shoe shopping. We have lots of hand-me-down dress shoes and a few pairs of boots but no daily shoes. Since the weather has cooled down I had to get something other than sandals for her. It was near impossible to find anything at Wal-mart so I ended up at Payless. With the BOGO sale going on I ended up with two pairs of sneakers for her. They are super cute and she can walk well in them. I got one dark pair and one pink pair. The dark ones are more for daycare so she can play and get dirty while still having a clean pair at home. I do believe I’m getting the hang of this Mummy thing, hehe.

Progress wise Meg’s speeding along. She’s walking more and more each day bravely going from table to chair to couch to dogs to us. She can climb up onto the couch and chair no problem and is quite proud to be sitting on the couch like a big girl. Since being home on vacation she’s become quite vocal. She babbles most of the day away and you can tell she’s really trying to have a conversation with you. She still doesn’t have many words but you can tell when she’s saying, “What’s that?” which seems to be often. Meg knows she can feed herself and gets upset when you try to feed her yogurt. She can do it and practically insists on doing so. She’s turning out to be quite a tidy little girl. She puts her toys away and instead of throwing her bottle/sippy cup away she now places it on the table or uses her carseat cup holder. It’s awesome… there are so many things she does that it’s hard to forget she’s only 14 months old!

It’s been another busy week for Meighen!

Last Saturday we went to Oakville for little Ben’s bday party. It was a good time. Meg and Ben were the only little ones there and had fun playing in the balloon pit and sharing Cheerios. With some encouragement they even gave each other a few kisses.

Sunday I got some “mummy” time and went out with Auntie Julie to do some shopping. Ben’s Mom spent the week with us so they prepared a nice bbq pork roast supper…. yum.

Tuesday Meg went shopping with Daddy and Mere after dropping me off at work downtown. Meg looks so pleased being downtown taking in all the sights and sounds. We met up with M’oncle Chad and family for dinner at Boston Pizza then I zipped out to my sisters to drop off a plant she left in my trunk on Sunday. It was quite the busy evening.

Thursday we came downtown super early and dropped Mere off at Union Station so she could catch the train home. It was an extra long day for me cause it was our office summer party. I left just before the storm hit and got DRENCHED. There wasn’t a dry inch on me anywhere. Anyways, it was kinda fun being out in the storm but sucked being so wet.

Today is another downtown day for Daddy and Meg. They came and hung out at the office with me for a bit while Ben put the new stroller together and Meg ate her breakfast.

Tomorrow is our annual bbq. This year it’s a bit smaller at around 10 people but it’ll still be a good time. There will be three babies/kids there so Meg will have company.

Sunday we’re going to my folk’s and I’m staying on till Wednesday while Ben comes back home and returns to work. I’m looking forward to getting some sleep, chilling in the pool with Meg and day tripping with Grammy/Grampy. We’ll be taking her to the beach and probably shopping of some kind. It’s awesome how much Meighen loves swimming and being in the pool. She took to the big pool well and enjoys floating around in the frog I bought her. Gotta get in as much pool time as possible before the fall settles in. I’ll need to get a new bathing suit for her soon, she’s growing out of the current one.

Next weekend will be a busy one! I want to check out Buskerfest and possibly take Meighen to the CNE. I’m still torn on that. Do we pay the $30 admission this year to walk around or do we wait till next year when she’ll get even more out of it. Too bad we couldn’t go today – it’s only $1.75 to get in!

That’s right! Meg started taking a few steps on her own yesterday. She happily walks from me to Ben (or Mere to Ben) with a few steps then lunges into our arms for hugs and cuddles. She then stands back up on her own, turns around and waddles/lunges at the other person. It’s cute – she’s so pleased with herself. It won’t be long now till she’s totally walking.

PS – the new stroller came today. We’ll give a review when it’s assembled and test driven.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the struggle I’ve been having with Elfe/Graco over a replacement wheel for my stroller. A few months ago my Mom bought us a great small stroller for Meg from a used store. It was practically new! About a month after that the wheel started wobbling like mad. Ben did what he could to patch it up but it only held a couple of weeks. That started my quest to get a replacement wheel.

First of all, when I call I’m often put through to the voicemail. A few times I didn’t even get the voicemail, it just rang. I only reach a person one out of every five calls.

On July 8, I placed an order through the customer service line. A couple weeks later after our credit card not being charged I called to find out the status of our order. At that time I was told our item was on backorder. It would have been nice knowing this at the time I placed the order and not two weeks later upon my own questioning. During this follow up call I was told the item is still on backorder and should be arriving to the warehouse the following week. After waiting another week, I called again on August 5 to follow up to see if the part has been shipped because we had still not been billed for it. During this call I find out it’s STILL on backorder but the girl on the phone arranged a special order from another warehouse to have the wheel shipped to us asap. I was told this could take up to two weeks. I thought I’d call and check on the order yesterday (after one week) to see if it had been shipped. Yesterday I couldn’t get through to anyone so I wrote a letter (more or less what’s above) with a paragraph saying how frustrated I was with their service and if there was anywhere else I could get a wheel aside from them. I didn’t expect a reply quickly so when I called today I find out it’s STILL on backorder. Man I was about to lose it. About 20 minutes after the call I get an email back from customer service apologizing for the backorder saying it was another distributor holding things up. To make things right they offered me a new replacement stroller! The catch being they want me to send the old stroller back for “quality control”. They’ll even send me the pre-paid packaging to return it. Sweet!

