The summer, she is gone- for the most part anyway. And that makes me a sad girl. Boy, did we keep busy this summer! With moving to the new house and getting settled, me still in grad school, and my desire to milk the most of the warm weather, we did not do much relaxing!

The summer has been trying in a slightly different way, and I feel I can talk about it now since we are (fingers crossed) through the thick of it now. Meredith’s behavior over the summer was less than desirable. As in, throwing fits in the middle of oh, say, the Ohio State Fair, with kicking, screaming, lots of running away from me (and particularly into the street, which I am so nervous about), hitting me, crying, having accidents (which has not happened one time since being potty trained) and other unpleasantness. It was as if a 2 year old had possessed my 4 ½ year olds body. I really did not know what to do. It made me realize how good Meredith really is the majority of the time. As I have learned, it really is typical 4 ½ year old behavior and others are going through similar things. I think often times the behavior is attributed to the addition of a younger sibling in the family or something similar. I thought maybe it was the move to the new house, or just being active and going places all day, but I couldn’t really tie it to one thing. After a break down at the pediatrician (me, not Meredith!) and instituting a reward chart things have turned around. To hopefully never go back!

In between those fits, we did venture to the Ohio State Fair and make a trip to Kings Island. I have a roller coaster fanatic on my hands! At Kings Island we also tried out the water park. They had a great area for kids Meredith’s age with water slides that she could go on. She loved it. We are still working on the swimming thing. She loves the water, but we are not yet at a head under water stage.

Meredith and Funshine Bear



My little pumpkin at Ohio State Fair (pre-fit)



Kings Island- Meredith and Frank, ready to ride!





Kings Island- hands up!



We also ventured out to a AAA baseball game, which was a lot of fun.  With the mascots, music, and cotton candy it was very entertaining.  Meredith seems to have Frank's family genes because she really gets baseball- more than I do!  She knows what is a good hit and what isn't, when to cheer.  Hopefully one day she can fill me in.

As we venture into fall, Meredith has now started fall soccer. We are moving up in the ranks with a practice/game schedule and official teams, not just show up on Saturday for an hour. Sports are funny to me. As much as you teach children to be patient, wait their turn, it’s someone else’s turn, share, when they get in a sports setting it’s so different! Meredith isn’t an aggressive soccer player, and for 4 ½, I think I’m ok with that!

She is also signed up for dance class once a week. She looks adorable in the ballet leotard, skirt, and ballet shoes. She wouldn’t let me take a picture of the first class. Maybe I’ll try and take one at the next class.