Something New

Howdy all! I am learning a bunch all the time! This week I learned how to giggle. Mama says it is music to her ears! Daddy started off the process by tickling me and making strange noises. Grandma and Grandpa Stavenger were able to get me to giggle next just a little and then Daddy got me to do it a few times in a row by singing me the song he sings to me when I am angry. it goes like this,"Whhhhy is Meredith so angry, so angry, so angry? Oh, whhhhy is Meredith so angry, so angry, so angry?" He does this while boncing me and it normally calms me down becuase it is just so strange. Mama thought it was GREAT to listen to me giggle more then once. Then tonight I giggled for Mama for the first time! She was blowing on my tummy. She has done this a few times but I normally just stare at her because I am not sure what kind of reaction she wants from me. Tonight she was thrilled and kept doing it over and over. Daddy says that if Mama keeps doing the blowing thing to my tummy that it will be red but there is nothing but beautiful belly there right now! Well it is bed time for me so I got to get going. Off to my stinky room (I have been congested so Mom and Dad bought some night time stuff to plug into the wall to make me fell better).

More Pictures to the Right!

I've changed the "Links" section that used to be on the right side of the blog to be titled "More Pictures of Meredith". I've also added a new link to pictures we took this Christmas. In time we'll add even more links as we take more pictures.

Christmas Presents

I sure like Christmas. My Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, and Uncle get me all kinds of cool new clothes, books, and toys. And boy was it fun to open the presents! I tried to eat them of course, but with some help I got them all open so that I could see what new things I was getting. I've included a couple of pictures, including me investigating one of my gifts as well as a picture of my new teddy bear.

Grandma & Grandpa Play Time

In between times when I got angry because of my nose being plugged up or because I needed to get changed, I got to play for a short time with Grandma and Grandpa. They certainly had a lot of fun, and so did I! You would think they're pros at this child-raising thing or something. They really wanted to get me to giggle again, but I'm not so sure I'll do that again for a while. It kind of surprised me the time I did it earlier for Mommy and Daddy, so I think I'll wait until I'm more sure of what is going on. That doesn't seem to deter Daddy any from trying to get me to giggle anyway...

I Love Santa

My Mommy and Daddy dressed me up for the Christmas Eve church service in a santa outfit. I'm not particularly sure why, as most of the time I was in the sling, so all you could see was my head anyway. To be sure that there was proof that I was in the outfit, my Daddy took a quick picture. Isn't the bib appropriate -- I'm like Miss Claus :)

Tummy Tummy Time

My Grandpa came up with a much more entertaining tummy time exercise -- I lie on his tummy on my tummy, making tummy tummy time. This was much more exciting for me, and I didn't get angry as quickly as I normally did. Now all I need is for Grandpa to come home with me on Friday so that we can continue the fun times.

Carriage Ride in Austin

As a part of our Christmas celebration with Grandma Kat and Patoo, we went for a carriage ride in Austin to see the lights and visit. It was a fun time and Meredith seemed to like watching all the lights. After giving each other gifts and going out to dinner, the carriage ride was a nice finish to the evening. See the picture of Mollie and Meredith attached to this post.

Christmas in Michigan

Meredith, Mollie, and I flew to Michigan Thursday to spend a week with my parents and sisters over Christmas. Meredith actually did quite well on the flight into Detroit! She didn't get too crabby until we had to wait in the plane for another plane to leave the gait we were to arrive at. I guess sitting still in the plane for 20 minutes is difficult after already doing so for three hours while flying.

My Mom and Dad sure love seeing Meredith, especially for how big she's getting and for how much more responsive she is now. I've posted a picture of Meredith with my Dad, take a look to the left.

What is this white stuff?

It's cold, wet, and crunches when Mommy and Daddy walk on it. I keep hearing this new word, "snow," but I really don't know what that means either. After a long flight Thursday and a day for me to recover yesterday, Mommy seemed anxious to get us outside for another one of these picture things. Well, I certainly didn't like getting in the reindeer suit again -- boy doesn't my Mom know when to stop dressing me up in these strange outfits. She thinks they're "cute."

Anyway, it is cold out here and I don't think I quite understand the purpose of the white stuff. Maybe I'll get it more when I'm older (or so my Daddy says).

