Another fun trick!

Apparently we haven't been spending enough time with Megan as we work on the house and she is forced to learn new ways to entertain herself. This is the new trick she has learned and really likes to do. She spent all weekend sticking her tongue out as far as it could go. It actually was very cute. If Mark and I were painting and looked at her, she would stick her tongue out then smile. We would stick out our tongue to her and she would stick hers out. A fun game that everyone could enjoy!
By the second day she had added a sound effect to her trick. Playing with Megan and laughing at her tongue trick made painting a lot more fun this weekend. And for the record we didn't leave Megan in her crib while we worked, I got really good at doing things one handed and Mark watched her while he ate and I worked (and vise verse) Plus we kicked it into overdrive when she took her nap.

Sleeping Beauty

Megan has perfected the art of staying awake when she really wants to sleep. On this afternoon Megan and I went to lunch with Grandma Berthold and Great-Grandma Berthold. Megan being the child that she is, she forced herself to stay awake entertaining everyone. She was all smiles, so no fussing, but she still needed to sleep. So after lunch ended we headed home. By the end of our very long 2 minute car ride, this is what I saw when I went to get her out of the car. She had her little hand clutched around her "remote control" and slept that way for over an hour! Too cute.

Poor Baron, Megan's Mobile

Megan has been doing an army crawl for about 3 weeks now. When she first started she was crawling about 3 feet, just far enough to get a toy. She slowly started increasing the distance. This morning she felt comfortable roaming around from room to room. Another thing she does as she roams around the house is look for air vents. The first one she found was blowing as she found it, so now she hunts for them. Today she was following me to the kitchen and quickly turned into the bathroom after she saw the air vent in there.

Gone are the days where Baron can get up and leave when Megan bugs him. She really loves crawling towards his cage/food bowl. Luckily Baron still doesn't seem to mind. Soon he will figure out that she can't climb stairs so he still will have one place to escape to.

On a side note, don't pay attention to our messy house in the videos, we are remodeling one room so we had to pile all of that stuff in other rooms, while still making it somewhat baby safe.

The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy

Before we could have an Easter Egg hunt we needed to get a picture of everyone together. From left to right: Kelsey, Caila, Megan, Morgan, Crystal, Liam and Conary. They are all so cute aren't they!?!
Pre- Easter Egg hunt the kids opened gifts from Grandma and Papa. Megan got two books that she enjoyed looking at.

Dad was having fun with the static from the balloon (big Easter Egg) and Megan was having fun "crawling" towards the plastic eggs.

Here is a video of the final results of the hunt. Everyone was very successful and lots of sugar was consumed today!

I think even more exciting then the Easter Bunny making a visit was that tonight the Tooth Fairy gets to visit Morgan for the very first time!!! Morgan was talking about her loose tooth all day and she was hugging Megan one minute then she looked down and saw her tooth on the floor next to her Easter basket. I think she will always remember loosing her first tooth.

A Parade of 'Peeps'

A news paper in Ann Arbor holds a contest every year for the best diorama of 'Peeps' So the kids needed a snow day activity so everyone made a 'Peep' collage. This was the beginning process of the 'Peep' decorating.
Here is Liam's sailboat (age 2 1/2), his mom helped him, and Morgan's (age 5) She made a gymnastics floor.
Here is Crystal's (age 4) She made a beach and the 'Peeps' are sitting on beach chairs and one is in the sailboat.
This is Kelsey's (age 7) She also made a beach, hers including a volleyball net and palm trees.
Here is Caila's (age almost 9) She made a gymnastics floor with uneven bars and trampolines.
Last we have Conary's hockey rink (age 10) He included 'Peep' referees and a stand full of 'Peep' fans.

They all had a lot of fun and it was so much fun watching their imaginations at work. Plus it was fun helping my nieces and nephews complete their creations.

Seven Months Old (and sick)

I can't believe a month has gone by since Megan's last monthly update. Megan continues to learn something new each day so of course this month has been great. Some of the new things Megan has learned in the last month are:

• "repeating" sounds and facial expressions (she babbles "hi Bear" each morning)


• she will drink from a sippy cup and not just play with it


• she will eat carrots, peas, pears, peaches, squash, green beans and rice cereal


• she can army crawl across the floor


• she can sit up unsupported (as long as she doesn't know I'm not holding her)


• she knows all about buttons on remotes and the phone


• she has learned how to stick her tongue out knowing she will make us laugh
  

Today was also the first time we had to go to the doctor's when it wasn't a "well baby" visit. Yesterday Megan had a low fever and was very tired so I gave her some Tylenol and made her drink as much as she could. Then last night she slept for 11 hours straight and I think she only reason she got up was because Mark moved her. Normally she wakes up at least 2 times a night so I knew she really wasn't feeling good. Her temperature was 101.6 so I called the doctor and went in to have her checked out. She said it was probably just a cold, Megan has no other symptoms. So we just need to keep giving her Tylenol and let it do it's thing. As you can see from the picture above Megan wasn't in the mood for a photo she just wanted me to hold her, which I am doing now. ***at the doctor's today she weighed 15lbs 9 oz

Six Month Photo

Five Month Photo

Four Month Photo

Three Month Photo

Two Month Photo

One Month Photo

What is she doing?

