I'm gonna get you! Maegan is combining two of her favorite games in this picture. She is chasing me and she has rummaged through the diaper stacker and has pulled a bunch of diapers out. Now that she is good at walking, she loves to chase us/be chased by us. She squeals, giggles, and takes some hard falls when she inevitably trips.

Maegan has enjoyed 'reading' her new Dr. Seuss board books. Here she is wearing her new feathery slippers. The dog already got ahold of one of them, so it has fewer feathers than the other, but the dog slobber dried ok and it is still fluffy. :)

Maegan with her one of her favorite Christmas gifts. She quickly figured out how to climb up on the pony, but her dismount isn't so graceful (head first, very slowly).

Maegan is happy to be feeling better now.

Pneumonia

Maegan is doing much better after being hospitalized with pneumonia. She has had a cold with a cough for a couple of weeks, but started to get feverish on Wednesday night. By Thursday at day care, her fever was at 104.5, and her breathing was rapid. I took her to the doctor, who sent us to the emergency room for tests. The chest x-ray showed pneumonia, and they admitted her. We stayed 2 nights and she was released Saturday morning, having responded well to breathing treatments and i.v. antibiotics.

Mama and Maegan in our "matching" orange hoodies. I see your belly button!

Maegan's hair just after a bath. Before she sleeps on it, it is curly!

Toddlerhood

By 14 months, Maegan had just started to walk. At 14 1/2 months, she does very well. Now that she spends more time up off the floor, she has discovered different things to get into, such as kitchen drawers at her eye level. The top drawer is now crammed full of miscellaneous sharp utensils, and the second drawer is almost empty. Yesterday, I saw her open the top drawer and attempt to reach in, but she's not quite tall enough yet. I'll have to figure something out soon.

Maegan got her first molar this month, so that makes 9 teeth. I don't think there are any more, but she wouldn't let me look today, so I'm not sure.

She's starting to get opinionated. For example, she wants to feed herself. Last night, we had burritos, and rather than taking bites from the one I rolled up for her, she unrolled it and picked the cheese off with her fingers and took bites of the meat and beans from off the shell (imagine a tortilla up against her face). Tonight she successfully (sort of) used her fork to eat some stuffing. She scooped it up herself and everything. However, when she got a bite of a pea that mom snuck in, she spit it out. There's no fooling her with hiding veggies!

Maegan has other strange eating habits; when she's ready to put down her spoon/fork and take a drink, she puts the utensil and any other large pieces of food on her tray (like scraps of bread) in her bowl. When she's done drinking, she puts her cup in her bowl, so everything is neat and tidy in the bowl. When she's done with food, she reaches past the edge of her tray and puts the chunk of food on the table. (Her high chair is at one end of the table.) I guess this is her way of cleaning up or signaling that she is done.

This weekend, she identified a picture of a dog with her word for dog, which sounds like a cross between doggie and daddy. We think she tried to say banana the other day, too. It sounded like baBAba. Other than mama (and sometimes dada), that's about all she says so far. Not sure if I've already said that she can make the sign for light (open and close fist toward the light).

She's been good so far with the Christmas tree. She enjoys taking off the ornaments and then putting them back on. She has even hung her toy fish on the tree!

Her favorite game is to take things out of containers. Clothes out of drawers/laundry baskets, utensils and dishes out of cupboards/drawers, diapers out of her diaper stacker. She does put a few back in, and then she takes them all back out again. So far, she doesn't "get it" when I try to help her clean up/put things away. She just wants to take them back out again. We'll keep working on it.

Enjoy the pictures!

Maegan at Grandma's house at Thanksgiving. She enjoyed all the food and playing with her dad's old toys (you can see the school house in the back ground).

Maegan emptied out her dresser and started "getting dressed". She is looking for the edge of the blue sweater so she can put the right part over her head (like she did with the striped shirt).

Maegan wrinkling up her nose.

Thirteen Months and Climbing

At 13 months, Maegan hasn't decided to start walking yet, but LOVES to climb. After she mastered the stairs, she moved on to climbing on the couch. Daddy plays a fun game with her; he puts his hands on the seat cushions and pushes down and then lets go again and again, so she bounces up as if she were on a trampoline with another person jumping. She LOVES it, but I'm not so sure it was a good idea to start it... Guess that's what Dads are for.

