Hiccup Humor

Here is a video of Megan while she is in the middle of a case of hiccups. She inherited my version of the hiccups, meaning her whole body moves and the hiccups are very loud and painful. Sometimes she cries right before they start as if she knows they are coming. Most of the time she is ok with them but after about 10 minutes if they are still going, she cries. She gets a case of the hiccups about 3 times a day lasting for about 5 to 10 minutes each time.

2 Month Checkup

The Before "Shot"

Megan went to the doctor today for her 2 month check up. It is always reassuring to her the doctor say "Everything looks great!" and as a breast-feeding mom it makes me feel good to hear her say "I'm so glad you are sticking with breast-feeding. Most moms have given up by now." It gives me another boost to stick with it, because there are days when she eats all the time that giving her formula sounds so much easier then listening to her cry. Megan really loves her food!!! Mark and I were sure that she would weigh at least 12 lbs. because she looks and feels so heavy. Wow, were we wrong. Megan weighed in at a whopping 10lbs 11oz. She only gained 1lb 3oz. in a month. She is still in the 75th percentile for weight and the doctor said her weight gain was good. Her head is now 15 1/4 inches (50th percentile) and her length is 22 1/2 inches (50th percentile) All of her measurements are right where they need to be so we are pleased.

The Painful During "Shot"

Today was the day were she had to get 4 shots. It was VERY painful for Mark and I to watch. What you can't see in this picture is Megan's bright red face because she was screaming/crying so loud. The nurse was very quick with all the shots, it only took about 30 seconds for all of them but it felt like 30 minutes of torture.

The After "Shot"

Safely back in her daddy's arms, Megan settled down. She only cried for about 3 mins but whimpered for awhile. Just in case you were wondering she also has a matching set of band-aids on the other leg. Mark is in charge of removing the band-aids because I think Megan will cry longer after that then after getting the shots.

Here is an F.Y.I. for other mothers; after your child has shots in the leg, don't walk around in a front infant carrier. Yeah I'm a bad mom, I took Megan to run some errands using the front carrier and her legs (wounds) were rubbing during the whole trip. I felt horrible. But once we got home Megan spent the day sleeping and still is because it was a big painful day for her.

Megan and the Moviestar!

Meredith Wiley (Patterson) who is Shonn Wiley's wife was in town this weekend to spend time with her Adrian "family". We spent the weekend having an Arbonne (make-up) party, scrap booking her "42nd Street" album and eating really good food. It was fun to see Meredith for an extended stay. Normally it is only quick visits because of her profession. Meredith is a Broadway performer, has appeared on "Boston Legal" "Guiding Light," and will be performing in "A White Christmas" in Boston this winter. But more memorable to any child would be her 8 minute appearance in "Princess Diaries 2" So if Megan ever decides that she wants to be a dancer or actor, Meredith and Shonn will be the ones to give advice.

Cousins and Fashion Trends

Friday afternoon Megan and I went over to Grandma and Papa Schutte's house to spend some last minute time with them before they left for Florida. Morgan and Liam were also visiting because it will be a long time before they would see grandma and papa. Grandma was cleaning out her fridge and Morgan and Liam scored some popsicles!
When Megan and I walked in Liam was excited to see Megan. He had his baby do everything Megan did. He even gave Megan one of his diapers to use, it was cute. But then again anything Liam did while wearing this lovely outfit was cute. I see a fashion trend in the making; t-shirt, boots and no pants!

All in a days work

Two weeks ago when we bought this toy Megan would just stare at one of the legs. Today when I hit the buttons to start the lights and music she was all smiles. She almost has enough power in her legs to start the music herself. She'll have fun with this once she learns to do it on her own, but right now it is fun watching her in awe of the dancing lights.
Meet Megan's fish. He is meant to be a "tummy time" toy, but she doesn't really focus on things she just concentrates on holding her head up. So I just lay the mirror next to her and every once and a while she will notice the cute baby in the mirror. Mr. Fish also lights up and sings, two things that Megan loves!
This is her favorite place to be. She LOVES being on the front porch swing. I have no idea what we are going to do all winter when we won't be able to use the swing. And no I don't let her swing alone, I just took the picture then we both snuggled on the swing and read "Snow White"

My first hockey game

After having our picture taken with the Stanley Cup we went into the arena to take a look. It is pretty impressive for Adrian College, especially when it was just a dream a year ago.
My parents knew someone who had extra tickets so Mark, Megan and I went to the second hockey game ever at Adrian College. It was a good game in a very nice arena (Adrian lost) Megan stayed nice and warm in her fuzzy Jack-o-lantern outfit.
Here is Megan sleeping. During the whole game and intermissions she only slept for a total of 15-20 mins. She was sitting up and watching everything around her. She loved it. Right after this picture was taken Adrian scored and the really big buzzer woke her up, but she slept through the next one! When we got home and after she had food she spent about 5 minutes turning her head from side to side trying to figure out where everybody went. I don't think she was ready to be home she was having too much fun.

