Wordless Wednesday: New Adventures in Napping

Jumperoo Boo-Boo

From Morgan's Daddy - The 2nd part of this blog title refers to her nickname. The 1st part deals with the new love of her life. Actually, the Jumperoo even comes through in a pinch when Mom and Dad need a surrogate babysitter - referred to as "Neglect-A-Baby" by Mom (Don't tell CPS!!!). JK .

Not only does this provide a new source of entertainment for baby, but an array of new sounds and expressions. As much as we say we need to get her out after any given time, she comes up with a new trick or expression that prompts us to give it "just a couple more minutes", lest we miss another new discovery.

The other day we even went mobile with the unit - all the way down the stairs and out into the front yard. She was so entertaining, even neighbor kid Elliot stuck around for 20 minutes to watch (no mean feat - holding the attention of an 8-year old.)

The only downside - we fear her other toys are starting to feel neglected. Sure, she'll hang out on the jungle gym mat or the lily pad for a short time, but none can hold the attention or the affections of the Morganator like Jumperoo. In fact, the only thing that may trump it is a turn behind the wheel of the Hyundai in a Britney Spears-like spin around the block. (Again, JK CPS!)

In other news, Morgan had her first date tonight. It was a supervised affair with Elijah Shackelford - the son of Migdalia and Spokane Shock Coach Adam. The loction was Winger's in Spokane Valley. All was going well until it was revealed that dinner was only prepared for one of them. In an amazingly selfless gesture, Elijah deferred to the little lady. He was carried off in a mucus-filled yet entirely noble meltdown. I'd like to say that Morgan appreciated the sacrifice, yet her only response was couple of grunts and a burp.

We appreciate all who take the time to look in on the latest adventures of our Boo-Boo. We'll continue to update you on her latest Jumperoo tricks...and her love life!

Sweet Sounds

Morgan seems to find new sounds to make every day or two. Sometimes she learn one, do it all day and then not at all for a few days/weeks...then do it again suddenly. Sometimes she learns a new sound and keeps it going continually. Here's a few of the latest ones:

* Raspberries - This is one she did a few weeks ago and then seemed to forget she could do it. This weekend she started doing it again. At one point we put her in her crib for a nap (we are trying to get her to go to sleep on her own, fairly unsuccessfully) and she hung out there for about 5 minutes blowing raspberries before she decided she was upset and started crying. It was fun to watch her on the video monitor "talking" to herself and randomly blowing raspberries.

* Squeals/Squeaks - She has made a "squeaky" sounds since the day she was born. We used to call her our "squeaky baby." She originally did this just in her sleep, but now she does it while awake. She's figured out she can make this sound while inhaling and it's usually at the end of another bunch of noises she makes, like some sort of final emphasis! This is a very happy sound so she's almost always smiling when she's doing it.

* Clicking - I'm not sure if David's even noticed this yet, but sometimes I hear her making a clicking noise with her tongue. It's not very loud, and you can't really "see" her do it, but when it happens there's nothing else I can figure out that would be making that sound.

I wish I could post a sound byte for you...she's just so cute I could eat her up!

Jumperoo!!

Morgan is in love with her Jumperoo! I say..."in love" for a reason. Do you remember when you first fell in love? I don't know whey this is the case, but you lose your appettite? This morning Morgan has been having such a good time in her Jumperoo, she hasn't been eating much. Then she all of a sudden melted-down because she was so hungry.

Here' s how our shopping trip went. We had such a fun time! The Babies "R" Us is a dangerous place.

Morgan loves riding in the Bjorn with Daddy

The first try...an Exersaucer...fun, but too pink

A horsey Jumperoo...cute, but need more "stuff" to play with

The Rainforest Jumperoo...same one at daycare...but this is the most fun! It's the winner!

Shopping sure tires me out!

Operation Un-Swaddle - Part 2

It was a success!! We got her nice and sleepy before she went in her crib. She fell asleep with no problem and slept for 8 hours! It looks like the Miracle Blanket is history.

We have an exciting day planned. Since Morgan has been enjoying the Jumperoo so much at daycare we decided to get her one for home. We are headed to Babies 'R' Us today to check out the selection and hopefully bring one home. Tonight we've been invited to a BBQ by some friends who also have a little one a bit older than Morgan. It's fun to see them get bigger and start to interact with each other.

Hopefully we'll have some new photos to share in the next post. Have a great Saturday!