She has 8 teeth now, but doesn't always use them; she has a tendency to stuff large quantities of food in her mouth and then have a hard time chewing. I have to watch her especially closely on bread--she nearly chokes on it. Even if I tear/cut up pieces for her, she'll stuff 3 at once in her mouth.

Maegan doesn't like to wear socks. She pulls them off all the time. So it is no surprise that we can't keep shoes on her, either. She does have a couple of pair, but neither have been worn much at all. I guess until she starts walking it isn't a big deal, but the weather is getting cooler and she'll need something to keep her toes warm. She wore a dress with tights this weekend to a wedding, and was very frustrated that she couldn't pull those socks off!

Mae graduated to the big bathtub this week. The baby tub was a bit cramped for her, so I bought a bath mat so she wouldn't slide around the big tub. She still enjoys her bath time, and has figured out how to bend forward and blow bubbles in the water with her mouth.

Maegan playing in her room

Maegan likes to climb through her high chair legs.

Sleepy cutie with her baby doll

Almost walking!

Maegan became more bold this week with taking steps. She is now willing to take 3-4 steps from one location to another without crawling in between. I wouldn't say she is officially walking yet, but she's very close! I found some clothes today that were given to us that will almost fit her, and the poncho was with them. It fits her perfectly, but all she wants to do is pull the yarns out of the pom-pom. We got a few cute pictures of her wearing it. Enjoy!

Looking awfully grown up in this picture. Check out those curls! Note that the pom-pom in her left hand was missing a few pieces of yarn by the time we took the poncho off.

Maegan is wearing her mom's old poncho!

Maegan with her friends Anna and Emma at the GR Zoo. Can't you see the mischief in her eyes?

Here are the kiddos in the bike trailer. Maegan loved it, and Kyria hated it. I think Kyria was being squished. Note Maegan's belly hanging out of her shirt. :)

Maegan with her friend Kyria in the bicycle trailer. Yes, that is Kyria's pacifier...Maegan stole it and started chewing on it. We have another picture where the entire thing is in her mouth!

Mae climbed all the way up the stairs and came down safely all by herself. You can tell she is on the way down in the picture because her sleeves are pulled over her hands and her pant legs are creeping up from coming down backwards on her tummy.

Happy Birthday, Maegan!

Check out the pictures for highlights from this month. What else has changed in the last month?

-Maegan has 7 teeth now, working on #8. There aren't many pictures of her in existence where she has a dry chin. When reviewing pictures to decide which to post on the blog, I found at least two where there was a string of drool hanging from her mouth. :) I think the front of her shirt is wet in most of the pictures, too. When will it end??

-Maegan has discovered that it is fun to open cupboard doors. Now that we have safety latches on them, she enjoys pulling them open as far as the latches will go (about an inch and a half) and then banging them shut. Open, shut, open, shut, open, shut--loudly. This is her first 'no-no'. Because the lazy susan corner cupboard doesn't have a latch, this is her other 'no-no'. Yesterday she managed to open it and take out a container of her veggie puffs (like cereal but sweet potato flavored star shapes), open the container and feed herself some!

-Maegan frequently stands up from a sitting/squatting position, often holding on to one or 2 toys. She will stand there for a few moments and then sit down again. We have seen her take an isolated step a couple of times, but she isn't officially walking yet.

-Her car seat now faces forward instead of the rear of the car. Her favorite game in the car is for me to turn around quickly and look at her and then quickly turn my head back to the front. It makes her giggle and squeal. :)

-Maegan is getting very good at waving bye-bye. She is also trying out new babbling sounds and seems to want to talk quite badly.

-She can now steer her walk-behind toy. Seemingly overnight she figured it out and is now able to push it all around the house without getting stuck against the walls/furniture.

Maegan enjoying spaghetti on her birthday

Maegan climbed up into this chair all by herself! And she would have come down on her head had I not been there to catch her.

