Growin' Like a Weed!

Aslynn is 11 months old today! She's getting so big! Sometimes I look at her and wonder "Where is my little baby?" She's turning into a little person with her own personality, quirks, habits and prefrences. I thought that I would share a little about her and what she's been up to over the past couple of months.

*4 days shy of a month old*

*4 days shy of ten months old. Same outfit, only it fits better in this picture.*

Aslynn's recently discovered toy (and her new favorite) is her car seat. She loves to climb in, stand up and rock back and forth. Sometimes she falls out; when that happens, most of the time, she just picks herself up and climbs back into the seat. On very rare occasions, when trying to climb in, she gets stuck and does her velociraptor scream for one of us to come rescue her. Instead, we take pictures and laugh...then we save her from her "stuckness."

Z started to wean herself at 9 1/2 months and was done by 10 1/2. She LOVES to eat big girl food! For breakfast she eats 2 or 3 GoGurts - she LOVES yogurt!

She's also started to ask for what she wants. When she is hungry or thirsty, she smacks her lips (she came up with that one by herself). She will find what she wants to eat and bring it to you so that you can open it for her or she will point at it and squeal.

She sits down (because she needs to be sitting when she eats) and tells you "more" in sign-language when she wants more. One day she found dirt (I really don't know where it came from!) in the apartment and decided to eat it. We found her like this.

When she was 9 1/2 months she started taking walking short distances (to and from difference pieces of furniture in the living room) instead of just a few short steps. On Thanksgiving day she REALLY took off. She started walking EVERYWHERE! WE spent the holiday at my parents' house - the grandparents, uncles and aunt got to witness the excitement which was great!


*I get the "Mother of the Year" award at the end of this one. NOT!*

Aslynn is so smart! She amazes me every day with what she knows and understands.

She knows her different toys, her bink, her books, her snacks; if you ask her to go get a specific thing, she will! She will go look for it (for a short period of time - I mean, she's still has a short attention span - she gets distracted) find it, and bring it to you.

She stacks things - especially if she is holding them, in a specific way and order.

Z moves things to EXACTLY where she wants them - or moves them from EXACTLY where she doesn't want them, in some cases.

She hoards things; a couple of days ago Luke and I were cleaning out underneath the kitchen sink (her favorite spot in the whole house) and we found fruit snacks that she had hidden away in there.

She started whistling when she started walking. She only does it when she's walking though. I don't think that she knows she is doing it - still, a baby whistling is pretty impressive.

She shakes her head "No!" and most of the time it is because she really is saying "No!" There are times when she does it randomly - for example: She was flirting with Matt, and he said "You're a little young for me." She shook her head. Then again, maybe she does know what it means. WINK!

We are working on learning "please" in sign. I love how she is picking up on things and imitating us. If we say "please" in sign, she will start to copy.

She tries to put on her socks or her shoes and when she can't figure it out, she brings them to us for help.

If there is music, Z will dance.

She gets she cutest, biggest grin on her face when she does something she's proud of herself for doing.

She talks and talks and talks about everything and anything - if only we knew what she was talking about!

She's got almost four teeth now - the two middle bottom ones and the two that are on the sides of the two middle ones on the top (complicated wordage there...sorry) are just starting to poke through. She's going to look like a hillbilly who got their two top front teeth kicked out.

She gives hugs and kisses - especially to other little kids! I don't know what it is but she LOVES to give "loves" to any other kid she can grab.

*Too cute!*

Sorry this post is all about Z. We think that she is what makes our life interesting; we are pretty boring otherwise. We will report about our holidays after they all get done happening.

Wishing You & Yours a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Toddler Contract

I found this article in the July 2009 Parents magazine. It came from a book titled Sleep is for the Weak by Alice Bradley. (Now that I've adequatley cited where I got this article, I'm not as nervous about posting it; I could be breaking a copyright rule or something, you never know!)

I could see Z writing this...


"Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank you for your interest in remaining my parents. Below is a list of my demands.

The Toddler Contract

I Food

1. For breakfast, there will be only milk from my sippy cup while I'm watching television (see section II).

2. From Breakfast until what you probably call lunch, I will be provided with an unending supply of cookies. No arguments.

3. For lunch I will eat yogurt. Anything containing fruit on the bottom will make me pick out the fruit and throw it on the ground or else throw it up on your carpet.

a. So no fruit on the bottom.

