Winter

In addition to Christmas and Morgan's birthday...here are a few more pictures from the winter.

We enjoyed some great times inside...Morgan apparently loves hot tea and holds a cup like an expert. :) We also had a great time at the zoo one relatively warm day. And had some fun in the snow...a few blustery days, but nothing like last year.

One memorable event was Morgan's friend Jack's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese...our first full-fledged birthday party on location with all her friends from the Toddler class...absolute craziness.

Year 3 in Review

Another year has just flown by!
And Morgan is definitely growing up!

You may recognize her 3-year pictures from the Christmas card, but here are a couple more.

The biggest developments in the last several months have really been independence and language. She has exhibited so much independence in everything she does from setting the table to clearing her plate and from potty training to getting dressed. She will actually stop playing, run to the bathroom, and do everything all on her own now.

One of her amazing qualities that we see more and more every day is her caring of others. For example, her willingness to share a beloved snack so Mommy and Daddy will have some too or for finding a duplicate toy in the classroom to give to a friend who wants to play as well.

Here are a few cute stories from school recently:

1. Morgan was exploring the dramatic play kitchen with Jack and Emma. She put an oven mitt on, grabbed the tray with the cake, and put it in the over. Morgan said, "Making cake," turned the oven on, then said, "don't open Jack, the cake is hot!"


2. Miss Ashely sneezed during naptime. Morgan said, "Miss Ashee neez?" Miss Ashley said, "I did." And Morgan said, "bess you."


3. Morgan was playing babydolls with Miss Joan. Miss Joan said, "the baby is hungry." Morgan responded "banana" and held a banana up. Then Morgan brought the banana to the baby and said, "baby eat banana."


4. Morgan was doing ice painting with her friends. When she first grabbed the ice, she tossed it down on the table, saying, "It told." Miss Ashley said, "It's cold?" Morgan smiled, nodded and said, "yes, it ice, it cold, I make it warm." Then she began blowing on it.


5. Morgan was playing with a scooter and Jack came over and asked her if he could use her scooter. Morgan said, "yes, Jack, but only for a little bit" and gave Jack the scooter to use.


6. The class was talking about items in a bear cave. Morgan said, "a bed." Miss Ashley said, "To sleep on?" Morgan giggled and said, "Bears sleep Miss Ashee."

Morgan's Birthday Party

Morgan's birthday party was a lot of fun this year. She was so excited for the big day and helped with all the preparations. We had a Safari theme and it was all about animals...there were animals everywhere...blow-up animals in the corners and on couches, animal posters on the walls, animal themed craft supplies and treat bags and even animals on the cake.

She woke up that morning and walked down the stairs with the excitment of Christmas day. There was a moment pause and she said, "Where are my peoples?" It was so cute! And we had to remind her that they were on their way!

When each child arrived they received a safari kit (complete with a set of binoculars) and a list of animals to find around the house. After they found each animal, they received a stamp and then a "prize" (an animal book take-home present) when they found them all.

With over 30 people in our house, it was craziness (thank goodness for the basement) and a bit exhausting but everyone had a great time...especially the kids, who were just about all between 2-3 years old. They were all really cute...except when told by their parents it was time to go home. But who can blame them? Cake, ice cream, snacks, favorite foods and complete chaos with toys and young friends everywhere. The signs of a successful 3-year old party. ;) And Morgan was the perfect hostess the entire time. Even handing out a specific blow-up animal to each of her friends to take home as they left.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN

She's 3!!!!

Morgan is getting so big. Last night she helped make cupcakes to share with her friends at school. We actually had a snow day today and school was closed, but she is looking forward to taking them in tomorrow. So we had a great time relaxing at home together. And made sure to eat a few cupcakes of our own. :) After singing "Happy Birthday" of course. Morgan even blew out her own candles this year and right before she took her first bite, she looked down at her lap as if saying a prayer and said, "Happy Birthday to me." She was so cute.

She is really excited for her birthday party on Saturday! And is helping with all the last minute preparations. :)

Big Girl Bed

Last night was our first night in the Big Girl bed.

Yesterday during Morgan's naptime, Daddy ran a few errands while Mommy stayed home. Half-way through nap, Mommy heard some noises that sounded like furniture moving upstairs. Since there is only so much noise an almost 3-year old can make in a crib, Mommy crept upstairs to check things out. And low-and-behold there was Morgan, out of her crib, creating havoc in the room. All of the soft things from her inside the crib were stacked in one big pile...at least she knew climbing out of the crib might hurt when you hit the floor. ;) As nervous as we were to give her complete freedom, we knew it was time for Morgan to graduate and Daddy had one more project to add to the afternoon...assembling the toddler bed. And wouldn't you know, it was our best night of sleep all week! Apparently the bars were hindering her beauty rest. She slept straight from 8pm to 8am...with no escapes! Here's to hoping for a repeat performance tonight. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We had a great "Christmas Day" at home before starting our drive to Chicago, with a quick stop in Carlisle.

Morgan loved Christmas this year and was the perfect age to enjoy all the excitment. We started a few traditions such as reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas," leaving special cookies for Santa that we made ourselves (honey drops rolled in powdered sugar) & carrots for the reindeer and singing Christmas carols on the way to school each day. Her big gift from Santa this year was her kitchen set...but perhaps her favorite gift was the Dr.'s kit from Mommy and Daddy.

While in Chicago we had our big Christmas dinner with the entire Reineke family. We also had some time to just hang out and relax.

But not too much R&R...over the next few days we also fit in a number of fun activities including the zoo, building a gingerbread house, eating at all sorts of places (the picture above is us eating cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory), swimming in the hotel pool (Morgan is becoming quite the little swimmer!), playdate with Noah and Fred (FL7 - Philie and Abby's older boys) at Monkey Bizness, and seeing the new Harry Potter movie.

Then before we knew it, it was time to hit the road again...with a quick stop at our friends the Klopfensteins...making it home just it time for New Year's. HAPPY 2011 EVERYONE! :) Wishing you all the best in the new year.