Now and Then

We just moved Meredith's high chair from the full reclining position to a position that is almost sitting up. We are for the first time using the buckles that came with it to hold her in place and keep her from falling out. As you can see from the pictures she has grown a ton. This picture was taken last night. Notice too that she has the ring on her wrist. She did this not us.

Groups of Three

Today Timothy, Meredith and I went to the Missions to get out of the house and to have an excursion with the cameras. We took along all the cameras in the house including our point and click that we have not used in two years.(we found pictures from our backpacking trip that we forgot we even took) We wanted to use up the film that we keep saying you know we should really get that used up. The goal was to take pictures that had groups of three in them. It did not matter weather it was three colors, three people three...well you get the idea. We had quiet a good time. Some of the time Meredith slept, some of the time Meredith was awake and making messes for Mommy and Daddy to find creative ways to clean up. But everyone was mostly in good spirits! Timothy will be blogging about his experience in finding groups of three and including a few pictures. I included one of the pictures that was taken at the end of the day. It is of all of our feet. I had to hold Meredith's foot to get it to stay were we could get the picture but it really puts it into perspective how tiny she is compared to us. Hence why we call her "little bit".

BIG NEWS!

Guess what Meredith can do now?!? She can sit up by herself! She was doing it yesterday and today. I am so excited to see her sitting up but I know that this just means that she will be moving soon and I am not sure I am ready for that. She looks so cute sitting up! It took a long time to get the picture because every time I would hold the camera up she would move her head up and it would cause her to fall backwards. It was so comical!

Crazy Family Picture

So when you have a Three month old and Two dogs you want to take a picture of How does it turn out? Well I am sure you can see for your self.

Staring Meredith As

a reindeer! Hi everybody! I bet you missed me. I have been a busy little girl lately. I have started sleeping for naps without my Mama having to hold me and I have started to coo and sing for Daddy and Mama. Daddy has been getting more and more Meredith time time too. He is perfecting ways to make me smile. I has also started to chew on my toys. I really like to chew on Clipity Clops' hoof the best. I still do not make it through meals with out Mama or Daddy holding me though. Maybe that will be my next trick. I really like the outfit because it makes me nice and warm. Don't tell Daddy but I am like Mama and get cold easily.

Mama's Favorite Christmas Shot

We will be taking family Christmas pictures soon and you will see Meredith dressed as another Christmas favorite but for now it has been to warm to dress her in that outfit (tomorrow maybe when the temp drops). As of right now my favorite christmas photo is the one pictured here. I like this one because I have a cute daughter and this picture captures just how cute she is. Her chubbiness just captivates me because she was such a tiny baby. She is tiny NO MORE! today I did an unofficial weigh in and she tops the scales at 14 lbs! She is starting to realize where she is and what is around her. Meredith interacts with me all the time now. We have "conversations" many times a day and most of them do not involve screaming from Meredith anymore! Another exciting thing is that she has started to accept Timothy as her Daddy. Before she would SCREAM anytime Timothy would hold her but now she is spending more and more time with him with out fussing. I am sure this makes daddy daughter time on Sunday nights much easier!

Reminiscing about days gone by

Mollie and I yesterday were looking through the many pictures we have of Meredith. It's only been three months and it's amazing as to how much she has grown. If you don't believe me, click on the More Pictures of Meredith or Baptism Pictures links over on the right side of the page.

The picture I've included is one where we had forgotten how much smaller Meredith really was when she was born. Then we were reminded again how big she really is -- when we tried to pick her up in her car seat. She's gotten huge! :)

Inquisitive Tummy Time

I don't really know what "inquisitive" means, but my Daddy says that's what I look like in this picture. I just really wanted to know why Mommy felt it was necessary to take off my clothes and dress me up in this Santa hat while playing tummy time.

Who's Santa anyway? And why would he need to wear a hat -- it seems like it's plenty warm enough outside?

Meredith's First Hike!

Mollie, Mererdith, Guinevere, Gilligan, and I went for a short hike just over a week ago. It was Meredith's first hike, and I have to say she hiked like a champ ... a champ who sleeps while hiking, anyway.

She was all cozy in the sling with Mollie that she fell asleep. It was okay, because it was also the first hike Mollie and I have been on since Meredith was born. It felt good to get back outside again.

I've posted a couple of pictures from the hike just to prove that Meredith went -- and slept!