4-Month Well Baby Check

Morgan "passed" with flying colors! She has been meeting all her developmental milestones. We're so proud of her!

Yesterday was her "4-month" check...even though she is actually more than 4 1/2 months old. She weighed in at 15 lbs 2 oz and was 26 1/2 inches long! The Dr. said that put her in the 50th percentile. Last time she was in the 75th percentile, so now that she's more active her weight gain has slowed down a bit. It probably didn't help that she had a stomach virus for a week not too long ago. She did well with all parts of the exam and even almost rolled over from her back to her tummy! She ended up teetering on her side with just her shoulder in the way of the full roll. So funny. She "talked" a lot and drooled all over the exam table too. That was par for the course.
She did have to get another set of shots, so that was unpleasant. She calmed down for a bit as we left the office, but she cried all the way home. Once we got her home, she promptly fell asleep in Daddy's arms for a while. She spent a few hours at daycare while we went to work for a bit. David picked her up at daycare around 3:00 pm and she fell asleep again at home with Daddy. I came home early and napped with her a bit too. She ended up napping for almost 3 hours! Poor sweetie.

She's feeling much more chipper this morning. She broke both of her arms out of the swaddle last night. When we turned on the video screen on the monitor she had part of the blanket in both hands and was chewing on it. So, tonight we will attempt Operation Un-Swaddle Part 2. We managed to make her next appointment for her 6-month Well Baby Check on the day she turns 6 months old. It'll be here before we know it and we'll report more "stats" then.

Napping with Mommy after her shots



I think this is not working so well anymore!

Our Baby Bookworm

We've got a little bookworm! One thing we haven't done much of with Morgan yet is reading her books. When David picked Morgan up at daycare yesterday she was sitting in one of the teacher's laps looking at a book. The teacher said she was one of only two babies in her room that seemed to like "reading" books. We think that she is noticing the bright colors and pictures as well as enjoying the attention she gets when she is held. Even so we will be doing much more "reading" at home now. Aunt Ali sent us a super-cute book called "Goodnight San Francisco" (see reading with Daddy below). This will help Morgan learn where her Auntie lives and where Mommy lived when she met Daddy.

Wordless Wednesday: Somebody's Poopin'

Back To Daycare

I always get nervous about sending Morgan back to daycare after she's been out several days. We love that Grandma and Grandpa A came to visit and they could spend their days with her while David and I were working. Now it's back to the daycare germs and possible new illnesses. Since starting daycare Morgan has had a continuous runny nose and for the last week or so, a cough that's been hanging on. We have to look at the positive side and hope she's building up some immunities.

We do like the social aspect of having Morgan in daycare. She can get used to being around other kids and not necessarily always being the center of attention. She has even made a few "friends" already. One of them is a little girl who just turned a year old. We'll call her Little Miss A. Little Miss A first took to Morgan sometime during her first full week at daycare. When I arrived to pick her up one day, one of the teachers told me a cute story. Earlier in the day Morgan was doing some tummy time and getting fussy as usual. Little Miss A noticed her fussy cries and crawled over to Morgan and patted her on the head, as if to say "it's OK." So adorable. Another time I called the daycare to see how Morgan was doing (as I do fairly often mid-day), and they said she was in the Jumperoo (I'll explain what that is another time) and Little Miss A was "entertaining" her. I love it! We are sad that Little Miss A will be transitioning to the Toddler room as soon as she is walking consistently. Morgan will miss her little buddy. Hopefully as she gets older and more interactive she will make more "friends" there.

Baby Laughs

Morgan laughed for me (Mommy) for the first time yesterday! She'd laughed for David, but I was not present either time. I have a friend who has a special tickle technique that made her laugh, but I could never master it on my own.

Yesterday she was hanging our in her little play gym. I lied down next to her and she moved toward me so we were face to face. She just was making the cutest little noises so I had to kiss her cheeks. I moved in and kissed her left cheek and to my surprise out came a little laugh! I went back and forth kissing each of her cheeks and she giggled after each one. It was so adorable I almost cried. Her Grandma and Grandpa A got to witness it and her Daddy came in just in time to hear one of the loudest ones, almost a squeal!

Did that make my day? Yes. Did it make my week (that hasn't even started)? Yes. I'd say that one's going to last me a long time. The littlest things bring such joy.

A Kitty Encounter

Grandma and Grandpa A are here for a visit. Morgan has enjoyed being home from daycare and napping in Grandpa and Grandpa's laps (so spoiled!). David and I have enjoyed Grandma's yummy dinners and sleeping in.

