Not the Peabody....

Okay, we're not staying at the Peabody in Memphis, but our hotel lobby has a family of ducks and tons of huge fish that live in the pond. Unfortunately these ducks and fish don't ever go away, so Megan wants to watch them at every waking moment - even at 11:00 p.m. last night. I would venture to say that we spent at least 5 hours, off and on, today in the lobby watching and talking to the ducks and fish. She even told the ducks, in "Dawnkey's" voice, "I like that boulder...you have a nice boulder." I'm sure we'll be down there at the crack of dawn in the morning.

12 hour road trip

Megan and I tagged along on Daddy's business trip. We are having a blast while Daddy is working. First, we took a 7 hour road trip and turned it into a 12 hour trip. We stopped in Texarkana to have lunch with my dear friend Brandy. It was so good to see her. Megan put on a nice show for her and even shared "pirate" with her. Even though Megan doesn't see her very often, they are always, somehow, instant pals! After lunch, we went to see my cousins, Andrew and Anna, preemie 4 pound baby twins in the Children's hospital in Little Rock. Ayleah (sp) and Aspen are so teenie tiny and so much fun! I got to do the 6:00 p.m. feeding. SO different than ever feeding Megan! They even posed and held hands for a picture.

And this is the face....

I got when I asked if I could have one more picture. I'm telling you, her looks are very distinct right now. We're really in for it.

Home Alone

Megan was invited to spend the night -a special girl cousin sleepover at Gran and Papa's house. They already had Alex and came by to pick Megan up...she couldn't get out of the house fast enough! She gave us a courtesy, "Bye Mom and Dad," and was out the door! Yes, her bag was pretty darn full for one night, but if you could only see the amount of princess/dress-up clothes she required...

A night alone. Whatever should we do? HA! We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Bravo!. Very tasty. Then we came home to do work around the house - whoo hoo! We puttered in the garden, did laundry, watched college basketball, yada yada yada. Wondered how that little one was doing.

Oh, we had to drop something off at Gran and Papa's this evening. Megan took one look at us and BOLTED! She thought we were there to pick her up. She ran into the living room, gave a wave, and said, "Bye Mom and Dad!" Well...

If looks could talk...

Megan received a slight little introduction to the "birds and the bees" - once yesterday and once today. Both incidents were exactly the same, and received the exact same look, so I'll spare my friend the grief and pass it along to Meg's pediatrician.

Dr. H is very pregnant. In an effort to get Megan to settle down at her follow-up appointment today, so she could look into her ears, Dr. H talked to her about the first time she met Megan as a teenie-tiny baby...how cute she was and how much she had grown. That somehow moved onto a comment about the baby growing in her tummy. Megan got this look, a great combination of, "You're kidding! Wait, you're serious? and Yuck, please quit talking right now." I WISH I'd had a camera, both times. If you see me giggling to myself, for no apparent reason, that face is flashing in my brain again.

So far, no lingering curiosity...I just don't know what question will require a response...

Early Harvest

Caity and Megan spied a semi-red strawberry yesterday. It wasn't quite ready. However, Megan couldn't get it out of her head today...

"Mommy, ders a bright red strawberry. I wanna eat it."

"I gunna pick it and eat it. Yum-o."

"Yes, it is good. I need more. I pick that white one."

A nice day for a stroll...or two

Right after her nap today, Megan wanted to go for a walk. We meandered through the neighborhood, waving at people and going on adventures. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a blast!

Much later, Megan wanted to go for a walk again, only this time with Little in the stroller. She pushed her pretty far but lost interest when she saw a pack of 7-8 year old boys riding bikes. She had a little meltdown because she really wanted to go "play wiff those kids." I tried to explain that they were too big, but she argued back that she was "a big gurl too, mommy." I relented and said that if she wanted to go play, she could go play. Yeah, the shyness took over and we were headed back to the house.

