Meighen

I can’t believe what a good little helper Meighen is turning out to be. She tends to do what I do.

She’ll help put her toys away, helps me get her dressed, closes open cupboards and doors, wipes down her highchair tray after dinner and so much more.

We went grocery shopping this morning and she helped me put the groceries on the conveyor belt. Whatever she could reach in the cart and lift by herself she passed to me. The women in line thought this was adorable, especially when she was struggling with a big box of Cheerios. Meg managed to get a grip and pass it to me… the most important item in the cart – Meg’s Cheerios. hehe.

I’ve been working on getting Meg to brush her teeth more often. I started a bit late but she seems to be taking to it.

Tonight is Halloween. I picked up a little pumpkin this morning. I thought Meighen would get a kick of watching us carve one. She’s loving all the Halloween decoartions. Everywhere we turn is “what’s that?”

I got the spare room sorted out so Meg now has a couch, tv, dvd player and stuffed animals in there. I’ll eventually move some more toys in … still have a bit more to do in there. I moved Meg’s dresser into her room. It’s a little cramped for now but I image she won’t be needing the changing table for more than another 6 months or so. I figure whens she moves into her bed we’ll give the change table back. Her dresser top will do for a couple months. I’ve also sorted out the living room. I took out the overflowing toybox and cleared out the bookshelf… which is now a toyshelf. It gives us a bit more space.

Ok.. pumpkin time, nap time, dinner time then time for Meg’s first trick-or-treating.

October is almost over and we’re all sick… again. I don’t know if this is coming from Meg being in daycare of me and Ben being in office environments. Thankfully Meg’s not too bad – just has a really runny nose. I think I have a mild flu and getting an ear infection while Ben has a cold. Not fun. It’s a family sick day today, except Meighen doesn’t seem to understand Mum and Dad aren’t up to par.

It’s been a pretty quiet month, just visiting with friends and family. Ben got the bedroom torn apart but we still have a little bit to finish up. Having a king bed is wonderful – lots of room for Meighen to curl up with us and watch tv before bed. She’s really taken to using a pillow so I’ve put one in her crib for her. Not a feather one, something stiffer so it doesn’t form to her face. I’ve also given her a little comforter that came with her crib set. She was too little before now to use it. She’s still not interested in getting out of her crib so we’ll leave it there but the queen bed is ready to go when she is. I figure we’ll just put it on the floor with the boxspring till she’s big enough to climb in with the frame on.

Grammy and Grampy move up to Elliott Lake this weekend. We’re hoping to see them for a visit and dinner before they’re gone. We were supposed to this weekend but we got sick. Our next visit won’t be till Christmas when they come down. This weekend is also Halloween (and daylight savings). I still have to dig out our decorations but Meg’s costume is ready to go. We’re going to take her to a few houses on the street then give out candy at ours. I imagine each year she’ll go a bit further and hit more houses. Soon she’ll be old enough to say tell us we can’t have any of her candy… but not this year.

Hm, it’s been a slow month. Maybe next month will pick up.

Man it’s been a crazy few weeks. Work has been really busy so I haven’t had a chance to update in a while.

Daycare’s going really well. Meighen now gives Robyn hugs when we pick her up and we hear she’s giggling and chasing the other little ones around. She’s one happy kid, always laughing and smiling.

Progress wise there’s been lots going on. We’re walking full time now and practically running! She’s also getting good at going down stairs, backwards thankfully. When we hold her hand she’ll go down one at time frontwards and standing up. I have all the confidence in her going up but still a bit nervous when she wants to go down. Once she masters it I’ll feel way better.

We had a ton of rain and poor Meg couldn’t go out back for a couple weeks. Now that she’s upright she loves to explore new areas of the yard and can even go down the little slide on her own. She’s doing so well.

Meighen’s got a bunch of new teeth coming in – mostly molars but a few non-molars. She had a fussy week, which she usually does when the teeth are working their way down, but now we’re back on track. She’s been sleeping awesome through the night with little to no interruption.

Meg can totally feed herself with a fork now. It still gets all over her face from time to time but she’s eating with utensils at every meal. She’s totally off formula now – it took a little while to transition her over to milk. Her bowels weren’t agreeing when we tried back in July but this time we’ve had no problems. It’s cute – she now knows that the milk comes out of the microwave. She waits by it till it beeps and tries to press the button to get it out. When she wants a bottle she goes to the microwave and starts fussing – what a smart girl!

We had Meg’s 15 month check up the other week. Not much has changed. She’s 21.5 lbs and 31.5 inches. We got a couple more needles – chicken pox and a second measles or meningitis – I’d have to double check to be sure, there are so many inoculations. I think we’re going to go with the basic flu shot (two needles) this winter but not the H1N1. Even my doctor agrees it’s too new and not all the risks have been identified. Since Meg’s around school kids every day I think the the flu shot is essential. If we were still in a maternity bubble I wouldn’t worry so much but she’s out and about all the time interacting with all sorts of kids. Better safe than sorry. She handles needles pretty well. Now that she knows what they are she cries a bit but gets over it fast.

Activity wise… hm. On Saturday October 3, I took Meg down to Nuit Blanche, a free art show all over downtown Toronto. She seemed to have a good time, didn’t fuss much and passed out around 10 pm. It was a late night but it only happens once a year so I’m ok with it. I’m hoping this becomes an annual Mummy-daughter night. We did it last year when she was new and again this year.

This past Saturday I scored four free passes to Where the Wild Things Are. Pere was happy to take care of Meg for a few hours and she did well. Didn’t cry or fuss when we left her there – just had a confused look on her face but got over it. They adore her and she’s really sweet there.

This weekend was also Thanksgiving. We did my folks on Saturday for a traditional turkey dinner. Meg ate everything! Potato, turnip, turkey, gravy and stuffing – the stuffing was her favourite. She also enjoyed my pumpkin pie and Grampy’s apple crisp. I put her in the dress my Mom gave me at our baby shower. My grandma gave it to me as a little girl and now it fits Meg. It’s a bit dated but still cute and in great condition. Almost time for me to pack it away and keep it safe for another 20 years in case Meighen has a little girl one day.

Other than shopping, visiting friends/family, eating out a lot and hanging around home, not much has been going on these last couple weekends. Meg’s such a good girl when we’re in restaurants. She loves to colour quietly while we wait for our food. If only we could get her to stop intentionally dropping it on the floor. She doesn’t understand that doggies don’t come with every table, heheh. Today we tore out the closet and carpet from the master bedroom in anticipation of all the furniture coming next weekend. We just have a bit of patch work that needs to be done and a new paint job. I’m in no hurry for that though.

We’re slowly getting ready for Halloween. Meighen’s going to be a butterfly, thanks to her cousins. It’s super cute. We’re only going to take her to a few houses we know in the area. Our neighbour Sandra painted Meg an awesome pumpkin again this year. It’s Pocoyo! She did the whole gang on there – fantastic! We’re also hoping that next time Pere’s friend is over in London he can pick up some Pocoyo dolls for her. They’re almost impossible to get here in North America but apparently easy to find in the UK. If they don’t give them to her for Christmas then we will. She’s going to love them! Auntie Julie just got back from Ireland and brought Meg a cute little hat.

That’s about it for now!