Last week Meghan turned 7 months old!  I’ll say it again – time fly’s by SO fast.  She’s such a big girl now.  She crawls EVERYWHERE.  I spend a lot of time watching where she’s crawling.  She pulls herself up on everything now, especially the coffee table and then smiles at us like she knows a trick that we don’t.  She’s taken her fair share of spills this month and has had a few bumps to the noggin that required Mom and Dad’s TLC and kisses to “make it better.”  She has gotten better at falling and now falls back on her butt slowly in order to avoid bumps and bangs.  She loves toys that make noise.  If they don’t, she’ll bang them on the coffee table (or whatever is around) and creates noise.  Hehe.  So, needless to say I spend a lot of my time running around with Meghan trying to keep her where she should be and out of where she shouldn’t be.  But I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

We all knew she’s been teething and on Sunday March 18^th, 2007 we saw and felt her first teeth!  Yes, she is cutting her two bottom teeth at the same time.  All those hard nights the past week weren’t for nothing!  Her teeth were trying to wiggle out!  Poor baby!  Now she’ll be able to bite and since we’re still nursing this will be quite interesting.  Hehe.  She gives kisses now (she opens her mouth on our cheeks and sucks).  It’s the most heartwarming thing EVER in this whole world!  I can’t get enough of them and don’t even mind the drool.  It’s love drool, right?  Hehe 

She's been eating baby food, but would much rather have what we're eating.  So, she's been trying table food lately and has done really well!  She loves steamed veggies, potatoes, crackers, and noodles.  I still insist her main source of nutrition come from nursing though.  She still prefers it too, which I'm very very grateful for.  Nothing beats sitting down to nurse after a long day and watch her gaze up at me and smile.  She has gotten more interested in the vessel that provides her milk.  She constantly plays and stares when she's nursing.  She'll stop, pull her head back, stare and then grab and push at my breast.  It's rather hilarious, especially when she gets a squirt in the face!  I can't help but chuckle and then she laughs thinking she's a funny girl.  I love this time with her and soak up every minute. 

Meghan just got over a really bad cold.  It started out with the runny nose and dry cough.  Turned into a barky cough, sore throat, fever, congested, Mom I feel miserable, cold.  I’m sure she got it from some of the other kiddos at daycare (surprise, surprise).  I can always tell when she doesn’t feel good, as she’s very clingy with me and wants to be held almost all the time.  I ended up staying home with her for about a week because she felt so icky.  I soaked up every minute of this time with her and did what every Mommy does to make their babies feel better.

When we took Meghan to the doctor for her cold, since Bronchiolitis was going around her classroom, she weighed in at 15 pounds 8 ounces.  She’s still teeny tiny but soooo long!!!  She almost fits length-wise into her 12 month clothes!  We went to the zoo for St. Patrick’s Day and although Meghan couldn’t quite figure out what all the moving things were behind cages, she loved being outside, watching all the other kiddos, and sitting in her stroller like a big girl.  We also went to the park on Sunday.  She’s already figured out how to climb up the steps on the playground and absolutely LOVES swinging in the baby swings.  We went down the slide a few times and she liked that too.

My dear Meghan is such a bundle of energy, but definitely my bundle of joy.  I hate to blink as I’m afraid I’ll miss something spectacular that she wants to show us.  I don’t like going to bed as I know the next day she’ll be closer to becoming a big girl and further away from being my little baby girl.  As I write this, tears fall for the joy of times to come and sadness for missing the days gone by.  What a blessing my 7 month old Meghan truly is!

Meghan, my darling daughter.  Last night before your bath you spotted the cord to Mom's curling iron and just had to have it.  You pulled up on your knees and then your hands, swayed back and forth to get a little head start, then picked up your knees and hands and moved forward!  You did this until you reached the cord (which mommy quickly moved away).  Both Mommy and Daddy saw you do this and were so very proud of you!  We clapped and said "YAY!"  You looked up and smiled like you always do.  I'm sure you had no idea what you did, but enjoyed the attention just the same.  I can't believe you are crawling now!  With practice you'll get faster!  Watch out everyone!  Gosh, before we know it you'll be walking!  You are such a big girl! 

We went swimming last night - just for fun.  Big brother, Auntie, cousins Danielle and Eric, and Mommy went.  You had so much fun splashing and kicking your legs in the water.  You are so observant and constantly looked around to see what was going on.  You especially liked to watch the big waterfall!  You also got to see big brother and mommy go down the BIG waterslide.  You looked so cute in your teeny bikini.  You sure steal the show wherever you go!

I love you my beautiful baby girl! ~Mommy 

I can see the questioned look on your face as you read the title of this entry.  I'll explain.  Last week, Meghan received her first "ouch report" from daycare.  Now that she's scooting around and pulling her self up,  getting bonked on the head was sure to follow.  This week, she's had two more ouch reports (of her own doing), totaling 3 in the past week.  Her teachers informed me that maybe we should purchase a helmet.  Oh my dear Meghan!  It amazes me that just in the past week, she's learning that if she can get to it, she can have it.  Oh boy can she get to it.  It's a matter of how fast WE can get to it before she does.  

