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Meredith's Journal
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After a fun-packed weekend with the Bjella family clan in Kansas City, Meredith took a long car ride home to Minneapolis. She enjoyed meeting the two dozen cousins, uncles and aunts for the first time and there was always plenty of people around to entertain her. It was a smashing success of a first holiday season for Meredith! The drive home went well for Meredith, except for the last hour when her patience ran out and she began to cry like she never cried before (even when she got her shots at the doctor's office!) She didn't calm down, even though her parents assured her that home was quite close--imagine that! But she did eventually get home and seemed happy to be back after the long trip.
December 27th, 2003
Meredith's eye-hand coordination improves everyday. Today she successfully pulled off her dad's glasses for the first time. Her dad is also finding that wen she attempts to grab his lower lip, nose or beard, that she has a bit more painful of a grasp than before. Meredith has now mastered the skill of pulling out her pacifier with her hand. When she is bored she plays "tug-of-war" between her hand and ever-suctioning mouth. (Usually her hand is successful in "popping out" the pacifier.) She tries to put the pacifier back in her mouth and has done so successfully about 1 out of 20 times. (She is so unused to success that she pulls it right back out automatically.)
Lastly, Meredith continues to try to roll herself over. She has the idea right, but needs more practice. She can get all the way over from her back to stomach if she has a tiny bit of nudging help from her grandma. When she gets on her stomach, Meredith pushes herselg way up with her arms and gets her head as high as possible--impressing everyone with her strength. (She doesn't want to miss everything that is going on around her.)
Tomorrow Meredith heads to Kansas City to spend some time with the extended Bjella family. It is always fun to her to meet more fun-filled people for the first time.
December 25th, 2003
It was Meredith's first Christmas and she certainly seemed to be enjoying it. She got dressed today and yesterday in some of her finest Christmas outfits and loved all the attention bestowed upon her from her parents, grandparents and great grandparents. In the afternoon, while her parents went off for a bike ride, Meredith played around with her great grandparents.
December 23rd, 2003
Meredith spent a fun and relaxing afternoon with her grandma as her parents, grandpa, and Uncle David went to see the final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Meredith continues to have lots of fun interacting with everyone. Uncle David discovered a trick of lifting her up and letting her down, that garners a wide smile almost every time. She again watched attentively while everyone else played cards. Her dad credits her with helping him win a round of "10 to 1." Meredith is also improving her hand coordination. She is able to grab things and pull them to her mouth much more reliably. She also is beginning to pluck out her pacifier when she tires of if. (Sometimes, though, she plucks the pacifier out when she is not quite done either!)
December 22nd, 2003
Today was the final destination: Springfield, Missouri, where Grandma and Granpa Randolph live! Everyone was excited to see her. In the evening Great Grandpa and Grandma Bjella visited and met Meredith for the first time. (They prefer the terms GG Ma and GG Pa.) Her GG Pa likes to call her "M. Lael." (Her middle name is from her GG Ma, Lael Bjella.)
By today, Meredith's dad figured out he got his first Christmas present from Meredith, her virus. Meredith herself is feeling much better than last week, though she is still a little sniffly and has to continue taking her foul-tasting medicine that she so strongly detests and resists.
December 21st, 2003
Meredith did wonderfully on her longest car ride yet. Her parents drove all the way from Minneapolis to Kansas City. The family stayed with their friends Danielle and Andy. Meredith got to meet their two dogs, two cats, and see their wide assortment of marine life. The dogs were very curious about Meredith, though they were very well behaved. (She got her feet licked a little, but didn't seem to mind!)
December 20th, 2003
This past week posed a new challenge to Meredith (and her parents). After a weekend of fun and contact with lots of new people, Meredith caught a virus and came down with a fever Tuesday. She also had an extremely runny nose and was very upfront about telling her parents she was not happy. It was her first unscheduled visit to the doctor. To make things more unhappy for Meredith, her doctor discovered she developed an ear infection too! (A not uncommon occurrence with babies with other illnesses.) She was given some medicines and after a couple days of misery, Meredith began to feel better. Her parents could tell she was improving when she started smiling and interacting with them again. She still has to take medicine for a while, a practice she is not particularly okay with. Her parents are discovering that it is about the same difficulty to get infants to swallow their medicine as it is with cats. At least Meredith doesn't scratch!
Meredith's parents wished they could have been able to explain to Meredith that being sick certainly isn't fun, but that she will get better. It's hard (and a bit silly) to tell a three-month old she just needs to toughen it out for a little while. It is also true that her parents, who between them have decades of experience with illnesses, sometimes forget when they are sick thatthey just have to get through it.
Tomorrow, the whole family is set to drive down to Missouri for Christmas. There, Meredith will get to see her grandparents and Uncle Dave again, as well as meet a whole bunch of other neat people for the first time. It will be a joyous first Christmas for Meredith.
December 13th, 2003
In a special outfit given to her by her Grandma Randolph, Meredith posed for some holiday pictures in front of the Christmas tree. After quite of bit of coaxing and waving ("Meredith, look over here!" and "Come on, smile Meredith"), as well as making goofy sounds and faces, her parents were able to get at least one good picture.
December 12th, 2003
Meredith's mom brought her to an outdoor concert in downtown Minneapolis today. The concert was of holiday music, performed by the youth symphony her Uncle Jean directs. Meredith hung out with her cousin, Jaz, and had an all-round good time.
December 11th, 2003
Although her gums aren't hurting Meredith as they were a couple days ago, she is still finding relief sticking things in her mouth. It is a skill she is perfecting each day. Any toy or object within reach makes it way to her mouth and gets chomped on without fail, including her dad's fingers! Meredith is also reliably folliowng people's and objects' movement with her eyes. She is keeping tabs on her surroundings.
December 8th, 2003
Meredith gave her mom a preview of things to come. While being held by her breakfast-eating mommy, Meredith slammed her arm down on the cereal bowl , flipping it into the air. She is developing new talents and making discoveries each day!
December 7th, 2003
Meredith is drooling much more these days and appears to be entering the pre-teething stage. It is marked by, you guessed it, lots of drool and irratability. Last night Meredith had a lot of troubling falling asleep and the poor girl cried for much of the evening. Her parents don't know if is the way she is crying or if it is their own guilt, but Meredith's cries really sound like she's holding her mom and dad personally responsible for her discomfort.
December 5th, 2003
It was another play-date tonight. This time Meredith didn't sleep the whole time and actually checked out the other babies for a bit. She then became immersed in a nifty toy. Like most babies, she swings widely from extroversion to introversion, often without warning.
December 3rd, 2003
Tonight was a "date night" for Meredith's mom and dad. They went out for a dinner and movie while Meredith was under the able supervision of Jess and Jill. Meredith ate a lot when she was being watched by her sitters. After her parents came home and they were trying to get her asleep, Meredth threw up all over her dad and the mattress. On the plus side, she soon was sleeping soundly.