Megan the Pirate

Eyes

As you may already know, I'm easily paranoid when it comes to my Megan. Recently we noticed that her two pupils were significantly different sizes. I brought it up to her doctor last time we were in the office, and she did the one thing she already knows NOT to do with me (she caught herself after she already started)when she said, "You should get that checked." I put it off, yet would scrutinize Megan's pupils everytime I thought about it. I finally made an appointment at my eye doctor. They normally don't even see kids, but I asked my doctor about it and she said she'd love to "try" - and she said that without even knowing Megan!

We went this morning, and I cannot praise that office staff enough for their hard work! When we first walked into the exam room, they had a stuffed animal puppy with glasses. The only tech that agreed to take Megan talked to her about looking in the machine to measure her eyes, and even agreed that Megan could look for the far away land in the holes. She also measured Little's eyes. They had to dialate Meg's eyes, but they bribed her with chocolate, and it worked!

The doctor was awesome, too. She agreed to not look in Meg's ears or give her a flu shot, which made them instant pals. The doctor said there is nothing medically wrong with her pupils being a different size, it is just the way she is, and they will always be that way. She was impressed with her vision, which was interesting to hear her explain about eye development and stages of maturity in the eye.

By the time we were leaving, she had that whole staff hanging around her, talking to her, giving her candy, and just plain having fun with her.

Reward that Meg negotiated throughout the ordeal? JAMBA JUICE!

Night Terrors?

Okay, we've finally figured it out. 99.9% sure the girl is having night terrors. The latest "proof" is the incident from 20 minutes ago that still has my heart pumping.

I was in the computer room, customizing my new chocolate colored Dell laptop (whoo hoo), when I was startled by the most blood-curdling scream I have ever heard from Megan. Scared me to death. I jumped up out of my chair and ran down the hall. She was still half asleep, but she jumped off of her bed onto me, climbing up me and holding on for dear life, while screaming about "those kitty cats in my bed." As the conversation wore on, more specifically a black kitty cat was attacking her. Daddy and I searched and searched the room (even under the bed) for the kitty cats, but it was all clear. I assured her that the door was closed, so nothing could get in her room, and Baby Little agreed to protect Megan from any more bad dreams.

So now dinosaurs, alligators, ladybugs, billy goats, and black kitty cats have all "visited" her in her bed.

**I stand corrected...Nightmares, and not night terrors.**

Daddy Day

Today has been a Daddy Day. Megan continues to cry for Daddy, beg for Daddy, and asks to talk to Daddy. She talked me into calling him at work, so she could talk to him. I dialed, he answered, I handed the phone to her and in a very convincing, desperate voice she said, "Daddy, I need you to come home from work!" Very sad that Mommy's the one here...

Come On!

"Mommy, grab the bag. I ready to go. We need to go look for the far away land."

For ages 5 and up

Okay, so maybe those people know what they're talking about when they state on the package, "For ages 5 and up." Not a good project for a rambunctious 2 year old and two neat freak parents. But Megan had a blast plopping her eggs in the dye and watching them turn colors. Thank goodness I stopped at the 18 pack!

Easter Bunny came!

Grandpa helped the Easter Bunny out with a little advice, so Megan had a basket and eggs waiting for her first thing this morning. She tore through her basket and was excited about each present - especially the Princess fruit snacks. I think she ate all of them in about 10 minutes. Then the egg hunt. What a hoot!

And more good times!

After we pried Megan away from the party, much to her disdain, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It had been a long time since we'd seen them! Megan got a special Easter basket from Aunt Karlie in Utah, and she busied herself with putting Easter stickers all over her and Uncle Scott. She helped Grandpa in the garden, ran around the house half naked, and fretted over the sick lizard in the front yard. She didn't make it 5 minutes down the road before she was OUT for the night. Maybe that's the solution to getting her to sleep all night...

Party

After the egg hunt, we went to Gran and Papa's house to have a birthday lunch for Gran. The kids went out back in the beautiful weather and played bubble wands. I have very few good pics as all six kids were perpetual motion. During lunch, Megan and Mandy conspired to "throw a party." It is so cute to see the girls interact now, like little adults sometimes!

