Megan Rose turned four months old yesterday. That means today was her four-month well baby visit with Dr. G. As she did last time, Megan greeted the doctor with a nice display of her social skills. He came in to hear her hysterically laughing over a rousing game of Peek-a-boo we were in the midst of. "Ahh, that's what I like to hear! So she's laughing and interacting very well. Perfect." he said.
Actually that was the second time he came in. The first time he got to witness her turning pages in her "Miss Spider's New Car" book - something she decided to do for the very first time ever right there in the doctor's office. Then he realized he forgot his stethoscope and had to excuse himself.
She was pronounced perfect in every way and even delighted the doctor with a very nice smile directed at him when he referred to her as "Pretty girl." I do think Megan, even at four-months old, is fully aware of what that term means. It has ALWAYS gotten a smile out of her.
She is a big girl - falling in the 80th percentile for girls her age in all measured categories. She is 14 pounds 11 ounces and 25 1/4 inches tall. I do forget her head measurement already, although the scratch pad paper its written on is somewhere amongst the Miss Spider books in my diaper bag.
Outside the doctor's office, Meg delights us daily with a cache of new tricks. Today she decided to give blowing raspberries a try. Usually it means a whole big mess of spit bubbles tripping down her chin, accompanied by the silliest sound you ever did hear a baby make.
She enjoys singing and will join in any good song with her own array of lyrics disguised as cooing. She loves to laugh and does it often. She wakes up each morning happy to greet the day - although she loudly protests taking a break from it later in the form of a nap. Meg hates naps and when she finally succumbs to one her big brother is sure to do his darndest to wake her back up. Go figure.
She likes her books. She pokes a little finger at the pictures while she babbles at them. She fixes her gaze on each new page. She calms when we read. . .until she gets bored and then she lets us know she's had enough with a few well placed yells emanating from her reddening face.
Meg has a temper. Yes, this we know even at 4 months old. There are times when she is clearly yelling (not crying per se, just yelling) for the simple fact that she's ticked off at whatever great injustice has been done to her - it may be that she was simply placed on her belly or that she's been left in her play yard a moment too long.
Meg likes food. She watches 'real' food with great interest. She widens her already big blue eyes and she bobs her head forward in a move that must surely be an attempt to sneak a taste. She is particularity interested in whatever happens to be on her big brother's plate. Perhaps this is because she some how innately knows that he's the one most likely to sneak her some.
She loves being outside. She naps better outside - a fact that makes Mommy a bit bummed Megan wasn't born in the spring. :) She prefers to sit up like a 'big girl' in her stroller and not ride along in the car seat hooked to the stroller tray. She likes hanging out in the double stroller - all upright and proud in the back seat while Logan occupies the front. She smiles while she's in there and she checks out the world around her.
She likes to play games - peek a boo and piggy toes. They make her giggle which makes us giggle which makes her giggle more. She squeals, scrunches up her face and squints her eyes when she laughs. She loves playing with her new toys - the ones Santa brought her for Christmas. She lays on her activity quilt purposefully smacking the bar that makes the little bird pop out of its house and whistle.
She loves to take a bath. She's ditched any semblance of a bathseat and lays in the largest amount of water that allows her to splash while keeping her ears fairly dry. When she's in the tub she laughs and splashes. WE think she may be gearing up for a gold medal in the backstroke someday. She kicks her legs and flops her arms up and down. Sometimes she moves so forcibly in the water she splahes a sizable amount up into her face causing her to blink droplets from her baby-blues. She rubs them dry with her curled up first and then laughs about it before starting her swimming drills again.
She loves her people. She gives each of "her" people a beautiful toothless grin and a small sound that lets you know how much she absolutely adores you. She watches us move through her world with a great intensity - and if you happen to move away from her at a time she was hoping you had arrived to pick her up, she yells - loudly.
Megan is happy. She is opinionated. She is stubborn. She is determined. She is loving. She is cuddly and she is adored.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Sunday, January 09, 2005
A weekend of milestones
Megan will be four months old on Wednesday. To commemorate the event, Megan has set about to tackle a few milestones a couple of days early.
First she got her go at "real" food. Megan has been scoping out real food for about a month now. She watches people eat. She follows forks from plate to mouth. She lunges at Logan's bowl of cereal in an attempt to get fistfuls for herself. (Lucky Grandma intercepted.) This weekend we decided to give her a shot at her own food. She sat up in her high chair shoving her bib in her mouth as she waited for the soupy blah rice cereal to arrive. With the first spoonful she made a little face and pushed the rice back out at us. The second was different, as was the third and the fourth. By the time she was into her fifth small dab on a spoon she was laughing and flapping her arms in glee.
