Ok, so we are a bit behind on updates and have probably lost most of our faithful readers, but for the super-faithful, here is Morgan’s end of the Year Report’¦..
Halloween, ushered in lots of fun things. We went to the Pumpkin Patch for the first time. The one we went to had lots of old time kid’s carnival rides, and so Morgan went on his first amusement park rides, with his friend Emily from Daycare ‘“ he also attended her 2nd birthday party in September, also a first for him. At the Pumpkin patch he rode a pony, cruised in classic cars, even climbing out of the car to stand on the hood to wave to his ‘œpeeps’, not while the ride was moving, thankfully. And he petted goats and rabbits. We had a good time with Emily and her mom Vicky.
For Halloween, I found the perfect Pirate, or should I say ‘œCaptain Morgan’ costume for him in an online top 10 costumes list, the only problem was that Old Navy didn’t have them any more, this was about 2 weeks before Halloween. Luckily I found several in his size on ebay, and after losing a few in last minute bidding wars I finally snagged one for the actual retail cost and Halloween was saved. We went Trick or Treating with the Daycare kids and parents. It took a couple of houses, but Morgan got the hang of it. I don’t think he understood why we were going to all these people’s doors but weren’t going into their houses, he kept trying to go inside. His energy outlasted ours and after about an hour we called it a night and had a late dinner with Vicki and Emily.
Morgan’s 18 month check up in October, went well, he was 33 ½ inches tall and weighs 25.5 pounds. My only concerns were his speech development. We also had a developmental assessment done with the Stramski Center (they follow Miller Children’s Hospital NICU babies until age 3 ‘“ I had to fight his HMO to get the assessment approved because his Dr feels that he is doing well, and while I agree, I don’t feel that he has developmentally caught up to his actual age). He did very well on his evaluation, he is at or above his adjusted age in all areas, except language where he is 30% delayed. They recommended that we follow up with a speech evaluation, and we are in the process of getting a referral for that. Since then he has made some progress in his speech and is babbling more, and I think on the verge of many words, and hopefully making progress, but I still think he could benefit from us learning some extra tools to help his speech development. I was just amazed during the evaluation how well he followed direction and did tasks that I didn’t think he could do, or that he had done before. She would show him how to do something and then he would do it! Such as putting pegs in holes, and stacking dice in a cup to overflowing. She would show him and then she’™d say ‘œNow You Do It’. Needless to say we have adopted this technique for things like brushing his teeth and wiping his face or cleaning his hands with a baby wipe, and it works! We’™ll show him by example and then tell him, ‘œNow You Do It!’ and HE DOES! Amazing, who knew?!?
As Morgan is now 20 months old (17 months adjusted) we are entering the wonderful world of Two Years Old. He is learning temper tantrums, throwing things in anger and just generally learning to express what he wants, and what he does not want. He has also started dancing to music (his favorite is The Ting Tings), singing a bit, and has added running to his walking skills. He is able to follow direction, though not always willing too. And he is asserting his independence and testing Mom and Dad’s limits. His temper tantrums now consist of about 30 seconds of feet stamping followed with squatting down on his haunches and crying. He used to lay on the ground, but seems to find the haunches more satisfying, or maybe just easier to get up out of. Thankfully the tantrums generally last less than a minute, and as cute as they are, we don’t react to them, nor do we give him whatever it is that he thinks he can’t live without.
Oh, he is also mastering the straw! And is mostly taking a sippy cup for his milk instead of a bottle. Also he has decreased his bottles and primarily eats solid food. Due in large part, I think, to him finally getting some more teeth. In July, his bottom molars started to come in, but they didn’t actually break through the gums until November. So in November 4 bottom molars came in and in December he got 2 more front teeth, he now he has the 6 across the bottom front, and also just before Christmas his top 2 eye teeth started coming in, and also one molar on the top. Needless to say he has a whole new outlook on food, now that he has teeth to chew it with! I think the rest of his teeth may come in pretty quickly now as his gums, both top and bottom feel bumpy. We had some fussy teething days in the month between July and November, but no fussiness at all during the time when the teeth were actually breaking through his gums. So, overall the teething experience so far has been pretty mild. Generally a couple of Highland teething tablets, which he now will give to himself (he takes them out of my hand and puts one on each side of his mouth and them rubs his gums together to distribute the tablet as it melts), and maybe one dose of Tylenol on really fussy days and he was good to go.
Morgan has discovered the wonderful world of DVDs in the car, and the minute we get in the car he is leaning forward in his car seat to start the DVD. And he has learned which button pauses it, so when I stop the car, before I open the door to get him out, he has the DVD paused. Remote controls continue to be a favorite toy, and he associates the pushing of buttons with resulting changes in the TV. Also he has started putting real and toy phones up to his ears, where before he would just randomly push buttons, sometimes successfully sending text messages to Aunty Dawn. And he’s placed calls to my voicemail and to Don’s co-worker Alicia. He has called Alicia from my cell phone, and also from his work phone on the desk at home.
Christmas eve and morning were spent at Uncle Jeff & Aunty Laurie’s with the Haas clan, including Grandpa Denny and Grandma Lynne. Morgan received more presents and toys than he knew what to do with and after 2 hours of present opening and playing with his new toys, he put himself down for a nap. I was lucky enough to get to host my Dad and Aunt Dot, and her new boyfriend, along with our friends Vicky & Emily for Christmas dinner. We had a nice time with the 8 of us.
Life with Morgan continues to be fun and our love for him doubles daily! He amazes and awes me, and as the year draws to a close I find myself reflecting on just how lucky we truly are, not just that he is happy and healthy, but that we are able provide for him, and that we have such a strong network of support, and that he is so incredibly loved by our family and by our friends. He is the miracle we wished for and hoped for and dreamed of, we could not be luckier! And to top it off he is SO STINKEN CUTE!!
Grandma Sandra and Great-Grandma Todd, I know are looking down from heaven and watching over us and him, and they are truly missed. Despite the sadness that comes with knowing that Sandra will not be with us as he grows up, and that my Grandmother didn’t get to live long enough to know him, we know that we are truly blessed that they were here long enough to help teach Don and I to be the parents that Morgan needs in order to grow into a fine young man. And it is the spirit of honoring their memories that I wish for you the very happiest of New Years!