Finally.....tooth number 4

After 33 days Megan's 2nd top tooth finally broke through. Whew. I saw it when I was changing her this morning.

I am glad I got some pictures of her scrunchy face last night since they show off her 1 top tooth.

First real cookie

On Sunday afternoon I baked some pumpkin spice cookies. During her snack we gave Megan 1/2 of a small cookie before her yogurt. She loved the cookie and still gobbled up the yogurt without hesitation - no fussing for more cookie and no refusal of the yogurt. She is such a good eater.

All by herself

This morning while I was playing with Megan in the floor she leaned forward and rolled over - (she went from sitting to laying down) - ALL by herself. No help from mommy at all. What a quick learner she is - so very proud of her.

Adding to her bag of tricks

Prior to today Megan has had 3 options for going from sitting to laying down. She just lays backwards, which of course means she hits her head hard on the floor. Because she is not fond of this, she started fussing when she is ready to lay down. Sometimes, when I don't bail her out she will grab a nearby, inflatable penguin and use it to lay herself down.

We have been working with her to show her how to get down so she can do it by herself. Sometimes I sit sideways on the couch with one leg bent and up on the couch. I sit Megan on top of that leg and she leans back against the couch. We sing songs and play while she is sitting there and she loves it. Today there was a shirt that we had taken off of her on the end of the couch. Megan practically jumped off of my lap onto her tummy to get to it and then she would roll onto her back. I put her back up on my leg to see if she would repeat the behavior and she did several times. This is the same basic movement that she needs to do on the floor - so I was excited that she was doing it.

Later in the day I was playing with her on the floor. I sat her up and bent her leg to get her into position. I then put a toy out in front and to her side and leaned her forward - she immediately rolled over and was laying down. She very slightly bumped her head when she did it but she didn't mind that at all. I cheered for her and sat her back up and she repeated it several times.

The other thing we are working on is her ability to sit up by herself. She wants to do it so badly - she tries so hard to use her abs to sit up. I have her grab my fingers and she pulls herself up to sitting. So today while we were playing I would get her started and then take my right hand away and she would put her arm down on the floor and push herself up. This is a great step in the right direction for her to realize that she can push off of the floor to sit up. We are getting close on this one too.

Who Needs a Puppy?

Yesterday Megan was playing in the living room floor, rolling around getting all of her toys. She rolled over to the coffee table and chewed on the leg. She has been trying to cut her 2nd top tooth for a couple of weeks, I guess gnawing on the furniture felt good.

Cornfield Maze

We took Megan to a cornfield maze and pumpkin farm today. We wandered around the maze with her for about 40 minutes before we made it back out the entrance.

Megan did great - she rode in her stroller and kicked her feet while we made no progress. We eventually found some dead-ends which was fun.

Mayberry and Grilled Cheese

We took Megan to Mayberry today - actually Mount Airy, but it is the town where Andy Griffith grew up and what he based Mayberry on. It was so much fun to see some of the stores, etc that he based items on. We ate lunch at the Bluebird Diner, which is where Barney's girlfriend worked in the show.

There wasn't much on the menu that I could order and share with Megan so for the first time we ordered something just for Megan - a grilled cheese sandwich. She LOVED it - I had already fed her 2 jars of baby food (green beans & peaches)since we weren't sure how long it would take to get our food. It did take quite a while (at least 10 minutes after she finished her other food). So when her food arrived she wasn't sure about taking a bite from us, but once Will got a piece into her mouth she started, very loudly, "ummmmmming" - so very cute. She ate several Megan size bites and was very happy with every one.

Praising God for His Faithfulness

Yesterday the Lord showed Himself faithful as He protected Megan and allowed me to save her life.

At 3:30ish yesterday afternoon Megan was napping. Will was at Home Depot and I was on the couch taking a break from my projects for a few minutes. Will has said several times that our baby monitor is his favorite channel - we have a video monitor. I was watching TV and would peak at Megan to watch her sleep - she is such a cute sleeper it is hard not to watch her. I heard her wake up so I checked the monitor to see if she had gotten a full nap. If she gets a full nap she wakes up happy and will play. If she didn't get a full nap about 2-3 minutes after she wakes up she starts crying. I wasn't sure what time she went to sleep so I didn't know how long it had been, thus I was watching to see if she would play or cry. She stretched for a couple of minutes and then started playing. I shut off the screen (saves the battery) and went back to watching TV. About 3-4 minutes later I heard a very, very faint gasping type noise. I grabbed the monitor and turned the screen back on. Megan was laying on her back, clearly choking - she was clapping her hands and waving her arms frantically and trying to breathe. I jumped off of the couch and ran upstairs to get her. I picked her up - turned her upside down and hit her on the back hard (the thrust thing) to try to free her airway. After a few seconds she started screaming, obviously able to breathe again. I sat her on the changing table to look in her mouth - nothing had come out when I was hitting her. After about 20 seconds of screaming she stopped breathing again - she had screamed the obstruction back into her airway --- I picked her up and did the thrusting process again; the obstruction cleared enough so she could breathe and she started screaming again - this cycle continued for about 10 minutes with her not being able to breathe every 1-2 minutes (probably less time than that but it felt like 30 minutes so I am guessing it was less).

During this time I kept "sweeping" her mouth for something, I tried using the bulb syringe to help and I continued to use the thrust when she was choking. Finally, after clearing, at least partially, her airway again I managed to get her to stop screaming after only a few seconds - not giving her time to repeat the cycle. After keeping her relatively calm for 4-5 minutes I was able to get her to drink some water. As soon as she drank several swallows she was good to go - no more obstruction issues.

At one point during the cycle I managed to call Will and tell him to drive safe, but to get home. I wasn't sure how long the choking was going to last and if I could continue to open her airway - I needed some help. Megan was screaming at the time that I called him. By the time he arrived home she had been drinking her water for several minutes and was breathing just fine. He told me he couldn't understand what I said to him because of Megan but he knew he needed to come home. He took Megan from me but she just wanted mommy. For the rest of the day she didn't let me leave her sight. She was okay playing in the floor, or with daddy as long as she could see me. Will said she knew that I had saved her and she wanted to keep me around.

After she was back to normal and playing I wanted to leave the room and go cry - I had managed to hold it together for her but I was a wreck - since she wouldn't let me leave the room I didn't get that chance.

For the rest of the day I struggled with my brain vs my spirit. I knew in my spirit that God had made sure I was aware that Megan needed help. My brain, however, was in fear - afraid that if I had been working in the laundry room, or garage - like I had been before taking a break - that I wouldn't have heard the gasping sound. The sound she made was barely audible - if the monitor had been on my pocket and I had been making noise moving stuff around there is no way I would have heard it. Afraid that she would have choked to death. After much prayer I was finally able to find peace. I was able to go to sleep last night without worry, knowing that if Megan needed us God would wake us up.

Megan is our miracle and as we continue to stand in faith for her health and well-being, God continues to watch over her.

My girly girl

The last two times I have taken Megan to the store with me and put her in the front of the grocery cart I have put my purse beside her. The first time Megan put her arm through the strap and rode around the whole time with the strap on her shoulder. Today she played with the strap the whole time and eventually wanted to chew on it.

1 year old and already into purses. :-) She is such a cutie pie.