Patrick the Puppy

Cindy got online a week or two back and decided to get Margaux her first Christmas present. She hit FAO Shwartz (haven't seen the bill yet and I'm very afraid...) and got Patrick the Puppy, a giant (4') stuffed dog that is very smushy and soft. We gave it to Margaux yesterday, and she has really grown to love Patrick. She climbs all over him. It's very funny to see a wee little 9-month-old climbing a stuffed animal like it's a mountain--she goes up one side, and down the other.

Here's Patrick...tomorrow when the baby's awake, I'm going to put Fergus (the real dog) in there next to Patrick and take a pic to show the scale (real dog much smaller). Note the alien in the background. We picked it up in Roswell NM a few years ago. Margaux was kind of attached to it, but Cindy was afraid she would grow up and have dreams that she was abducted by aliens as an infant. (The UFO-ers will recognize the alien, which is often draped with Mardi Gras beads and sporting an LSU shirt.)



Margaux was a little standoffish at first...



...but then she did the canine 'nose sniff' ritual...




...and then decided that she LOVES Patrick the Puppy. Whenever she's near Patrick, she goes up to him and lies down on top of him. Even softer and squishier than Dad's belly!

bye-bye gramma & grampa

Well, Lolan and Faye packed up the RV and hit the road, after spending all autumn here in Stillwater. We were very sorry to see them go, but we're so grateful they hung out for these last several months. Nothing better than having grandparents around! Margaux spent lots of time with Gramma and Grampa, walking, playing, shopping, etc. Now that it's just Cindy and I here, I think Margaux's getting a little bored with us. Here are a few pics of M and her grandparents:

Here's little M rolling around on the floor with Faye. Margaux went from rolling to crawling to pulling up on stuff in the months L & F were here.



Grandpa spent hours playing with Margaux, telling her stories, and showing her stuff. He says he can't wait until she's old enough for him to teach her to throw rocks.



Here are the 3 of them. It looks like they're explaining something to her: "Well, honey, I know you want to go with us in the RV, but your mom and dad would miss you if you left..."

Play date

Margaux and I went to Claire and Tracy's house to play on Sunday. The girls are about 2 weeks apart in age. Both are only children, so sharing may not be a strength. As you see here, Margaux found one of Claire's toys she liked, and Claire quickly reappropriated it.

Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving. We're in Texas where Margaux's B is preparing a feast for the grown-ups and even has Thanksgiving babyfood for Margaux!

Baby legs

Hey Everyone, Here are two pics from this weekend. One of them shows Margaux in her "baby legs," which are legwarmers for babies. Diaper changes are a lot easier with baby legs than with tights. Plus, with Margaux being constantly on the move, the baby legs keep her legs from getting bruises. Too bad they don't make something similar for foreheads. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Ordinary days

Hi Everyone, Just thought I'd post some pics from yesterday and today. Hope you all have a good weekend.

The two pics above show Margaux with her favorite things- her dad and her thumb.

I love this kind of shot because it is about the only way we can get a good pic without redeye. You can't really tell it on the blog, but Margaux's eyes are gray, and they really pick up the light.

This is the look we get when we try to give her her medicine (she's had an ear infection). She must think that we will be fooled into thinking that she has no lips and therefore cannot possibly ingest amoxicillan.

Happy Halloween!

I know there are princesses and witches in our future, but for this first Halloween, we are enjoying our little pumpkin. Here are a few pics of Margaux from this morning. She likes hats, so she really seemed to enjoy her costume. Hope you have a fun and scary day!
P.S. I'll get Mike to put some more up later. The others need some work to remove red eye, and that's not my specialty.

Crawlin'!

Well, little M is scurrying around the floors now like she owns them. We've had several surprise moments putting her down in one place, turning away to get something, then turning back around to find her headed for the door.



"Outta the way, Dad! I'm going shopping!"



"Oh, just go have some coffee. I won't crawl very far...I promise..."



After a hard crawl, when you need a little sustenance, there's nothing like some tasty horse hoof.