4. From lunch until dinner I will enjoy having something to lick. Why not a lollipop? Why not seven?

a. Between licks, I may place the lollipop on your grandmother's Turkish rug. This will be okay with you.

5. For dinner I will have macaroni and cheese. Any attempts to give me vegetables in addition to the macaroni and cheese will result in tears.

a. And don't you dare hide anything in the cheese sauce, because, my God, how you will rue the day.

6. After dinner, you may provide me with ice cream.

a. No frozen yogurt. Trust me, I know the difference.

II Television

1. The TV will be on all the time, unless I say differently. You are to sit by my side, quietly, hands folded in lap, while I watch my shows.

a. You may arise to fetch me a snack.

2. No diaper changing or pleas to engage in physical activity will be tolerated during watching of television.

3. Turning off the television will result in much kicking and screaming.

III Toys

1. There will be many.

a. They will always be strewn about the house so that I may simply reach down and pick up a toy, no matter where I am.

b. They will be loud, complicated, and contain many small pieces. I enjoy shooting noises that go w-shoooop! or zim zim zim.

c. Nothing that results in any type of learning, please.

IV Friends

1. They should be available whenever I'm in the mood to use someone else's toys or ingest someone else's cookies.

a. These friends may not ever so much as look at my toys or cookie supply.

b. Ever, ever, ever.

V Sleep

1. Is when I say, where I say, and how I say. If I want to sleep upside down with my legs wrapped around your neck, then that's how it will be.

a. And you will enjoy it.

VI Affection

1. Occasionally I enjoy being hugged and kissed. I stress occasionally.

2. I will not be pelted with wet-mouthed assaults on an hourly basis. Should you feel the need to hug or kiss, you must provide me with a written request.

a. And then wait for me to offer my pudgy cheeks.

Signed (Cheerio)."

Colorful Leaves Are Tasty Treats

I just love her.

Blogs I Think Up At Night

This blog has been a long time coming (since August to be exact - I have slowly yet surely been adding to it).

Let me explain: When I go to bed at night and try to go to sleep, I have to clear my head of things that stress me out. If I don't, bad things happen.

You want an example? All right.

I stress over Aslynn. I think of these random scenarios in my head about her getting hurt or kidnapped or forgotten - things that I tell myself all mothers freak out about. Well, if I fall asleep thinking of these scenarios I have nightmares...that I act upon. Once, a couple of months ago I fell asleep thinking of Z falling off the bed and I tried to catch her before she rolled off. Next thing I know, I am awake (though my dream seemed so real) and Luke is curled up in the fetal position moaning and whining because he is in extreme pain. Apparently I had thrown my arm backward (in an attempt to catch Z from rolling off the bed) and nailed my sleeping husband right in the baby-making gear with a cupped hand. I felt SO bad; what a horrible way to wake up!

So, for the sake of safe sleeping I started to clear my mind of Aslynn, work, and other stresses in an attempt to keep the nightmares to a minimum.

But I have to think of SOMETHING.

So I either think about blackness/being in complete (but safe) darkness or blog topics. I always imagined that the best sleep happened when it was pitch black, and well, there isn't anything that stresses me out about blogging.

This is a blog topic that is just kind of silly. But I've spent so many nights perfecting it, that it has to be posted.

4-5 Secrets about each of the Mechams that 98% of you didn't know - plus some random pictures that I just felt like sharing.

Luke
1. Collects tins. You know the tins that the Christmas butter cookies come in? We have a ton of those and lots more of other shapes and sizes. Luke likes to have things to put stuff in. His theory is that you never know when you will need a good, solid tin to put something important (or not so important) in.

*True Love.*

2. Has never in his life, (to his knowledge) partaken of any caffeinated beverage.
3. Loves the movie Pride and Prejudice with Kira Knightly. He would watch it every Sunday if I let him (because apparently it is a Sunday sort of movie).
4. Can crochet really well. He's teaching our good friend Sarah the craft.

*This one and the next two were taken right after Luke propsed on June 6, 2006.*

Breanna
1. Back in the day, when I was single, underpants were my absolute favorite clothing item. Even if I was having a bad day I could think of the fact that I had on my cute/sexy/comfortable/favorite panties and smile. Good underpants can always lift a cloudy mood. Now my favorite clothing item is socks. I always have on two pairs (the outer pair going up to my knees) and neither of the pairs match. All of my socks have patterns on them so they are always very obviously unmatched.