Now she's an old pro. Even as she mangles her tongue around her mouth a bit trying to figure out what to do with this thicker mush, she keeps a good 98% of what she gets in and swallows it down. Logan has also taken his turn in the fun. He sits next to her and takes over for a few spoonfuls - gently placing the baby spoon on her lips as he says "Here! Eat this!" She smiles at him. She watches him carefully and when she opens up, he sticks the spoon and waits for her to slurp. We are working with him to slid the rice cereal off into her waiting mouth.
Sometimes she steals her spoon from Logan. She waves it around like she's showing off her prize. She gets rice cereal in her baby-fine red hair and across her cheek - sometimes even in her eye. Then she shoves the spoon in her own mouth and sucks away on it which makes Logan laugh and announce that Megan is a big girl who can feed herself. Then he holds his hand out under the spoon and says (as we all to do the dogs!) "Give. Megan give."
The bigger milestone, perhaps, is that Megan has begun to roll over. She did it tonight for the first time although she's been toying with it for weeks by getting herself up on a side. Tonight, however, she surprised herself by flipping all the way over from belly to back. I had just laid her down on her stomach and she was happily playing away. She got herself up high on her arms - elbows nearly locked tight - and then she did it. She leaned to her right and found herself smack on her back lying half on the toy center of her activity blanket. She laughed about it and kicked those round legs a bit. Then I put her back on her belly. She got frustrated then and instead of rolling a second time she buried her face in her blanket and screamed about it. Hey, she's got a true red-headed temper.
First she got her go at "real" food. Megan has been scoping out real food for about a month now. She watches people eat. She follows forks from plate to mouth. She lunges at Logan's bowl of cereal in an attempt to get fistfuls for herself. (Lucky Grandma intercepted.) This weekend we decided to give her a shot at her own food. She sat up in her high chair shoving her bib in her mouth as she waited for the soupy blah rice cereal to arrive. With the first spoonful she made a little face and pushed the rice back out at us. The second was different, as was the third and the fourth. By the time she was into her fifth small dab on a spoon she was laughing and flapping her arms in glee.
Now she's an old pro. Even as she mangles her tongue around her mouth a bit trying to figure out what to do with this thicker mush, she keeps a good 98% of what she gets in and swallows it down. Logan has also taken his turn in the fun. He sits next to her and takes over for a few spoonfuls - gently placing the baby spoon on her lips as he says "Here! Eat this!" She smiles at him. She watches him carefully and when she opens up, he sticks the spoon and waits for her to slurp. We are working with him to slid the rice cereal off into her waiting mouth.
Sometimes she steals her spoon from Logan. She waves it around like she's showing off her prize. She gets rice cereal in her baby-fine red hair and across her cheek - sometimes even in her eye. Then she shoves the spoon in her own mouth and sucks away on it which makes Logan laugh and announce that Megan is a big girl who can feed herself. Then he holds his hand out under the spoon and says (as we all to do the dogs!) "Give. Megan give."
The bigger milestone, perhaps, is that Megan has begun to roll over. She did it tonight for the first time although she's been toying with it for weeks by getting herself up on a side. Tonight, however, she surprised herself by flipping all the way over from belly to back. I had just laid her down on her stomach and she was happily playing away. She got herself up high on her arms - elbows nearly locked tight - and then she did it. She leaned to her right and found herself smack on her back lying half on the toy center of her activity blanket. She laughed about it and kicked those round legs a bit. Then I put her back on her belly. She got frustrated then and instead of rolling a second time she buried her face in her blanket and screamed about it. Hey, she's got a true red-headed temper.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
He's back. . .
Megan seems to have eyes for her brother - or at least eyes on him whenever he's around. The looks she gives him, as mentioned previously, seem to say either "Ahh, my dear, loving brother, he's so cool!" or "Holy Cow! Here he comes again! ACK! Someone save me!" As sweet and innocent as Logan looks in this photos, I think Megan's eyes tell latter. Perhaps its the quasi-chokehold he appears to have her in. 
Laugh and the world laughs with you. . .
Megan has been laughing for a while at this point, but lately it seems to have become one of her favorite activities.
Talk to her - she laughs.
Sing to her - she laughs.
Come peak at her in her crib when she first awakes - she laughs.
Smile at her - she laughs.
Pull a shirt over her head, pausing to cover her eyes a moment - she laughs.
She laughs.
She laughs.
And she laughs.
Megan is a happy baby. . . usually.
Talk to her - she laughs.
Sing to her - she laughs.
Come peak at her in her crib when she first awakes - she laughs.
Smile at her - she laughs.
Pull a shirt over her head, pausing to cover her eyes a moment - she laughs.
She laughs.
She laughs.
And she laughs.