Maegan with her walk-behind toy

Maegan with Ma ma ma ma.

What it is like to be 11 months old

I couldn't decide which pictures to post this time, so I posted quite a few. I'm sure you won't mind. :) We had a good month, despite the fever we all had (Mom for 1 day, Dad for 2 days and Maegan for about a week). After 5 days of on and off fever around 101, we took Maegan to the Doctor, who said to just give her Ibuprofen every 8 hours and it should be gone in a couple of days...and it was.

In some of the pictures I posted you may notice that one side of Maegan's upper lip is swollen. She fell against an end table at day care and had a fat lip for a couple of days. I know it won't be the last time! It didn't seem to bother her much, but it was too bad it happened right before her 11 month birthday, so it is in most of the pictures.

I should explain some of the pictures. Lately, when Mae gets excited or is just really happy, she bounces up and down and waves her arms up and down above her head and opens her mouth really wide and says AAAA aaa aaaa AAAA AAAA! It is really funny and I think I have it on video. Now that we have a DVD burner, I will be compiling the video we have and sending it off to the various grandparents, so you will see it soon.

Maegan can crawl on her knees or on her feet (bear crawling). She bear crawls a lot when she is wearing a dress, so her knees don't get stuck. We bought a toy for her that she can push and walk behind, and she gets really excited when she makes it move. It converts to a ride-on toy when she's ready for that. I'll have to get a picture of it and post that, too.

Mae has been playing with the stackable block things that you see in a couple of the pictures, and she will spend a lot of time (a lot for an 11 month old) trying to get them to fit together. When she does, she makes lots of happy noises. :)

There are almost 5 teeth now. I can see the 5th and 6th ones trying to come through her top gums, but number 5 is very close. I've been using a baby toothbrush thing (it goes over your finger and is rubbery) with baby toothpaste every night. Maegan likes it. I think it is bubble gum flavored.

We did some product testing this month. I went by myself one day and sniffed samples of baby lotion and rated them. Last Saturday, Maegan and I went and taste tested four samples of vanilla custard pudding. It was lots of fun and we earned $40 in Meijer gift cards!

Maegan likes table food now over baby food (can you blame her?). She loves Mexican food, which is hardly a surprise, since I ate so much of it when she was in the womb. Some of her other favorites are watermelon, cantaloupe, beans, and cheese. She likes almost everything she can feed herself.

Today we saw a dog in the car next to us at the stop light. Actually, Maegan noticed it first and grinned and said oooh, which made me look and see a fuzzy little white pooch hanging out the window. I think we have a dog lover on our hands.

Tami (day care) took Mae and her kids to the zoo this month, and said Maegan loved it. She pointed at the animals and said oooh oooh! We are planning to go with some friends in the next couple of weeks. What fun!

One bad thing that happened this month was that we lost our hard drive and all of our pictures. All we have is what is posted on the blog. We would welcome any copies you have (CD is probably the best delivery method, since we only have dial-up).

That's all I can think of for now. Stay tuned!

I get really excited when I fit these blocks together.

This is me bear crawling.

This is what I look like when I'm really happy. "AAAA aaaaAAAA aaa AAAAA!"

I'm 11 months old!

Now that Maegan is 10 months old...

She has 4 teeth (check out the 2 new top ones in the picture posted above).

She pulls herself up to standing and occasionally lets go and stands there for a few seconds, just keeping her balance.

She has a new habit of wrinkling up her nose when she smiles.

She loves to 'undo' things, such as taking books off the shelf, taking objects out of a container, and knocking over towers of toys built by other people.

She sings to herself often.

She makes an 'o' shape with her lips and breathes out her mouth, making a whistling sound.

She is even more delightful than last month!

See my teeth?

This is what I look like when I wrinkle up my nose.

I can whistle! (Sort of...)

Maegan at Lake Michigan

First trip to the beach

We almost didn't go to the beach today due to the rainy weather, but the sun did come out just long enough for us to enjoy playing in the sand. Maegan enjoyed crawling around in the sand and trying to eat it. Honestly, I think she did succeed in eating some. It certainly was everywhere...in her hair and ears, between her toes and fingers, and everywhere else, including all over me.