Lord Stanley

On Saturday, Adrian College was celebrating their opening weekend of the new Arrington Ice Arena. As part of the celebration the Stanley Cup made a visit. I saw the cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame, but it was pretty cool seeing it this close. Megan didn't have any Red Wings stuff but luckily we had the "boy" hand me down clothes so we were able to find something red for her to wear. She was asleep during the walk over to the college but as soon as she saw the cup her eyes were locked on it. She'll be a hockey fan!

Look! I'm two months old!

Here is Megan two month picture. It is kind of hard to tell but she has grown. She has also added new skills she uses every day. She likes to turn her head from side to side quickly and grins while doing it. She has started to drool A LOT! She is always moving her arms and has a pretty good punch. But my favorite thing she has mastered is waking up with a smile on her face. It is so rewarding to get her out of her crib in the morning and just see her grinning from ear to ear. It truly is the best part of being a parent.

Our beautiful baby girl. Her playful time is in the morning and she will grin and coo at us as long as we do the same back. She loves talking to us and loves talking during her sleep, it's funny. There have been many times when I hear her during the night and I get out of bed to feed her or give her the pacifier and when I get to her crib she is sound asleep.
This is the picture I took at 1 month. It is hard to see her growth, but you can see how she isn't as curled up.

Got Milk???

Dressed in her ghost shirt, Megan is ready for a full day of decorating Halloween cookies. She spent most of the day laying in her Boppy on the dining room table. Luckily she doesn't move so she was easy to work around.
Look at all of those cookies!!! Megan did a very good job supervising the cookie decorating. When she was awake she cried when sprinkles went flying. I'm sure it was just good timing, but it was funny.
The supervisor approved of our decorating skills. Although in this picture she is taking all the credit for the cookies, all of this was the hard work of Grandma Berthold, Great-Aunt Lynda and me (Jana). I think we did a great job, and yes, they taste as good as they look!

My first BIG party!

Here we are all dressed up and ready to go to a wedding. A friend of mine from high school got married so I knew that a lot of people would be there for Megan to meet. It was fun seeing old friends.
My friend Laura was in the wedding and since she lives in Chicago, she came to Adrian the day before, so the girls went to lunch together on Friday. Now that Megan and Laura go way back we had to get a picture of all the women dressed up.
And this is why Laura refers to herself as "The Baby Whisperer" Megan was kind of fussy when she first met Laura, but Laura used her magic and Megan settled down. Personally I think Megan is just going through a phase because more and more she is fussy to anyone, other then me, holding her. But soon she will learn to love Laura and all will be right with the world.
Yes, Megan made it to the dance floor! Following what seems like an Adrian High School tradition, we had to all make it to the dance floor to dance "The Electric Slide" Megan LOVED all of the lights on the dance floor. Every time we had to turn during the dance, Megan turned her head to find the lights again. Too bad the dance makes you turn 90 degrees every 10 seconds! She had fun and hopefully this early introduction to dance will make her have more rhythm then Mark.

It's Bath Time Baby!

The first few baths Megan had she wasn't to fond of. As time went by and I got the water to the right temperature she started to like them. Here she is enjoying a nice warm bath (she has a wash cloth on her belly to help keep her warm) After a few minutes she relaxes and she spreads her legs on either side of the green sling and kicks her feet in the water.
Look at the "Buddha belly"!!! I have no idea why babies has such "big" bellies with absolutely no waist or hips. It is so cute and so funny to look at, especially in profile. I just love her belly!

My first baby doll

In following with tradition, Grandma and Papa Schutte bought Megan her first baby doll. All of her cousins have the same doll. It is fun to see all of the dolls lined up when the family is together. Now we have one more to add. Megan first noticed her doll when I put the doll on my chest and Megan just stared at the doll's face. I don't know what Megan was thinking but if was fun watching her concentrate on the doll.

Flying Baby!!!

We have discovered that Megan loves to be upside down. When we lift her up then tilt her towards the ground she gets a big grin on her face then shakes her head from side to side. It's cute!
Another thing we learned is that if you do this right after she eats, "Flying Baby" turns into "Puking Baby" That is one lesson we won't repeat!

I'm a mini-maple!

Friday was Adrian High School's homecoming, so Megan took part in the festivities. The parade goes down the street that is behind our house, so Megan saw her first parade. As we walked over we saw Rosemary Olsaver, so the two girls enjoyed the parade together.
Mark is very good at multi-tasking! He can feed Megan, hold a pacifier and watch a football game! We went to dinner and the game with the Olsaver family and Megan met a lot of people at the game. We were on the visitors side because there were so many people at the game.
Here is just a cute picture of Megan at the game. She likes being in the front carrier and it was a perfect night to watch a game (Adrian won)

It's hard being Daddy's girl

Here are Mark and Megan working hard while I fixed dinner. Megan had a long day. We had "tummy time" and then when for a walk in the front carrier (her head barley sticks out the top now) Half way through the walk she fell asleep, and didn't even notice when she was handed to her dad when we got home.
Now if only we could sleep so deep! This is the image of total relaxation.