The Rocker

These past few morning Meredith and i have been sleeping in until about 9 am. After that she lets me put her down while i eat and then again while i shower. I have put the rocker in the bathroom while i take my shower so i can hear her playing and make she she is not upset. She is thrilled to play with her farm friends. She has not laughed or squealed at them but will pump her legs and arms at them. She is starting to figure out that if she hits the animals they will make noise. when pumping her legs and arms she makes the rocker rock. I tried to get a picture of her smiling in the rocker but could not but you can see her happy!

A Day With Grandma Kat

Today I was a good Girl for my Grandma Kat. We did lots of fun things like sleep...no i am kidding although i did do that rather well today! We picked Grandma up and then came home so I could eat and take a nap then we went out to eat and went to see this nice lady who took lots of pictures of me. I have to say that they came out nice! We ever got to take one of the three generations! I like that one the best. Mom and Grandma each liked other ones though. Grandma lived up to being a grandma and bought me this really cute reindeer outfit. You will have to wait till Christmas cards are sent out to see that one unless I can convince mom that you need to see it now. I am sure I can twist her arm into taking a good picture of me in it and we can post it here. Maybe we can wait until after thanksgiving. Mama always says that we should give thanksgiving the respect it deserves instead of forgetting that it is even a holiday. Woah how did we get so off subject? oh yeah I was telling you about my reindeer outfit. All I can say is that it is super cute and you will see a picture soon. Thank you Grandma Kat for spending the day with me.

More Halloween Pictures

I have to admit that i cheated on the Halloween pictures. I took the last one posted a few days before Halloween. I took a few more on Halloween but did not get around to posting them until now. We should have taken one when we went "trick or treating" Meredith did not make it until 6 pm and fell asleep before we even left but we went around to our neighborhood friends anyways.

picture #1~ Gilligan Kissing Meredith
#2 Meredith is a cute little elf
#3 MMMM
#4 Hats taste good

Happy Halloween From the Christmas Elf

Happy Halloween Everyone! Mom dressed me up as a Christmas elf not really sure what this is all about though. I have spent most of the day making diapers for mom to change. hee she got to change 6 before noon today =). We are going to put back on my hat and slippers and go see the neighbors tonight (hopefully before i get to crabby). I have been nicer to mom lately and have been taking naps. normally two in the morning and one in the afternoon...granted one of my morning naps bleeds into the afternoon. then i go to sleep for the night around 7:30. Before that though i am just crabby. Mom has tried to put me to sleep earlier but i just want to cry so that she knows i am still here. I got mom to take my picture so we could show you how cute i am.

Christmas Came Early

Mommy and Daddy told me that they have a bad habit of buying things for Christmas and not waiting for Christmas to use them that is what happened today. Daddy bought me and mommy a new sling that we can use until i am about two or so...daddy said that we could use it right away...so we did! I still use the one Grandma Stavenger gave us too but this one i can sit up in and look out at the world and then when i get tired i can fall asleep...at least this is what happened today. Mama wanted me to be awake for a little bit because i had just woken up from a nap in my other sling so she put me in my new sling and we took a walk with daddy and the puppies. I think we made it about half way around the block and I was out. Mama did the unthinkable though when we got home and tried to put me down so she could help daddy with something but as soon as the sling moved i was up and raring to go. Silly mommy.

I can stand up!

My Daddy tells a story about how his fifth grade teacher (whatever that is) told a joke. It goes something like this:

I had a dog named Rover.
He could stand up on his hind legs...
If you held his front legs up!

Well, my situation is pretty similar. I'm getting quite a bit stronger, especially in my legs and arms. I can hold up my head reasonably stable, but I still wobble around a little bit.

But for the big news -- if Mommy or Daddy props me up I can stand! So here's a new joke for my Daddy:

I have a ten week old daughter named Meredith.
She can stand up and look at the world ...
If you hold her steady!

No Mama No

I have a hard time falling to sleep. Mama finally found that is she puts me in the sling I will normally calm down and take a nap. She said she posted about this already but Mama said we should share a picture from today when I fell to sleep. I was pretty upset. Mom tried to put me in the swing and I wanted NOTHING to do with it. Mama said she just wanted to feed the dogs. After Mama got me out of the swing she carried me outside with the dogs so they could go potty...I normally like the outdoors but today I was just overwhelmed. I finally convinced mom to go get the sling for the car and put me in it. I fell asleep as normal with in minuets of being put into the sling. I wanted to make sure mama did not take me out the the sling once i fell asleep...so I held on tight.