The water was cold and the lake was choppy (there was a red flag out for no swimming), so we just sat along the edge of the water and let the waves wash over our legs. Maegan didn't like the loud cold waves so much, but made up for it by playing in the warm soft sand.

There is a stream that feeds into the lake there on the beach, and the shallow water was a bit warmer for us to play in. The picture of Maegan eating sand has this water in the background. The color looks strange in the picture, but the water was clear.

After playing for awhile, the water was too cold and Maegan was tired. We washed off as much sand as we could and wrapped her in a towel. She fell asleep on my lap and we tucked her in to her stroller. Not much later, it started to sprinkle so we headed out.

Eating sand is hard work!

Mmm...sand...

Don't I look great in pink?

Exploring

After I posted Maegan's 9 month picture, I realized that it is the first one I've posted where you can see her 2 teeth. She almost has a 3rd now, on the top.

Maegan is a proficient cruiser now, and has even started to climb the stairs! Matthew installed the baby gate yesterday at the bottom of the stairs by the back door (there is a door at the top--our bedroom).

Maegan has tried some new foods in the past couple of weeks, all of which she liked. They included:
-Cheese ravioli in spaghetti sauce
-Popsicle (at day care when teething)
-Ramen noodles
-Yogurt

I took her back to the Dr. last week for a follow up appointment after her ear infection. It wasn't gone, so she got a different prescription. At that appointment, she weighed 20 lbs.

Maegan's new favorite sound is 'la la la'. She also likes playing in the pool at day care and making big splashes in the bath tub. We're planning to go to Hoffmaster State Park on the 4th of July. This will be Maegan's first trip to the beach. Look for pictures of that soon!

Maegan at 9 months

Cruising

When I was in high school, cruising was driving around in your car after school and on weekends. Now cruising has a new definition: moving around the room by holding on to the furniture.

Now that Maegan can pull herself up to stand, she can't get enough of it. She gets a happy pleased-with-herself look on her face when she pulls up and stands there on wobbly knees. It didn't take her long to figure out that she could move around by hanging on to one kitchen chair and then the next. Yesterday she went from hanging on to her high chair to the edge of the table to the next chair and then over to her Exersaucer. I've even seen her let go of the crib rail and teeter for a second before plopping down onto her bed. She likes to pull herself up and then let go with one hand while reaching down with the other to pick up a toy. As soon as she straightens up to stand again, she plops down on her bottom and starts over again.

Maegan has been practicing her ba-ba-aba-aba sounds lately, adding to her ma-ma-ma and da-da-da. She stayed happy even while suffering from yet another cold and a mild ear infection last week. Now that she is feeling better, she is even happier. What a blessing!

Maegan's likes:
-Hanging upside-down
-Drinking from a cup
-Standing up
-Doggies
-People (especially mama)

Maegan's dislikes:
-Unexpected loud sounds like hair dryers and vacuum cleaners
-Waiting for the bottle she can clearly see is ready
-Holding still (lying down) while being changed

Look at me...cruising!

Bath time is fun!

Crawling, sitting, standing

In 18 days (the time from my last post to this one), Maegan has learned to:
-Crawl
-Go from crawling to sitting and back again
-Pull herself up to standing
-AND the spitting up has greatly decreased!

For her 8 month picture, I tried taking her to a part of our yard where a lot of wildflowers are blooming, but I didn't succeed in getting any good shots, either due to shadows or Maegan bending down and picking up dead leaves. In the picture I posted, she is about to eat some of the leaves...but I stopped her. Next year when our trilliums are blooming, maybe we can get some cute pictures of her sitting in the flowers. We wanted to this year, but never got the chance before they were done blooming. We have a large patch of them north and east of our house in the woods. For non-Michigan natives, here's where you can read about trilliums, which are somewhat rare wildflowers: (Trillium link)

In the other picture, you're seeing what we normally see for most of the day--her tongue sticking out. The only time I get to see her lips is when she's asleep. :) Our friend Randy said of her habit, "I know I've been greeted when she sticks out her tongue at me."

