Meridian's Life Adventures

Things I LOVE about Meridian

How thoroughly she researches the topics that are of interest to her, reading adult non-fiction books on the topic, cover to cover. (11 years)
That she sacrificed her trampoline to create her own homemade chicken tractor. (11 years)
She loves her chickens so much that she chases of the neighnor's rooster to prevent them from being accosted. (11 years)
She would rather not open our swimming pool (and lose out on a summer of swimming) than deny all the tadpoles the chance to become frogs. (11 years)
How passionate she is about her beliefs, and how rigorously she sticks to her own principles. (11 years)
I love that she knows when a friendship is right for her, and doesn't try to bend herself to fit other people's ideas of what she should be. (9 years)
That when Papi was out of work and opening the swimming pool seemed like an impossible hurdle, she calmly and rationally campaigned that we not spend money on the pool while Papi wasn't working. (9 years)
That all by herself she decided to become a vegetarian, and that she fights her love of the taste of meat in order to live up to her principles. (9 years)
She is unbelievably, and miraculously just learning to read in both English and German! It is AMAZING to watch. (6 years)
When she gets overwhelmingly excited and wild, a very strange bodily reaction occurs, and all at once she's hiccuping, sneezing, burping, until it all culminates with her vomiting a little in her mouth! (6 years)
The fact that Papi has become so prominent and important in her life, and the way she savors every moment with him. (6 years)
How industriously she takes every little scrap (from rope to leather to aluminum foil) and tidbit (from paper to cloth to spare screws and bolts) and invents things out of them. (6 years)
The way she so loves musicals, and throws herself into the music until she can hum sing/hum every tune and theme. It's been this way first with Prince of Egypt, then Beauty and the Beast, and now The Lion King. (6 years)
The fact that Landon has gone from Cai's younger brother to one of her best friends, despite their age difference. (5 years)
The way she absorbs so many vocabulary words that I never feel we introduced, and then just surprises us with them in context. (5 years)
How very much she loves books, often listening in one day to a novel from me, a novel in German from David, and a book on cassette independently. (5 years)
The way she wants so instinctively to protect me when Uncle Chris is instigating with me. (5 years)
The game we play when she has a boo-boo, wherein I say, "Thank goodness it's not on your tongue. I wouldn't want to have to kiss that! That would be slimy!" And then she forgets all about her boo-boo and becomes a bucket of giggles, attempting to get me to kiss her tongue. (5 years)
That she's the born entreprenuer, constantly dreaming up new business she can own: cookie company, stuffed animal salesperson, tailor, etc. And that she wants to set out a booth for each of these at our corner to sell to people who pass by. (4 years)
How when she wants to be carried, after asking normally and being turned down, she affects a baby's voice and says "up-up". (4 years)
Her homemade recipes, which she wants to conjure up while we cook, mixing various things together in a mixing bowl.(4 years)
How transparent her efforts to bluff at board games are, saying in a certain tone of voice, "Oh, I'm just moving here, ...but I'm not trying to WIN, this is just an interesting spot." (4 years)
The way she telephones "Book," an imaginary magic spellbook. (4 years)
The way she squeels when delighted, telling whoever pleased her, "You're Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!" in the highest pitch imagineable. (4 years)
The gesture the invented to invented to indicate fury: arms thrown behind her and suspended there while pursing the lips and knitting the eyebrows. (4 years)
The affectionate way she pronounces Papi as "Bapi" when she's feeling particularly loving. (4 years)
Chenchen - the word she's created that means "tiny adorable thing", and which is formed of the diminuative German suffix repeated back to back. (4 years)
How excited she is for us to go to Japan later this year. (3 years)
That she is so interested in geography and loves to map things, and draw maps to places. (3 years)
The way she is intrigued by foreign languages and wants to learn Spanish and Japanese. (3 years)
The game we play on chilly days where we pretend to be each other's coats while running into a store, clinging tightly to each other to make us warm. (3 years)
