Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!!! This year, we spent a week in Mass visiting my parents, then had "2nd Christmas" with Rob's parents the next weekend. Needless to say, we've been busy! But Megan had a great Christmas and got lots of wonderful new toys (and more Elmo stuff than you can imagine!)

We went to see Santa at the Mall today

Enough said? Maybe next year will be better...

Snow Day

It's been snowing since early morning here in MD. We probably have almost 3 inches on the ground now - and it's still snowing! This afternoon, we took Megan outside to play in the snow for the first time. After a few minutes of trying to figure out why she was all dressed up in her boots, jacket, hat and mittens (that were clearly too big for her), she started to like it. She especially liked when we handed her snowballs. She couldn't bend over and pick them up herself - everytime she tried, she fell over on her face. I think she wasn't used to the boots, and kept losing her balance. So we kept her upright and handed her the snow.

We were only outside for about 20 min, but she had a really good time!

Happy Halloween!

We had a good time today for Megan's first "real" Halloween. Last year she was so little that she was in bed before the trick-or-treaters even showed up!

This year, we went to a local street fair thingy and met up with some friends. Megan had a good time playing with her friends, looking at everyone in costume, and dancing to the music. Then we came home and went trick-or-treating to a few neighbors' houses, since they wanted to see Megan all dressed up.

Megan even came to the door with me a couple of times tonight, to say "hi" to the kids who came by. It was really cute.

We didn't get many good pictures, as Megan wasn't too pleased with her costume. It's fleece, and it was a bit too warm here today for that. And she really didn't like the hood. Plus, it's hard to get a ladybug to stand still when she's still not standing completely on her own, and she wants to cling to Mommy.

Pumpkin Picking

Rob & I took Megan pumpkin picking today. We all had a great time!

Megan's 1st Yankee game

We went to Camden Yards today to see the Yankees play the Orioles in the last game of the season. At first, she was a little concerned about all the cheering and applauding, but then she got the hang of it and was clapping and saying "Yay" right along with everyone else. She also enjoyed smiling and waving at everyone in the seats around us (and trying to grab their water bottles, peanuts, cameras, cell phones, etc.)

Megan lasted about 3 innings in our seats, and then we met up with some friends who were also at the game. After wandering around the stadium for a little while longer, we decided to call it a day. Three hours was more than long enough for little Megan. She was wiped out. But overall, we all had a great day!

Here are a few pictures of Megan, cheering on the Yankees!

Birthday Pictures

Sorry it's taken so long! Here are a few pics from Megan's birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Megan!

I can't believe it's been a whole year!

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"Hi Elmo!"

It's a pretty dark video, but I couldn't resist sharing it! We were trying to catch her dancing and waving at Elmo on TV. Every time she watches it, she dances to the song, and waves when Elmo says to "Say hello to Dorothy". We got this instead.



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Update & Pics

Sorry it's been so long since I posted an entry. We were on vacation in FL two weeks ago, and I'm still trying to catch up on everything around the house.

In the past two weeks, Megan has become an expert crawler. She crawls up on her knees, and also does this little butt scoot to get where she needs to go. She's very "busy" now - always getting into something. When I say "no" she turns and smiles at me, or laughs, and then keeps doing whatever it is that I don't want her to do.

I can already tell that she's going to be trouble... She pulled this toy away from the wall, and climbed up on the bench in the back:



She also had her first milk this past weekend. We're slowly transitioning from bottles of formula to sippy cups of milk over the next few weeks. Her response was lukewarm. She drank it, but didn't gulp it down. But she didn't spit it out and scream either, so that was good!



And finally, here's Megan playing with Daddy:

Megan's early birthday present

We were going to wait until closer to her birthday, but once it was delivered I couldn't resist. I had to set it up! (Plus it gives me a place to put her when I'm doing dishes, etc. and don't have to worry about her crawling off and getting into trouble!)

Megan's new trick

I hesitate to call it walking quite yet, since she keeps crossing her feet and almost falling over. But she is moving her feet on her own!


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How Megan fell asleep this morning

Her new trick is to sit up in her crib. I guess she just got so tired, she couldn't sit up anymore!

Growing up

My little girl is growing up.

The last week has been pretty eventful. On Monday, she started clapping. As of today, she's also officially crawling. She moved across the room in pursuit of a kitty crinkle toy - twice. It's not a very pretty crawl. I would describe it as a pseudo-army crawl with her toes dug into the carpet for that extra push forward. But it's crawling, nonetheless.

