Beautiful disaster

Megan has gotten to the point where she doesn't have many "firsts" any more. Sure, there's the occasional new word she says, or the new trouble she decides to get into. Today she actually did have a "first". And, this first trumps all other firsts.

She smeared poop. Yep. Stuck her hand in her diaper and wiped her feces on the baby gate while I was taking a shower.

If I could guess what was going through her little head it was, "Fine, mom. You won't let me in the bathroom? I'll show YOU who's boss!"

The grossest part of it all is, I didn't even notice she had done this until about 3 hours later. Makes me wonder about all the things she touched or ate in between. Yuck.



As nasty as it is to clean up misplaced poop, the situation made me smile. I'm so happy to be in a position where I get to clean up poop. I'm so happy to deal with her tantrums and messes, and, of course, her overall cuteness, because it means I get to be her mother.

Sometimes I look at my little poop machine and I still can't believe she's mine. I still find myself thinking she is too good to be true, that this can't have happened to me. Really? I get to be a mom? I still can't believe it. I wake up in the morning, and I'm so grateful to have my day revolve around her.

Megan is, afterall, the the child we waited 6 years for and the joy we always desired. So, if I have to put up with poop on the gate (or wherever she decides to smear it next), I'm happy to clean it up with a smile.

So, smear on, my daughter. Smear on.

Down on the farm

Our little town does not have a zoo. However, there is a little "farm" just a few minutes away. I don't know the people who own these animals, but I sure am glad that they don't seem to mind the whole city coming by to look at them. Megan knows several animal sounds and repeats them often, but this was the first time she actually saw these animals up close & personal. She was very intrigued and adorable to watch.

Megan & daddy with the Emus.

This is Megan looking at ducks.

The kangaroo was scratching himself almost the entire time. It was actually quite comical.

Chicken...

Megan was most scared of the llamas. There's also a goat in this picture. The animals were all very friendly; I think they must often get fed by visitors.

Mr. Donkey was trying to sniff off Megan's hand.

I wish there were more fun family outings we could take with an 18-month-old in tow. It sure was fun to be out together and enjoy some family time.

3 short videos

These videos are totally random, but they exemplify three things that Megan does best:

1). Slide down the stairs so fast I think she's going to hurt herself

2). Whine for the camera before I even have a chance to take a picture

3). Dance her heart out!

Box Braids

About a month ago I got bored while doing Megan's hair. What resulted were these braids:

(Yes, that is the television on. I have to stick her in front of it or she won't stay in her seat. Though restrained, she still moves her head around and tries to bat away my hands sometimes. Maybe I'm bad for using the tube, but YOU try keeping a one-year-old still for an hour!)

I was actually really proud of the braids. I thought I was being creative or something. Even though it was only a mere 5 braids it still looked super-cute, and it only took about 40 minutes to do.

Then, a couple weeks ago, I got bored again. This time it resulted in more box braids. I had to do it in two sessions, with one hour for each session. On Friday I combed out her hair and put it in 15 "puffs" on her head. Then, on Saturday, I combed and then braided the puffs. The braiding was really tedious, but I must admit that it turned out totally cute. I'm hoping it will stay in for a total of 3 weeks, but we'll see how ratty it gets. Here are the 15 box braids:


15 isn't really very many, but her head is small and it's all I could manage to do.

Sometimes she will sleep in a funny way and she'll wake up with some of the braids poking straight off the top of her head, which is pretty comical (but I didn't think to take a picture of it).

I can't wait until I can try cornrows, but her hair is definitely too short for that right now. Plus, I have the suspicion it will take significantly longer than 2 hours.

Ironicaly, despite all the work that goes into some of Megan's hairstyles, I seem to get the most compliments on her hair when it is just in a fro with a headband.

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If I Had a Billion Dollars

If I had a billion dollars I would do a few things:

1). Tell my husband that I have a billion dollars. I think he might want to know.

2). Pay off all debt.

3). Buy a big house. Lots of bedrooms.

4). Adopt children. Start with one from every continent. And I'm talking the ones who live in orphanages, or who aren't even lucky enough to live in an orphanage. Then, adopt more.

5). Use the rest of the money to take care of said children.

6). Oh, and I'd have an massage every week, too.

Yep, that's what I'd do... I'd be rich.

She's a Zoo

Megan has been into animal sounds. Whenever she's upset we can just ask her to make an animal sound, and she usually is happy again. This video was taken well over a month ago, and it showcases her animal-sound-skills. We have a truly talented daughter. If there were a sound-imitating competition for 17-month-olds, she'd win hands down.

And, for the record, I just have to state that this is only the surface of her sounds. She does a lot more, but this was all I could think of to ask her at the time, and she was distracted by the doggies she was hearing in the distance.

This girl is so so so so so so so so so cute. She still has the smushiest, most kissable cheeks ever. We're sure happy she's ours.


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