How when she wants to be carried, she says to me, "Let's carry each other." (3 years)
The way she randomly puts her hand against my cheek and pulls me to her for a hug. (3 years)
The fact that she thinks there is a video of every possible instance under the sun. "Can you find me a video of a a mommy bird feeding a worm to her babies? Can you find me a video of a woman baking a pie? Can you find me a video of a shark eating a man's arm off?" (3 years)
The creative tactics she uses to try to convince me to give her the things she wants, which range from acting tricky, to coy, to devilishly cute. (3 years)
Watching her independence grow, as she starts to do chores, get her own food when she's hungry, etc. (3 years)
The way she's taken ownership of her morning routine: dressing herself, making her bed, brushing her teeth, and getting a morning snack, all before she comes in to a wake us up. (3 years)
Her pre-bedtime burst of excitement when she runs around like mad and declares herself a "Hampelmann" (a wildman). (3 years)
The way her role-playing has developed through this year: from scaring herself by acting like a bear to now camoflauging her fear of me being a bear by stepping forward and roaring right back at me. (3 years)
Seeing her develop favorites: favorite songs (Red River Valley, Los Elefantes, Frosty the Snowman), favorite colors (green, pink), favorite books (Charlotte's Web, Roald Dahl's books, The Magic Treehouse), favorite foods (carbonara, sweet potatoes, shrimp), favorite toys (doll house, legos, small animal figures). (3 years)
Watching her language develop, in both languages. (3 years)
Her sweet, doll-like face with porcelain skin and a tiny little mouth. (3 years)
How much she loves to be read to, and that she'll sit for a novel. (3 years)
The way her curly, curly, curls cascade down her back and softly frame her face. (3 years)
How she asked me "Will you make a compromise?" when what she really means is "Can I get my way, after all?" (3 years)
The way she pronounces 'spooky': pooky. (3 years)
The way she says "smoochy": "poochy". And then realizing she doesn't know how to say it and trying harder: "pewnchy". (3 years)
That she thinks her jokes are funny. (3 years)
The way she adores crafts, and that I'm constantly finding drawings or collages of projects of all varieties around the house. (3 years)
How she says she's "too cozy" and doesn't realize it's an oxymoron. (3 years)
That when I whisper "Goodnight" for the last time from her doorway, she says in return, "Good Stay Up." (3 years)
The way she marries a oneupmanship of how much she loves me with her exploration of nonsense: "I love you more than a boot gets ice cream at a popcorn stand." (3 years)
When we ask what she wants on her pizza, she always says "Macaroni" instead of pepperoni. (33 months)
When she wants water from the fridge instead of the sink, she asks for "icy cold water". (33 months)
How she decided all by herself that she was ready to start wearing undies to bed.(33 months)
That she puts kisses in my belly button when I'm leaving her, so I won't miss her while I'm gone.(33 months)
How very much she LOVES her dollhouse, wanting to play with it all day long.(33 months)
The exclamation, as she wakes me up in the morning, "Mami wacht nie auf! (Warum?!) (Translation: Mommy never wakes up! Why?)(32 months)
Her affinity for soft cotton clothes, calling everything else "scratchy clothes," and stipping the scratchy clothes off the instant we're home to put on the preferred soft clothes.(32 months)
Watching her as she exerts her own independence in the clothes she wears, the books she wants (and how often), the songs she wants (over and over).(32 months)
How she dances like mad in her impersonation of a "Wild Dance Mouse".(32 months)
The way she role-plays her cousin Shelby with babytalk "da ba ga duh buh buh" even though Shelby doesn't use babytalk, but rather is silent or squeals.(32 months)
Her nightly drowsy, bed-head, sleepy-eyed stumble-walk from her bedroom to find me each night around midnight.(32 months)
On nights when she doesn't want to go to bed, she asks for cuddles. The cutest one is when she says, "I need someone to lay on my head," - her description of when I lay my sheek atop hers for a moment while I stand next to her bed.(30 months)
The way she asks me to help her when she's done on the potty: "Mommy, will you please get me some tissue toilet?"(31 months)