Sitting Up

Meredith is getting so big. She can now sit if you hold her hands to steady her. She is happiest sitting unless it is time for a nap. Meredith has never liked laying down on the floor.

A sling

Meredith and i have found a new way for Meredith to not have as many crying fits. A sling! Meredith can either be sitting up in it to see the world or she can nestle down in it and take a nap. She enjoys taking naps in there and mom enjoys her taking the naps.

Meredith used it when we went to the doctor for her two month check up. it was great until the doctor had to do her checking up on her and I had to wake her up. One thing that i have learned is that when Meredith is sleeping leave her where ever she falls. She wakes up like her Aunt Katie. She will scream until the next time you succeed in putting her to sleep.

Meredith's stats now are 10 lbs and 15 OZ. 22 and 1/4 inches long and 15 and 3/4 in head. all measuring in the 50 percentile! so her body has caught up with her head and she is getting bigger!

Pictured is Meredith snuggled down in the sling and me and the sling.

I've been Baptized!

I haven't quite figured out what this means, but yesterday Mommy and Daddy brought me to the front of the church and the pastor poured some water on my head while saying something. There were two other babies getting baptized at the same time. We all managed to not cry, but one of them looked back trying to figure out what was going on. I just was content with letting the pastor do her thing so that I could go back to Mommy.

After the service, there were a lot of people over at our house. Mommy said that it was to thank all the people who helped out when she was on bed rest and just after when I was born. After some hamburgers, potato salad, and chips we had some time to talk and open more goodies for me. A lot of the clothes are big for me now, but some time soon I'll fit into them. I'll just have to be sure to grow quickly for Mommy! :)

I've included a picture from the baptism at church with this post. I've also added a link on the right that has many more pictures from the weekend. Below are two videos from the service:

Is This What They Call aToy?

I started noticing things just the other day they are colorful and sometimes they make great noises. Mom hangs them on my car seat and they hang over the swing we are borrowing and they are just so fun. For a while they are so fun. I wish they would talk to me though. I get frustrated with them after a while because i can not move them but give me some time and i will have it figured out! If mommy can get this computer figured out she will post a picture for you.

So They Say Meredith Has Colic

Yesterday, Meredith and I went to the Pedi and they say she has colic. It explains the never ending crying, but does nothing to help the situation. Just a month or so more or it. I guess i will have to start counting down the days. We have better days some days. Today seems to be one of them. It should be because yesterday Meredith only took about a total of an hour and a half of naps. She woke up today with bags under her eyes. Poor thing. Other than the crying she is in good health and gaining weight like no other (10 lbs already). In fact, today I moved her car seat straps up so she is getting taller too.

Modified Tummy Time

I really enjoy looking around my surroundings, as long as I'm awake and happy (which my Mommy and Daddy would say is only a fraction of a day). Sometimes my Mommy and I play a game called "tummy time." I'm not entirely sure how this constitutes a game, as no one really takes turns, nobody advances through any sort of levels or places on a board, and no one can win, but hey, who's complaining?

The game entails this: I lay on my stomach and hold up my head. My Mommy praises me. Sometimes I hold up a part of my body with my arms. This is when my Mommy gets really excited. :) Other times I may try and kick my feet and play like I know how to crawl (Mommy and Daddy say that will come in time).

Anyway, here's a picture of what Daddy called "modified" tummy time where Mommy put me on my tummy on a pillow laid on the couch. Meanwhile, Daddy took pictures. One of those pictures is in this post. Daddy said I looked cute in the bonnet, but I just don't know...

Meredith wears a dress

Mollie this morning decided Meredith could wear a dress and chose the dress Mollie was baptized in. She even put on the bonnet. How cute! Our plans are to have Meredith wear the baptismal gown my sisters and I wore when we were baptized, but Mollie's getting worried that Meredith won't fit into it. We'll just have to see in two weeks. The picture with this post was taken after we came back from church today with Meredith wearing the dress and bonnet. Luckily for us she laid (mostly) content while we quickly took her picture.