Other fun notes: we have started giving Maegan finger foods that she can gum such as cheddar cheese and fruit such as watermelon. She is able to pick up small pieces and feed herself now! Whenever she sees us eating, she leans forward and opens her mouth, which means, "Hey! Let me try some!" Tonight she tried dill pickles (which she liked) and sweet pickles (which she didn't like). She does pretty well at drinking from a cup now, too, although she often wants to bite the cup.

We're looking forward to a long weekend--Memorial Day! And then a short week at work for Lori (Tues and Wed) and then Grandma and Grandpa Armentrout (Dave and Kathy) arrive from Phoenix on Thursday!

In other news, Matthew will start a new job as a Network Administrator at Lake Michigan Credit Union in 2 weeks! (LMCU link) It is located just down the road from where my office will relocate in July, so we'll still be able to carpool.

Maegan at 8 months

Mmm...leaves...

Infant Dedication Liturgy (portion)

Here is the text from the portion of our church service that focused on Maegan. The bold sections were read by the full congregation.

The Anointing (Matt & Lori holding Maegan)
Matt: The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lori: Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.

Matt & Lori: Today we embrace this child, Maegan Kathleen Wiese as a gift from the Lord.
All: And We Also
Matt & Lori: We confess our responsibility to care for, nurture, and train her in the ways of redeemed humanity.
All: And We Also

Lori: (as Maegan's forehead is anointed with oil)
As with the kings and prophets of old, we anoint this child, believing in faith that you will call, lead, and guide her in the paths you desire her to walk.
Matt & Lori: We claim her as our own for a time, knowing that a day will come when we must release her for mature service in your kingdom. We ask for grace and faithfulness to this end.
All: And We Also

Read as Tree is Planted
Lori: We plant this tree as a reminder of our responsibility and joy, for we proclaim with Eve, our first mother, "We have received a child from the Lord."
Matt: And we proclaim with Mary, the mother of our Lord, "May it be to us according to your Word…"

Based on Psalm 127: 1-6 (continue as tree is planted)
How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!

(Based upon Psalm 37:23-24)
Matt & Lori: When the LORD delights in a child’s way, he makes her steps firm;
Though she stumble, she will not fall,
for the LORD will uphold her with his hand.

Prayers of Praise for the Three Children (following planting)
Lord, we rejoice that you have provided redemption for us in Christ. Let us rejoice with hope in a time of open prayer the redemptive potential represented in the lives of these three…
(where possible lay a hand upon one of the children)
Collective or individual prayers for the following…
For God’s grace in their life
For their early faith in him
For their redemptive potential toward others and creation
For our commitment to teach, train, and encourage them in their faith

Let us conclude with a hymn of dedication, expressing our corporate desire for Maegan.

Benediction
(Michael Card)
Verse: 1
The Lord be gracious to you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you.
And give you peace.
And give you peace.
And give you peace forever.

Verse 2:
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his glory shine through you.
And give you peace.
And give you peace.
And give you peace forever.

Two teeth

Maegan's first 2 teeth came in over the last couple of days (bottom front). She had a rough day at day care to day with not much napping, but was happy tonight. We can feel the teeth now, but it is hard to see them with that tongue in the way (see picture). Lately Maegan likes to stick out her tongue. Mostly it is curved up over her top lip, but the picture captured it hanging way out.

A big thanks to our friend, Ginger, who has a knack for taking portraits. These were all taken Sunday May 1. Our church had a special service for the three babies born in the last year. We traveled from house to house and planted a tree for each baby. Maegan's is a peach tree, and it looks like it may bear about 6-7 peaches this summer. I'll see if I can figure out how to post the text of the liturgy we used for those of you who are interested.

Mother's Day weekend in Chicago with Matthew's family was great. We enjoyed the time with family and seeing the sights in the city. A highlight for me was a boat tour on the Chicago River that explained the history of Chicago and its architecture. We also ate at Rick Bayless' restaurant--Frontera Grill (http://www.fronterakitchens.com/restaurants/). SUPER gourmet Mexican food! We highly recommend it.