She's started saying "Let's talk about it: roosters." Or some other topic in place of roosters. She announces the whole thing in a very SNL Coffee Talk "Okay, discuss" way that is just too adorable for words.(30 months)
The excitement she has over opening each door of the advent calendar and learning what the day has to offer.(30 months)
When she's excited, she jumps and dances around saying "I'm so gescited!"(30 months)
The fact that I asked her on October 1st what she might like to dress up as for Halloween, and her answer never wavered right up to Halloween night itself.sw(29 months)
How she wanted to much to play ghost where we took turns chasing each other, but would work herself up to real fear as we played and then suddenly call the game off.(29 months)
The way she dons her superman cape (covering the belly instead of her back) and "flies" around the house, saying "I'm a super hero!"(29 months)
How she role-plays trick-or-treating with her animals and dolls. (29 months)
The two make-believe voices she does: her "tigger voice" which she makes by pursing her lips and speaking in a deep voice through the mostly closed lips, and her "funny voice" which she makes by tucking her chin into her body and talking from the back of her throat in stilted robotic syllables.(29 months)
The ways she uses her hands to act out the things that happen in the story as we read Winnie-the-Pooh before bed each night.(28 months)
Her pronunciation of balloon: "tumbloon".(28 months)
That she says "Let you think" (about herself) whenever she seeing you peering at something that requires a decision, like an open refrigerator, etc.(28 months)
The new intonation of the way she pronounces the word yes at times when she absolutely agrees with you.(28 months)
How she pronounces words that start with L as if they start with Y: "yike", "yove", "yet", "yittle".(28 months)
Her creativity: she plays very imaginatively with her dolls and toys, creating scenes and stories.(28 months)
Her tender little bashful spirit, who is still too embarrassed to sing in front of me, and who hides her face when I walk in on her playing scenes with her dolls.(28 months)
Watching her discover concepts. She had a lightbulb moment that each doll can have its own name, and now wants to name each of them.(27 months)
The way she wants to act out The Three Little Pigs constantly, and how midway into play she gets scared.(27 months)
The knitted brow she gets when she's trying to assimilate new information into existing concepts.(27 months)
That she really KNOWS how to make David's Turkish coffee; all of the ingredients, the amounts, and the order.(26 months)
The fact that she really is a caregiver, wanting to comfort and nourish babies.(25 months)
That she wants everything to come in a set of three: a mommy, a papi, and a baby.(25 months)
That she has named ALL of her baby dolls "Jennifer".(25 months)
How she's started to stand firm behind her dissenting opinion: "Tight Mommy." "No, it's not too tight, honey." "Yes tight, Mommy."(23 months)
That most of the time I can stop a tantrum by reasoning with her.(23 months)
That she's so soft-spoken.(23 months)
The kiss I sometimes get where she puts her hands on the back of my head and pulls me into her while giving me a solid 5-second-smooch. (23 months)
That in response to my new question, "Are you a big girl?", she whispers, "No. Mommy baby."(23 months)
The way she memorizes her letters, assigning each one to a person she loves: P-Papi, R-Ryan, S-Shelby, C-Cai.(23 months)
How happy it makes her to stand in the window and watch the schoolbus collect the kids at the corner. "Ci-Ci and the boys."(22 months)
That sometimes, she just demands my attention, unrelenting, until I reach the realization that she is more important than whatever task I'm trying to complete.(22 months)
How content she is with a "new" toy when we rotate it back into circulation, and she will play with it for hours without interruption.(22 months)
That she likes to add verses to The Wheels on the Bus, and that she remembers them after the first time and gets irritated if you change them.(22 months)
The fact that her two favorite things on earth are reading and singing, and she'd happily do either one from wake up time until she goes to bed at night.(22 months)
That she counts to ten perfectly in German, but in English she always skips number five, and at seven switches to German.(22 months)
When we tell her to repeat a word, she always whispers it.(22 months)
When she says "Ich liebe dich" (I love you) to David at night she signs it by crossing her arms across her chest, and she always pats her heart with the hand that falls there. (22 months)