Egg Hunt

This morning we went to the 23rd annual Egg Hunt in Gran and Papa's neighborhood. All the cousins were there together. Megan was more concerned with running, when they said run, than filling her basket. Daddy finally convinced her to stop to pick up an egg and some candy. The whole thing was over in like 30 seconds, there were so many kids in her age range. Okay, so we might've brought six of them...

Okay, this is bad!

Daddy and I are trying to get stuff ready for Easter, but we have no idea how to "be" the Easter Bunny!!! We're looking at each other, wondering what to do. Do we hide the eggs? Do we put them in her basket? What do we do? I'm going to have to call Grandma...

Of course...

Well, Kelli, you were right in your comment. I should've just stayed up all night. Heard this on the monitor at 3 a.m. - "HELP! Mommy, I just puked!" Yep, vomit in the night and up after that...up for the day at 6 a.m.

Bedtime...peaceful night.

No nap today, but she tried to go to sleep at 6:00 p.m. No way! She had a few little fussies around bedtime, but did not get out of bed. She's been in bed, sleeping, for 2 1/2 hours now. And why am I still up?

Not enough time in the day

I ordered blueberry plants the other day, but we haven't had time to plant them. They were dying away on my back porch, and today was the day. However, we ran out of daylight - yes, even with daylight savings time. Daddy-o was a trooper, digging 5 holes and planting 3 bushes (2 holes were abandoned and recovered) by spotlight and lantern! Like throwback Little House on the Prairie! I finished up some work inside and headed out in time to adjust (complain), get one hole moved, and help him plant the last 2. What a production! These aren't your average "dig-a-hole-and-plant" bushes. I'm looking for a great crop this year.

A little dirt never hurt

While I was busy collecting daisy tops and trying to plant another flower (yeah, my flowerbed is full) Caity yelled, "You might want to get your camera..." Megan decided to shovel dirt with her daisy top and play in the dirt/mud of the empty lot next to us. It was all under her fingernails, between her toes, in her hair, oh yeah, the girl does it right.

Just like Grandpa taught her

Megan helped me out in the flowerbed again today. She took it upon herself to "get the bad ones off" of the daisies, like Grandpa showed me how to do last week. Except they weren't the bad ones - they were brand new buds. Then she proceeded to pluck each individual petal off of one of the only flowers on the plant. By the way, I only took the picture of her pulling off the buds AFTER she had done the damage (you can see them next to her on the ground. She didn't just throw them away though, which is good. She used them as playthings, including as a shovel, for the rest of the afternoon outing.

Picking my battles

It just wasn't worth it, so this is how she went out in public today: orange shirt, jeans, white socks, aquareene crocs, ponytails, a tiara, and a basket. For sure, we got some looks.

Sleep Woes

I know, I know...not another stinkin' post about Megan's refusal to sleep. But it's our whole entire lives right now. We are such a grumpy family right now, due to Megan's nightly screaming tantrums and lack of sleep.

Last night we put her to bed, and of course she popped right back up and was right behind us down the hall. One thing led to another and she ended up standing on the other side of the gate, screaming and talking for...I'm not going to tell you how long because it probably wasn't healthy. Anyway, Daddy had been giving in the past few nights and just rocking her. We were trying to put a stop to that. Anyway, we held out until after 11:30 p.m. and then it interfered with OUR sleep, once again. I went in to ask her what was going on, and she said dinosaurs were in her room. The short version of the conversation was that she thought it would be better to sleep in "Aunt Karen's bed", in the guest room. (Aunt Karen spent the night here last weekend, so now it's her room.) I put her in the bed, shut the door, and didn't hear from her again until 8:30 this morning. Whoo hoo!

Can she really read?

Nope, she's just heard this book a million, trillion times.

Somewhere out there...

I'm looking for lost parts of the "old Megan". They have to be out there somewhere. You know, the one that would go to bed without popping out of bed numerous times, refusing to go to bed before 11 p.m.; the one that would sleep 12 hours no matter what time she went to bed; the one that would poop and pee in the potty; the one that would drink out of a sippy cup and not insist upon a cup without a lid; the one that didn't obsess over TV 24/7; the one that wouldn't open an outside door; the one that...