For me, this is the hard part.  Having to let her "do and learn".  Of course, the dangerous things will unquestionably be prevented.  But, the bonking of the head will have to be a "do and learn" experience for her.  I know she is extraordinarily bright and will learn quickly what will hurt and what won't.  I've had to catch myself and bite my tongue several times not to overreact.  She always looks to see our reaction and I have to be so careful not to make the "oh my gosh is she hurt" face.  Even though secretly, I wish I could protect her from everything.

Today at lunch I went to feed and play with her at daycare.  When she saw me she got the biggest grin on her face and her legs started jutting in and out with excitment.  She does this at the end of the day, as well.  It is definitely my favorite part of the day - when just the site of me makes her that excited.  Today, after I fed her, she went on to show me how she can take all of the toys out of the shelf.  Then, she showed me that she is ALMOST crawling.  She maybe picks her arms and legs two or three times then scoots the rest of the way. 

Meghan I love you so much.  You have brought so much light to my life!  You were the missing piece to my puzzle. 

Meghan turned 6 months old last week!  She had her 6 month doctor appointment Friday the 9^th of February and here are her stats:

Weight – 14 lbs 12 oz.      25^th percentile

 Height – 27 in.      90^th percentile

Woah, my long and skinny girl!  She still hates the shots, but was comforted faster this time around.  I believe she has no more shots until her 1 year check up now, YAY!  Doctor said she looks perfect and seems to be doing well developmentally.  Her sleeping schedule could use some tweaking, but nothing that can’t be resolved with time.  We’re still nursing, which the Doc said was fantastic.  He gave me lots of kudos for sticking with it and encouraged me to continue for as long as possible.  Although breastmilk is still her main source of nutrients and food, Doc did give me the go ahead to try her first foods.  She seems to like bananas, especially in her cereal, and carrots.  She LOVES, LOVES her teething biscuits.  She looks so proud to hold it all by herself and stick it in her mouth.  Not to mention that it feels good on those gums – that have NO TEETH yet.  This is actually OK by me, especially since we’re still breastfeeding.

Meghan is now sitting up on her own, although she has been doing so since 5 ½ months old.  She looks so proud when sitting up, almost like she’s saying “look! Look what I can do!”  We’re still waiting for her to crawl.  She gets up on her hands and knees and sways back and forth.  She does do a sort of inch worm/army crawl to get her where she wants to be, but has yet to figure out that she can move her hands and legs forward to crawl.  Her poor knees and arms have rug burn from the “scooting”.  She doesn’t seem to mind, especially since now she can get to latest magazine under the coffee table to eat or tear up.

She has just gotten over her first serious illness.  I say serious based on her high fever of 103 degrees (Sunday, February 11^th, 2007), severe diarrhea, congestion, and mild dehydration.  The fever was still present through Tuesday that week but was less than 103 degrees.  This definitely wasn’t just the sneezes or congestion.  Doctor said it was a virus and that it would need to run its course.  I hate that.  Let it run its course while my baby is in pain.  :o(  .  It broke my heart to see her so uncomfortable and sick and not be able to do anything for it but give her Tylenol and TLC.  I had that parental feeling of wanting to take the pain away from her and carry it myself.  Ultimately this experience (as with many others, I’m certain) gave us the knowledge for the next icky crud to knock at our door.

Meghan and I went to her first “swim lesson” Saturday, February 17^th, 2007.  The instructor explained that the class is more for parents, in which the parents learn techniques to introduce their children to the water safely.  It also teaches the children to trust us as parents when we are introducing them to the water.  My favorite part was blowing bubbles in the water.  Meghan would watch me so intently and then try to do it herself, but would end up sticking her whole face in the water.  She just couldn’t understand why I could make the sound when I stuck my mouth in the water, but she couldn’t.  She’ll get there with practice!  She has the cutest little bikini swimsuit.  It made me giggle because she was so darn cute!

Meghan loves playing with her toys, especially if she can bang it and make LOTS of noise.  The nosier the toy the better – it figures those would be her favorite toys.  Meghan loves to have her socks off.  In fact, the less clothing she has on, the better.  Daddy always has taken her socks off at night and I think she has really grown to enjoy it.  So I blame this one on Daddy! Hehe.  I see her this summer in nothing but diapers.

She still loves her pets Dexter Dog and Loki our Kitty.  Whenever Meghan is playing on the floor, the Kitty loves to rub up against her.  Meghan in turn grabs a handful of the kitty’s hair and pulls.  It’s odd how Loki doesn’t seem to mind this too much.  He’s such a good cat.  Every time we come home Dexter gets so excited to see us.  When I put Meghan’s car seat down he jumps up and licks Meghan relentlessly.  I took a very sweet picture of Dexter and Meghan the other day.  When ever the pets are around she does what she can to get close to them – the picture says it all.

A couple of vacations we get to look forward to this summer.  We plan to go up to North Dakota for my cousins’ graduation Memorial Day weekend.  We also are planning a vacation to Grandma and Grandpa Scruggs’ in Indiana around 4^th of July.

I posted a few new pictures of Meghan, so take a look!  Hope everyone is well and keep in touch!