Megan is a happy baby. . . usually.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Roll Baby Roll
Ok, so she's not rolling yet, but she fiercly wants to. At least it would seem so. Megan has been caught about halfway to her back during belly time. She gets her upper body twisted to one side but can't seem to get those legs over with her. When she's fed up with time on her stomach, she rocks and wiggles as she fights hard to get herself sunny side up.
Of course the same is true when she's on her back. She rocks and rolls so much sometimes that she nearly gets herself up on her side. A bit more power and she may surprise herself one day as she flips over to her stomach.
Of course the same is true when she's on her back. She rocks and rolls so much sometimes that she nearly gets herself up on her side. A bit more power and she may surprise herself one day as she flips over to her stomach.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Saturday, December 11, 2004
3 Months old!
Technically its tomorrow, but I figure the night prior is close enough to being "offically 3 months old." I watch her lately and just sit in awe at how much she has changed. She's no longer has all that "newborn" business about her. She's total baby now, although given her druthers I think she'd rather be two like her big brother.
Megan is determined to sit herself up. If her eyes are open while she's in the car seat she pulls and strains against the restraints lifting her shoulders and head from her seat in attempt to get herself all the way up. She does the same thing in her bouncey seat and her swing. The girl wants to sit badly.
She's also determined to talk. If Meg is awake and not eating, then anything that remains within her line of site for more than 5 seconds becomes a viable conversation partner. She coos, goos, squawks, squeaks, giggles and makes a lot of cute sounds in a cadence that can only be described by saying honestly, the girl thinks she can talk and we can understand her.
We've also kissed the baby tub goodbye. Megan is a decent sized girl for her age - already in the neighborhood of 24 inches tall. She hates the baby bath tub. It makes her squish up her legs like a little froggy legs just to fit in it...which also makes her cold fast. Instead we've begun to use a mesh seat that resembles the bouncey seats. She sits on it and kicks her leg like nuts. She streches out and laughs. She talks to us and to the facuet.
Megan is starting to eye 'real' food. She sits on a lap at dinner if she's boycotting her 'alone' time in the swing or bouncey seat. As she sits she stares at our plates and then occasionally, watches the food find its way to a mouth. Her eyes get wide and she bops her head forward as if she's a little bird attempting to peck away at the meal.
She's a little girl in motion. She prefers to be moving as often as she can - which usually means she's up in arms that walk her around. She seems to enjoy music, especially if its music to which the arms holding her is dancing to while her big brother spins in circles until he's dizzy or dances like the "Rockettes."
And, on a medical note, the move to the crib (which has been FLAWLESS!) and the migration of focus to the upper left of Megan's field of vision has done the trick. Her neck is no longer 'wry.' She holds her head up straight and strong without even tilting slightly to the left. She turns that head freely and often - side to side, up and down. She's always had this penchant for holding her head up. She was lifting her head and shoulders up nearly from birth...but it did take that temporary left tip for a bit there. Now we're back to normal. I'm sure our next OT visit will be the last.
Megan is determined to sit herself up. If her eyes are open while she's in the car seat she pulls and strains against the restraints lifting her shoulders and head from her seat in attempt to get herself all the way up. She does the same thing in her bouncey seat and her swing. The girl wants to sit badly.
She's also determined to talk. If Meg is awake and not eating, then anything that remains within her line of site for more than 5 seconds becomes a viable conversation partner. She coos, goos, squawks, squeaks, giggles and makes a lot of cute sounds in a cadence that can only be described by saying honestly, the girl thinks she can talk and we can understand her.
We've also kissed the baby tub goodbye. Megan is a decent sized girl for her age - already in the neighborhood of 24 inches tall. She hates the baby bath tub. It makes her squish up her legs like a little froggy legs just to fit in it...which also makes her cold fast. Instead we've begun to use a mesh seat that resembles the bouncey seats. She sits on it and kicks her leg like nuts. She streches out and laughs. She talks to us and to the facuet.
Megan is starting to eye 'real' food. She sits on a lap at dinner if she's boycotting her 'alone' time in the swing or bouncey seat. As she sits she stares at our plates and then occasionally, watches the food find its way to a mouth. Her eyes get wide and she bops her head forward as if she's a little bird attempting to peck away at the meal.
She's a little girl in motion. She prefers to be moving as often as she can - which usually means she's up in arms that walk her around. She seems to enjoy music, especially if its music to which the arms holding her is dancing to while her big brother spins in circles until he's dizzy or dances like the "Rockettes."