Maegan's favorite sound to make these days is 'da-da-da-da', much to her father's delight. She can now sit unassisted and catches herself on her elbows if she falls over. She's still not quite crawling, but gets up on her hands and knees more frequently.

Beautiful baby (photo by Ginger Rohwer)

Get that tongue back in your head! (photo by Ginger Rohwer)

Maegan and Mama (photo by Ginger Rohwer)

Seven month update

Maegan turned 7 months old on Friday. Since she outgrew the bouncy seat last month, we have started taking her monthly pictures of her in her high chair. The picture I posted was taken after her meal of spinach and carrots and pears, so if you look closely, you can see a bit of spinach on her middle finger. :) Also note that she has curls sticking out on the left side of her head but not her right. This is a mystery--the hair is just longer on that side!

Maegan is on the verge of crawling now. She frequently gets up onto all fours, but when she moves forward, she tends to go down onto her left elbow and then land on her tummy. She also likes to stick her right leg out so she is on her left elbow and knee and right hand and foot-a bit lop-sided.

She had another cold this week, but it only lasted a couple of days. She seems to put her fingers in her mouth when she cries lately--possibly teething pain?

I'm 7 months old!

Mmmm...toes...

Quick update

Last week flew by. Maegan will be 7 months old on Friday! She now likes to bang on things, sometimes hard enough to make herself blink. We're hearing more da- and ma- sounds randomly now, but most of her "talking" still consists of squeals, screeches vowel sounds.

We had a fun visit with Matthew's parents this weekend. Maegan enjoyed her time with Grandma and Grandpa, and our trip to the mall. She is quite the shopper--interested in looking at everything. We found some fun metal butterflies to hang in her room at Robinette's (http://www.robinettes.com/). We also bought her a copy of a cute book, Olivia. (See it on the publisher's website here-- http://www.simonsays.com/content/content.cfm?sid=799&pid=500433)

I can't post without adding a picture, so I've added one from Maegan's 6 month birthday. I apologize in advance to you, Maegan, if you find this embarrassing in a few years, but I couldn't resist. I think it really is cute. :)

Carrots and crawling

Yes, crawling! Army style, anyway. Maegan now uses her left elbow to pull herself along, usually while reaching with her right arm toward something she wants to grab. She is starting to get up on her knees, but mostly on her elbows and knees rather than hands and knees so far.

She now has five 6 oz bottles of formula a day, and two of those feedings include either cereal (rice or oatmeal) or a vegetable. She likes sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots, and is now starting to like peas. At first, she wasn't too sure about the peas, but now opens her mouth for each bite and makes noise if I'm too slow in feeding her. This week, we will try green beans and a spinach/carrot mix. Then it's on to the world of fruits!

One problem with the solid foods is that now her spit up is colored. I thought laundry was daunting before, but now that carrots are in the picture, we're really going through the Shout gel! Her doctor says she'll outgrow the spitting up, which seems to be more frequent and voluminous when she's on her tummy or when pressure is inadvertently applied to her abdomen, such as when you pick her up. It can be frustrating to the point of tears to go through 5 burp cloths in the space of 30 minutes, but I keep reminding myself that it could be much worse. I'm so thankful that she's happy and otherwise healthy. At her 6 month checkup last week, she weighed 18 lbs. 9 3/4 oz. and was 27 3/4" long, which places her in the 90th percentile of her age group. She's obviously getting plenty of nutrition despite the spitting up!

Maegan and I went to garage sales this Saturday morning with our friends Denise and Kyria. It was a beautiful spring day in the low 70's. We found a couple of books, some toys and some clothes and had a great time. The bargain of the day was a sit-n-spin for $1! She'll have to wait a few months to use it, but I couldn't pass up that deal! I also found a fun toy telephone just like one that I had (Matthew had one too). It is the kind with a dial on the front that rings when you turn it, and it has wheels and a string so that when you pull it, the eyes on the front move. Maegan chewed on it a bit today, and then spit up on it, so I put it away for awhile so it will stay nice for later.

No teeth yet, and no evidence of teething, other than the same drooling we've had for a few months now. Not looking forward to the teething phase, so I keep reminding myself that it is just a phase...just like the spitting up. I never understood the significance of that phrase until now--"it's just a phase!" I think parental mental health depends on that reminder.

