Ball and Mom

Mmmmm Soap!!

Talking and Reading

Meghan Likes the Camera

Talking and Reading

Tired Girl, Pretty Eyes

the Love of Balls

This girl loves playing with balls. "Ball" was her second word after "Mama". They are the thing she talks about when she wakes up in the morning. They are her beloved and most favorite toy!!

We tried taking some pictures of her in her cute overalls from Great-Grandma Stehr, but she just kept crawling away to get her balls. When we added them to the pictures we didn't get any cute shots of her face - but lots of shots of her with her favorite toys. Here are the few non-blurry from throwing pictures!

Shoulda Knocked on Wood

I was talking with my friend Beth the other day and saying how amazed I was the Meghan had only ever gotten into my towel drawers. I have no problem with her pulling the towels out multiple times a day and was so glad she had never gotten into my cabinets. She was shocked that we were at 11 months and still no cabinet play.....well, I should have knocked on wood.

Less than a week later.....

And boy was she scared when she dropped a pan on the floor!!! 

Looks like Daddy's task for the weekend will be locking the cabinets....silly girl!!

Egg Free Waffles!!

Meghan got sick after eating eggs twice - while we think one was the stomach flu and one was just gagging, to be safe her doctor wants her to avoid eggs until her first birthday when he will do a food allergy blood test on her.

I tried a new egg replacer to make her beloved waffles - it worked great and she sooo enjoyed having waffles again!!

Reading Position

A few days ago, I walked into the family room to find Meghan laying like this.....

She was so very content - reading one of her favorite books, sprawled out over her push toy, just chilling.....I don't think that's how most kids use their push toys, but if it works - go for it girl!! 

Cinnamon Oatmeal

Meghan is ALL TODDLER when it comes to her eating habits! Some days she is a bottomless pit and somedays she really doesn't feel like she needs any food. The past several days have been the later - except the morning that we introduced her to cinnamon oatmeal!! She ate almost a 1/4 cup that first day! Her cinnamon-y face betrays her love!

She loves playing with this walker - not necessarily walking behind it. She has also started doing this sideways smile a lot - it's kind of cute!! 

I kind of hate that last picture - it betrays how big my baby is getting!!

Birthday Coming

I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that this sweet girl is soon to turn one....but it's happening!! Yesterday we took these sweet pictures as a part of her zebra themed birthday party!!

(Side note....of all the things I ever imagined my kids loving, animal print was never one of them!! It's just considered so girly-girl and - from what I saw working in public schools - usually reserved for girls who are drama these days - but Meghan LOVES it!)

Meghan Neighing (This makes us laugh so hard!!)

Meghan was intentionally and repeatedly "neighing" after her horse on this toy tonight - I managed to catch a clip on video!!

Meghan :: The Little Engineer

She can walk behind this toy, but generally prefers to just play with and explore how it works. She really likes knowing how things work!

Recently....

Just a few observations of things that Meghan is doing recently. She's been amazing us with how quickly she is gaining new skills!!

