Past-Due Update

Morgan and I flew down to Albuquerque at the beginning of May to spend a week with my family - it was a good trip full of visits, laughs, walks, and too much eating. After I returned from the trip, I had a doctor appointment. My doctor walked into the room and said, "Wow - 6 pounds (in 4 weeks)! Where have you been?" Yeah....
The highlights included a trip to the Nature Center near the Rio Grande, shopping with Mom, lunch dates with Mark and Morgan, a train ride and tour through the Rio Grande Zoo, and good visits with Nana and Bop, Nell and Poppi, and Aunt Steph and Uncle John. Randomly, one of my vet school classmates works down there and I was able to have dessert with her and another classmate who was in town for the weekend to catch up for a few hours. Turns out, the last time I saw Darbie I was pregnant with Morgan!

We have about 350 pictures from the trip, but I'll spare you the details and post some of my favorites.

Binky, Bye Bye

There is a song on Sesame Street, sung by Baby Bear and his friends, as he transitions from a life with his binky to a life without. "Bye, bye binky! Binky, bye bye!" is the chorus, and I don't know the rest of the words. Much discussion has been had in our household the last few weeks about when to remove the binky from Morgan's life. Now, she has only had it during nap or bedtime for several months now (and occasionally during the day when she's super fussy and I need a break) and getting rid of it is the next logical step. A friend once said that she cut the tip off her child's binky, told her it was broken, and that was the end of it. I started telling Morgan several weeks ago that her binky was going to be broken soon. "Mommy, my binky broken" she would say. Not yet was the reply....until last Monday. I hid all but one of the binkies, cut the tip off the last one, and after a brief talk, handed her the broken binky. She popped it into her mouth, took a couple of test sucks, gave me a funny look, and took it out for closer examination. Although that afternoon nap went smoothly, she came out of her room after the nap with a scowl on her face. This is a child who wakes up happy, ready for the next adventure. Morgan, through her scowl, threw her binky onto the couch and promptly laid down with her blanket on the floor near my feet. Huh. That's happened several times.

I had major guilt all last weekend over the pending binky-breaking; Morgan LOVES her pacifier and is so calmed by having it! She has done really well this last week despite the change. It doesn't seem to bother her that the binky is broken - she carts it all over the house, gives it rides on her little bus, and even told me one afternoon that she loves her binky. In fact, she's become rather obscessed with it I think. Most nights, she wakes 3-4+ times, comes into the bedroom, and wants to be tucked into her blanket once again. She doesn't fall asleep as readily at night without it, and most nights neither her nor I sleep well. Unfortunately, she won't let Chadwick tuck her back into bed without a fight and many tears, so I usually end up dragging myself out of bed to just get it done. Turns out, making her "cozy" and tucking her under her blanket is majorly backfiring. Poor kid won't settle don't without me doing it for her! Even every two hours during the night....

I've now been discussing the possibility that the binky should be thrown into the trash. That will be the next step. Yes, I may use some form of bribe - a present of some sort from the dollar store, let's say. And I have been madly brainstorming of some way to tuck her under a cover so I don't have to do it for her multiple times per night....we'll see how this goes. Wish us luck!

Big Girl Bed

Happy belated Easter!

Last weekend was pretty calm for us as a family - I worked Saturday, vaccinated some horses for one of the techs, and had a "spa" night with some girls which was a blast. Chadwick was with Morgan and managed to stay busy. Sunday, the Easter bunny brought Morgan some goodies in her Easter basket and hid eggs in the backyard. Her favorite part? Opening the egg and eating some of the candy hidden inside. She was really onery at church that afternoon....looking back, it's probably due to the abnormally high sugar intake of the morning! Sweet girl still asks for eggs in the backyard and the Easter bunny. James, Jolynn, and their two kids came over for a yummy ham and potato dinner in the evening. Poor Gideon spent too much time spinning on the swing and missed dinner while sleeping off the queasiness. His color was much better after his nap!