Oh, but even when she's up running around at 11 p.m., she's so darn cute! "Daddy, you need to hold me? That's good."

Growth spurt kicked in

I was in the kitchen, putting away some dishes when I heard the door chime and the house alarm give warning that it was about to go off. SOMEONE had opened the LOCKED, DEADBOLTED front door. Apparently she is now tall enough to reach.

Mommy: MEGAN! What are you doing?
Megan: I just checkin' the rain. Yep, is raining. I need a mouse-ka-tool for da rain. Lemme get my brella.

(Mouse-ka-tool is the term for a tool to solve the problem on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...one of our favorite shows.)

So I'm on the way, in a huge thunderstorm, to Target to get something to keep this kiddo in the house!!

This one is too small...

But do you think she cares? Nope! Just wants to sit in a doll stroller and buckle. She's fascinated with any kind of strap and buckle right now. Gets very frustrated if she can't figure it out.

"Get up, boy!"

It's been a very "gender specific" weekend and beginning of the week. Megan is very interested in who is a boy and who is a girl. She now understands that Daddy is a boy, and Mommy and Megan are girls - no, not anatomy lesson time, just plain boys and girls. It's funny to hear her say, "That's a girl and that's a boy," as she points to different people. It's a very big deal right now.

Megan and Daddy play a running chase game and then Daddy flops down on the floor like he can't get up again. Instead of "Get up Daddy!" she started in with "Get up boy!" SO funny!

Yard work

I took Megan outside with me yesterday to water the flowerbed, but instead it turned into a game of "water me again, mommy!" She ran through the water, back and forth across the lawn, with the other sprayer on her head probably 50 times. She was soaked! And she had a blast! I cannot wait until we have more than one day in a row of warm, fun weather.

One a side note, my tulips have bloomed! We have one of each: white, purple, red, yellow, and orange. They remind me of my Grammy, and oh how I miss her! Each time I look at them I think of her and how much I wish she was still here to play with Megan. Those two would've had so much fun.

Fun night!

Last night we got together with the family for Great-Grandpa's 85th birthday. Uncle Rick and Aunt Karen came into town and were sweet enough to take the tour of Meg's new house, led by Meg (it's a funny one, if nothing else). Those of us that could make it in time went to Babe's for dinner. It was Uncle/Big Cousin Austin's birthday, too, so they dressed both of them up and had them do the chicken dance. Great-Grandpa even danced! After dinner we had cake at our house. The kitchen bar/island came in very handy. We just lined those kids up and turned them loose with the cake. Megan and Mandy ate the icing off of their own cakes as well as two other pieces sitting within reach.

Just a singin'

Megan sings most of the day. She has about 20 songs that she regularly sings, and just recently she's taken to repeating songs as they come on the radio. Quite scary actually. Tonight's performance included her most favorite song from "Cinderelly" - "A dream is a wish you're heart makes/when you're fast asleep..." and then her newest favorite from the radio, "Apologize". Enjoy.

Pronunciation...

Megan...running down the hall with her pants falling and sagging...stopping to hike them up.

"Mommy help! My bitches are falling down!"

Thanks, but no thanks!

Pete Delkus says it is going to be in the 80's today, so I decided to get the pearly whites (legs) ready for capris. I usually don't shave my legs with Megan around because she tries to help, but she jumped in the shower with me yet again this morning. I was in the middle of washing my face when I felt something on my leg and heard Megan say, "Here, I do this part for you while you're washing your face." I knew exactly what she was doing...could feel that razor going up and down my leg, and I scrambled...soap on face...eyes squeezed shut...grabbing for the razor. I just KNEW she would knick something important, an artery or something. Luckily I grabbed it from her, gently of course, before she did either one of us serious damage.

Please, OPINE!

Okay, the pink toddler dining room table got old very quickly, so I bought a table from World Market today. But I just don't know. It's rectangular with a butterfly leaf. I love the table, but does it look okay in there? OR would a square one with the butterfly leaf be better?