First off, I feel very ready for Baby Prentice to come. Of course, I don't want him/her to come for a few more weeks, but I feel ready in the sense of having the house ready. Really, there's not a lot that the baby needs. Don't get me wrong - I still have my to-do lists going strong and stuck on the refrigerator. I don't know what I would do without a to-do list, baby or no baby. Overall, we have the playpen (bassinet) set-up in our room, the breast pump and a few bottles have been sterilized, and the hospital bags (for mommy and baby) have been packed with the exception of a few toiletries that are used daily right now. Now, are we mentally prepared to have another child in the house? Well, it feels like the answer is "no" right now to that question. I just can't imagine having two instead of just one.
One thing we still need to do before the baby arrives is to get Meredith a little gift. It's a way of saying congrats on being a big sister! Well, we have spent way too much time looking for Little Einsteins products and have realized that it's almost a black market to find a toy for under $50. Yes, that's right, $50!!! We were thinking a $10 gift or so. Meredith is so obsessed with the Little Einsteins show right now, that we can't say "Little" or "Einsteins" or "Little Einsteins" without her doing her "pat, pat" signals, which is a key part of the show. We have her in such a routine right now, that when breakfast is done, she goes over to her chair and plops down like this and waits for us to turn on the TV for Little Einsteins:
Anyhow, back to the Little Einsteins toy dilemma. Apparently, our research showed us that when Disney released the products they only chose Target to carry them. This is why we can't find anything at Toys R Us (other than DVDs) and eBay is selling items for way above a reasonable price. So, I think at this point we are going to get her a Mr. Potato Head. She enjoyed playing with it at Great-Grandma Prentice's house last year and after all, it's a classic toy that both Chad and I had at one point growing up.
Well, our little Meredith is growing into quite the toddler. Aside from the fact that I packed up several of her 18-month clothes this morning (she is getting tall!), she is really beginning to play independently and has made great leaps with her vocabulary. Here's some new words:
- Plane. We have the airport literally right in our backyard. We can see planes take off all the time. I didn't realize how much Meredith paid attention to the noise (which isn't too noticeable; probably because I have gotten used to it over time), until recently when she says "play" for the word "plane" when she hears them taking off.
- Penguin. She has a toy penguin. She pronounces it like "peng", but we know what she's saying.
- Doggy. She had already been saying dog here and there, but says "doggy" now really clearly.
- King/Queen. She learned these words from one of her ABC books. She apparently thinks our Mona Lisa magnet we got in Italy that's hanging on the refrigerator is a queen, because she calls her that all the time :)
- Daddy's a Bubble. Yes, this was her first ever full sentence. She has only said it twice, but it's pretty funny. Daddy and Mommy are her go-to words and bubble is becoming a common word for her as well. Makes sense that this would be her first sentence, right?
- Achoo. Not really sure how to spell this word myself, but after Meredith sneezes, she says "achoo". It's quite funny, because she thinks that's what she is supposed to say after a sneeze, rather than it being more the sound a sneeze makes :)
- Boy/Girl. When we ask her what Mommy is having, she usually says "grl", but occasionally will say "boy".
- To add to the last bullet point, we told her what our boy and girl names are, respectively. She now says our girl name really clearly. Ooops! I thought we wouldn't have to worry about telling our toddler the name and possibly spilling the beans. She won't say the boy name at all :)
- Grandma/Grandpa. Yeah, she still won't say either of these. I guess with time it will happen.
Meredith really likes her playroom so far:
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| Silly girl...trying to put the bat in the ball chute. |
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| Classic Meredith. I've been trying to prop my feet up as much as possible lately (which must be working because I haven't had ANY swelling thus far in the pregnancy), which makes the couch in the playroom extremely convenient! Well, Meredith loves to bring me all of her stuffed animals, puzzles, and any toy she can reach. So, I eventually look like ET when he was in hiding surrounded by all the other dolls. |
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| She has really progressed with her Lego-making abilities. She builds towers like this one, all by herself. |
She also loves to just sit with Daddy and watch football:
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| I don't always think this...but, they really look alike in this picture! |
** Notice how in the first and last picture of this blog post she is sucking her index finger on her left-hand? Well, that occurs about a million times a day. I'm thinking we may have to rid her of this habit, but not sure how to make that happen.