*Here I am in a state of excited shock.*

2. After I get done eating ice cream I crave burritos and tacos.
3. Really, really wants to go back to school. I love school! I just need to figure out what I want to go back to school for; I don't feel like I've found my educational "calling" yet. I still need to figure out what I love and also am good at. What a dilemma!

*And now I am all giddy and giggling like a silly girl in love.*

4. I love cilantro! I love the smell! I would bathe in that smell! How come there isn't a cilantro scented candle? I would LOVE that!

Aslynn
1. The baby has at least four different "flavors" of binks in the general vicinity of her person. The binks are all different kinds, brands, and colors. She carts them around with her as she explores the apartment so that when she feels the urge, she can change flavors. It's the funniest thing to watch. Sometimes she leaves one behind and eventually finds it later in a part of the apartment she hasn't been to lately. When she finds the missing flavor she pops it in her mouth with a look on her face that says she has found a long lost friend.

2. Picks out her own clothes. In the morning I hold up three options and she gets to pick the one she wants. If the clothing item still has the price tag on it, it wins – hands down – because cardboard/paper tags are her favorite thing to chew on.

*Example of her outfit picking out skills. She found some of these clothing items herself. She is also quite the climber and got to where she is in the photo all by herself.*

3. Will eat anything. She wants what you are eating. Direct quote: (because I am her mother and I know what she is saying though she doesn’t say it…yeah) You wanna give me that? I know that I will like it! *Food item is places in her mouth* Hummmmm. Yeah, you don’t have the greatest taste in food, but I won’t hurt your feelings by refusing if you offer me more of whatever you just gave me. *Screams to remind you to share*” She’s very good at finding random stuff (leaves, old snacks, paper, rubber bands, dirt, hair-bows) on the floor and eating them too. It’s at those times that I come in all mean-mommy like and ask her what she has in her mouth and then wait for her to take it out and show it to me; if she doesn't show me, I make Luke fish it out. Yuck.

4. Her Native-American name is "Repeat Baby Mess-Maker and Giggles." Roughly translated it means young child who laughs while making messes and laughs while her mother cleans up after her only to repeat the process in ten minutes.

5. She has a thing for feet. She likes socks and shoes and bare feet; she likes to eat them. If she find shoes or socks on the floor she likes to chew on them a little until I freak out because I've just seen what she's been eating and I take it away. If Aslynn is mad at you or wants to get your attention, she will bite your feet.

Mecham Family Secret
We have moved eight times in the three years that we have been married.

*Sleepy Lexi*

"Don't you just love (Portland) in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies."

Title note: "You've Got Mail" is my favorite movie of all time.

Moving on...

Luke found these salamanders swimming in the complex's pool. It's closed for the season and we are no longer worried about proper chlorine levels - hence the living creatures actually surviving in the pool-water. He fished them out and brought them back to the apartment. Since Luke grew up in the desert he hasn't really seen salamanders, let alone be able to catch them. He was so excited!



A friend of mine made a ribbon wreath (I saw a picture on her blog), and I thought it was too cute! I decided that I would try and make one. Luke had never seen me do any sort of craft, so he was a bit skeptical at first. In the end, he was impressed by my crafty skills.



We carved pumpkins with our friends Matt and Sarah. (Sarah was my roommate in college. When the couple arrived in Portland for Matt's schooling, we convinced them to move into our complex so we could have friends nearby. We love em'!)

*Luke's*

*Mine*

*Z's - that I carved for her. It's a hand with a heart in the middle.*

Aslynn was Belle for Halloween. I picked the costume because it was 50% off and I could live vicariously though her. (I'm 22 years old and I still wish I could dress up like Belle.) She wasn't the biggest fan of the outfit - especially of the crown that went with it - but she tolerated it well.

Our new calling in the ward is as chairmen of the activities committee. We helped plan a massive Halloween party for two, very large wards. Tons of people were there and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! We went to the party dressed as a cleaning lady (you just can't see my apron, feather duster and yellow rubber gloves), Belle, and a mafia-gangster.

On Halloween we went trick-or-treating at the zoo with some play-group friends. We had fun!

All the excitement tuckered Z out.