When I say no to her requests to nurse, she tries these words out until I give in: please, milk, drink, mommy, nursey. (21 months)
Her whiney new pronunciation of my name: Maaaahhhhhh-meeeeee. (21 months)
Her zealous crying out of "Gelato!" whenever we passed an ice cream shop in Italy. (21 months)
The fact that she's started to distinguish which words are German and which are English and to respond in the appropriate language when prompted to. (21 months)
That she's finally started to call David "Papi" instead of "Dave" or "Daddy". (21 months)
How she gets all distraught when Mommy and Papi kiss each other, and says "No," and then holds my face as if to lay claim to me. (21 months)
The way she uses her feet to lift her bum of the floor during diaper changes, as if she can't bear the idea that she bottom should touch the poo. (21 months)
The way she and Kaitlynn rolled with glee back and forth over our new Tunisian carpet when we rolled it out to examine it. (20 months)
How joyful she gets when I announce we're going to do arts and crafts. (20 months)
Her delight over her baby cousin "Belby" (20 months)
They way she hides herself in my neck and shoulder when strangers show an interest in her. (20 months)
Feeling her sleep with her cheek pressed against my cheek or neck, or seeing her sleep against David's chest. (20 months)
The way that she puts one hand on each of my cheeks and looks into my eyes imploringly when she's talking to me. (20 months)
Her discovery that if she pulls her hat down over her eyes, or sticks her finger up her nose, people stop looking at her. (20 months)
That she is just acheing to get to wear undies. (19 months)
The way she woke up one morning and a switch had been thrown: she must dress herself. (19 months)
Her brand new, umprompted fascination with ballerinas. (19 months)
When we read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, she points to the little boy's comic book and says "Uncle Chris". (19 months)
The way that she loves to wear hats, having to put one on anytime she spots one. (18 months)
That anytime we go to the library, the book store, or a friend's house, she prefers to read the same books we own. (18 months)
How she makes Spiderman noises and web-fingers. (18 months)
How she loves to feed the squirrels, leaving nuts for them on the fenceposts and then watching for them while she eats her breakfast. (18 months)
The antics she resorts to to try to wake me up in the morning: kissing, prying eyelids, handing me my glasses, etc.. (17 months)
How she asks for her Papi all day long, signing Papi, but saying "Dave". (17 months)
That she empathizes with her baby dolls and gets really upset is I play-act that they have to go to bed. (17 months)
That she holds your hand when you tell her to, wrapping all of her fingers around your one finger. (17 months)
The way she rubs Papi's head when she sits on his shoulders and they go for walks. (17 months)
The fact that she actually ASKS us to tickle her. (17 months)
When she nurses lately, she pops back and forth between boobs every minute or so, and then pauses between them to kiss my chest. (16 months)
How she anticipates the tickle, neck all scrunched together, eyes filled with sparkle. (16 months)
That when we go to the library or the book store, she only wants to read books she already owns. (16 months)
How she lays down on her belly and wants you to lay Shelby on her back - her way of snuggling the baby.(15 months)
The way she walks up to the rocking horse, defiantly, chin out, fiercly saying "neigh, neigh". (15 months)
The fact that she's started letting me kiss her boo-boos "all better". (15 months)
Her fierce little "protecting myself" squeal when Kaitlynn tries to take her toy away. (15 months)
Her expression when she's struggling between listening to mommy and exerting her independence. (15 months)
Her little voice when she sings along with songs! (15 months)
Watching her roleplay with her baby dolls: putting diapers on them, burping them, rocking them. (14 months)
Everything about the way she toddles. It's just so sweet. (14 months)
The way she sticks her tongue into the spaces where her canines are growing in and chomps down on it. (14 months)
Just how very much she loves music and dances along to it. (14 months)
The way she toddles to me so quickly when she's been hurt, hands outstretched, face in a grimace, filled with total mommy need. (14 months)
How she wants to nurse from all sorts of bizarre positions like hanging over my shoulder or facing me while sitting. (14 months)
