Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Latest with Meera

Meera at age 13 months-- The good, the bad, and the ugly.
First, the good:
Um, seriously people-- is it normal for babies to be able to eat with forks at age 13 months? She's been doing this for a couple of weeks now. She eats with a fork. For real. What's up with that? K & O didn't do that 'till they were twice her age. And really, who am I kidding?-- they still often "forget their manners" (they "left them in their pockets" they are fond of saying) and eat with their hands. This girl prefers the fork. ? Do I just have unreasonably low expectations because my only prior experience with mothering is with my two crazy little men? Or is this girl doing something out of the ordinary here? She uses a fork very well and with ease. She seems to actually prefer the fork to eating with her hands. She doesn't mind getting her hands dirty (more on that under, "the ugly"), it is more that she prefers the challenge of the fork. And she's pretty much mastered that challenge at this point. Not sure what to make of it. But it is all good.
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The bad:
At age 13 months we finally had to lower the crib down from the upper deck "newborn infant setting." Yes, folks, she slept in it at the newborn level for the full first 13 months of her life. She just laid there and never even rolled over until she was well into her 11th month. I know, I know, it is bizarre. It wasn't until this week-- yes, this week-- that she showed any signs of desiring to pull up. On Tuesday Margie told me that she thought we should lower the crib because she was going to pull up "any day now." So, on Wednesday Braydon lowered the crib. And today (Thurs), when I went to get her after her afternoon non-nap (nap that she did not take because she was having too much fun in her crib for the first time ever)... this is what I found. Yup, standing there in all her glory. Our previously-perfect-sleeper screaming her head off because she couldn't figure out for the life of her how to get herself back down. And at bedtime tonight she screamed, bloody murder, standing up over and over and over again (after I went in and laid her back down over and over and over again), for a full 1.5 hours before she finally fell asleep. Our good girl's first bad behavior. The tide has turned. Of course, it couldn't have lasted, but still... it is so monumentally sad. Anyway... back to the afternoon nap today... so I found her screaming, standing up in her crib, which is in itself so bad (because she was supposed to be sleeping), but making matters worse was that she had pulled the ponytail/elastic band out of her hair for the first time ever.... and.... the elastic band was nowhere to be found (I searched and searched and searched). Which leaves me to believe (because there is no other explanation) that she ate it. Nice. So, from this bad experience I learned three things: 1) Always take the elastic bands out before putting her down for a nap, and 2) Always listen to Margie [thank God we had], and 3) Meera's got a bad streak after all. It was bound to happen. But still... couldn't we just go on all bliss and innocence forever???
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Lastly, the ugly:
We're convinced she gets this from Owen, but wherever it comes from, it is just plain ugly: her terribly, terribly messy-eating-ways. We did not think that there could possibly be any human being on the planet that was more messy at mealtime than our Owen. But, alas! There is Meera Grace. She rivals Owen in the messy eating department. A simple bagel and cream cheese results in extreme mess. And that, believe me, is just the very very tip of the messy-messy-iceburg. It is not pretty. Not pretty at all.
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So, there you have it: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

8 comments:

Roxann said...

Motherhood is a trip. You are a champ!!!

love the new header.

MorMor said...

You are such a writer HBJ - tell it like it is funny! Soon Owen and Kyle will be getting her involved in their "crimes" so you'll blame her not them! Oh the stories to come...

Robin said...

I was laughin out loud of her not knowing how to sit back down in her crib. I guess I missed that phenomenon with my kids. Maybe not funny to you (or her) but funny from the outside! XO

Unknown said...

Heather,

Love your humor even if it does mean that you're sleep deprived.

Re fork, when Braydon was about Meera's age he could actually hammer a nail into a board (real nail, real hammer). She may have inherited his hand/eye co-ordination (yours too, possibly, I'm not familiar with it).

Gail

anymommy said...

Oh my, your family is gorgeous. Just beautiful. I love meeting other transracial families in the blogosphere, especially with children born in Haiti. Lovely to find you.

Ani said...

she's a cutie even when crying... love the pic of her using the fork, if only my 4 year old would take note :)

Candis said...

Hahaha. She pulls up, but can't get back down, eh? That just cracks me up. One of my older kids was in that same boat it drove me craaaaazy. One night I just refused to go back in and lay him down, thinking he would figure it out. NOT! I went back in after 40 minutes and found him asleep standing up, propped against the crib side. No digital cameras back then :-(

And as for the mistress of the fork/messy eater dichotomy, well, Meera's a girl. Of course she'll be advanced. Plus she's got older siblings; kids with big brothers or sisters tend to be In The Know. On the other hand, her teachers are TWINs--BOY TWINS! That does not bode well for the adults in your home. You and Braydon had better start thinking of a plan to save yourselves...

Juli said...

I'm so stinking jealous that you had 13 months of bliss. My little guy has been, ummm, spirited since birth. In fact, he was in the womb, too, because he managed to tie a knot in his umbilical cord!

Meera is such a beautiful little girl! I just love seeing new pics of her (and K&O too!).