And, on a medical note, the move to the crib (which has been FLAWLESS!) and the migration of focus to the upper left of Megan's field of vision has done the trick. Her neck is no longer 'wry.' She holds her head up straight and strong without even tilting slightly to the left. She turns that head freely and often - side to side, up and down. She's always had this penchant for holding her head up. She was lifting her head and shoulders up nearly from birth...but it did take that temporary left tip for a bit there. Now we're back to normal. I'm sure our next OT visit will be the last.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
What's with that Olie
Logan was never a "Mozart" baby. You know those Baby Mozart Videos - they come in all sorts of flavors today - Neptune, Mozart, and so on. He could care less. As a young infant, however, he found Rolie Polie Olie captivating. He loved it. He'd sit and watch it for as long as it was on.
Apparently there's something about Disney's show about this round little robotic alien because Megan is hooked too. We have a handful of Olie books that we accumulated during Logan's obession. Over the weekend both Daddy and Mommy read these to Miss Meg and each time she'd stare at the images, laugh one of those big baby laughs and then talk to her buddies. She seems to really like Zowie and Spot.
Sunday night the boys went food shopping leaving the girls home. I had to start dinner and so, fresh off an Olie book, decided to see if she'd stare at Olie for the few minutes it took me to start boiling an egg. And she did. Well she didn't just stare. No, Megan conversed. That's what Megan does. There is very little in Meg's world that she does not attempt to hold a conversation with. If she's not overtired or hungry, she's a happy camper and that means her mouth is in full cooing mode. So Mom started boiling an egg, let the dog out, let the dog in, set the timer when the water boiled AND dropped the recently removed diaper in the pail while Olie, Zowie, Billy, Spot and Megan had a chat.
Apparently that round-headed, smiling yellow robot is still a great thing. Long live William Joyce's creation.
Apparently there's something about Disney's show about this round little robotic alien because Megan is hooked too. We have a handful of Olie books that we accumulated during Logan's obession. Over the weekend both Daddy and Mommy read these to Miss Meg and each time she'd stare at the images, laugh one of those big baby laughs and then talk to her buddies. She seems to really like Zowie and Spot.
Sunday night the boys went food shopping leaving the girls home. I had to start dinner and so, fresh off an Olie book, decided to see if she'd stare at Olie for the few minutes it took me to start boiling an egg. And she did. Well she didn't just stare. No, Megan conversed. That's what Megan does. There is very little in Meg's world that she does not attempt to hold a conversation with. If she's not overtired or hungry, she's a happy camper and that means her mouth is in full cooing mode. So Mom started boiling an egg, let the dog out, let the dog in, set the timer when the water boiled AND dropped the recently removed diaper in the pail while Olie, Zowie, Billy, Spot and Megan had a chat.
Apparently that round-headed, smiling yellow robot is still a great thing. Long live William Joyce's creation.
Like a weed
Several people have commented lately on how "long" Megan is looking. And its true, she's certainly grown and is already nicely fitting into her 3-6 month clothing with the big "3 month" mark not even arriving for another week. At her 2 month Well-Baby visit on November 13th or there abouts she measured 22 inches tall. . .just on the cusp of all those 0-3 month outfits. Today, on a whim, I decided to measure her again. She's now 23.5 inches. That's assuming I'm on the mark and since I the same method was 100% correct the day of her last appointment I'm going to take it for what it says. Twenty-three and half inches 'tall' at just shy of 3 months old. No wonder she fits her new sized clothing well. That's an inch and half in less than a month. geez
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Well it worked!
We bunkered down last night and decided to work with Megan on getting her to sleep IN the crib without the car seat. With Logan gone for the night at Grandma and Papa's it seemed a good night to deal with loud constant wakings. Got Meg to sleep at 8pm. Put her down at 8:30. She was making noises by 9 and into a full out yell by 9:30. Got her back down by 10....where she slept until 5:30am this morning. She got up, ate again and has now, at 7:30am, been back sleeping in her crib for over an hour.
Mind you, this has been her pattern for over a month now even using the car seat. If she falls asleep before she's "full" or if you put her down when she's not out cold she'll wake up and want to either eat again or be cuddled, sung to and rocked before staying down for the night.
So who knows when we could have ditched the car seat but apparently now its gone. Hopefully this will do what the OT hopes and help her little neck right itself.
Mind you, this has been her pattern for over a month now even using the car seat. If she falls asleep before she's "full" or if you put her down when she's not out cold she'll wake up and want to either eat again or be cuddled, sung to and rocked before staying down for the night.
So who knows when we could have ditched the car seat but apparently now its gone. Hopefully this will do what the OT hopes and help her little neck right itself.
Friday, December 03, 2004
The first neck visit
Megan had her first appt with the OT yesterday. First of all, we once again had proof that even at this very young age she's ornery. The child was diagnosed with Wry Neck at her last Ped appointment because she refused to turn her head anyway but left, remember? Well the specialist walks in the room and sees Meg sitting on my lap as she demanded she be held rather loudly just moments ago. When he came in she did have her head tipped down to the left - left ear towards left shoulder although not as prounounced as it used to be. Then he lays her down on the exam table and what does she do? She turns her head COMPLETELY to the right - I mean seriously, I didn't even think heads went quite that far around...ALL the way to the right - to look at the wall she had been peering at previously.