Last night we went over to (Great) Aunt Trudy and Uncle Dan's new house in Coeur d'Alene. Dan makes the best burgers around! Morgan had her first encounter with a cat. This cat, named Troy Aikman (after his owners' fondness of the Dallas Cowboys), was very curious about Morgan as he's never been around a baby before. At one point Morgan started crying her "I need a nap" cry. Troy was very concerned and started "crying" as well. At times I had a hard time distinguishing between Morgan's cry and the cat's cry. Grandma took Morgan in another room to change her diaper and Troy followed. I think he thought Grandma was going to hurt Morgan (still fussing) because he took a swipe or two at her ankle. We think he was trying to protect Morgan from something...but unfortunately Troy spent the rest of the evening in the laundry room doing his own form of "fussing."


A few pics from the evening:

Proud Grandma and Grandpa

Another family portrait

Dan, Trudy, Lee and Barb

The star of the show

STTN - A Baby's Perspective

I found this yesterday on a message board. Since we are now dealing with Morgan's frequent night-wakings it sure made me laugh! It's a conspiracy...

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened.

Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night).

At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months.

Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:

Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights.
Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!!

If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change.

If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it.

BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with.
My sleep sack tickled my foot.
I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.
My mobile made a shadow on the wall.
I burped, and it tasted like pears (I hadn't eaten pears since lunch - what's up with that?)
The dog said 'woof' (I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL.)
Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.
Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!!
It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am.
You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, NO milk will come out! Trust me.

I'm not sure who to credit for this, but thanks! It made my day.

What's in a name?

Early in my pregnancy we decided to wait until the 2nd trimester to discuss names. That seemed like an eternity. When we finally got there we threw out suggestions here and there, but then decided to wait until we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. The funny thing is, before we knew she was a girl all we could come up with were girl names. Every time we tried to talk about boy names the conversation would eventually shift to girl's names...and then we'd wonder how that had happened. We must have knew somehow.

Pretty soon after we knew we were having a girl, we came up with her middle name. It was actually on a road trip to Seattle when I was about 19 weeks along. We knew we wanted to have family names incorporated somewhere...but not necessarily her first name. Ann-Marie is a combination of our Mom's middle names. I know it may always throw some people off in that Ann does not have an "e" on the end of it and we added a hyphen in there. But we both thought it sounded pretty and fit well with our last name.

Our biggest obstacle on the first name, and every couple must encounter this, was that every time one of us suggested a name, the other one would shoot it down. It either reminded the person of someone they did not like...or they just didn't like the name in general. Morgan's name came about randomly. We were at a doctor's appointment. I remember sitting on the exam table, waiting for the nurse practitioner to come in...we were actually talking about boy names. David suggested Morgan. I thought about it for a few seconds and then said that I liked it better as a girl's name. David considered this and said that he thought he might like that too. This was the first time we agreed on a name we both liked! And see...as I mentioned, we always managed to transition a conversation on boy names to girl names!

Ultimately, we came up with a few names that we both liked, but Morgan always seemed to be at the top of the list. We decided to wait until we saw her to make our final decision. Right after she was born David was with her when the nurses were cleaning her up and while I was getting cleaned up myself. I had seen her briefly right away, but she was so covered in "ick" that I really didn't get a good look. David kept telling me how "amazing" she was! I asked him, "Is she our Morgan?" And he said "Yes." As soon as I was able to hold her, I agreed that she was indeed our Morgan. Our sweet little Morgan girl. Her name fits her just right.

Wordless Wednesday: I can do it myself!

Operation Un-Swaddle - Mission Failed

The saga continues...

Now that Morgan is four months old, we've been anticipating when we'd go without the Miracle Blanket (MB), the swaddle blanket we use at night. As mentioned in an earlier blog, Morgan is starting to break out of her blanket more often so we think it's time to stop using it.

We intended on stopping use of this blanket earlier, but Morgan's Grandma and Grandpa B came to town and then she came down with a stomach virus. David and I had our weekend "away" on that weekend and then we thought it would be too much for her to deal with to learn to sleep without it when she wasn't feeling well.

So, as of last Sunday she was feeling much better and in anticipation of Grandma and Grandpa A coming to visit, we decided to try to go without it last night. Big mistake. We learned that it going to take much more patience to break the habit. Morgan woke up 3 times between 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm and could not get herself back to sleep without our help. About 11:00 we decided to abort the mission and wrap her back up in the MB. I rocked her for about 30 seconds and she was peacefully asleep again.

