Meredith walks

walking from c on Vimeo.

the kids today

left: Meredith plays at the train table with Thomas

right: I asked Thomas to show me his "yucky" face. Still cute.

Thomas sings

way up high from c on Vimeo.

Way up high in a strawberry tree,
Two little strawberries smiled down at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came the strawberries
and MMMMMM they were good!

9 month checkup

length: 27" (45th percentile)
weight: 19lbs, 3ozs (55th percentile)
head: 17-3/4 inches (80th percentile)

.

We were told when Meredith was born that it would take her entire first year to "catch up" with similar age babies because she was premature. However, seeing her today, you'd never know she was a preemie. She is healthy, thriving and hitting all the typical milestones perfectly. Come to think of it, she did at six months too.

When push comes to shove...

(okay, so really, it was the only thing our realtor said we should do)...we purchase a new kitchen table! We haven't enjoyed eating in our kitchen for almost a year now. Isn't that crazy? For people who loved their eating area before the kitchen remodel and even had a seating area built in as part of the remodel, one would think we would be eating in there again as soon as the work was done. Wrong. The dining room table worked great and I hadn't found our perfect kitchen table. It isn't the perfect table, but it's working really well. We've eaten all of our meals at this table since bringing it home. We really should have bought this months ago!

48 hour flu

We were totally lucky with Thomas as a baby as far as colds and illnesses go. He was rarely sick (and didn't even have his first cold until almost 9 months) and has only thrown up once in his 2.5 years and that was just a little liquid. Meredith, on the other hand, has had several colds and experienced her first bout with the flu early this week. It was a really icky bug that lasted 48 hours. A very, very long 48 hours. Lots of vomit, followed by lots of Pedialyte (unflavored, thank you!) and lots of love has brought our happy, healthy girl back but it was a long 48 hours. Did I mention it was a long 48 hours? Yep, it was a long one...

artwork

ink on paper

Car with Flat Tires Due to Nails
by Thomas

and so it begins...

This evening I overheard Thomas ask Grandma for a candy cane. She told him he'd have to wait until after dinner. He then marched into the kitchen where I was making dinner and asked for a candy cane. I told him that Grandma already answered his question and that he'd have to wait until after he ate his dinner. He then marched into yet another room where M was and asked him. Seriously! It's a good thing all three of us were on the same page. He's so sneaky (already!) at 2 years of age...

nine months

Meredith's favorite things at nine months:

• Thomas' books
• Thomas' rabbit
• Thomas' dump truck
• Thomas' Matchbox cars
• Thomas' train table
• Thomas' anything and everything!

See a trend here? It's a good thing Thomas understands that all their toys are shared (with the exception of rabbit) and he is happy to share everything with her. He tops her "favorite things" list.

video by special request

M-crawling from c on Vimeo.

If Meredith could talk she would say, "Hi Great-Grandma! Look at me crawl! I can go anywhere and get into all kinds of things. I'm getting faster every day and am also pulling myself up. It won't be long now until I'm walking!"

toddler speak

T speaking from c on Vimeo.

I love listening to Thomas speak. He correctly sounds most of the alphabet, but there are a few consonants that still need practice. My favorites? B for V as in "neber" (never) and S for F as in "sish" (fish) and "sosa" (sofa). A year ago he was putting together two word phrases and now he just rambles and rambles and rambles...

an evening with cousins

Meredith enjoys her aunt's game of peek-a-boo

Thomas takes a break from playing to cuddle with Meredith

Meredith... sings?

spider song from c on Vimeo.

We usually have an hour or so in the morning alone together before others wake. I love this quiet time spent with only her.

a perfect 10

Meredith had been doing a consistent sleep and nap pattern up until a week ago. It looks like teething is to blame and it appears that all four top front teeth are the culprits (!). I'd be unhappy, too. However, last night she slept a solid and beautiful ten hours, woke to eat and fell right back to sleep for another two hours.

[Dear forces that control a baby's sleep,
Please continue the good sleep patterns. Last night was fantastic! Things are really crazy here right now and this mama needs some better sleep. The last week just didn't cut it but last night was wonderful, beautiful and so needed. Can we have another night like this tonight? And the night after?? Please??? Thank you in advance!
Sincerely,
a tired mama with too much to do]

family movie night #1: CARS

Tonight we had our first "family movie night". We cleared space to lay down pillows and blankets, gathered on the floor with our dinner of "hotdogs and french fries" (actually, chicken sausages and baked sweet potato fries) and watched CARS. Thomas had seen part of it a few weeks ago so we knew it would be a good first movie for him. He had many questions and talked about what he saw through much of the movie. We heard "The green car isn't very nice" several times and "Are we watching a movie?" about every 10 to 15 minutes. Halfway through we popped some popcorn and at the end of the movie? He handed me the remote and said he wanted to watch it again. Good grief, did we just start something we shouldn't have??

It's funny how Thomas had to wait 2.5 years to see his first movie and Meredith just saw hers at 8 months (well, the little bits of it she watched while crawling all over us and being passed between us)... There are so many things that are different for this second child!

OMSI outing

Thomas pets a hissing cockroach and pretends to be looking at the cockroach through his magnifying glass, all the while checking out the boy next to him.

.

Every winter we seem to take a break from going to OMSI. The children's area is always full of sick children and in my efforts to keep colds at bay, we just avoid the place altogether. However, we've been needing a fun activity so today we braved the germs and headed out. Thomas enjoys everything but really got a kick out of checking out the animals (and other kids) with a magnifying glass. Today was Meredith's first play experience since during previous visits she's always been napping in the Bjorn. She was very interested in the fish tank and loved practicing pulling up and standing in the soft infants' area. A little bit of fun for everyone!

Meredith checks out the fish and tests her balance.

pretty girl

new year, new baby

Meredith has started moving forward (!). She first started some sort of crawling on New Year's Day and has continued to get stronger and faster. Here's a video of her taken a few days ago. For parents who didn't experience a crawler the first time around this is beautiful...


crawling from c on Vimeo.

Meredith has also started to pull herself up. She hasn't explored this with the sofa or a chair yet, but only on us when we are sitting on the floor. She's pretty proud of herself when she can get onto her feet. Also new are waving and this weird clicking thing with her mouth (learned from M). If we could get her to whistle, too, she just may be able to communicate with dolphins. Maybe.

snow day on Hood

T practices his snowboarding stance ~ M builds a snowman

T sleds with daddy ~ and by himself!

T enjoys the snowballs thrown at him ~ my view (it's the best!)

Meredith & Thomas make faces at me during the drive home (I rarely sit in the back, but they sure seem to enjoy it when I do.)

.

We all had a great time! Starting the second we began driving home, Thomas has asked us repeatedly when we'll go again. Next week?

Happy New Year

The New Year's Day tradition continues! This morning we started the new year with one of our favorite hikes. It's one that all six of us can enjoy. Greta climbed a tree (!), Bela ran herself silly, Meredith napped during most of it (she'll love it next year) and Thomas explained to us how to fish, found remnants of the last snowfall, and listened as a tree danced with the wind...