Babbling Up a Storm

Sorry the videos recorded so dark, but Morgan's little "conversations" today were too cute for us to resist filming and posting a couple. She has been babbling up a storm a lot lately, but especially this weekend. So make sure you have your sound turned on and enjoy!

In the first clip, you can hear Morgan's reaction to Alia (our cat) when she walks by and meows. Her word for cat is something like "Ggggat." Which may be a combination of "grrr" (perhaps the sound a tiger happens to make) and "Cat." Whatever it is based on, it's still cute.

In the second clip, Morgan is showing off her tongue trills (which, yes, are still continuing from her infant days) for the sound of a car, plus a bunch of other "statements" as she shares the car with Daddy.

There are a few words in Morgan's vocabulary. "Ggggat" you've heard as Morgan's rendition of "cat." Her first word with an obvious association was probably "anana" which she started using earlier this month (2/1/09) for "banana." Now all food, if she wants more/likes it, is "anana." Just about everything else uses sounds, such as "Da-Da," of course, but finally this also includes Daddy. :) Funny though you can almost hear differences in "da-da" for different things, like "da-da" for "thank-you" has it's own unique sound and "da-sta" is pretty close to "downstairs" used by Morgan when she is ready to head to the kitchen for some breakfast in the morning. We are sure there are many more words in her endless sounds, but we are still working on figuring them out. "Ma-Ma" makes the occasional appearance...usually after Mommy gives her something good to eat...on the other hand maybe that is just Morgan's way of saying "yum-yum."

Big Kid Cup & Food

Now that Morgan is a big girl at 1 year old, we switched her over to whole milk in a big girl sippy cup. She is doing so well with the transition! And that means no more bottle cleaning or pumping for Mommy. Whoohoo! Sometimes Morgan likes playing with the cup more than actually drinking, but she sure has a great time banging the cup, shaking droplets of milk everywhere, dropping it on the floor, giving herself milk-beards, and throwing her head back to get the last few remaining drops.

Morgan is doing really well with solid foods too. She is almost completely on table foods now and is able to eat all the big kid food off the menu at school...whether she chooses to or not is another story. :) (Something about school cafeteria food just doesn't seem to be the same as what comes from home.) Some of her favorites at home lately have been gnocchi, mac & cheese, meatballs and salmon. It sure is messy, but Mommy and Daddy are doing our best to adjust.

Happy Valentine's Day

Birthday Party

We had Morgan's first birthday party yesterday! And it was a ton of fun!

There were balloons, birthday girl decorations, and goody-bags for her friends. There were pictures of Morgan (including two collages, a big poster, and a computer slide-show) and pictures made by Morgan all around the house. There were the cutest/most delicious cookies hand-made by "Aunt" Jen and the most amazing cake designed and made by "Aunt" Amanda (pictures further below). We even had a special birthday plate that all the guests signed (and that will be signed by all the friends/family that were there in thought). And the food, oh the food,...there was enough to feed an army, in typical Mommy style.

Supposedly, at this age the party is more for the parents. And Mommy and Daddy did invite a lot of their friends, but Morgan had a great time too visiting with everyone. Many of her friends were there too including Kaya, Abigale, Kai, Jack, and Mattie. Morgan was such a little hostess (and in good spirits; not an easy task for a 1-year old) through the entire event.

One of the biggest highlights of any first birthday is the birthday cake and the child's first (often messy) attempt at eating some. "Aunt" Amanda made the most amazing birthday cake we have ever seen...it was so beautiful that we made Amanda cut it, because we couldn't bear to do it. :) And good thing she did...because it was so delicious too. Morgan had her own top layer. And she didn't disappoint the guests with a little show, in her own girly way, by tasting a few bites of cake without getting messy yet insisting that it was better on the floor. (Daddy didn't disappoint either with his little match fiasco.) We were able to capture her first bite in the short videoclip below.

Then today, after the excitement from yesterday wound down, Morgan opened her gifts; she received so many wonderful things. Thank you everyone! For your presents and your presence! The party was a big success and a great time was had by all.