The big adventure in our house (aside from the upcoming ultrasound to take a peek at Baby "Bo") - we upgraded Morgan's crib to a toddler bed! She was super excited about her "big girl bed" and hasn't really seemed to miss the safety of her crib. Her and Chadwick put it together a few weeks ago and she spent her first nap in the new bed conference weekend. She helps me pull a cover over the bed each morning and gets all excited to sleep in her big bed. There were no problems the first week...then she started having trouble going to sleep, wouldn't stay down, etc. Recently, she's been working through fears of sirens and the big dog barking next door, so between those noises and a new bed I think it was too much. The fear of sirens is better and we're working on the barking one. We now leave the door cracked a little and she has been doing great the last few nights. Morgan tells me, "Leave door a little open and I stay in bed" since I have been telling her to stay in bed when I lay her down. So sweet! The crib is out and we're on our way to bigger things!

Wiping Bottoms

Several weeks ago, Morgan was playing in the living room while I vacuumed dog hair. She was in and out of her room several time, which wasn't abnormal, but when she started making multiple trips to the kitchen and back, a little flag went off in my head that something was up. Sure enough, I found my little toddler, blanket on the foot stool, wiping the bottom of her gorilla. She had retrieved a box of extra wipes from the changing table and was proceeding to use one wipe per pass of the bottom. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Gorilla pooped," she replied matter-of-factly. As I watched, she then put the gorilla down, grabbed another stuffed animal, and informed me that this animal, too, had pooped and needed changing. I could see my supply of wipes dwindling rapidly and managed to convince her that she could use a washcloth in lieu of the wipes and use it multiple times for all her animals. There was a lot of pooping in my house that afternoon as pretty much all of her stuffed animals had their bottoms wiped at least once during the cleaning session. I went into her room later to find another large pile of wipes on top of her changing table where she had climbed up and wiped....something. I love that girl!!

Morgan is Two!

This post is a little late in coming, but at the end of February we celebrated Morgan's 2nd birthday! She likes to tell people, "I two" while holding up three little fingers. Turns out, only holding two fingers up is a hard thing to master! To help celebrate, my mom and step-dad flew up from Albuquerque for the weekend. I of course got a head cold the day prior to their arrival, and in an attempt to stay well herself, Mom checked the two of them into the local Comfort Inn, where they slept much more soundly than at my house. My poor hubby moved onto the couch over the weekend to avoid sleeping next to the constant coughing I was doing. Boo! Despite the setback, we had a ball. Morgan didn't miss a beat in getting comfortable with her NM grandparents and happily drug them all over the house, had them reading books, builing with blocks, and singing "ring around the rosy" until no one could fall any more.

Saturday we went to the Boise aquarium - which was really neat - and spent time admiring fish, coral, sharks, jellyfish, and touching the various aquatic creatures that came within reach. Morgan was ecstatic to see the "Nemo" fish since watching the movie. The building is very much a work in progress but they have a good selection. Cameleons were even present and they are working on getting a set-up for sea otters! That afternoon, Morgan and I slept while Chadwick and Mark braved the winter wind for a hike at Bogus Basin. With Chadwick on skis and Mark on snow shoes and the dog romping along side, they spent a few hours in the snow and trees. Dinner at Red Robin completed the day.

Sunday, grandparents and Morgan played in the park which Chadwick and I enjoyed the quietest sacrament meeting since Feb 2010. =) We all trucked to Steve and Nancy's house for dinner, cake, and presents that evening. In honor of Morgan's love of pasta, we had homemade mac and cheese (which was amazing) and a goulash which went down easily. She loves M&M's so I made her a cake resembling the little candy. She got a kick out of it! Grandma Dove's birthday was a few days later and we had the chance to sing to her as well. Our birthday girl received some books, a new dress, a toddler bed, several cute cards, and a few fun little toys. Thanks to James and Jolynn for the obnoxious, singing, pink pig-thing!

Mom and Mark left Monday and I slept the rest of the week. Morgan was sad to see them leave but was quite excited when she learned that they were going on an airplane. She points them out whenever possible in our daily lives.