Meredith is doing well, still eats, sleeps, makes messes in her diapers, and cries. Mollie seems to think that Meredith cries more than normal, but Mollie is experiencing most all of the crying Meredith does, so her opinion may be biased. Meredith does seem to get a fair bit of gas and she can be bloated some times, but we have found that gas drops help out. Right now Mollie's looking into what goes into "gripe water" that often is given to babies who have colic problems. We've both decided that we would talk with our pediatrician first, though.

Daddy & I Take a Nap

Mommy says I'm napping more, but if you ask me, this whole sleeping thing is overrated. I would much rather be looking around, trying to hold up my own head, and exploring the world. All I need to do is learn to crawl... but Mommy and Daddy say I sure kick enough to be crawling any time now. Mommy keeps having this thing called "tummy time" and praises me when I hold up my head and my body with my arms. Oh well, I'm content to do as they ask as long as Mommy keeps feeding me and changing my diapers.

One of my favorite sleeping positions with Mommy and Daddy is while they're lying/sleeping too. I nestle myself into their shoulder and try to get some rest too. Sometimes I just don't feel like sleeping, though, and I just hold myself up and look around. Problem is, it seems like we're always trying to sleep on the couch, and all I can see are couch cushions. That's just no fun! I need to request a new sleeping location so I can see all the fun things in the world. I'll get on that soon enough, but in the mean time you can look at the picture of Daddy and me sleeping on the ever so boring couch.

Shamu, meet Meredith

Last weekend was the SwRI (Tim's work) picnic at Sea World San Antonio. Jaclyn (a college friend of Mollie's) was over for the weekend helping us out and Meredith is now just a month old, so we decided to venture out into the populated world with her for a short while. Being Texas in September, it was quite toasty outside so we tried to keep to the shows intermixed with trips to air conditioned buildings.

Two of the shows we went to included Shamu's Believe, and the dolphin Viva show (see pictures). Unfortunately, the introductions between Shamu and Meredith were really just a one-way transaction as Meredith slept through the show, but she was awake during Viva! It probably doesn't matter because she can't really focus on anything that far away yet, but Mollie, Jaclyn, and I had a good time anyway!

If you look at the picture of Meredith, hopefully you can see how much bigger she's getting, quite a surprise when you think just a short month ago she was hardly six pounds! She's growing like a weed! :)

Back to the Doctor

Meredith went in for her one month appt. today. It was a hard one. They drew blood from her arm finished said it was not enough and drew from the other arm. Meredith screamed the whole time poor girl then after that they gave her her hep B vax. Her weight is up to 8.7 lbs and her height is 20 1/4 inches. Her head is still measuring large at 14 inches. Wow she weights what a "typical" new born would weight at a month. She is loving still fitting into her newborn cloths though. Every now and again i try something bigger on her but NOPE. Some day soon she will be in them though. No picture because it was not a pretty sight today.

Widow's Peak

HELP!!!! I am losing my hair. who knows what color it will come back in as. Mama still says i am beautiful though.

Some of the Grandparents

Here are some pictures of Meredith visiting with her grandparents. Some how when my mom was here i did not take any pictures blame the socialization. Good thing she lives near by and we can see her again soon. Meredith was visited by her Grandma Stavenger and by her "Pops." Here are some pictures.

A New Trick

Meredith has learned a new trick and it makes me laugh every time she does it. She sticks out her tongue. She does it when she is happy when she is sad when she is ready to eat pretty much all the time, even when she is sleeping. See evidence to the left.

Birth Announcement Ordered!

So it's been three and a half weeks, but we (finally) have a picture chosen for a birth announcement (see picture for this post). Mollie and I have it on order at our local grocery store/photo center (HEB), and it should be ready soon. All we'll have to do then is mail it out to everyone ... ;)

Keep Trying

Mom and Dad have it in their heads that we need to have a picture of me that could go on my birth announcement...yeah my parents are LATE getting to that point. you would think that by now they have enough pictures of me that they can pick one out and do the announcement but NO..mom even took about 12 today and does not like any of them. We will share the best with you but we will have to have another photo session when dad gets home. Well mom says it is time for me to go and take my afternoon nap so that she can get some house work done (our first official day of just the two of us). I am trying to be good for mom but sometimes it is just so hard to be a baby...i can not tell mom what i need so she has to guess and sometimes it takes her a while to guess right. Oh well we will get it all working. Oh and mom played with the colors on this picture just because she thought that it looked better this way.