Then, this afternoon (when she was supposed to be napping) she started yelling and squealing really loud. We peeked in to check on her, and she was sitting up in the crib. She saw us, got a huge smile, and started bouncing up and down and clapping her hands. She was so proud of herself! (Of course, she continued to sit up and scream/squeal everytime we lay her back down in the crib - for the next hour and a half. Until we finally gave up and got her up).

Because of all this proficiency in sitting up in the crib, we finally had to lower the mattress.

All of these new "tricks" are so exciting and cute that I don't really think too much about how quickly she's growing up. But, for some reason, seeing the crib mattress in the lower position tonight makes me a little sad. Every time I peek into her room, it looks weird that she's so low to the ground. My little infant is going away, and a little person is taking her place! I can't believe she's going to be 10 months old on Sunday. I need to start planning her birthday party - Yikes! How fast time flies...

Clapping!

She finally learned how to clap! She's been close for a really long time. She waves her hands in the air and wants us to cheer and clap. But she couldn't get her hands together. All of a sudden, on Monday, she started clapping. Now she does it all the time!


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Apparently Megan likes to dance

to The Black Eyed Peas!


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Crawling, talking and drinking (from a sippy cup!)

Well, it's more like "weeble-wobbling" and babbling. But she's getting there! She's just been chatting away lately. I'm now having full conversations of babble in the car. So cute...



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Pointing

Last week, Megan started pointing. One morning she woke up and pointed at everything - the tv, the lights, the kitty, etc. It's very cute. I finally captured it on camera last night, when I was trying to get a picture of the mess she was making in her highchair. She was picking up Macaroni & Cheese and Bananas in her fist, and squishing them so they came out between her fingers. Needless to say - it was pretty messy. But in trying to capture that moment, she became distracted by Mommy with the camera - and pointed at me.

A new car for Mommy

We bought a new car today. I'm a bit sad to let my VW Golf go - I loved that car! But it was really necessary. It was too hard to get Megan in and out of the Golf. And we would have never been able to fit the bigger car seat in it comfortably.

Anyway... here's my new car! It's a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe in Dark Cherry Red with beige interior. It's pretty snazzy!

Vacation

We just got back from our family vacation in Florida. Megan got to meet her Uncle, Aunt, Cousin and Great-Aunt for the first time. And see Grandma & Grandpa again.

It was a trip of firsts - first time on an airplane, at the zoo, and in the pool. She had a very busy few days and was completely exhausted by the end of the trip. But overall, we all had a great time!

Here are a couple of my favorite pics:

It was a long day at the zoo!

Little Miss Hollywood

Totally exhausted...

Well this is a first...

This child HATES to be on her tummy. I repeat - HATES it! I was sure that she'd walk before she crawled because she hates it so much. But then this is how I found her when I checked on her tonight after she went to bed.

Apparently, she's now okay with it. She was getting close to this for a while now - she's been sleeping on her side for weeks, and lately it's been a little more forward than straight up on her side. But I never thought she'd sleep completely on her tummy!

I guess we need to buy some baby gates, because there's nothing stopping her now!

Babbling

Just in the last couple of days, Megan's started really babbling. Sorry the video's so dark. The window was behind her and I didn't want to move her and take a chance that she'd stop doing it.


http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=243408&cdate=20070427&ctime=161430

We have a tooth!

It's broken through the gums! It's her lower left tooth - and I can see a line under the gums right next to it - the next one isn't far behind.

I'm going to miss those big toothless grins, but I'm excited to see those little teeth at the same time!

Happy Easter!

Opening Day

It's Opening Day for baseball season, so Megan was all decked out in her new NYY gear. The t-shirt is way too big on her, but will be perfect for the Yankees/Orioles game we're going to in September! We watched a little bit of the game this afternoon (until it was time for a nap) - she seemed to like it! She was definitely focused...

Big Girl PJ's

We put Megan in "big girl" pj's tonight for the first time! She doesn't look like a baby anymore - she looks like a little kid!

They're still a little bit big on her, but it was in the mid-80's today and it's pretty warm in the house. We don't want to turn on the A/C because it will be in the 50's - 60's for the rest of the week. So we'll all have to deal with the heat. But I thought a long-sleeved footsie sleeper would be a bit much. It's not a great picture - she was really sleepy and wanted her bottle so she could head off to dreamland...