Happy birthday, Morgan! You are such a joy in our lives!!

Random Update

Happy belated Valentine's Day, President's Day....and leap year!

I don't have any specific stories for the blog today as Morgan does so many cute things each day it's hard to pick one or two. She's talking constantly and is quite the little parrot. Recently, she has started putting together 3 word sentances which is fun. I am now "Mama" instead of "Mommy" and the sweetest things I hear mutliple times per day are "Hi, Mama" or "Mama, look!" She still adores Cleo, has discovered the joys of hugging Darwin, and points out every trash truck, yellow bus, and plane she sees or hears. Last Saturday, Chadwick and her built planes from legos which she has been flying around the house, the car, and Albertson's store. There is always a fly that needs smacking (stemming from shooing flies last August outside), twirling to be done, and dancing to do, or carting around one of her stuffed animals. Last week I caught her with her stuffed cat in the bowl of dog water...I guess the kitty was thirsty. We had water everywhere! Morgan has also recognized when she passes gas, and thinks it's rather funny. "Toot?" she'll say and then laugh. "More toot?" while she makes a face. Not something I'm trying to encourage, especially at the dinner table, but it's so funny!
I'm working at the clinic more hours this week than usual while the other vet is at a conference in Las Vegas, and these weeks make me appreciate the blessing of being able to stay home more often than not. We're also getting ready for a visit from my mom and step-dad this weekend who are flying into town to celebrate Morgan's second birthday. Who'd have thought I would have a two year old!? We'll have dinner with family on Sunday and since Morgan loves M&M's, I'm making an M&M cake for her. And natrually, we will eat said dinner and cake on plates covered with Elmo.

Enjoy what is rest of this short month and I'll post pictures from her birthday next week. Oh, and the Hunt sign was made my my office manager at my old clinic in Caldwell. I had her design it for Chadwick for our anniversary last year. It's taken this long to get it hung outside the front door...but we love it!

So Many Words

The last month plus has Morgan speaking in almost constant two-word thoughts. Daily, sometimes multiple times, I hear, "No, I do it!" She talks about her feelings ("Baby? Sad?"), describes what she sees outside, tells me she wants to color or dance or sing, has asked for pancakes for breakfast and to wear her Elmo shirt. Luckily, she is still not real picky about what she wears. I managed to find some rubber boots for her to play in the mud and help with Steve's horses, and she loves them! Until they were officially let outside, she would wear them all over the house. An example of her fashion statement:She gets lots of use out the tutu her uncle David sent for Christmas....

Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to drive to eastern Idaho to attend the Temple marriage and reception of a dear vet school friend, Todd. He lived with Chad and Milo one year of school and the boys have remained close friends. For a while, Todd was living in Caldwell and came over every Thursday night to play chess with Chadwick. He has since moved to Cardston, Alberta, Canada and met Ruby, his now wife. From what I am told, they make a good match. The drive over was wet but road conditions were good otherwise. It was fun to catch up with friends, meet a few new babies, and get out of town for a while. The newlyweds headed out to New Zealand for their honeymoon and should be back home about now, I think. The trip made me realize how thankful I am for good friends and friendships that have survived state and country boundaries. We don't all keep in close touch, but getting together is easy and we don't miss too many beats. I love that!

And I have to share this picture of Morgan and her froggy potty. I bought it several months ago but brought it out at the beginning of January. This is her first day with it, and she got the biggest kick out of the whole thing! She has not totally given up diapers, but each day she says a few times, "row row potty?" You should know that in our house, frogs say "row row!" with a guttural feel to the words. More of a growling, actually. I haven't been pushing the issue to hard and she's getting the idea. She gets an M&M after each successful urination. She always asks for a yellow M&M, though yesterday she didn't want yellow. "Circle?" she said. Yes, I had plenty of circular M&Ms! No prob.

Next challenge.....breaking the binky habit. Elmo has a great song about saying byebye to the binky I might have to find. And there is the trick of cutting a hole in the end so the suction is gone....wish us luck!