Lael
Reise
It was time to head back home from Green Bay today and Derek and Jen thought the days had gone by too fast. To make the most of it,they took a morning dip in the hot tub, while Meredith's grandparents filled up with their Meredith face time. Meredith is interacting more with people and toys each day. she responds to smiles and funny faces consistently. Her grandparewnts made a lot of strange faces she enjoyed! Today Meredith started regularly batting and grabbing at a new toy she got from her relatives, the McHughs. It held her attention for several stretches on the long ride to Minnesota.
November 28th, 2004
Since Meredith has already gone to two plays and a concert, her parents thought she was a mature enough age to go to a movie. Everyone went to see the "Pirates of the Carribean." Meredith wasn't as enamered with Johny Depp as some in the audience, but she sort of paid attention and was relatively quiet during the long movie.
November 27th, 2004
Today was Thanksgiving and Meredith got to meet a whole bunch of relatives! She spent some quality time with her cousins Kayla, Natalya, and Zach, and her aunt Sonja and uncle Chris. Both Kayla and Natalya held her for a while. They talked to her and she was loving it. Later in the day, virtually the entire Burrows clan met Meredith over pumpkin pie and other delicious Thanksgiving deserts. Meredith sat very comfortably in the arms of her Great Grandma Burrows.
November 26th, 2004
Today was the big trip to Wisconsin. Meredith was a very well-behaved young lady on the six-hour drive to her grandparents in Green Bay for Thanksgiving. She slept most of the way, which of course meant she was rearing to go when she got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Burrows, and her uncle Jesse--as well as the rest of the night as her parents tried to catch up on some rest.
November 24th, 2003
Meredith has recently discovered a new toy she likes. When she is rocking in her swing, looking for something to do, her parents place this stuffed octapus in front of her. The toy has alittle mirror on it and Meredith is fascinated by this person she sees. She'll interact with it for about the same period of time she'll interact with her parents.
November 21th, 2003
A relatively quiet week at the Reise house - maybe we are gearing up for the big trip to Wisconsin next week for Thanksgiving. Meredith continued to be more aware of things around her, like Maggie the cat walking by or her cousin Jaz, who continues to be fascinated by her. Hope to get some pics of this up soon! She even entertained herself for several minutes by staring into a mirror and smiling, looking worried, surprised, happy, yawning, and generally communicating. It was great.
November 16th, 2003
Meredith is less than three months old and she has already seen two plays! She and her parents went to another play that featured their acting friend Sara: Much Ado About Nothing. Meredith slept through the first half, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the second half. She glared at the lights on the stage and listened to the strange voices intently. She was very quiet and well behaved. Maybe Jen and Derek have a young Shakespeare fan in their hands!
November 15th, 2003
In the morning, Meredith and her parents had coffee with their birth class teacher. Her parents were able to talk about the 33-hour "birth experience" (which is a conversation many of their friends have since tired of). They went to a cafe that had magnetic poetry on the wall. Meredith's dad wrote a Haiku about sausage. (The number of word choices was low.)
Although Meredith isn't able to sample any of the food, in the evening she again joined her parents on a restuarant mission. This time it was Thai food. Jen was happy to get out for Thai, since it was one of the few foods she was unable to eat for the entire pregnancy. Meredith has been to two Indian restuarants, a Mexican restuarant, a Columbian restuarant, an Ethiopian restuarant, and even a Denny's! One parent approached Jen and Derek and congratulated them on getting out of the house with such a young baby. Little did he know how much Meredith's parents have been able to get out because she is such a good natured baby!
November 13th, 2003
It was playtime at the Reise houshold this evening! Meredith's parents invited several other parents and their babies over for some dinner and fun. A total of five babies were in attendance. There was a high concentration of giggles, tickles, and baby talk. Instead of being stimulated by all the socializing, Meredith preferred to sleep for much of the time and only awoke five minutes before everyone left. She was all refreshed and ready to be active as her parents sought to go to bed. Eventually Meredith did wind down. Her mom and dad look forward to more baby time with other new parents!
November 10th, 2003
It was the two-month doctor's appointment for Meredith and she did well today considering. Her doctor was impressed with her reflexes, coordination, and growth (now 12 pounds, 12 ounces--placing her at about the 95th percentile). Unfortunately, Meredith had to get some vaccinations. Four whole shots to be precise. The resulting scream from the quick pokes as her dad had to hold her down was 50-percent "OUCH!" and 50-percent irritation at her parents for letting this happen. (Or so was her dad's interpretation.) But after the initial unpleasantness, Meredith settled down and even gave a couple quick smiles before falling asleep an hour afterwards. Don't tell her if you see her, but Meredith will get to have the next series of shots in just a couple more months.
November 9th, 2003
Grandma and Grandpa Randolph joined David in visiting Meredith this weekend. Today also marked Meredith's two-month birthday! Meredith showered her grandparents with smiles and probably had the most photo-saturated day of her life thus far. In the evening, Meredith went with the group to an Ethiopian restuarant where her parents' friend Jeff was playing in his Cuban salsa band. Meredith seemed to enjoy the music and ran into friends of her parents who were all very impressed with her.
November 7th, 2003
Meredith got to meet her Uncle David for the first time today. He flew in from Tulsa, Oklahoma for the weekend to spend with Meredith and her proud parents. The two instantly bonded and gurgled and cooed at each other.
November 2nd, 2003
Meredith had a new first today. When sitting with her dad and going between sleep and consciousness, she gave her dad a great big grin and a genuine laugh! It was the first for-sure laugh that her parents have observed. It was a fun development after a full week of Meredith coming out of her shell and interacting with her parents. The fact that Meredith laughed right after the Vikings scored a touchdown on the Packers at a crucial point in the game did concern her father, who doesn't know how he'd deal with a Vikings fan in the family.
November 1st, 2003
It was a fun-filled day with the grandparents today! Meredith treated both grandpa and grandma to her beautiful smiles. While on the mat given by her Great-Grandma Bjella, Meredith attempted to roll over and over again, having lots of fun. She tucks up her legs real tight and leans to the right. Most of the time she could complete half a roll. But it was loads of fun for her and the spectators. In the evening, Grandpa Burrows made his signature pea soup. Meredith stuck to her traditional food item instead, but hopefully, she will come to love grandpa's pea soup in the coming years.