The Minneapolis McCues: Another Week with Meredith

Well, this was my second week at home by myself with Miss Meri, and it, once again, went just great. I just can't believe how quickly a week can go by and how "busy" my days can be when I'm really not doing much at all (besides taking care of Meredith of course).

My last post was Tuesday, so I guess we're up to Wednesday when we had the Handyman come to do a few odd jobs around the house - bright and early, well 8am, which for Meri and I is a little earlier than we typically get up for the day. He repainted our living room ceiling, removed the toilet-paper holder and retiled that area (because it had broken twice already), cut back our vines from our roofline, cleaned our gutters and fixed a couple of outdoor windows' trim. Everything looked great and he finished the work in less than a day's time! I was very happy with it! Although Jada once again got loose in the neighborhood. This time I was literally just getting out of the shower when the handyman yelled up the stairs that the dog escaped. So, I threw on some clothes and with Meredith safely sleeping in her vibrating chair I went running around the neighborhood in my barefeet shaking a can of dog treats. Surprisingly Jada came right to me without too much trouble. I was very thankful for that knowing that my daughter was alone in the house!

We did also go to Baby Yoga that day as an excuse to get out of the house while he was busy working. And it went much like it had before. Meredith was happy and seemed to enjoy the first 30 to 40 minutes, then she just got crabby and overtired. This time I tried putting her back in her carseat and covering her up. She went right to sleep and I finished the class. I still may go to a few more classes in the last 6 weeks of my maternity leave - though I may be taking a break because of upcoming trips to Kimball and Blue Earth (more on that later)!

Thursday we just got ready for the day and then headed out to run a few errands. We also decided to stop by our friend Nicole and Paisley's house for a quick visit. It's always great to chit chat with other mothers who are going through or have gone through some of the same things that I have. Plus it's just nice catching up and seeing friends.

Friday was a little busy with visitors. My step-brother Aaron stopped by very briefly before heading down to Blue Earth. He lives in Massachusetts and makes it home every few months or so. It was nice that he could stop by and meet his newest step-niece. He has two boys at home and now there is a third on the way! Congrats to him and his wife Melanie!

Then we got ourselves ready and met a few of my college girlfriends at the Loon Cafe downtown for lunch. Two of them work in office buildings very close to that restaurant, so apparently they go there quite frequently. It was the first time my friend Kelly was able to meet Meredith. It was also nice to catch up with what was all going on in their lives. We have plans for lunch again in a couple of weeks and I'm already looking forward to it!

Finally, Jon's dad, Jack, and his wife, Cynthia flew in for a weekend visit starting Friday evening. They arrived around 5pm, checked into their hotel and then Jon picked them up for a little meet and greet with Meredith before we headed out to dinner at Famous Dave's in uptown. Meri was very well behaved, even when Dazy Head Mazy took the stage with their volume cranked.

The next day, Gpa Jack and Gma Cynthia came over after lunch time and we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and we went for a stroller walk. The walk had several purposes - to get us out of the house, to get the dog a walk, to get Meredith to sleep and we also ran some errands. We headed up to the local wine shop and got some wine for the evening, then we ran into the grocery store to get a few items we needed for dinner. And finally we stopped at Caribou so I could get my liquid crack (well it's really a Hot Apple Blast, but I'm truly addicted to them). We then took the more scenic route along Minnehaha Creek back home. Since it was still nice out we sat outside and chatted while Jon tended to his beef brisket that he was smoking for dinner. Meredith hung out with us out their, wearing a hat and covered up in her vibrating chair. That evening we enjoyed our smoked beef brisket, corn bread and fried potatoes for dinner!

Yesterday we went to brunch at Hell's Kitchen before Jack and Cynthia left. I think it may become a tradition. We went there with them the last time they visited in August and we all liked it so much we decided to go back. But this time we were relegated to the back dining room, I think it had something to do with Miss Meri, oh well. She once again was very well behaved and slept in her carseat the entire time! After brunch we stopped by the Electric Fetus just to browse around before dropping Jack and Cynthia off at the airport. It was a very nice visit and I was happy that Meredith seemed to be at her happiest and calmest. Maybe it's just me that makes her fussy?!

And as far as Meredith is concerned things are going well. The biggest issue we've been dealing with this past week is giving Meredith a bottle. We had introduced her to bottle feedings when she was 3 and a half weeks old and had done it with some regularity - like every few days since then. But it had been almost a week and a half since we'd given her last bottle so I told Jon we better start doing it again to keep her used to it. Well, last Tuesday and Wednesday she was so unhappy with it. She would take an ounce of milk and then just start crying uncontrollably. She was coughing, weezing, crying, it was AWFUL. Both times I ended up finishing the feeding by breastfeeding just to calm her down, and fill her up since at the most she was taking in 2 ounces. It was heartbreaking to me and I have even ended up in tears a few times. I then was reading up on this issue and it sounds like it happens pretty commonly and can be so bad as to women were unable to return to work because they couldn't get their babies to take the bottle. If that happened to us, I just don't know what I'd do! On Thursday I decided to try it because I have now decided we have to keep at it and do it every day to get her used to it and Jon wasn't going to be home until late that day. All morning I prepared myself for a tearful battle, for both her and I. But, for whatever reason, she took that bottle without even a whimper. But now we're back to Jon giving her the bottle and it seems to be going a little better, but often we still can't get her to take more than 2 ounces and there are still a lot of tears. I just hope if we keep at it we can get back to where we originally were which is her finishing up to 4 ounces without crying at all!

Once again, we have a lot to keep us busy this week and then next week we're heading to Blue Earth from Monday to Thursday morning. I just know these last 6 weeks will fly by. I'm starting to wish I could just stay home forever...... (i never thought I'd be someone to say such a thing!)

Here is how I get things done during the day, I can talk on the phone, take care of Meredith and vacuum all at the same time. Jon says I'm the "modern women"!