The kitty

Megan loves the kitty. Whenever we say "where's the kitty?" she looks around the room, and gets really excited when she sees her. But we've been reluctant to encourage many "encounters" between the two of them. See, Tabitha is a bit of a grumpy kitty. She can be unpredictable and doesn't do well with strangers. So we are very cautious with her around Megan.

However, being home all day with both of them creates a little competition for my attention. Tabitha likes to "stalk" us in the morning, when I'm feeding/playing with Megan, before she herself gets fed. She circles us on the floor, getting closer and closer, trying to get me to pay attention. Of course, Megan wants to "pet" her, but I try to keep them apart, as a hungry kitty does not create the best environment for a kitty/baby love-fest.

Before today, Megan has occasionally reached out her hand and touched her fur. And Tabitha has sniffed Megan's head. But that's about the extent of it. Until today...

Tonight, Tabitha came right up to Megan. Megan reached out her hand, and Tabitha rubbed her forehead on her hand and licked her fingers! Awwwww - it was so sweet! Of course we don't have any pictures to commemorate the moment, as we were both ready to rush in and keep the kitty from mauling Megan. And it probably isn't a good indicator that they are going to become fast friends. As Megan becomes mobile, Tabitha is probably spend the day hidden in a nice safe spot - far away from little fingers. But it's a start. And it really was cute...

Six months old!

I can't believe our little baby is already six months old! She's now 17lbs, 15 oz and 27 inches long. She's a bit of a chunker, but her weight is in proportion to her height, so she doesn't look nearly as big as she feels when I'm carrying her. She's sitting up on her own now, and loves playing with all of her toys - especially her new Learn & Groove table (which is sitting on the floor without legs so she can play with it). She knows how to move all of the musical instruments to make the sounds, and she "sings" along with the ABC song. Very cute!

She loves to stick out her tongue!

Playing in her crib with bear (when she's supposed to be napping, of course!)

Here's a quick video of her playing in her crib. She loves her feet and her bear!

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=243408&cdate=20070315&ctime=084928

Feet

Megan has figured out how to get her feet in her mouth! Somehow she contorts her body so that she can suck on her socks or toes (she prefers her bare toes, but will take what she can get.) Whenever she is getting a diaper change, or in the bathtub, they go right in her mouth. And apparently, they're also much more exciting than sleep. When she's supposed to be taking a nap, I peek in there and see two feet straight up and she's talking to them and pulling on her socks.

A Hat Fashion Show

I recently bought Megan a bunch of hats for this summer, as well as our upcoming trip to Florida in May. My poor pale-skinned child gets red cheeks just from being outside during the winter, I can't imagine what it's going to be like in the summer. Lots of sunscreen, I suppose - just like her Mommy & Daddy.

Anyway - we were bored this afternoon, so I thought we'd have a little "Hat Fashion Show". (And note that she's sitting up by herself - not propped up against anything! Although it only lasted for a minute or so, before she tipped over)

(This one comes with a matching raincoat - it's SO CUTE!!!)

I'm 5 months old!

Megan's 5 month birthday was yesterday. We spent most of the afternoon walking around the mall. We had to get out of the house, after being trapped inside for most of the week with the snow/sleet and frigid temperatures. She likes the mall. She looks around and watches people. (Although a bit too many people come up to us and start conversations - it's really strange. I don't like talking to random people. And they seem to stay forever! It's not like I get just a "she's cute" and they move on. They need to know her name, age, and tons of other stuff. Strange...)

Megan's new trick is banging and waving things. Every toys she has, she just flings it around and bangs it up and down. It resulted in her first lost toy at the mall (I'm sure it won't be her last). She had it, then she didn't. We looked everywhere, but couldn't find it. I think one of the kids in the same section where we were picked it up because I looked everywhere. Oh well. Off to Target to buy 4 of them so we'll have backups!

Because of the banging thing, I "made" her a drum out of a tupperware container and spatula. She knew exactly what to do. I put the spatula in her hand, and she just started whaling on the tupperware. It's very cute. Here's a pic of her being so intense about it. Excuse the drool, no matter what she's doing, she's always got a string of drool hanging from her mouth. Even if I've just wiped it up one second before!