baldies have bad hair days too

I've been waiting ages for Meredith to grow some more of that sweet, angelic, white hair and I think finally we're making a little progress. She has what I call a skullet - it's actually a couple inches long in the back while the front still needs a little work.

Check out that ear overhang...think she gets that from mom?!?

I know these pictures are crappy. It seems like all my pictures these days are crappy since I never see any natural light anymore. It's dark when I go to work and it's dark when I come home so I guess I'm just going to have to settle for a winter of shadowy flash pictures or blurry pictures.

On another note, Meredith has been ill the past week. I had Friday off of work any while I was giving her lunch, her eyes started oozing out pus and gunk so I called the doctor at approximately 12:52. They told me it was probably pinkeye and that they were booked for the whole afternoon but they had a last minute cancel at 1:00 so I said that I'll be right there. Now - I hadn't showered, washed my face, or brushed my hair. I was wearing a crappy sweatshirt and workout pants and no over the shoulder boulder holder (sorry, I don't want to write that three letter word to keep the weirdos away). I looked fabulous. I left the house in such a hurry that I forgot the diaper bag too and of course Meredith pooped in the car on the ride there. So there I am sitting in the waiting room looking like a million bucks with a snotty, crusty, stinky kid. I was mortified (I had to ask the nurse for a diaper and wipes so I did finally get her changed). Anyway...she had developed pink eye in both eyes and an ear infection in both ears. Poor little thing...this picture breaks my heart.

But she managed to get a smile in even when she was sick.

She seems to be back to her old self now. And alert the press...her nose **seems** to be less runny. Keep your fingers crossed that it will stop because after constantly wiping her nose for the past nine weeks, we're about ready to lose it. Our whole house is caked in snot it seems. Every night, I see a nice shiny film of snot on my work clothes on the shoulder and by my knees. Please, oh, please make it stop!

my little smartypants

We had a very mellow weekend this week. Meredith has just turned into a nut! She is so goofy sometimes when she tries to twirl around until she falls over or when she will walk backwards across half the room to sit on our lap.


She is so smart too. Today I had my hands behind my back for no reason and she marched up to me and ran behind me and demanded to see my hands because she thought I was hiding something.


She said the word banana today. This is a big thing because Meredith doesn't say any words besides Mama and Dada really. As I was giving her breakfast this morning I asked her if she wanted a banana and she repeated banana three times for me. And it was very clear! I'm so proud of her.


I know she knows hundreds of words. Heck, I can speak whole sentences and she understands. If I ask her if she wants to take a bath, she will go running to the stairs. She can point out at least twenty animals in her animal book. She can point to all her body parts. I could go on and on but I'm done bragging. I'm just waiting for the day where all these words that I know she knows will come out of her little mouth!


On another note, since it is cold now, we tried on our winter coats and stuff. Isn't she cute?

pillow talk

Meredith has been on a pillow craze lately. It started a few weeks ago when she saw her friends Owen and Ethan having fun jumping around in a stack of pillows. She was having a great time playing with them and joining in. We decided it was time to introduce a pillow to her so we bought her a big and small one of these

from a kiosk at the Mall of America. What a perfect first pillow - they are so soft and of course, washable. She seems to really like them and I've seen her cuddle with the small one we put in her crib and she takes nose dives onto the large one that we keep downstairs for her. Not to mention that she has started to tear off all the pillows on the couch to play with too. She's a pillow freak - just like her Mom.

trick-or-treat

What to do with a toddler on Halloween who doesn't even know what the heck Halloween is? Last year we were scrooges and took the baby and went out for dinner and pretended Halloween didn't exist.

This year we (okay, Greg) actually carved a pumpkin that had seven teeth, just like Meredith. It also had her initials MC carved on the side. I wish I taken a picture because now the poor pumpkin has no teeth because they have all rotted off.

On Halloween we got Meredith all dressed up like a chicken and took her to Mall of America. Grandma Schwake and Auntie Jennifer joined us. We had a good time and I've never seen so many cute little kids in my life! I was grinning ear-to-ear smiling at all the cute little babies, toddlers, and kids all dressed up in their Halloween best. There were a few costumes I questioned and I seriously don't know what goes through the minds of parents letting their 5 year olds dress up in costumes that look like they are intended for adults. I noticed this when I was out in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago too. There was some sort of trick-or-treat event going on at some of the hotels along the monorail and I saw some costumes I wouldn't let touch Meredith with a 10-foot pole. No pun intended either.



I think she is the happiest little chicken ever.

We managed to stop by a few stores to get some candy.

Checkin' out my loot.

After a long day, it's nice to have someone to carry you.

Last but not least, birds of a feather flock together...Meredith thought the matching cat costume was pretty funny.