Thanks to Aunt Sarah for taking some of my all-time favorite photos of Meredith for her one year birthday shoot! I just want to freeze Meredith in time right here in this moment forever and ever:
From Meredith’s surprise entry into the world 3 weeks ahead of schedule (and the crazy birth that caused the doctor to exclaim she had never seen worse tearing… thanks, Meredith!), to her learning to eat, sleep, smile, giggle, roll, sit up, eat solids, crawl, stand, and cruise, it’s been quite the year! I’ve blocked out memories of the traumatic parts of her birth mostly because she has such a sweet and fun loving spirit that it’s hard to believe she ever gave me a rough time! I would do it over again for her.
At her 12 month check-up, our ped’s first comment was, “You are obviously starving her.” Weighing in at 27 pounds and standing tall at 32.5 inches, she’s literally off the charts at over the 98th percentile in height and weight. Not surprising considering I’ve never seen a baby eat so much food! She puts the twins to shame (and that’s saying something considering their typical breakfast is two bowls of oatmeal, toast, eggs, and a green smoothie… and then an hour later, they are usually complaining of hunger and begging for a snack).
Meredith was NOT happy about posing with these letters and kept throwing them in protest. By letter E, she was completely fed up, as you can see from that glaring grump face.
Yes, I’m a stinker.
Everything is a grand adventure for Meredith and I feel like I need to take some life advice from her! She’s a social butterfly, interacting and engaging with everyone she meets, can figure out how to do things in a snap (she imitates putting on clothes, putting caps on water bottles, and brushing her teeth, just like her sisters), and is highly inquisitive, energetic, feisty and playful. She loves to play peekaboo with us by hiding behind the mirrored sliding door of our closet and popping out with a grin, anticipating our gushing reaction. We fall for it every time.
I will never forget seeing her for the first time and noticing the delicate little curl on the corners of her lips. It’s still the same and I just adore that little mouth!
One of Meredith’s favorite parts of our routine is when the kids at preschool pickup/dropoff flock to Meredith for hugs and games of peekaboo. She eats it up and is never one to disappoint her audience. One of the teachers calls her “her little Pebbles” from the Flintstones because her signature ‘do is usually straight up with a bow. After hugs and kisses goodbye to her sisters, wrangling her back in her carseat is a full body workout for me… she twists and flails and goes limp; ANYTHING to escape and join her sisters at school! They are her best playmates and she misses them terribly when they’re gone.
Samantha and Amelia are smitten with their little sis and their teachers tell me the twins are constantly recounting stories of Meredith’s latest escapades during their sharing time. Lately, Meredith has figured out it’s hilarious to knock down, tear up, stomp on, and pretty much destroy anything the twins are building, playing or working on. Occassionally, as in the case of their beloved art projects they bring home from school that Meredith will swipe and rip in half at an opportune moment, tears are shed, but most of the time, the twins deal with Meredith’s shenanigans with sister sweetness, saying, “That’s ok, Meredith. You didn’t know any better.” Meredith couldn’t ask for more loving big sisters.
Standing tall and proud.
Love those ocean blue eyes.
Picnic in the park with teddy.
The amount of helium in the balloons we brought for the shoot was insane, so we decided to tie one around Meredith’s waist to see if she would levitate. She was not amused with our experiment.
Per my union contract, I was done 15 minutes ago.
That’s it. I’m out.
We tried to get some letter pics on the swings, but Meredith knew what we were up to and quickly tossed them.
So free spirited.
Grump face.
Wild ONE.
Come and get me!
Before Meredith was born, we weren’t sure how our hearts could possibly grow big enough to fit one more into the mix, but now it’s hard to imagine what life was like without her. She’s made our hearts burst and we just LOVE this girl!
Lots of love,
