I had talked with her teachers at daycare on Thursday, and commented that her friend Amelia was holding her bottle.  They told me that Meredith has been doing it for weeks and weeks - just not for us!  She is also waving bye bye. 

She is getting very good at crawling - backwards.  Much to her frustration. 

Meredith can stand up without assistance, holding out an arm on furniture of mom or dad's arm for balance, for quite a while now.  Obviously we don't leave her by herself, but she is balancing well.

Her first word was, of course, "Da-Da," although she didn't really use it to mean Daddy.  But now she says "Da" when she wants her Daddy.

Meredith said "Em-Ma!" for the first time on Sunday - we think that separation anxiety is starting to set in.  I gave her to Grandpa to hold, and she threw up her arms and called out for me.  She is starting to hold her arms up every time she wants us to pick her up.  She sometimes fusses when a "stranger" holds her or when Ben or I leave her sight.

When we left this morning from North Carolina, Meredith said "Bah-Bah" (or Bye-Bye) to everybody and waved.  So I guess that makes 3 words! 

The Easter Bunny made an early trip to North Carolina to visit Meredith and Ryan.  They must have been very good babies this year!  Ryan and Meredith looked adorable in their Easter finery - Meredith in a dress that her Aunt Melissa wore when she was a baby.  She loved looking at her new white patent leather shoes.  We had dyed Easter eggs, and Meredith systematically took each egg out of the basket and put it immediately in her mouth.  This would have been fine except for the dye on the egg and the risk of getting it all over her dress, so they were promptly removed from her mouth!  Both Meredith and Ryan seemed to like the Easter grass more than anything else the Easter Bunny brought.

Ben, Meredith and I went to Blowing Rock, North Carolina and met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Cynthia, Uncle Eric, Aunt Cheryl, and her cousin Ryan.  We had a nice time!

Meredith and Ryan enjoyed spending time together.  And Grandma and Grandpa especially loved having their 2 grandkids!  We took LOTS of pictures - 315 to be exact - so let me know if you want to see more than what I've posted out here.