• She waves bye-bye. We have a routine of saying bye to Daddy at the garage door. The other morning she was hard at play so he kissed her and said bye-bye while she was in the play room and then left. As soon as she heard the door close, she started crying and crawling as fast as she could to the garage door. Once we opened it and waved bye-bye to Daddy all was well and she went on about her morning. 
• She is following simple directions, like: Go to Daddy. or Get your ball. 
• She says "mama" or "mom" when she wants me or needs something. 
• She says "Dada" but never to him - only to the garage door while he is gone. 
• She says "ball". She really likes her big basket full of balls! 
• She doesn't stack very accurately yet, but she knows that toys like blocks and tobbles are for stacking and tries very hard! 
• She loves to read stories. She will listen to me read 10-20 at a time sometimes! When she looks at books by herself she "reads aloud". The teacher in me LOVES that!! 
• When she's fussy, she almost always stops and switches to giggling/dancing for music.
• She says "mmmm" after bites of favorite foods. 
• She says "vmmm" when playing with her cars. 
• She loves pointing at things she finds interesting. She loves when we label objects for her. 
• She has been sleeping in a bit the past two weeks. Since she has to have her reflux medicine at scheduled times, I have had to wake her up quite a few times. I think the teenage years with this one are going to be fun - when I enter her room and whisper her name she will pop her head up, say "mama", and drop it back onto the mattress. When I try to pick her up, she curls in a ball and tries to bury into the mattress. When I do manage to get her up, she is dead weight, and refuses to lift her head off my shoulders....it is so funny! And then after a few minutes of warming up, she is all smiles!!
• If you hand her the rings for her ring stacker she can put them on 60% of the time. She knows what needs to happen and tries so hard. 
• When she sees something she wants, thinks she might get it, and then doesn't - she throws a little temper tantrum! 
• Her top two teeth finally came through - they are so cute!! 
• When you hand her a baby doll she says "aw", cuddles it, and usually gives it a kiss! 
• She has started giving people kisses - always on her terms - but they are wide-mouthed, sloppy, and absolutely wonderful! 
• She has a toy piano in her toy basket near the laundry room - she plays it and "sings" while I fold laundry! 
• When she's playing and you ask her "Do you want to go bye-bye?" she immediately smiles, claps, and crawls after you. She giggles, waves, dances, and claps while you put your shoes on. She absolutely lights up when you enter the garage - she is such a wonderful errand runner. 
• She has conquered her fear of the vacuum - part of the way we helped her with this was by clapping and cheering for her the whole time we ran the vacuum. Now, whenever she sees it she claps. We hope she will outgrow this by college :) 

Mega Blocks

She can't build with them yet - but she likes crawling around in them and taking apart things we build with them. So, about once every two weeks, I dump them in her playroom and she has a blast!!

The way she is sitting in these pictures is something new she has been doing recently - she looks like she is just about to stand up and start walking! 

Raising a Reader!!

I LOVE how much this girl loves books. She will sit and "read" aloud to herself, which I think it adorable!!

Raising a Reader!!

I LOVE how much this girl loves books. She will sit and "read" aloud to herself, which I think it adorable!!

Good Nap?

This girl is so happy after a good nap! I love the way she greets me at the end of her crib. And, I love her messy post-nap hair (this was actually VERY tame!).

Good Nap?

This girl is so happy after a good nap! I love the way she greets me at the end of her crib. And, I love her messy post-nap hair (this was actually VERY tame!).

Playing Zoo

Meghan now stands and plays with her zoo on the shelf that it's stored on:

She enjoys putting some of the animals on the window sill.

Don't tell her, but she's not holding onto anything while she's playing....

Poor lioness...

Eleven Months

It's been beautiful in Kansas the last several days - I was able to take our winter baby OUTSIDE to attempt pictures for her 11 month "birthday". These pictures fully depict Meghan - focused, curious, and sweet as can be. The only thing they don't show off are her sweet smiles :)

At eleven months, Meghan's interests include: devouring avocados, trying to see the contents of the recycling bin, dumping baskets of toys, pulling all of the books off of the shelves, silently climbing the stairs, waving to anyone who will wave back, unloading the kitchen towels, eating carpet fibers, tapping computer buttons, splashing in water (tub or toilet - whatever's around), yelling at books because their pages won't turn while she is sitting on them, pointing at things she wants or finds interesting, and kissing glass doors. Oh how I love this girl!!

Growth Spurt?

For about the last week Meghan has been inhaling food! Like 2 chicken nuggets, 2 broccoli florets, and half an avocado, plus snacking on frozen peas and bread. (What's listed is her current favorite combo!). 

I think someone is building muscle to start walking soon......

Big Girl

Meghan is getting so close to standing on her own - in fact, she can, she just freaks herself out and grabs back onto something.

Looking at these pictures, I am amazed by just how "big" she looks! My baby is turning into a toddler and it feels like it's happening overnight!