That she has such a little girl's fascination with purses, hats, shoes, and sunglasses. (14 months)
The way she's beginning to string together signs to make sentences. (13 months)
How she lifts her chin and arches her eyebrows when she's really studying someone who's walking away. (13 months)
The way she smirks, lifting her chin at you, and looking at you through her lashes when she's flirting. (13 months)
That she loves books. (13 months)
That she seems to understand that theres a baby in Aunt Ryan's belly, and kisses it. (13 months)
The way the smallest reprimand like holding her hands together makes her so upset. (13 months)
The newest little face she makes when she's aware that she's getting attention. She darts her eyes to the corner and blinks several times. It's something between batting her eyelashes and rolling her eyes. (12 months)
How easily she laughs for other children. (12 months)
The way she's so excited about her new words that she interrupts her nighttime nursing sessions to moo or wau-wau. (12 months)
Hearing her little voice as she discovers her words. (12 months)
Seeing her face light up in delight and recognition when I put my glasses on in the morning, as if now her mommy has really arrived. (12 months)
The way she's discovering her sense of humor and sometimes forces a giggle just to hear herself do it. (11 months)
Knowing that she could walk if she'd just let go, but cherishing the wonderful feeling that comes from knowing she feels safe just having her little fingers wrapped around one of mine.(11 months)
Watching her sign Papi and hearing her say mom-mom-mom. (11 months)
Her little waterfall pigtails! (11 months)
How attached she's becoming to her baby doll, clutching it to her whenever someone else touches it, and holding it while she nurses to sleep. (11 months)
The way that in the morning when I turn away from her to catch a few more winks, she climbs over me so that her body is draped over mine and tucks her head into my neck and sleeps with me that way. (11 months)
The studiousness of how she reads her one picture book, really concentrating. (11 months)
That she eats her rice one grain at a time! (10 months)
How rosy her cheeks are when she wakes up from a nap. (10 months)
The way that she gives other people normal kisses, but she kisses Mommy and Papi by blowing zerberts on us. (10 months)
Her happy little squeal when we see another baby. (10 months)
The way she sleeps lying on her back with her legs crossed and her arms folded under her head, as if she's dreaming of evenings in a hammock. (10 months)
She way that she really studies everything, carefully observing things, turning them over and looking at all parts, watching other people use them. (10 months)
How happy it makes her to see a dog. (10 months)
Even though it's a terribly bad habit to form, I love the way she cracks up hysterically when she realized she's caught and I've said "no-no". (10 months)
The fact that when David jokingly tries to steal her food from her, she just shares it with him, feeding him pieces of her meal. (9 months)
Watching her "dance" to music, which consists her her bobbing her head ever so carefully. (9 months)
The noise she makes when she's aware that we are laughing and wants to laugh herself - it's such a forced little laugh noise. (9 months)
The little crinkles that come on her nose when she makes the certain little smile that means she is amused. (9 months)
How very happy she is by the time she's cruised her way across the room to where she wants to be: in my arms. (9 months)
The way she does the breast stroke to free her arms from her carseat's harness when I'm unbuckling her. (9 months)
How she leaps out of my arms to get to David when he comes home from work. (8 months)
When she pushes my hair out of my face, so she can see my eyes. (8 months)
The shape of her mouth when she babbles bah-bah-bah. (8 months)
The fact that hearing me or David say "Yay! Big Girl" is such praise that it gets a beaming smile every time. (8 months)
The way she carefully holds the crispix in her hand and guides it between her teeth before crunching down hard. (8 months)
That she purposefully takes each of my hands and puts them where she wants them to be, whether that's in each of hers so she can walk, or on her cheeks for a caress, or simply OFF her toy. Her little desires emerge.(8 months)
How she raises her eyebrows expectantly, and peers around intently when you ask her where something is (as in, "Where's the kitty?") (7 months)
The way she whimpers jealously whenever David and I kiss. (7 months)
