Sunday, September 20, 2009

Birthday Party with the Frye's


September 19, 2009, we celebrated Mena's birthday with Grandpa and Grandma Frye, Aunt Beth, and Aunt Peg.

Mena tried the birthday cake this time. She seemed to think it was ok but didn't want to eat much of it.

Mena was a little more excited to rip the paper this time than at her party on the 11th.

She was excited to try each of her toys.

She was intently watching Grandpa open each toy for her.

Mena and Daddy enjoying their conversation!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

1 Year Old!

We went to Portrait Innovations for Mena's one year pictures. They did a great job!
Doesn't she just look adorable? And aren't those little toes cute?
Mena had her one year check up at the doctor this week. She is 30 1/2 inches tall (90%), weighs 21 pounds 14 ounces (50-75%), and her head is 18 1/4 inches (75-90%). All that looks great. Her language development is great, also. Her physical development isn't where the pediatrician would like it to be. Her large motor skills are those of about a 10 month old. We go back to the doctor in one month at which time the pediatrician wants to see her either crawling on her hands and knees or up walking next to furniture. If she doesn't make one of those milestones then we'll be looking at taking her to a physical therapist or occupational therapist. We knew she was slightly behind since her development had slowed during the issues with her constipation and had hoped that she'd catch up by now. Gene and I discussed what would be best for Mena and we decided that large group care wasn't working in Mena's best interest. I gave my 2 week notice at St. Mark's Preschool and KIDZONE. Beginning October 1st, I will be home all day with Mena and will be able to give her the one-on-one attention that she needs at this time.

Constipation seems to be a part of Mena's past now. The pediatrician gave us the go ahead to feed her everything you would feed a normal 1 year old. She's very excited to be eating all the new foods. We went to Burger King and Mena LOVED eating french fries!
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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Eating Birthday Cake

Mena was given her own cake to eat or maybe I should just say play with.

This is the cake that Grandma Hogan, Aunt Debbie, Gene and I ate.

Mena decided she liked the frosting, but wasn't interested in the cake very much.

She enjoyed this part of her party!
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Another Birthday Present

Daddy helped Mena open her gifts from Grandma Hogan and Aunt Debbie when they came to visit on September 11th.
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First Birthday Present

After supper on September 11th, we gave Mena her first birthday gift.
When we handed her the gift, she ripped off the envelope and was excited just to hold it.

Then we showed her how to open it and she was excited to discover the card inside.

The envelope opened much more quickly than the package.

With help from Mommy and Daddy, she finally got the package open and was excited to read her new books.
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The Rest of Labor Day Weekend


On September 6th Courteney and Ralph came to our house to play. It was a fun afternoon!

Maybe being home with Mommy and Daddy for 4 days was good for Mena, because she mastered a couple new skills on September 7th. She moved herself from laying down to sitting up all by herself in the morning. Then in the afternoon I was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch when she pulled on me to get herself up onto her knees so she could see our dog, Emmy Lou, laying on the couch behind me.
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Labor Day Weekend Visit with Mena's Great Grandparents

Great Grandma Olson was sitting across the table from Grandma Frye (my mom and my mom's mom). Mena started playing peek-a-boo with the napkin. She had everyone giggling with her!

Mena enjoyed sitting with Great Grandpa Olson. With his alzheimer's he doesn't know who we are, but he enjoys Mena's playfulness.

The most exciting part of our September 4th visit was when Mena crawled 5 steps on her hands and knees. She's done it a few times since then, but still prefers the army crawl. Both grandmas were thrilled to witness her new skill!
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I Want the Camera!

She's fast when she reaches out to grab the camera from me!
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Casual


Mena spent a lot of time leaning to the side this month. This seemed to be her favorite position to lounge in while she watched whatever we were doing.
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Tyler is born!!


Tyler finally decided to be born on August 23rd. Aunt Beth was more than ready for him to make his appearance. We met Tyler on August 29th. Peyton is a proud big brother and Mena is excited to have a new cousin.
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Packers' Fan In Training


Mena and Daddy are ready to cheer for the Green Bay Packers this season. What's a girl to do now that Favre is playing for the Vikings?
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Grandma Hogan's Birthday


Grandma Hogan and Aunt Debbie came to our house to celebrate Grandma's birthday on August 22nd. Mena got a new doll from Grandma--isn't the gift giving supposed to go the other way on Grandma's birthday? We hope she liked the flowers that Gene picked out for her.
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Cheerios



This was Mena's first experience with cheerios. Her face is so expressive and so cute in these pictures. She's not quite ready to be chewing something this hard yet, but it was an interesting attempt.
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