The doctor said "Huh. So we need to migrate all her mobiles and whatnot to the left side so she peers left."
I said "What? She had a left preference up until, like right now."
We talked about how she used to predominately look left and how if she's inclined or upright her tendency is to tip to the head left (ear towards shoulder) but that since we moved everything per the Peds direction to the right side she's gotten around to whiping her head from side to side. He laughed and said "well if you notice her start to develop a new preference to the other side you'll have to move all the stuff back to her left for a bit. Just keep moving it around."
The main gist of her appointment is this - whatever side she's favoring is thought to be mild enough that we did not need to order ultrasounds or 'real' phyical therapy, etc yet. We have to work with her on excercises and carry positions that help move her right ear towards her right shoulder, as well as getting her chin to her left shoulder. She also has to give up the whole "I refuse to sleep on my back" thing. We're going to bid the car seat as crib farwell tonight since Logan is sleeping over Grandma and Papa's for his monthly "me" time. We expect it to be a long, loud night. Essentially this thing she has against being flat down has contributed to her tight neck muscles - the weight of her head pulls her to a side and she's favored the left...which may also have been a side preference dating back to the womb.
We go back in Feb for follow-up. If there isn't enough improvement by then we'll do the ultrasound and actual PT appointments.
The doctor said "Huh. So we need to migrate all her mobiles and whatnot to the left side so she peers left."
I said "What? She had a left preference up until, like right now."
We talked about how she used to predominately look left and how if she's inclined or upright her tendency is to tip to the head left (ear towards shoulder) but that since we moved everything per the Peds direction to the right side she's gotten around to whiping her head from side to side. He laughed and said "well if you notice her start to develop a new preference to the other side you'll have to move all the stuff back to her left for a bit. Just keep moving it around."
The main gist of her appointment is this - whatever side she's favoring is thought to be mild enough that we did not need to order ultrasounds or 'real' phyical therapy, etc yet. We have to work with her on excercises and carry positions that help move her right ear towards her right shoulder, as well as getting her chin to her left shoulder. She also has to give up the whole "I refuse to sleep on my back" thing. We're going to bid the car seat as crib farwell tonight since Logan is sleeping over Grandma and Papa's for his monthly "me" time. We expect it to be a long, loud night. Essentially this thing she has against being flat down has contributed to her tight neck muscles - the weight of her head pulls her to a side and she's favored the left...which may also have been a side preference dating back to the womb.
We go back in Feb for follow-up. If there isn't enough improvement by then we'll do the ultrasound and actual PT appointments.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
I'm a big girl now!
It happened almost by accident. First Megan sat diaper clad on the edge of the tub while Logan splashed about. Then we dipped her toes in. Then, on Logan's request, we dipped them again...and her diaper got all sorts of soaked. These diapers soak up a lot of liquids given the chance and so we removed the water logged Pampers and dunked Megan in the tub again. She loved it. She smiled and cooed. She kicked her feet and cooed some more. Logan laughed and washed her head with a washcloth. They had a blast. IN fact, Megan threw a massive baby tantrum when I took her out of the water.
That was Saturday night. Tonight we sat in the bathroom and while Logan climbed in the tub. Megan watched her big brother closely. He walked to the end of the tub across from where we sat.
"Put her in!" he demanded and he splashed water with his leg.
In response Megan let out a big, and I do mean big, belly jiggling baby laugh. *They* say babies don't get those gut busting laughs until about 4+ months but Megs had one tonight at 2 1/2 months old. Boy did she find this brother splashing hysterical. She kicked her feet and gooed at him. And so we obliged. Into the tub went Megan.
She floated around. She kicked her legs like a little frog moving through the water. She cooed and gooed. She giggled. She stared with wide, round eyes at her brother. She was happy. And so was her. He washed her hair for her and her back. He gently ran wet fingers across her cheeks. He tried to splash her but when reminded how little she was he stopped. He is, by the way, now holding out until she's 'bigger' and can really play in the water with him.
When it was time to end the bath we let the water down the drain and removed big brother. Megan hung out a bit more. When the water was nearly gone Megan got to lay on her back in the puddle that was left splashing around her limbs in pure glee. Assuming this child was about to get chilled to the bone beign wet without water in the tub, I wrapped her up in a towel. . .
And she cried.
And she screamed.
I got her dressed in her PJs and she cried and screamed so more. Daddy came down to take her because big brother was asking for Mommy read stories. Megan cried and yelled a bit more then bury her head on the big Daddy shoulder and fell fast asleep.
