So Meredith doesn't actually watch that much television, but we do have an Elmo DVD that she's seen a few times.  Her friend Shea let us borrow some of her clothes, and one outfit is a t-shirt with Elmo on it (and jeans to match).  She picked it out this morning to wear, and Ben told her that it was Elmo.  She enjoyed saying Elmo and pointing to her shirt.

So later in the afternoon, I thought it would be fun to break out the Elmo DVD.  She immediately recognized Elmo on the TV and said "Elmo!" and then looked down at her shirt and said "Elmo!"  And then repeated.  Many, many times.

It was very cool to see how she recognizes the different incarnations of Elmo.

She's also trying to say "belly button" - she can point to her body parts when asked, sticks out her tongue and says "blah!" when you ask her where her tongue is, grins and points to her teeth when you ask her where her teeth are, etc., and she'll point to my nose, ears, etc.  She tries to say crocodile, octopus - taking on bigger challenges verbally.  (Not there yet, but getting some of the consonants and vowels?)

I try to give her 2 choices on things - I'm finding that the choices are still a little overwhelming to her sometimes, depending on her mood.  And she definitely gets frustrated when we don't understand what she's telling us.  We're trying, Meredith!

We had baby happy hour with Max and Amelia at Chance's house on Friday, which was very fun.  The kids (they don't seem like babies any more, walking around!) had fun playing with Chance's toys and hanging out on the deck, and the parents ate pizza and caught up.  We need to do more of these!

On Saturday we tailgated and Meredith made it through almost the first quarter of the GT / Mississippi State game.  At first she didn't like all the noise, but then she got into it when she realized that people cheered when they were happy.  And with 2 touchdowns and a blocked field goal in the time we were there, there was plenty to cheer about!  The game started at noon, which is Meredith's naptime, so she was a trouper to hang in until 1PM.  Then we headed home and she napped from 1:30 to 3:30, and went to bed at her normal time without a problem.

This morning we went to Music Class, which Meredith loves.  She "sang" boh, boh, boh, imitating the teacher - well, sort of at least - good job!  She was so sleepy that she took a very early nap and woke up early too . . . so bedtime was a little early tonight, 6:45. 

Mommy took 2 long naps, one on Saturday and one of Sunday - I am pooped!

So we have this book called "Happy Girl" that Anthea got for Meredith.  It has pictures and words in it - starting with "Getting Dressed" and then "Hat" with a picture.  Meredith LOVES this book.  She makes the sign for hat when she sees the first picture.  Then there is a picture of a sipply cup and she goes and gets her cup and drinks out of it.  Then there's a picture of a bear and a baby hugging her bear and she goes and gets her bear and hugs it.  She finds her rubber duck when the "bathtime" "rubber duck" page comes up.  She makes the sign for potty when it shows the picture of the potty.  Apparently they have flashcards at school too and she loves them - she's so proud of herself when she gets it right.

On the last page of the 10 Little Ladybugs book and the 5 Silly Moneys, where there's just one raised plastic character, Meredith always touches the last one.  She doesn't touch all the others - just the last one.  It's uncanny - she does it every single time.  Have no idea why.

Meredith walked a LONG way today - all the way down our street to visit our far neighbor's dog Buffett and Ava who is almost 3.  She loved it - right up until I made her give back Ava's shopping cart at which point she threw a huge tantrum.  I walked home with a wriggly screaming child.  Fun.

Just wanted to capture these little moments . . .

We went to a place called "Pigtails and Crewcuts" to get Meredith's hair cut for the first time.  They have a play room and a train room - lots of things to do while we waited.  Then they have cool chairs that are fire engines, airplanes, and cars for the kids to sit in.  Meredith was in a blue car and wore a pretty smock, while she ate some animal crackers.  At first she was okay with everything (she's used to combs) but wasn't sure about the scissors.  She actually did really well (despite what the pictures indicate) and had a cute little ponytail on top of her head by the end.  Serita (who cut her hair) was very impressed that her hair had grown in so evenly - she has pretty hair!

Meredith is not shy about insisting on her own way!  She will let us know when she doesn't like something - loudly.  We're learning about discipline and boundaries - no, you can't have another banana after you've eaten a whole one, no, your bunny can't come to the dinner table - without saying no and stop too much.  Some things aren't worth a fight though - Meredith wanted to go outside after she was in her PJ's last night, and even though they were footies, I figured it couldn't hurt too much.  Coming up with consistent rules can be hard!  But she is a happy, friendly baby (she loves to wave at people as they walk or drive by, and she will FLIRT!) and seems to have high powers of concentration.  She is a joy!

So Meredith's prefered mode of transportation is now walking, and she's gaining coordination and confidence each day. 

She learned to say "football" and tried to say "Go Jackets," which made Ben happy on Friday and Saturday.  I had a bow in her hair on Sunday and she says "bow" (it sounds a lot like ball, but after we'd been doing something else and she saw the bow on the table she pointed to it and said "bow" so I think she really means it) so her girly-girl early indicators make me happy :-) 

Meredith had a good time at Music Class, getting into the music a lot more.  We've been listening to the CD at home so she's been practicing.

I miss her - I have a conference since Saturday and until Wednesday - and I don't get to see her much.  Ben is having fun with her though.

Nana came to visit this weekend and has been very impressed by the massive quantities that Meredith eats.  She has been walking a lot more steadily and is getting braver, venturing out.

Musical Girl - Meredith has been singing along to the CD from her music class.  One of the songs ends with "Gotcha!" at the end and Meredith gets  bit kick out of saying "Gotcha!"  There are also exercises where you repeat the rhythm and notes that the leader sings, and although Meredith doesn't sing the exact rhythm, she gets pretty close on the notes and it's pretty cool that she pays attention even when she's working on other things.  (It helps that they sing the word "bah-bah," which is what she sings with the Sweet Caroline song).

More words - Meredith says "purple" (she has a ball that is purple) and sings "Please" (rubs her hand against her chest) and "Thank You" (like blowing a kiss), especially at the dinner table when she wants more food.  They have been working on these signs at school and she has them down!

is getting really good at her "go fish" puzzle.  This is impressive - it's a hard puzzle, not at all age appropriate!

Meredith needs a haircut, and we've been researching where to go.  With the holiday weekend, a lot of places are closed, so I think we missed our chance for a little while.  Her hair is starting to curl up in the back, it's cute!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit on Friday.  Meredith was very talkative and delighted to have them around.  Grandpa started a new game - when Meredith ran with her Hippo towards him, he yelled loudly - and then Meredith imitated.  They were very noisy!  The weather has been rainy/cooler so no pool this weekend though.

Also, I think we've read Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boyton about 100 times this past week (thanks Shannon and Trey!)  She LOVES this book.

She has been walking a lot more on her own - I think we counted 7 steps, albeit small ones - and she will walk and then stop (versus falling down).  She's gaining confidence!

We went to our first session of The Music Class today.  Meredith is coming down with a bit of a cold, so she was pretty tired, but she perked up and enjoyed beating the drum, dancing, clapping, and watching all the other children.  She was the only one who wasn't walking really steadily yet, so as she gets better at it, the marching will be even more fun.  I think she's really going to like it.