At 20 lbs, Maegan will outgrow her infant car seat, so we purchased a 'convertable' seat (I think its called that since it can be front or rear-facing). We started using it this weekend, so when I took Maegan to the grocery store, I had to figure out how to get her to sit in the cart by herself (since her new car seat is the kind that stays in the car). I took one of her fluffier blankets and stuffed it around her so she wouldn't slump over to one side and it worked wonderfully. She can't quite sit up by herself without falling over yet, so I wasn't sure if we could pull it off yet, but with the help of the strap in the cart and her blanket, it worked out great.

I've converted her tub from the reclining infant position to the 'sitting up supported by the bar' position, which she seems to enjoy. She likes to reach over the bar to try to get the bath toys by splashing at them.

I hope this lengthy update makes up for the time without any updates. I'll try not to go so long between postings next time!

From the archives--Maegan at 1 month. Amazing how much she's changed! Check out that hair do!

Maegan at 6 months: What a happy girl!

Time to retire the bouncy seat. (What's that on the floor? Can I grab it? It's a good thing I'm strapped in!)

1/2 Birthday

Today Maegan turned 6 months old! This will be the last picture posted of her in her bouncy seat, as she is too squirmy and keeps trying to reach everything around her, which results in her hanging out of it. (See picture.) We'll have to figure out a new location for our monthly pictures.

We were able to make the drive to Iowa to visit Matthew's family over the Easter weekend and had lots of fun. Even though Maegan had a bad cold (runny nose, fever, and a horrible cough), she was happy most of the time. She especially liked her cousin, Jaidyn, and Grandma and Grandpa Wiese (at least, she had the biggest smiles for them). Uncle Aaron and Aunt Jackie got some good video of her trying to drink from a glass.

On another note, I should make an update about our decision in January to sell our house and move into town. After having our house on the market for about a month, we decided to stay. The economic benefits and reduced commute time just weren't as significant as we thought they might be, and besides, we really like this house!

Daddy's chin is prickly!

What's new?

Once the rolling over started, it hasn't stopped. She loves to roll back and forth from front to back, and can't be expected to stay put any more. Looks like we'll have to begin baby-proofing soon. The other day, I put her in the living room, walked out for a minute, and thought I had lost her when I came back--she was almost under the couch!

We had fun feeding her rice cereal for the first time this weekend. She seemed to like it. We'll probably feed it to her only on weekends and mostly for fun for another week or two, as there just isn't time for that big production on a week night right now, and she doesn't need it (nutritionally). She is down to two nursing sessions per day now (first and last feedings of the day, at 6:20 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.). All other feedings are formula. Soon, we'll go to one nursing session per day, with a goal to wean from the breast by 6 months. At that point, we'll be more purposeful about feeding solids, per the doctor's recommendation.

Maegan is ticklish under her arms! And she has discovered that faces are fun to touch (and grab, and pinch). Dad's chin is especially fun to touch, since it is prickly.

Maegan at 5 months

Purposeful rolling

As I am working on the grocery list, I put Maegan on her tummy on the floor with a toy. She is rolling back and forth from tummy to back. To test whether this was purposeful or random, I put her on her back with her toy off to one side out of reach. She saw it, rolled to her front and grabbed it! What fun to see her growing and learning!

Speaking of growing, I have purchased one 9 month sized outfit and decided to skip right to the next size (12 mo?). The 9 month size fits perfectly, so I know it won't fit for much longer! This outfit is a one-piece, though, with feet, so I suppose a 2 piece outfit without feet might be ok in this size. We finally found socks that stay on! Fruit of the Loom Bobby socks are great.

We'll post a picture in a few days--her 5 month birthday is coming up!

Raspberries and Giggles

Over the weekend, Maegan started 'blowing raspberries'. They are very juicy raspberries (lots of spit flying), but oh so cute. And those noises we heard that sounded like laughing really were! The picture shows her in her Exersaucer, which we assembled this weekend. She enjoys grabbing the toys on it and chewing on them.

Maegan "Exersaucing"