It has been a while since I've posted - sorry!  Meredith had a great time last weekend in her first experience as a flower girl, and her first wedding.  Anandi and Chandan had a wonderful traditional Indian wedding, and Meredith was something like a flower girl.  She led the procession of the girls and finally Anandi, and she carried a basket full of flower petals.  We distributed the flower petals towards the end of the ceremony, and threw them on the bride and groom as they walked down all the aisles.  Meredith made lots of new friends at the reception and really enjoyed wearing traditional Indian attire.

I think that Meredith knows the difference between her right and her left better than I do now - I'm really impressed.  She does a great job knowing which foot to put her shoes on and is dressing herself like a pro (well, it's hard to pull up pants in the back).  She's very articulate - I think that most people can understand what she says - and speaks in full sentences, multiple sentences, etc.  She has been working hard on jumping for months now, and I've seen some good ones lately.  She takes it slowly and cautiously up the stairs.

She usually talks to Nana on the home phone, and has been making big jokes about how Nana fell down (when the phone falls down) or is backwards and needs to be turned around.  When asked what shape Nana is, she says "rectangle," and Nana has lots of numbers on her.  She knows it's a big joke and cracks up.  Meredith makes lots of jokes and laughs when we do things that are silly, and comes up with jokes on her own.  I put her hair in a pony tail, and Meredith said - horsey, neigh! - and laughed and laughed.

We went to the beach - Miramar Beach, FL - with the Griffiths and Robeys from July 4 to July 11.  We rented a big house within walking distance of the beach.  The ocean was a bit rough, but the sand was beautiful, and we had good weather most days.  Meredith liked the beach for about 45 minutes each day, and then asked to go back inside :-)  We got into a pattern of going to the beach for an hour, then to the pool, then back to the house for a nice nap.  I am going to miss naptime :-)  We cooked in most nights, which was great, and Meredith loved playing with the big girls Shea and Lauren.  She also doted on baby Reece.  Meredith copied the girls in whatever they did, saying, "Okay!" to whatever the suggestion was (getting married, going to the ball, many other make believe games).  She loved watching movies and staying up "past her bedtime."  We went out to Hammerhead's at Baytowne Wharf twice and Meredith LOVED dancing with the band.  She got lots of attention for it!

We got back, and Meredith's interest in the potty seems to continue, for now (she wanted to sit on the potty any time Shea or Lauren went potty).  Her schedule is a bit off but we'll figure it out.

Meredith had a blast at her Monkey Birthday Party!  Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Melissa and Max were all here for it, and she had a bunch of her friends come.  We rented out the clubhouse and decorated it with aqua and yellow streamers and balloons and monkeys.  Shannon Greenwald made a wonderful monkey cake for the occasion.  Miss Amy from Music Class did a special birthday class for Meredith, and all the kids and parents had a great time singing and dancing.  Meredith loved running around the clubhouse and eating food.  We were so glad that everyone could come out to celebrate!

Meredith had a fun day with Issa and Nana, highlighted by a lunchtime trip to Chick-fil-a (where she got a purple balloon!)  She had a doctor's appointment at 4 and is doing wonderfully.  Can you believe she's in the 90th percentile for height?  She got to eat a cupcake for dinner and open some more presents (from Eugenia, a beautiful white smocked dress and a monkey charm for her bracelet from Issa).

Meredith had a wonderful birthday!  I brought cupcakes to her class after naptime and all the kids enjoyed getting very messy.  Nana arrived just afterward, and when Ben got home Meredith opened up presents.  She got clothes and accessories for Bitty Baby from Nana, Llama Llama books from Uncle Bill and Aunt Linda, and a cool red car from Mom and Dad.  She ate her favorite Blue Moon pizza for dinner and got lots of love from all of us.

Issa's flight arrived later that evening and she got to see Meredith first thing the next morning.

On Saturday Meredith and I had a picnic outside on a blanket in the grass underneath a tree while Ben mowed the lawn.  We had fun eating lunch outside!

So this week in school they are talking about fun things we can do in our backyard.  The teachers asked the kids what they like to do.  Apparently, Meredith remembered our fun and said, "Make a picnic."

by request of Melissa, and in case you were wondering.

Ooh ooh is a boy monkey.

Ben - Is Oooh Oooh a boy monkey or a girl monkey?  Meredith - Boy Monkey. 

Bugga Bunny is a rabbit, not a girl or a boy. 

Ben - Is Bugga Bunny was a girl rabbit or a boy rabbit?  Meredith - Bugga Bunny is Rabbit! 

So (knock on wood) Meredith has adjusted to her new bed and goes to sleep fine (no crying). 

It's "bring your favorite jungle animal" to school, so Meredith got to take her monkey, Oooh Oooh.  This morning she ran right into her class and introduced the baby dolls (her favorite toy to play with at school) to OohOoh.  So home friends and school friends meet.

Meredith remembers a LOT.  Instead of me reading *Madeline* to her last night, I prompted just a little bit but asked Meredith to "read" the book to me.  She knew the WHOLE story.  I really didn't have to prompt much at all.  She knew the whole beginning, all the parts about the emergency appendectomy, everything.

Meredith also remembers things that happen during the day, and comes up with her own perspectives and observations.  When you ask her what she did at school, she tells you!  (And I can usually understand it, although sometimes it takes some context).  She loves to sing songs without any prompting at all, and she'll announce something (like, "Mommy needs a haircut!  She has ponytail.  I have haircut.  Daddy has haircut.  I have ponytail.")  She often makes comparisons between objects or people, and has started labeling all her animals as boys or girls.  Her sentences are getting more complex, and her thoughts run multiple sentences long.  Also, she has been quite agreeable lately - we'll ask her to do something, and she'll just say, "Okay!"  This is a huge improvement from "No!"