So Meredith crawled all the way DOWN the stairs yesterday!  We taught her how to go down backwards and she did it all by herself, but had to get resituated at the landing.  She is so cool.

Meredith will Moooo for a cow and said the words "outside" (well, almost) and "wardrobe" (yeah, random).  She points to everything she sees and says "Dat?" as if asking what's the name for that object.  So we spend much of the day telling her what it is.  And she will try to repeat it.

We celebrated Max's birthday yesterday, and then Amelia's - phew!  It was a lot of partying for one day!

So yesterday Meredith stood up on her own for several seconds a couple of times.  She does it mainly when she's not thinking about it - and when she does think about it she sits down or reaches for something - but she is doing it more and more now.

Meredith has also been imitating sounds.  She has a toy dog that barks and generally makes dog noises, and she will make the same noises that it does.  She heard a real live dog outside the other morning and barked like him.  When she picks up the cow in her puzzle and we moo, she tries to moo too. 

It has been a BIG weekend! Granddaddy, Nana and Uncle Jacob got here on Friday and the fun began.  Meredith got a new outfit with a headband/scarf, and she learned the word "hat."  She says "HAAA-TUH" and she makes the sign language motion (touching her head) when she has hers on or when someone else has a hat (both Granddaddy and Uncle Jacob were wearing theirs).  She loves to take off other people's hats.  We went out to eat at Blue Moon Pizza where Meredith was mesmerized by the guys who were making pizza dough in the back.

We tease that Meredith is calling Uncle Jacob by his name because she says "Dack" when she seems him - but she seems to call a lot of other things "Dack" as well.  Although she does seem to have the word "Duck" down pat, when she sees her rubber ducky or plays with her puzzle.  Meredith showed off her hearty appetite to the family and demonstrated her cheerful, adaptable disposition.

On Saturday we went to a Braves game.  Meredith made it through half the game, past her bedtime!  She loves watching all the people and the lights, and she cheered for the team (clapping and squealing) even though we lost.

On Sunday we went to the Georgia Aquarium, where Meredith LOVED to watch the fish swim!  She got very excited every time she saw a fish - and since they were everywhere, it was a lot of excitement!  We were so glad that Meredith had a wonderful time.  She didn't stay as long as Uncle Jacob because it was naptime, but she got to enjoy a lot.  She even met the mascot, Deepot, and refused to let go of his hands!  As a souvenir, she got a puzzle (from Melissa and Doug, like her sushi set) with magnets and a fishing pole with a magnet so that she can go fish even at home.

So Meredith has learned exactly what buttons to push to make her toys make sound - consistently, every time.  And when she gets a new toy she figured that out fast.  Since she likes to play music, it's a big joy to her!

She is also imitating sounds a lot more.  She has a toy dog that barks and whines, and she makes the same sounds that it does!  It is too cute.  We tried to capture it on video but weren't successful yet.

So Ben and I went on a vacation from Friday until Tuesday to Mexico.  We had a great time, but we certainly missed Meredith!  However, it helped knowing that she was having a blast with Grandma.  Grandma arrived on Thursday afternoon and is staying through this afternoon, and Grandpa came on Friday and went back to work on Sunday.  She sent us e-mail updates every day and even some pictures, and we got to talk once a day.  When we got home last night, Meredith was in the yard waiting for us.  I started waving and she waved back, and I ran out and gave her a big hug.  She was happy to see us, although it took her just a little bit to warm up.  She got a little doll from Mexico that she seems to like a lot, that we got for her on our trip.  I was sad to have to go to work this morning before she woke up, but Ben and Grandma will have fun I'm sure.

Meredith has added some new words to her vocabulary, including "Hot Dog" and "Grandpa" - much to Grandpa's delight! 

The next night Meredith wanted her "Gam" - so add her word for Grandma to the rapidly growing list of words!

Meredith loves to listen to music and dance, dance, dance!  She listens to her Wee Sing CD, or spins her Zebra toy to make the music play.  We watched an Elmo video on Sunday and she was rocking out.

We've been offering milk in a sippy cup with no luck for a while, but last night she kept coming back to it (before throwing it on the floor).  So I think she's getting used to it - fingers crossed!

She ate lunch with the toddlers at school yesterday - they're working to get her used to that classroom.  Thankfully Ms. Cato, who was her teacher when she was itty bitty, is the lead teacher in the young toddler room, so she already knows her, and the class is filled with kids who were in her class and moved up.

The week that Meredith turned 1, the newsletter I get about parenting changed from saying "Your Baby, Month 11, Week 4" to saying "Your Toddler"!  I wasn't quite ready to hear that.  But it is true . . . Meredith is becoming less and less the little baby she once was, and can be much more better characterized as a toddler.  That means that she has her own will and ideas about what she wants to do . . . which sometimes aren't what she's going to get at the time!  But it also means that she's exploring more, she's getting more comfortable with less support (we walk her around the room holding only one hand, and she can let go and stand on her own for several seconds before she bends her knees and sits down).  She loves to dance when she hears music, which is great fun!  Today Meredith was playing with the comb that is in the purse she has, and she combed her hair with it.  When we asked if she wanted to comb Bitty Baby's hair, she found Bitty Baby in the pile of toys and did so!  She understands so much more of what we say (and shows us when she feels like it) and tries to imitate a lot more words. 

On Friday we went to Stu's 4th of July party, and she made it until 8 before passing out on us.  She got to see Shea and another little boy, Jacob.  Today we went to Graham's birthday party.  Meredith spent most of the party pushing his Thomas the Train Engine toy all around the house, and wearing herself out.

We all relaxed this weekend.  There was a pool party for the neighborhood Saturday afternoon and Meredith got to see her friends and spend a little time swimming in the pool before we had a thunderstorm!  Because Meredith has been enjoying her sushi set from Aunt Melissa so much, we took her out to a sushi restaurant Saturday night.  She charmed all the waitstaff with her smiles and her hearty appetite (she LOVES edamame!  She ate it faster than we could get it out of the pods!) and was a lovely dining companion.

Lately it seems that she's turning to temper tantrums when she's frustrated, particularly in the morning (Elizabeth and I tried to go on a walk with her on Saturday morning around 9, unsuccessfully).  It seems like giving her more food (man, does she eat a lot!), a nap, or lots of hugs and cuddle calms her down.   We're still trying to figure this "toddler" thing out!