After doing some more research and re-reading some advice I received in some blog comments, we've decided to wait until the weekend after next (the 25th-27th) to attempt this operation again. We really need to do it on a weekend so we can be patient with the muptiple wakings and comforting sessions. Since Grandma and Grandpa will be in town this weekend we will continue to use the MB as usual so all of us can sleep.

So, enjoy your Miracle Blanket little one...a date has been set and your days in sweet swaddle-dom are numbered!

Rollin' on Over

We had a milestone on Sunday. Morgan rolled over from her tummy to her back three times!! I was also so happy that were both there to see it. Since Morgan has had her stomach virus we haven't been doing any "tummy time." Yesterday she was finally eating normally and mostly back to being her sweet self. We decided to give her some time in her play gym. Usually she hates tummy time. This time she hung out a little longer than usual and checked out the mirror and toys placed in from of her. She was holding up her head really high and even pushing up a bit with her arms.

But, as expected, at some point she gets frustrated. Then she really wiggles around alot and usually puts some weight on one arm so she can suck on the hand of the over. We'll she must have surprised herself with how strong she was getting, because all of a sudden when she shifted her weight she was on her back. When she was about 2 months old she did this once...I think it was a bit of a fluke because she hasn't done it again until now. That time when she flipped onto her back she scared herself and just started screaming! This time she just looked at us as if to say "what do I do now?" David and I paused for a second as we were realizing what just happened...then we clapped and cheered for her. So fun! I put her back on her tummy and she did it again! Later in the evening I tried her on a different play mat and she rolled in the opposite direction. Good girl! After that she got tired and wouldn't do it again. Hee hee. I guess I can't ask for too much.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Our little girl in our BIG papasan chair.

Tummy Time with Daddy. Doesn't it look like they are deep in conversation?

Tongue Tricks

I just realized that I have learned something about my husband from my daughter. You think you know everything about your spouse, but that is clearly not the case, but you'd never expect to learn things about him from your four month old baby.

The other day I was changing Morgan's diaper and observed her playing with her tongue. She's been doing this a lot lately as she seems to have recently discovered all the things she can do with it. Too cute. I watched closer and saw that she was turning her tongue completely SIDEWAYS. Hmm, I thought...I can't do that. I tried it and sure enough, I can roll my tongue, but I can't turn it sideways. Since I've heard that these things are entirely hereditary (or genetic, I never know which word is the correct one to use)...I decided to ask David if he could do this. To my surprise, he didn't verbally answer my question, but he proceeded to stick out his tongue and not only turn it sideways, but flip it completely UPSIDE DOWN. Wow. I had no idea he could do that. I guess Morgan really takes after her Daddy with this trait. Let's add this to the list of the things she takes after him, her hair color, skin tone, lips, fingers, toes...I'm still waiting for a definite feature that she takes after me. Possibly something around the shape of her eyes? It remains to be seen, but for now, she is definitely Daddy's little mini-me. I wonder what else I'll learn?

P.S. I have to state for the record that I just look HIDEOUS in that photo of the "Attack Baby". Not that she looks great either. David insisted on using it since Morgan looks so "ferocious." Ugh.

Beware! Attack Baby!!

Woe to those who don't get the new head of the household her meal on time! She's libel to consume anything in her path. This is no fabrication. I'll come up to her room with a bedtime bottle, and she'll be in the process of chomping on some portion of mommy's face. I hate to think what happens when she gets teeth!

This, however, is an improvement over wearing her formula. Mom, Dad and Grandma have now had the pleasure of sharing Miss Morgan's meals, post-consumption. Nasty bug at work! She's feeling a little better right now, and in a strange coincidence we're doing less laundry...

What's funny is these are turning out to be the most priceless moments. Before having a baby, I used to observe friends and family going through parenthood and felt like I had an understanding of what they were dealing with. WRONG! In a strange way I feel like we've joined some sort of fraternal brotherhood/sisterhood. We now feel more of a bond with the people we know that have walked down this path before us. Situations that normally would have made me skittish are now just business as usual.

The other miracle of babies is how it brings families together. Auntie Ali is now becoming a frequent visitor to the Inland Northwest. Both sets of grandparents will have checked into Casa de Morgan by the time April's done. And those who can't visit are keeping in touch via webcam. Meg's telling me this post is running on a bit, so I'll sign off here. Plus it's close to feeding time again, and don't want mommy or daddy to risk losing a limb!