Guess this big little girl loves that tub! Perhaps we need to ditch that baby bath thing already!?
That was Saturday night. Tonight we sat in the bathroom and while Logan climbed in the tub. Megan watched her big brother closely. He walked to the end of the tub across from where we sat.
"Put her in!" he demanded and he splashed water with his leg.
In response Megan let out a big, and I do mean big, belly jiggling baby laugh. *They* say babies don't get those gut busting laughs until about 4+ months but Megs had one tonight at 2 1/2 months old. Boy did she find this brother splashing hysterical. She kicked her feet and gooed at him. And so we obliged. Into the tub went Megan.
She floated around. She kicked her legs like a little frog moving through the water. She cooed and gooed. She giggled. She stared with wide, round eyes at her brother. She was happy. And so was her. He washed her hair for her and her back. He gently ran wet fingers across her cheeks. He tried to splash her but when reminded how little she was he stopped. He is, by the way, now holding out until she's 'bigger' and can really play in the water with him.
When it was time to end the bath we let the water down the drain and removed big brother. Megan hung out a bit more. When the water was nearly gone Megan got to lay on her back in the puddle that was left splashing around her limbs in pure glee. Assuming this child was about to get chilled to the bone beign wet without water in the tub, I wrapped her up in a towel. . .
And she cried.
And she screamed.
I got her dressed in her PJs and she cried and screamed so more. Daddy came down to take her because big brother was asking for Mommy read stories. Megan cried and yelled a bit more then bury her head on the big Daddy shoulder and fell fast asleep.
Guess this big little girl loves that tub! Perhaps we need to ditch that baby bath thing already!?
Friday, November 26, 2004
Could it be?
Could it be that we already have another book lover in the house? We try to read daily to Megan just as we did with Logan before her. Some days we don't get too far because she's not a huge fan of being awake without motion for "long" periods of time. Other days we sneak in a full board book. Typically we end up reading to two kids at once.
Tonight Megan and I read her baby Bible. We started at the beginning with a creation story - two paragraphs in rhyme. Then we moved on the Noah and his Ark. Both stories had colorful illustrations chock full of animals and apparently that's just the sort of thing Miss Meg likes. She bobbed her head in closer to her book. She stared with her eyes open wide. Then she laughed her quasi laugh - she pulls air in sharply and squeaks. Her eyes twinkled and crinkled up. Her mouth broken open into a wide baby grin. She bobbed her head again and she started to babble. She gave those colorful lions and tigers and bears an earful. Lord knows if she heard the story or she was too busy telling herself her own version. Regardless one thing is clear, she enjoyed that book!
Tonight Megan and I read her baby Bible. We started at the beginning with a creation story - two paragraphs in rhyme. Then we moved on the Noah and his Ark. Both stories had colorful illustrations chock full of animals and apparently that's just the sort of thing Miss Meg likes. She bobbed her head in closer to her book. She stared with her eyes open wide. Then she laughed her quasi laugh - she pulls air in sharply and squeaks. Her eyes twinkled and crinkled up. Her mouth broken open into a wide baby grin. She bobbed her head again and she started to babble. She gave those colorful lions and tigers and bears an earful. Lord knows if she heard the story or she was too busy telling herself her own version. Regardless one thing is clear, she enjoyed that book!
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Happy Thanksgiving
Dear Miss Thing,
Just a note to let your future self know how much you are loved and adored by all those around you. This is your very first Thanksgiving and a great time to share exactly how thankful we are to have you in our lives - the only problem the extent of our joy isn't something one can put into words.
We are thankful for the unconditional love you already demonstrate with that sweet, beautiful baby smile. We are thankful for the gift of watching you grow and develop into what promises to be one spectacular little, independent, determined person. We are thankful for the light you bring to each of our lives every day.
Love,
Mom and Dad...and Logan too.
Just a note to let your future self know how much you are loved and adored by all those around you. This is your very first Thanksgiving and a great time to share exactly how thankful we are to have you in our lives - the only problem the extent of our joy isn't something one can put into words.
We are thankful for the unconditional love you already demonstrate with that sweet, beautiful baby smile. We are thankful for the gift of watching you grow and develop into what promises to be one spectacular little, independent, determined person. We are thankful for the light you bring to each of our lives every day.