Updates coming

Hey, everyone. Sorry for the paucity of posts lately. We've been a little busy...but I promise that tomorrow (Mon.) we'll put up some pics. The latest developments: Margaux is now crawling; we went to Chi-town and left baby with grandparents Melancon last weekend; we were in Fort Worth with the Reeses this past weekend. So we have lots of pics to put up, and hopefully some video, too. I can't do the pics right now because the camera is in M3's room, and I don't want to wake her up rumaging around for the digital camera. Margaux had a full-blown giggle fit tonight on the way home from Texas. I said something that made Cindy laugh, which made Margaux laugh, which made all 3 of us laugh, which sent Margaux into howling laughter. If there's anything funnier than cackling babies, I don't know what it is. Peace, y'all.

The good, the bad, and the cute

Here are some pictures of Margaux from this past week. Two exciting events happened this week, one good and one bad. On the good side, Margaux learned to sit up on her own this week. This means she can go from laying down to upright all on her own. We are all very happy about this. It's so cute to go in in the morning and see her sitting up in her crib waiting for us. On the bad side, Margaux face-planted this morning and hurt her mouth. It was the inside of her upper lip that was hurt- we think from the pacifier that was in her mouth when she fell over. She doesn't have any teeth, so it wasn't from biting her lip or tongue. She was bleeding and crying like crazy. After about 30 minutes the bleeding stopped and she calmed down. Prior to today, I had considered that Margaux might not have very good pain receptors because she doesn't cry when she does things that look like they would hurt. Today, we learned that her pain receptors are perfectly normal. She's fully recovered now and back to sticking everything she can find in her mouth, so no worries. I'm sure this is the first of many misadventures we will experience with our very active daughter. Hope you all are doing well!

Lazy Thursday

Hello, everyone. I'm blogging while Margaux sleeps. But I just heard her roll over in her crib, which means she's starting the process of waking up. It's a lovely day here in StillH2O, cool and sunny. M3 and I have already been for a walk today, and may do some grocery shopping when she wakes up.

I'm posting a couple of pictures. First, is a shot of Lolan (grandfather Melancon) feeding the baby. For grandparent reference, the Reese grandparents go by B and Pop, the Melancons by Grandpa/Grandma.



As you might have gathered from the above photo, we've begun feeding little M solid food. So far, she loves vegetables (peas, carrots, sweet potatoes) but doesn't care much for fruit (apples, pears). She makes a very funny dramatic gagging sound when we feed her pears. However, we've had some luck with mixing pears and oatmeal...she's okay with that.

Here's a funny shot of her pre-dinner:



Baby noises more insistent, now, so I probably have to run. But first, stop at the espresso maker to get some magical energy elixir! Ummm, caffeine...

Daddy's girl

For me, one of the best parts of this parenting gig so far has been to see Mike and Margaux together. Oh, how she loves her daddy! And, oh how I love him for being such a great father. Here's a series of pics of the two of them and then one at the end of just Margaux that was taken this morning.

Sit-ups

Margaux's newest trick is sitting up. She can sit up for minutes at a time. She cannot get herself into a sitting position, but if you sit her up she can stay that way for a good long while. Here's a sequence that starts with her upright and finishes with a position we see a lot- Margaux laying on her back with her legs crossed at the ankles. She always looks so laid back like that.

Margaux's First Solid Food

Hi, everyone. We fed M3 her first solid food this afternoon and recorded the precious moment on video. It was very entertaining. Margaux likes organic rice cereal, but hasn't decided whether she likes to actually EAT it, or just smear it on her face. Bon appetit!

Our love & support goes to our friends and family down in the hurricane zone. Gustav is off of CNN now, but many of our people are still cleaning up and are without power, a/c, etc.

Here's the video of baby Margaux:

Playtime

Here are some pics of Margaux from yesterday morning. She was rolling around on the floor, checking out Brother Fergus, and seeing if her feet still taste good. The funny thing is, we had just been reading Dr. Suess's "The Foot Book." I think this inspired her.