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Meredith's Journal
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New skills are continuously popping up in the Reise household. Meredith is now getting better at arching her back and lifting it off the ground when she is laying down and is impatient. This is a move she mastered during bathtime in her attempt to arch herself out of the water. Meredith is also doing some pre-crawling moves. When she is on her stomach, she pushes herself by kicking her legs and moves forward like a slow-motion buldozer. (She hasn't gotten a handle on the lifting herself with her arms part of it.)
One of the more exciting developments is in the sitting category. When placed in a sitting position, Meredith would automatically topple over if her parents didn't catch her. Now, she can balance and keep herself up for 10 or 20 seconds at a time--that is, when she is so inclined. Other times she is excited and simply throws herself back with an amazing amount of force. She also will sometimes lean forward and attempt a slow-motion, sort-of sommer-sault.
January 21st, 2004
Meredith is getting much better at eating the rice cereal sludge. She has gotten so excited to eat it, she has trouble coordinating the actual eating part. Meredith is also enjoying exploring her feet. She grabs them every chance she gets. Today, for the first time, she actually stuck a portion of her foot into her mouth for a while. It isn't her parents' idea of a fun time, but it works for Meredith.
Nights are also working well for Meredith. She still wakes up a whole lot, but she sometimes can get back to sleep by herself and she sleeps longer periods of time. Her parents feel so rejuevenated after a night or two of plus 6-hour sleep time. It is not all smooth sailing. Last night, after 4:00 a.m. she didn't want to stay down for more than 20 minutes. But her parents are taking every inch of improvement they can get. Meredith is simply too interested in life to spend her time sleeping. She's a baby on the go!
January 18th, 2004
Meredith spent some of the afternoon with Sara today and had a fun and sleepy time. Her dad was at a conference and her mom ran to the Y to get some exercise in. Her mom was happy to get out of the house and move around a bit.
January 14th, 2004
Several attempts to feed Meredith some semi-solid food have occurred, with increasing success. She now hungerly lunges toward the spoon of rice cereal/milk sludge. Like everything else within arms reach, she wants to grab the spoon too. It was discovered that the simple solution is to give Meredith a second spoon of her own to hold as she eats.
January 13th, 2004
Meredith went to the doctor first thing this morning for her for month check up. Her height and weight have her well ahead of the curve. Her doctor confirmed some progress in the teething department. All-in-all, she's healthy, strong baby with a voracious appetite. Unfortunately, another ear infection was discovered, which means poor Meredith has another ten days of taking the medicine she so strongly detests. Meredith also got four more shots. This upset her even more than last time. Eventually though, Meredith settled down and took some nice hard naps.
January 11th, 2004
Among other things, Meredith watched the NFL playoffs with her dad (and a bit with her mom) today. She didn't seemed phased by the Packers' overtime loss, but was busy interacting with her parents and whatever toy she could get her hands on. It was in one of these fun moments her dad caught her on film.
January 10th, 2004
It has been a bit of adjustment this week for Meredith, being along with her parents in a quiet house instead of all the excitement of relatives over the holidays. Meredith has done well, though she is very committed to staying awake as much as possible, even when she is clearly tired. Last night Meredith experienced another first. While she has done the occasional giggle or short spurt of a laughing, she hadn't yet had a full, prolonged one. While her parents were getting ready to leave their friends', Christy's and Ted's house, and were laughing about something or another, suddenly a big mimicking laugh came from the car seat. Meredith was "hee-hee-hee-ing" to her heart's content. Her parents thought it was the cutest laugh they ever heard of course. Meredith, loving the attention, did several more laughing stints for her spectators' amusement before settling down.
January 9, 2004
Another first today for Meredith--one that concerned her parents about things to come. Meredith had her first instance of clear "mommy-preference" over other people. Meredith was being quite a bit fussy and upset when Julie was taking care of her. (Julie, who is great with babies, has even given Mer's parents some additional ideas on how to calm down Meredith.) While yelling at the world in Julie's arms, Meredith's face lit up and her mood completely changed when she saw her mommy come down the stairs--and it wasn't even because she was hungry. Her parents know that most babies will go through stranger-phobia and mommy and/or daddy-preference phases, but they hope Meredith's aren't too severe.
January 4th, 2004
Meredith celebrated the New Year with her parents, Uncle Jesse, and Grandma and Grandpa Burrows in Minneapolis. She enjoyed showing off her new skills since she saw her grandparents over Thanksgiving weekend. Meredith had quite a bit of fun with her entertaining uncle. Jesse discovered that she for some reason or another enjoys hearing the word "Tuesday." Maybe it is the funny way he says it, but she doesn't react with the same excitement to any other day of the week, no matter how goofy Jesse or anyone one else says it! (She must know that she was born on a Tuesday--that makes it an extra special day.)