Love,
Mom and Dad...and Logan too.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Have a seat
I keep telling Megan she's not supposed to sit up yet, that she's only 2 months old, but the girl is in major denial. If she's even slightly inclined she'll pull up hard enough to lift her head and shoulders up. She grunts and tugs in an attempt to get all the way up. If you put something around her hips when she's in the right mood - your hands or the boppy - she sits up. She has been known to sit STRAIGHT up, but other times she sort of takes on a cool tip to the side like this:
Monday, November 15, 2004
Megan Mockingbird
Remember that aforementioned obnoxious star toy? You know what I'm talking about, the one Megan LOVES. Its a teether toy - a black and white handle sporting three hard rubbery tabs to chew on some day and a big, smiling yellow star. One side of the star is a mirror - not so exciting for Miss Thing for now. The other side has a smiling face with a big light-up nose. You press the nose to make it not only glow...but talk. The toy cycles through three sayings:
- Uh oh.
- Wow!
- Woohoo!
Well Megan will literally spend an hour staring at that face as whichever big person is playing with her pushes the nose repeatedly. She smiles back at it. She laughs at it. She talks to it -- cooing and making all her assorted new noises. And yesterday she mimicked yet.
The toy went through its cycle of sounds and landed on "Woohoo!" Megan laughed, looked in hard and said "Ewwewww!"
So, does that count as a first word?
- Uh oh.
- Wow!
- Woohoo!
Well Megan will literally spend an hour staring at that face as whichever big person is playing with her pushes the nose repeatedly. She smiles back at it. She laughs at it. She talks to it -- cooing and making all her assorted new noises. And yesterday she mimicked yet.
The toy went through its cycle of sounds and landed on "Woohoo!" Megan laughed, looked in hard and said "Ewwewww!"
So, does that count as a first word?
Thursday, November 11, 2004
2 month update
Well Miss Megan is a growing girl. She's now a 'slightly' taller than average 22 inches (its over 50% for girls her 'age' but not quite 75% on the size charts. I'm guessing it puts her roughly at 60%) She's now 11 pounds and 7 ounces (75% for girls her age). I KNEW those 0-3 month outfits were getting small on her! Most of them top out at 11 pounds and 22 inches. I forget what her head circumference was - but I know it was about 90th percentile for girls her age.
Overall she's doing very well. When the doctor came in she was happily cooing at the little toy Logan had picked out for her as a 1 month birthday gift. The thing can grate on your nerves when its getting bounced around in your diaper bag and starts calling out "Uh oh!" or giggling. It does, however, make Megan laugh and chatter away. The doctor was happy to see her socializing so well.
We do have to take her to an Pediatric Occupational Therapist. Megan has been diagnosed with Muscular Torticollis (aka Wry Neck) - which basically means that the muscles on the left side of her neck are short and/or tight. This could be something that occurred in utero or as birth trauma. Essentially its nothing serious - a potential cosmetic issue down the line if left uncorrected. Today, because the way the neck muscles are, she has a left side preference. In other words, given her way, Megan will keep her head turned to the left. If she is positioned to look straight ahead or towards the right she'll do so with her head tipped at such an angle that her left cheek rests closer to her shoulder. This preference has created a bit of a flatter left cheek and jaw than the right side. To treat this we've already started migrating all her beloved mobiles (the girl LOVES anything you can hang over her head) to the right side of her various haunts. After her initial consult with the specialist we'll have a series of exercise to do with her to help loosen and lengthen those offending neck muscles too. Poor kid - she was most ticked off at the doctor when he tried to get her to turn her head without tilting it. He also said the muscles in her arms were a little stiff, but nothing overly notable. He wasn't worried about it because her legs were as they should be and everything else seemed in line with expectation. He thought her tendency to pull her arms in as he examined her may be related to the Wry Neck and resolving the one may help with both. I happen to think her arms are also part of her stubborn nature - she seems do fine with them being wherever most of the time - although she may hold them in more often when awake...but she wasn't pleased with the doctor at that point and not too keen on cooperating with him. ha!
Other than that, she's growing and developing perfectly. She got her shots today and hated every minute of it - not that I blame her. She screamed her head off from the moment she got the first shot until we got to the stair case. In fact, the receptionist even commented on how wonderful Megan's lungs were. Nice.
Outside of Well-visits, Megan is typically a very happy little girl that enjoys being talked to and sung to. She seems a bit ticklish because wiggling your fingers around her mid-section and under her arms will make her break into a full-faced smile complete with baby giggles. She loves her mobiles, like I said, especially the one over her Pack-n-Play/Changing table and her swing. Those would be lions and elephants respectively. She'll spend ages staring at each talking away to them. Sometimes the lion in particular will offend her and she'll yell at them for whatever it is they've gone and done. Its sort of funny to watch and so mean Mommy lets her complain a little before rescuing the lions from the verbal assault. The elephants must be more passive because they never get yelled at. In fact the rocking of the swing will often push the pachyderms behind the seat itself. Megan will merely twist herself as best she can in her seat belted spot so she can keep her eye on her buds while she sways to and fro.