This is our newest family member, Lexi (aka: Little Grey). It took a while for Luke to agree to get a cat, so he got to make the final approval on the name. It was only after we got the name picked out that we laughed at ourselves and our unexpected cleverness.

Explanation: We sometimes watch the show "Grey's Anatomy" and one of our favorite characters on the show is named Lexi. Her nickname is "Little Grey" - Lexi the cat happens to be little and gray. We thought we were pretty punny.

Aslynn still hasn't completely warmed up to the fact that she now has to share the floor with a furry, jumping, scampering body. Sometimes Z just wants he space when Lexi wants to play. There are times when they do get along nicely. Aslynn and Lexi chase each other around the house and play with the cat toys together. Lexi tolerates Z's "petting." Z doesn't like Lexi to sit on her lap though; she squals in protest and pushes the kitten off.

Luke threatens Lexi and pretends to hate her, but NO ONE can resist curling up with a snuggly car for a nap.

My heart is full of warm fuzzies because I have an animal of my own again. Seriously, pets are such stress relievers. I wish I could explain it better than that.

Thanks Mom, for picking her up from the Bend Humane Society and bringing her to Portland for me. You (and Dad for tolerating it) are the best!

Neato-Ba-Sneato But Boring = Our Life

So I thought that I would give an update on what’s been going on in our lives – besides vacation – but then when I started writing it all down I discovered that we are kind of boring. Still, the blog must go on!

After much fasting and lots of prayers Luke got into graduate school! (Which is a good thing because Luke was going stir-crazy with nothing to keep him occupied other than dealing with the apartment complex.)

He will be earning his MBA in Healthcare Administration. He is pretty excited about the whole thing. This is a great way for him to move towards his ultimate job as a VP of Facilities and Construction at a hospital.

The program is brand-new and is made up of a cohort of 30 students and is only offered once a year. Portland State University and Oregon Health Science University have teamed up together to team-teach (someone in healthcare and someone in business) almost every class.

At the end of September we went to the zoo (yes, again) when my brother Alex and his friends came up for a Portland adventure. We had lots of fun! A new exhibit called Predators of the Serengeti had just opened ten days before, and it was really cool to see the new animals in their brand-new exhibits.

*Luke fed the lorikeets*

*Aslynn rode a hippo*

*And a camel*

In more boring news: I cut my hair. I had pretty much the same hairstyle since my sophomore year of high school – it was time for something different.

*Sad, depressing BEFORE picture (you know, like the ones in the magazines?)*

The stylist put my hair in two ponytails (I’ve got thick hair) and chopped them off; they were both long enough to donate to Locks of Love, so I did just that.

*Happier AFTER picture*

My hair is short enough and light enough now that I can curl it and the curls won’t go completely flat until the next day. I can die happy.

Aslynn is growing like a weed.

*Playing with Grandma. Notice the bear crawl - it is the only way she crawls now.*

*I had to get a picture of her awesome bed-head.*

Today she is exactly nine months old.

*This purple dress used to be mine!*

She can stand up by herself now without holding onto anything. We’re working on walking – the record now stands at three consecutive steps without holding on to mom or dad’s hand. I am hoping that she will be walking by Halloween but we'll see how that goes. She's much too independent to walk when we want her to - she'll do it when it is most beneficial to her wants and needs.

*Standing by herself and reaching for the camera. That's baby talent!*

She eats anything and everything (except garden vegetable baby food - she hates that kind). She expects everyone to share what they are eating with her. She knows that when you share, you take turns. The big person gets a taste then Aslynn gets a taste; if the big person takes two tastes in a row, Z screams bloody murder and hits the big person on the leg to get their attention and remind them to take turns the right way.

*Her first time eating a popsicle and experiencing the coldness. She makes the best faces!*

She LOVES her books! She knows exactly where they are on the shelf and she pulls all of them out and reads them by herself, outloud in her best baby voice complete with gasps and squeals of delight at each turn of the page. Her favorites are her Gossie and Gertie books, Jamberry, Olivia and Mr. Brown Can Moo. Her favorite bedtime story that we try to read every night is Animal Kisses.

A week before we left on the cruise Luke and I were at our wits end; Aslynn had been waking up as many as six times a night! We decided that we were going to be mean and put her on a sleep schedule (because we had just been letting her go to bed whenever she got cranky enough to be put to sleep, which was around 10:30 or 11 p.m.) Her new bedtime would be 9:30 p.m.