Saturday after my parents left, they were helping us strip wallpaper and lay floor tiles, Megan started doing this odd thing with her tongue. She will put her tongue in between her lower gum and lip and push out. It looks like she has a mouth full of chew tobacco (gross) It makes Mark and I laugh every time she does it, Right now it seems to be 50/50 on her having the pacifier in her mouth or having her tongue like this. This new found fun causes A LOT more drool to roll down her chin and also makes feeding her baby food more difficult because she pushes the food out of her mouth. She is so funny we never know what she is going to do next but it doesn't matter because we always love her new skills.

Megan Missed the Memo

Megan "reads" the news everyday, but apparently she missed the news that said today was mommy's birthday. Mark and I have been updating our kitchen and living room (read: stripping wallpaper and painting) so on weekends we are working hard to get things finished. By the end of the day we are very sore and very tired. Thinking Megan would sleep well last night (she only took a 30 min nap during the day) we thought that meant we could too. Not so fast, she cried for 2 hours in the middle of the night. She was content as long as I was holding her, but then screamed her head off the second I put her in her crib. After 30 minutes or so I went back to bed and let her cry. I kept checking on her, Mark checked on her but she only stopped crying if I held her. Finally after 2 hours she gave up and went to sleep. So that was how I spent my first birthday since becoming a mom.

I read somewhere that after about 6 months babies figure out that people respond when they cry. So I think Megan has realized that I pick her up when she cries, hence the crying when I put her in her crib. I now understand why some parents end up having their kids sleep in their beds until the kids are 10 years old! Mark and I did not cave, we held our ground and listen to the crying for 2 hours. I checked for any signs of teeth and that didn't seem to be the reason. So that is the only other thing I can come up with. Hopefully whatever it is doesn't last too long.

Dining Out

On Wednesday we had dinner with my parents at the Lenawee Country Club. Megan was in a playful mood and was getting passed around the table to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Berthold. If you look close at this picture you will notice that Megan has her pacifier shoved as far over in her mouth as possible. Earlier she had her hand and her pacifier in her mouth. Grandpa made the mistake of letting her grab his glass, she has a pretty good grip, so it took awhile to get his glass back.
Apparently it is okay to stand on the table when your 6 months old. I'd like to see her try that when she's older! What can I say she likes to stand so we let her stand. It was kind of funny normally she slips when she stands in just her socks but when she wears her Robeez' she stays put. Well she was standing just fine until the tablecloth decided to move! She thought it was funny.

Baby in a Hat

The other day Megan got a package in the mail from Grandma and Papa that had an Easter outfit and a winter hat (why do they sell winter hats in Florida) We had just walked in the door, hence the car seat, and I wanted Megan to try on her hat. The second I put it on her she was grinning from ear to ear (I think she liked the fur inside) She kept smiling long enough for me to grab the camera and take a picture. Hopefully she will fit into it next year, although at the rate she is growing she might be 12 before it fits her!

Me and My Hippo

Grandma Berthold brought this hippo back from her NYC trip. It is a pull along toy but since Megan can't walk she just likes to open his mouth and flip him over. I think she likes the noise he makes on the wood floor. Because of that I went out and bought her another toy made of wood. You've got to love Melissa and Doug toys!

Below was my attempt at getting a video of Megan playing with her hippo. The second she heard me turn on the camera she stopped playing with her hippo and turned into a ham. It's kind of a cute video I hope you enjoy it. At the end you will notice Megan looking under the carpet, I don't know why she loves doing that so much but she does it all the time.

Technical Difficulties Part II

I love technology! Sorry that we haven't had any cute pictures of Megan lately, we had to get our computer fixed, again! We got it back and just when we got everything the way we wanted it, our computer decided it didn't want to turn on. So off to the shop it went. We got it back a couple days later only to find out that we couldn't connect to the internet (something with the IP address) We were busy all weekend so the computer had to wait. We are up and running now, I just need to put or photo program on and then I'll show you all of the things Megan has learned to do in a week.

Pictures will be coming soon. Until then take care!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday Grandma Berthold. I also thought that because you have me in your kitchen so often, I would make you a cake. I hope you don't want to eat it anytime soon because right now all I can do is chew on the spatula. But I promise some day you'll have a really nice cake to eat.
Ok here is my very own secret ingredient for your cake, a 1/2 cup of smiley kisses make every cake from me very special. I hope you have a great day even if you can't eat my cake for a few years.

I love you and can't wait for it to warm up so we can take walks together.

Love,

Megan, Jana and Mark