An Unusual Anniversary

Last Sunday (April 6th) was the one-year anniversary of when we found out that Morgan was going to be joining our family! This was a joyful, yet bittersweet day for me as I not only remember the anticipation of the baby we now have, I remember the baby we lost.

November 12th, 2006 was when we found out about our first pregnancy. I remember looking at the lines on the test in disbelief because we'd actually succeeded on our very first try. This was unexpected in that at that time I was already 35 years old. I didn't know if I could even get pregnant much less on the first try!

Unfortunately that pregnancy ended in miscarriage on December 17th. I was almost 10 weeks along. It was a long drawn-out ordeal that I won't detail here, but we were completely heartbroken. The irony of that December 17th date was that when we found out about Morgan on April 6th...calculations put her due date on December 17th, 2007, exactly one year later. We were going to have a baby on the same day that we lost one. What a gift! What are the odds of that?

When I got that positive test a year ago I was thrilled and terrified at the same time. Would this pregnancy be "the one" or would "it" happen again? With all these thoughts in my head I sat down and cried on the floor of the room that would become Morgan's nursery. I think I hadn't even told David at that point. He was working at a Shock game and I had not attended because I had a nasty cold. Sitting on the floor I said a little prayer to God for the protection of this new life and also say thanks for the blessing of this new hope.

Every baby is a blessing, but for me the fact that I lost one, even as early as it was, makes every day I get to hold my little Morgan that much more special. I also know that Morgan has a little guardian angel in heaven that we will get to meet someday. Until then we will continue our journey with our precious new family...saying thanks each and every day.

Wordless Wednesday: Crazy Daddy!

What's a WubbaNub?

A what? A Wubba what? A WubbaNub!

I learned about WubbaNubs from my friend Emily. She keeps a great blog about her wonderful family with brand new triplets! I have it listed in my blogs links, so check them out.

A WubbaNub is a pacifier with a small beanie-baby-sized stuffed toy attached. We have had such problems with Morgan keeping her pacifier in her mouth...she just doesn't suck hard enough to keep it there. It falls out and we have to keep replacing it or we have to just hold it there. Morgan isn't what I would call a "binky baby," but she likes it for a final soothing before a nap or bedtime. Once she's asleep she doesn't need it, but if it falls out before she is completely asleep she wakes up and cries. The little stuffed pink pony I bought her sits nicely on her chest/tummy so the pacifier stays in her mouth. Sometimes she gets coordinated enough to hold onto it herself (so cute!). When she's not into the pacifier she likes to play with the pony as a toy. Every once in a while she figures out how to maneuver it into her mouth all by herself!

I hesitated to buy one because many doctors recommend weaning a baby from a pacifier by 6 months and Morgan is already 4 months. I ordered it for her anyway and it arrived last Thursday. Thanks goodness! Once she came down with her tummy troubles she really got attached to her WubbaNub. Since we were only feeding her small amounts at a time she likes to soothe herself with her little pony in between ounces of pedialyte or formula.

Here's a pic of our sweet girl with her Daddy and her WubbaNub yesterday. She was so tired out. You can also see her little pony in one of her 4 Month pics below as well.

Tummy Troubles

We think Morgan is conspiring to catch all the common baby afflictions and illnesses as soon as possible so Mommy and Daddy quickly learn what to do in all situations. We've already checked off colic, acid reflux, the common cold...and now a stomach virus.

Grandma and Grandpa had to suffer through the onset on Saturday which resulted in many clothing changes on both baby and adults. At first, we thought this was caused by a cough she's had for a few days, but when David and I arrived home on Sunday the fun continued with baby "upchucks" all over Mommy and later in the evening, all over Daddy. Let me tell you, you wonder where it is all coming from?! Poor thing. Several calls to the Sunday "pediatric triage" nurses ensued.

After a night of several wakings (us waking her, not the other way around) with doses of our new friend, Pedialyte, the peditrician declared this morning that she definitely had a virus (duh). Now Grandma is administering small doses of half-strength formula mixed with Pedialyte and gradually increasing to full strength formula with water. I think it will take her a few days if not a week or so to get back to her normal feedings, but we'll be patient until then. She's already acting more like herself aside from being quite annoyed that she doesn't get to eat as much as she likes with each feeding.