How she's desperate to keep practicing her newest skill: walking with assistance. And that she never tires of going up and gown the same hallway. (7 months)
Her complete determination when she has decided she wants something, putting all of her strength and energy into getting it. (7 months)
The way that cutting her top two teeth has made her super-mommy-clingy, wanting me every moment. (7 months)
How she sticks her tongue out just enough so that it shows between her lips and leaves it there for 20 minutes or more at a time. (7 months)
That she has "made friends" with the voice inside our answering machine, lighting up when she hears this mystery lady. (6 months)
That she recognizes herself and David and I in photographs, and laughs out loud to see them.(6 months)
The fact that she nearly throws herself out of my arms to get to Cai when we see them lately.(6 months)
The way she stares at adults who monkey for her in public, as if to say "Why on earth is a grown person acting like that?"(6 months)
How she opens and closes her hand in front of her, studying the mechanics of it.(6 months)
Her squeally "singing" as she learns to use her voice more and more.(6 months)
The faces she makes when experiencing new foods. (6 months)
How she holds on to my fingers and pulls herself to standing and then looks up at me beaming, knowing I'm going to say "Yaaaaayyyy!" (6 months)
The way she pats my chest to tell me she wants to nurse, and raises her arms to tell me to pick her up. (5 months)
That she sits stoically in the shower, even when I put the spray right on her. (5 months)
The "conversations" she holds with her toys. (5 months)
The fact that, no matter how many times I tell her, she just doesn't get it that if she lets go of something it is no longer in her hand. (5 months)
The way she pulls with all of her might to get herself into sitting position, pausing midway with an expectant look hoping I might pull her up the rest of the way. Then realizing she has to do it herself, she finishes the job and sits panting to catch her breath. (5 months)
The way she stares while we eat, fascinated by the proocess and desperate to get some for herself. (5 months)
How she gets so excited to drink from a cup. You can just tell she feels like a big girl. (5 months)
The expression of total excitement and joy that comes over her face when she first sees David or me after waking up (5 months)
The way her arms and legs move a mile a minute when she's excited (4 months)
All the subtle little ways she communicates with me: arching her back when she has to burp, groaning to herself when she's tired, etc (4 months)
Her three laughs: one that's like cooing and squealing all at once, one that's kinda like a cat hissing, and then true belly laugh (4 months)
The way her whole face just lights up when she sees her Papi (4 months)
How she laughs and cries all at the same time, not sure which she wants to do (4 months)
The way she curls her toes up super tight, all the time (3 months)
When she looks at her hands with that super serious expression, like "What on earth are these?" (3 months)
The way she takes a slurp, comes off to smile up at me, takes a slurp, smiles, takes a slurp, smiles. It's even worth getting drenched in BM for. (3 months)
Her new I'm hungry cue: staring at my boobs and smacking her lips (3 months)
When she smiles at me in the middle of the night when I am in "Do Not Engage Under Penalty of Sleeplessness" mode (3 months)
When she burrows in to the breast and makes MMmmm noises (3 months)
That she has such a good temperment and only cries when something is wrong (2 months)
Nursing in the bath tub (2 months)
Then she pokes her tiny tongue out between her two little lips (2 months)
How she looks like she might get David's curls (2 months)
Watching her laugh with her whole body (2 months)
The way she really studies her surroundings (2 months)
The Donald Duck noise she makes while stretching (1 month)
Her plump buddha belly (1 month)
How she puckers her lips into a kissy duck bill when she sleeps, just like her Aunt Ryan (1 month)
Watching her make so many different facial expressions (1 month)
The turkey wattle that is her neck (1 month)
The way she furrows her eyebrows (1 month)
Feeling of her tiny fingers wrapped around one of mine (newborn)
Her little monkey toes - with opposable thumb toes (newborn)
That's she's quieted when I sing to her (newborn)
The way she smells (newborn)
Her softer than soft skin (newborn)
Her three distinct cries: the one that sounds like a lamb, the one that sounds like a goose, and my favorite: the Pterydactyl (newborn)