She's also starting to respond to her toys now. She loves both her little green bug-thingy (not quite sure what its supposed to be!) It has dangling legs with things that hang off and make noise. She laughs at it and reaches out her arms towards it. She also love the aforementioned obnoxious star noisy teether thing Logan picked out for her. Guess big brother knows best.
More than anything though, Megan loves her people. At the sound of a familiar voice or the first glimpse at one of those faces Megan lights up with a giant smile and starts to coo. She adores her big brother, but truth be told, sometimes she sets into panic-face when she sees him lunging towards her with another body crushing hug or full-face slobbery kiss. I keep telling her to enjoy the complete adoration while it lasts. :)
Overall she's doing very well. When the doctor came in she was happily cooing at the little toy Logan had picked out for her as a 1 month birthday gift. The thing can grate on your nerves when its getting bounced around in your diaper bag and starts calling out "Uh oh!" or giggling. It does, however, make Megan laugh and chatter away. The doctor was happy to see her socializing so well.
We do have to take her to an Pediatric Occupational Therapist. Megan has been diagnosed with Muscular Torticollis (aka Wry Neck) - which basically means that the muscles on the left side of her neck are short and/or tight. This could be something that occurred in utero or as birth trauma. Essentially its nothing serious - a potential cosmetic issue down the line if left uncorrected. Today, because the way the neck muscles are, she has a left side preference. In other words, given her way, Megan will keep her head turned to the left. If she is positioned to look straight ahead or towards the right she'll do so with her head tipped at such an angle that her left cheek rests closer to her shoulder. This preference has created a bit of a flatter left cheek and jaw than the right side. To treat this we've already started migrating all her beloved mobiles (the girl LOVES anything you can hang over her head) to the right side of her various haunts. After her initial consult with the specialist we'll have a series of exercise to do with her to help loosen and lengthen those offending neck muscles too. Poor kid - she was most ticked off at the doctor when he tried to get her to turn her head without tilting it. He also said the muscles in her arms were a little stiff, but nothing overly notable. He wasn't worried about it because her legs were as they should be and everything else seemed in line with expectation. He thought her tendency to pull her arms in as he examined her may be related to the Wry Neck and resolving the one may help with both. I happen to think her arms are also part of her stubborn nature - she seems do fine with them being wherever most of the time - although she may hold them in more often when awake...but she wasn't pleased with the doctor at that point and not too keen on cooperating with him. ha!
Other than that, she's growing and developing perfectly. She got her shots today and hated every minute of it - not that I blame her. She screamed her head off from the moment she got the first shot until we got to the stair case. In fact, the receptionist even commented on how wonderful Megan's lungs were. Nice.
Outside of Well-visits, Megan is typically a very happy little girl that enjoys being talked to and sung to. She seems a bit ticklish because wiggling your fingers around her mid-section and under her arms will make her break into a full-faced smile complete with baby giggles. She loves her mobiles, like I said, especially the one over her Pack-n-Play/Changing table and her swing. Those would be lions and elephants respectively. She'll spend ages staring at each talking away to them. Sometimes the lion in particular will offend her and she'll yell at them for whatever it is they've gone and done. Its sort of funny to watch and so mean Mommy lets her complain a little before rescuing the lions from the verbal assault. The elephants must be more passive because they never get yelled at. In fact the rocking of the swing will often push the pachyderms behind the seat itself. Megan will merely twist herself as best she can in her seat belted spot so she can keep her eye on her buds while she sways to and fro.
She's also starting to respond to her toys now. She loves both her little green bug-thingy (not quite sure what its supposed to be!) It has dangling legs with things that hang off and make noise. She laughs at it and reaches out her arms towards it. She also love the aforementioned obnoxious star noisy teether thing Logan picked out for her. Guess big brother knows best.
More than anything though, Megan loves her people. At the sound of a familiar voice or the first glimpse at one of those faces Megan lights up with a giant smile and starts to coo. She adores her big brother, but truth be told, sometimes she sets into panic-face when she sees him lunging towards her with another body crushing hug or full-face slobbery kiss. I keep telling her to enjoy the complete adoration while it lasts. :)
Friday, November 05, 2004
Tease and Singing
First - the sleeping through thing was a tease. She did it for two nights then went back to her 5 or 6 hour blocks. Now, mind you, I'm happy with that two, I just liked 8 hours at one time better.
Megan has become a singer. She especially loves when Grandma sings to her. Megan goes into her full-faced smile and then softly starts to hum this soft little baby "Ahhhh" in response trying to join in the song.
Megan has become a singer. She especially loves when Grandma sings to her. Megan goes into her full-faced smile and then softly starts to hum this soft little baby "Ahhhh" in response trying to join in the song.
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