At the pediatrician's office she weighed in at 14 lbs 5 oz. She's a healthy girl! Even if she lost a little weight the last few days, we figure she's got a little baby fat to spare.

David's parents are coming for a visit in a few weeks. We'll see what Morgan has in store for them...

A Big Weekend

This was a big weekend for several reasons. First, Morgan had her 4 Month "Birthday" on Saturday. It's hard to believe she's already 4 Months old! She is doing new things every day. She is so much fun!

It was also be big weekend because David and I had our first weekend away from our little girl. This was easier for David as he's been on business trips several times, but I had not been away from her for one night, much less two. She was in good hands with my parents, but I was still nervous about being away from her for so long. I had irrational thoughts like "will she remember me when we get home?" I knew we'd have to do this at some point, so I managed to keep myself from calling it all off.

Aside from a troublesome cough which caused a few extra "urps", Morgan did well. David and I enjoyed our "escape" to downtown Spokane where we stayed at a nice hotel, enjoyed some sushi and attended the first home game of the Spokane Shock (who David used to work for). The Shock won and a good time was had by all. David enjoyed conducting some post-game interviews for a local radio station. I did miss my baby terribly though and was so glad to get home on Sunday morning to see her smiling face and give her hugs and kisses.

Grandma and Grandpa took some great 4 Month Birthday photos...enjoy!

STTN

This is an acronym used on baby-related message boards that stands for "Sleep Through The Night." It is a much-discussed topic in the early months as everyone is exhausted and just waiting for the day their baby will "STTN."

Well, contrary to her sleeping pattern in the last week, Morgan STTN last night. In fact, she slept 11 hours straight! She's done this in the past, but not many times. She slept from 7:30 pm last night until 6:30 am this morning. Whew...Mommy and Daddy needed that. We went in her room about 6:30 this morning when we saw her opening her eyes and wiggling around in her crib on the video monitor. We peeked in her crib and were greeted by a great big smile! Now, if that doesn't start your day off right, I don't know what would.

The last few nights I have been lucky enough to STTN myself. My parents (Grandma and Grandpa) arrived on Wednesday for a visit. I've been trying to get over the longest cold in history for several weeks. My Mom took night duty the first night and Morgan graced us with a full night of sleep last night. I finally feel like I might shake this thing!

STTN is a good thing all around! Let's hope it continues...

Wordless Wednesday: This is how Morgan feels about Tummy Time

Re: Earlier Post. I forgot it was already Wednesday! So, this week it's not really wordless, but I had to get a picture in!

Baby Houdini

Morgan's been breaking out of her swaddle blanket at night lately. I'll check her out in the video monitor and her left arm has suddenly escaped and is wiggling around. We use what is called "The Miracle Blanket." It is a specially designed blanket that wraps her up tightly with her arms at her sides. It is supposed to mimic the security of being in the womb. I really believe it has helped her sleep better and more soundly, especially when she was in the height of her newborn "startle reflex" stage. If her arms are held still she wouldn't wake herself up with her spastic movements. We fondly refer to blanket/swaddled state as "the burrito." It really does wrap her up tight, so I was shocked that she is able to work an arm out.

Well, she will be four months old on Saturday and we need to decide whether we will wean her her from the blanket or just go cold turkey without it. At four months the startle reflex should disappear. About a month ago we stopped putting her legs in the pocket. She just was getting too long for it. She didn't have any problem at all with this. Now the arms are starting to come free. We tried a night without the blanket a few days ago and it wasn't much of a success. Her little arms/hands kept flying up and hitting her in the face, poor thing. Maybe another week or two and we'll give it another try.

Until then, Baby Houdini will continue her night-time tricks.

The "Baby Burrito" at less than a week old

Sweet Cheeks

Not those sweet cheeks! But those are awfully cute too.

Bedtime has been a nice bonding time for me and Morgan. We rock in her glider chair as she has her last bottle of the day. As she eats she slowly gets sleepier and her eyes start to close. Close to the end of her bottle I will take a break to burp her. If she is still hungry she bounces up and down on my shoulder and fusses a bit to let me know she's not done. Then we go back to rocking and bottle time again. I know she's done when I put her on my shoulder to burp and she lays her head down facing me and just keeps sleeping. Her soft little baby cheek snuggles up next to mine. I just can't help rubbing my cheek against hers and give her kisses.

*Sigh* I'm enjoying these sweet baby times while they last. She is growing so fast!