*"Haha! You can't kiss me mom!"*

We planned to put her in her bed and let her cry herself to sleep. The first night we tried it, do you know what that little turd did? She went straight to sleep without crying. So much for our mean parent’s reputation!

The schedule’s been going pretty well. She takes her naps at the same times each day and goes to bed on time. She only wakes up once a night (knock on wood) to eat for a whole five minutes and then goes back to sleep. She wakes up in the morning around 7:30 or 8. Life is good and we’re all getting much needed rest.

*Doesn't that look comfortable? NOT!*

Part Five: Going Home & Being Bored, Etc.

Our final stop before heading back to Seattle was in Prince Rupert, British Colombia in Canada. There is no photo evidence of Prince Rupert because, really, it wasn’t even worth getting off the ship to walk around in the drizzling rain to see. There just isn’t much there that is interesting and worthwhile, just lots of gift shops with the same ol' stuff in them that I'd been seeing other gift shops the whole trip – but that’s just my opinion.

*Towel Elephant.*

If I were being really honest with you I would tell you this: Cruises are fun, but if you don’t drink, gamble or have oodles and bunches of money to spend on random stuff that you don’t really need, then there really isn’t much to do on the ship. We were bored for a good part of the time just because there wasn’t a whole lot of exciting activities that we could participate in.

There were some – don’t get me wrong – there just wasn’t a wide variety. We went to the shows that were put on each night by different performers.

We ate at different restaurants (but then again, some of those had a cover charge).

*Aslynn fell asleep one night while we were all at dinner. This was – and still is – the only time that she has ever fallen asleep in a public place. You see, our daughter is very social; she likes to flirt and see what’s going on. I think that she stays awake because she is scared that she is going to miss something important. She must have been REALLY tired to have fallen asleep like this. First she was on the table and then we found a tray that hooked up to the high chair so we moved her there. She slept almost all the way through dinner.*

Luke and Alex went to the arcade (money again…).

We ordered room service and discovered that the best cheesecake to be found on the ship could be delivered to our room. (No money spent!)

We took naps.

We walked around the ship investigating all the interesting rooms and places to hang out.

*On one of the horses in the Carousel Bar and Lounge. She wanted to order a drink – virgin, of course – but something distracted her. Oh yeah, it was ME…because I got the real goods. (Too much? I was going for funny and too much information at the same time and I think it all came out as me trying too hard to make it funny. I’m leaving it though because…)*

We could walk out on the deck or sit on a cushion by a window and look out at the sights of Alaska.

But most of the time we were in our cabin watching the series Bones and different movies on television.

NCL does have good movies to play over and over again, recent ones even. We watched Angels and Demons at least three times – never the whole thing at one time though. We watched the Proposal at least five times – at least twice all the way through. Luke and I were never together at the same time when Star Trek was playing so we didn’t watch that because we wanted to watch it together. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past we saw twice – and I wouldn’t recommend it because it was kind of a let-down considering the good actors who were in it.

When we docked in Seattle and got off the ship it was kind of weird to be living on land again. The next day in sacrament meeting at church Luke randomly commented, “And the ship is a rollin’,” because at times it felt like we were still on the ship.

After we docked, my dad, Alex, Z, Luke and I decided that since we were in Seattle we might as well go to Pike’s Place because Luke and Aslynn had never been there before. It was fun to go to again! Every time I go there I always want to buy one of the GINORMOUS bouquets that they have there because they are so cheap but I never do because I think that the flowers will die before I can get them home.

Moral of this five part story: WE HAD A GREAT TRIP! It was lots of fun! We loved being able to spend time with our family and be able to share all these unique memories with them. THANK YOU mom and dad for inviting us! WE LOVE YOU!

Part Four: Skagway & the Yucon

When we got up to Skagway my parents rented two cars and we all drove up to the Yukon, mainly just to say that we’ve been there.

*Waterfalls.*


*These are the rock men that people build to mark and protect the trails. They are supposed to have arms and legs not just be a huge tower but at the time when Luke was building his, he didn’t know that.*

*Sand dunes in the middle of the Yukon.*

*Emerald Lake.*

*Caribou outside the town of Carcross (a word made of up the word caribou and crossing). Luke jumped out of the truck and chased them to get this picture. There were two of them but the other one was shy.*

*Bove Island.*

*Going in the opposite direction of the Yukon.*