The new stroller looks alright and I’ve found great reviews online. It’s not our old stroller, which I loved, but I’m sure it’ll do. If not, we’ll just sell the new one and go buy another older model. = ) Hopefully it will be here within the week so we can use it while on vacation.

Old stroller

New stroller

What’s new in Meighen-land?

This week we’ve had major progress at the babysitters. Meg’s stopped fussing when we drop her off and even puts out her arms for Robyn to take her now. That’s an awesome step! Meighen and the other 1 yr old Ewan are becoming friends and they babble to each other in secret baby talk. It’s cute, Robyn said they chase each other around the couch and tunnel their way behind it. I caught a peek of it yesterday when picking Meg up, it was very cute.  Apparently Meg’s finding her voice there. When the boys are all talking and being loud she pipes up and lets a few bursts of noise out. Now that she’s sat back and observed for a month, she’s ready to join in the fun.

At home she’s very, very close to walking. She can cruise along the wall and even stands up on her own for about 30 seconds before falling to her bum and toddling off. I don’t know what happened to her giving kisses but we sure miss them. She’s into hugs now. Thankfully we’re back on track sleeping wise. For about a month she needed me a couple times a night (only a few minutes at a time). Now she’s back to sleeping through the night from about 9 pm till we wake her at 6:30 am. She’s a tough one to get up… Just like Mummy.

Last weekend was another full one. On Saturday we went to Ben’s brother’s for a visit with his Mom. I dropped Ben and Meg off and took some Mummy-time and stopped by a friends for a bit. After that the family all went out for dinner to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday. Meg was really good in the restaurant – as long as we kept her fed. It’s cute watching her steal French fries off my plate. Sunday we made a pork roast and went over to Auntie Julie’s for dinner. She was without power much of the day after the wicked storms that rolled through Toronto. Meighen doesn’t seem to mind thunder and lightning. If she’s asleep she sleeps through it and when she’s up and playing – doesn’t seem to notice. I think it’s amazing we ended up with such a chill, easy going, mellow baby. It makes life easier.

I think that’s about it for now. Ben’s mom (Mere) is coming to stay with us from Friday – Thursday. We have a birthday party to go to on Saturday and Ben has next week off. Hopefully Ben and Mere will be able to keep Meg occupied next week. A busy Meighen is a happy Meighen.

Well the August long weekend is over and boy we were busy. The September holiday seems to far away = (

Friday Ben had a doctor’s appointment so we met my sister for lunch. We grabbed some Swiss Chalet to go and ate at her office. We had a nice visit and grabbed a few books while we were at it. When we got home Meg spent some time in her pool on the deck. We finally had nice weather this weekend.

Saturday we went to Grammy and Grampy’s. Traffic getting there sucked but it was still a nice visit. Meighen loved the big pool and her little floaty. Until now she’s only been in the hot tub but the big pool was warm enough for her to get in with us. She had fun floating around with me and Ben. This visit was Meg’s first time on the riding lawn mower with Grampy – she’s finally big enough. He’s determined to get her an electric tractor to follow him around in.

Sunday Meg and I went shopping at Yorkdale. We have a birthday party to go to in a couple weeks for our friend’s son – he’ll be one. We shopped our way home and had a nice afternoon together then retired to the back yard and the kiddie pool.

Today we packed up, grabbed some Chinese food to go and had a picnic in High Park. It was a nice afternoon. We brought a blanket and sprawled out on the grass under a tree and had our lunch. After that we strolled through the little zoo and one of the large playgrounds. It’ll be awesome when she’s big enough to run and play. It was quite the playground – all wood and castle like.

We don’t have too much planned for August. Ben’s Mom is down next weekend for a couple weeks, we’ll be seeing her towards the end of her trip. We have little Ben’s birthday party and both Ben and I have a week off (although not together). We may take separate trips to Grammy’s for a couple days each with Meg. At the end of August we have our annual bbq and although it’s undecided at the moment – we might end up at the CNE for Meg’s inaugural visit. Not too young to start tradition. = )

Progress wise, Meg’s been really interested in feeding herself with a spoon lately. She tried this about four or five months ago but didn’t hang onto it. Now she can feed herself yogurt! She’s also taken to climbing everything possible which is giving us mild heart attacks. This past weekend Meighen mailed her first letter. Well it’s Mummy’s letter but she knew what to do when I opened the mailbox. She’s picking up things so quickly right now. She also seemed to know how to hold a popsicle by its stick. It’s crazy I tell you. Every day something new pops up. Awesome but crazy.