Ghosts and Spooks and a Kangaroo

Halloween morning this year was spent at Irvine Regional Park and the OC Zoo. The zoo had special activiities and were passing out candy for all the little kids running around in their costumes.

The zoo fed the animals large "treat-filled" pumplins, so we watched the bears eat theirs.

All ready for a night of trick-or-treating. She was a real tropper. Not only did she not complain about the costume, she walked around the neighborhood for a bit too.

Enjoying the spoils.

Family Time

Megan took her second plane trip--this time to Phoenix for Labor Day weekend. She was able to meet some of Mike's relatives for the first time. Now why won't she let us do her nails!

With Great-Grandma Sylvia.

Hanging out with the animals at the pumpkin patch in Torrance.

With Cousin Olivia.

Megan thought the baby pumpkin she got at the pumpkin patch was her knew stuffed animal. She slept with it a few times and wanted to carry it around everywhere with her. We won't tell her it was cooked last night.

Bitter Sweet Meeting

Many of you already know that my (Erin's) aunt passed away in August after a long battle with cancer. It was a sad time for our family, but it wasn't without a silver lining. After a year and a half Megan finally was able to meet her Uncle Brian. Brian flew home from his Peace Corps assignment in Ukraine for our aunt's memorial service and to spend some time with the family, especially our Cousin David. He spent 2 weeks in the US, some of it in Yorba Linda, a week at Laguna Beach, and four days in Denver. Megan and Brian's first meeting was much to write home about, but after spending a few days at Laguna Beach hanging out together, she finally warmed up to him.

Summer Catch-up

So, because it's been so long since the last post here's a recap of the summer.


Lots of swimming. "Pool" is one of Megan's favorite words. Living right across from the pool with a view of it from our house, she knows exactly how to get there.
She's a little fish...who gets so excited she doesn't close her mouth when we put her under water.






There were many summer evenings out in the front riding bikes.
Mike starting stripping our kitchen cabinets recently, which means plenty of time in the garage.








Having a blast at the Church festival. She wants to climb all over but just isn't quite big enough to do it on her own.











Going to town on the corn on the cob.

The Next Cutest Baby!

Megan's on her way to be the OC Register's Cutest Baby...she just needs lots of votes. So go to http://www.ocregister.com/, find the link on the left (scroll down a bit), choose the vote tab, and search for her under "Megan-Lake Forest". The voting deadline is June 24.

She thanks for for your support.

(the picture we entered)

Out and About

First Easter--Megan had no problem figuring out what to do with the Easter eggs. I guess the clean-up song really helps!

Finally, we found Mickey and took a picture. Early Sunday morning is the key. We'll be back there in another week.

Worn out from all those rides.

Hanging out with the wildlife at an Earth Day festival.

Up close and personal. Don't think she actually touched it, but she wasn't scared.

Upright and Moving!

We weren't sure if she was ever going to decide that walking is OK. But watch her take off now.

We survived the first plane trip!

Megan has now traveled to two weddings--this one to New Mexico.

We worried for nothing. The congestion that Megan had when she flew for the first time to Mike's cousin's wedding didn't faze her. The plane was a whole new adventure for her. Lots of new friends to make. We ended up sitting on the plane in Pheonix for almost an hour so Megan took the opportunity to walk up and down the aisle and meet everyone. We left in the late afternoon on the trip out so she was well rested and in a good mood. The trip back was a different story.

Megan meeting her second second (I think that's the relation), Ana Grace, for the first time along with Aunt Vicky. Oh did Megan find some new toys to play with.

We went out to Albuquerque a few days before the wedding to do some sightseeing. The day after we arrived (Thursday) we drove up to Santa Fe and found some snow. It was a bit chilly and windy while we were there.

On Friday we visited the Albuquerque Zoo. What a great zoo--nice animal exhibits and surroundings.

We almost couldn't get Megan away from the monkey enclosure. She would still be there watching the baby chimp if we let her.

The girls all dressed up--Olivia and Ana Grace with Megan--for the wedding.

And then we flew back home on Sunday.

Practicing to walk

The first foray into solo walking. Between this toy and her baby stroller, she'll walk all over the place. Still working on turning around though.

Happy 1st Birthday Megan!

We made it through a year! And what a year it was.

Megan's first birthday party took place at the park near our house. Family and friends joined us on a chilly afternoon to celebrate.

Megan was a good sport, even though she really didn't know what was going on. Her first sugar experience started off slowly--she wasn't sure what to do with the cupcake--but she sure did eat most of it. It just took her half an hour!















Everyone waiting for her to dig in.












Opening presents with daddy.












She's already loving this push toy. She walks all over the place with it. We're working on backing up and turning around when she gets stuck.

Video to come of her walking around.

Recent graduate!

....From the little blue tub to the big tub!

She's a Disney veteran now

We made it to Disneyland again, but alas, still no picture with Mickey. We were tempted to get out of the Playhouse Disney line to get that picture, but we didn't want to chance missing the show. It was the first time we took Megan to see the show and she loved watching it--laughing, smiling, and staring intently at the stage the whole time.






So what's new this month.....she's started standing on her own for a few seconds at a time She gets startled when she realizes that nothing is holding her up but her own two little legs. She also tries to eat with her spoon and is sometimes successful and will walk with help.

Master Climber

It only took one day and she was scaling the stairs like she had been doing it for years. This was her second time up (for video sake) so she took a few breaks.

From Goat to Beaver

One tooth.

Two tooth.

Lots of marks on the coffee table.

It must be genetic--there are teeth marks on the Midkiff household 35 year old coffee table too.

Glad we got this table for free!

What did I do?

I'm too cute to do anything wrong.

Pooltime in January

MLK weekend was spent at our Trendwest Indio resort--to celebrate Mike's 35th(!) birthday. Plenty of warm weather so we were able to introduce Megan to the pool again. She wasn't sure at first, but by the second day was practically doing laps in the big pool.
We hit Disneyland on our way back home and again no picture with Mickey. One of these days we'll get that picture.

Now we're moving!

And she's off! Megan figured out how to move her hands last week and has gotten faster each day this week.

She already made it to the step and almost got herself all the way up...didn't htink she would do that so quickly.

In addition to her new found mobility, Megan got her first tooth the week before Christmas, has learned to point (and does it a lot), is trying to roll off her changing table, and is pulling herself to a standing position.

...And Christmas continues.

Hey Brian-we haven't changed too much.

Christmas afternoon was spent at the Midkiff house--presents and dinner. I think there's a theme here. Food and gifts. We did throw in a game of Tripoloy. Can't have a get-together without some card playing.







Peek-a-boo












"My very own ruby slippers."












Showing Great Grandma her new toys. It didn't take her long to figure out how to get the balls down the tree. She's a pro now.










At the Brady gathering on the next Saturday.

Santa's smallest elf.