dressed up

As proof that I do put her in girlie outfits here is Morgan dressed up for Mamma's birthday in a blue frilly dress. She had ruffle bottom pants undies to match.

going commando

She is on the move! Yesterday, as if in celebration of her daddy's birthday, Miss MJ decided that she was not going to sit still anymore. You can't call her method of movement crawling since she doesn't get up on her hands and knees, but lying on her belly she pushes off with her arms and wiggles her legs and butt to get momentum. She actually did this commando crawl over the space of 2+ feet in under a minute.

The only catch: she only goes in reverse. Yes, Miss Morgan wiggles her way backwards while smiling up a storm. She's quite proud of herself, as are we. I expect soon she will realize one of two things. Either that she can look over her shoulder and see where she's going or that she can go forwards. :)


I promise that I will take a video of this maneuver but I can't promise how soon I will be able to put it up. The reason I haven't posted videos of her sitting up playing and eating her cereal is that I have run out of room on my hard drive because I take too many videos! Jim has promised me that he is going at long last to build the ever discussed but never realized "media box". As soon as he does that and I can transfer files off my machine on to that I will post another few videos.

The best birthday present ever

So Miss Morgan decided that her daddy and I deserved birthday presents. Jim's birthday was yesterday and mine is today. She slept through the night both Friday night and last night! Thank you my darling girl. I could not have asked for a better gift. :)

UFC, here I come - not really.

I decided a few months ago that I was feeling decidedly frumpish and that I needed to do something to get my old self back. When I got the “ok” from the midwife at my 6 week post-partum visit I signed up for personal training sessions at the gym near my house. Twice a week after Jim gets home from work I walk up and meet a trainer and we do some weights routines. If I have enough time or energy I will stay for an extra half an hour and “jog” on the elliptical runner or ride a stationary bike. Well, that was back in January and I'm still about 10 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight.

Before I got pregnant I was a pretty fit person. I worked out at least 4 times a week and I was kickboxing training with a private coach as well as taking 2 or 3 yoga classes a week. After I got pregnant I was told that kickboxing was too dangerous for the baby as it would elevate my heart rate too high and I might over heat, not to mention possible difficulties arising from accidents while sparring. I certainly didn't want to take any chances to I cut that out of my life. By the time I was a month into my pregnancy I was usually too nauseated in the early mornings and evenings (when I had “free” time) to bother. I kept up with my yoga for the most part, but even still the first trimester really takes a lot out of you.

The Lo! the second tri came about and I felt like new. I still had to shy away from kickboxing but I was able to spend the majority of the World Cup back on the elliptical runner, exercising while watching the matches with one of my very closest friends. (E. if you're reading this, I miss you. I also know you read this blog with a fair amount of frequency... drop a comment every now and then. :) ) Life was good again although some of the yoga poses became quite a bit cumbersome. Who knew just how much a belly could get in the way? (yes, that is a rhetorical question.)

Unfortunately, as soon as the World Cup was over Jim and I packed up our belongings and jumped in the car for our big move from Toronto to Miami. When we arrived in Miami in the middle of the summer it was just too hot for me to even think about walking anywhere and I could not find a suitable pre-natal yoga class. Needless to say that in my 3^rd trimester I got... well... large. I had gained well over 35 lbs and was feeling very much like Orca... without the water displacement and the sharp teeth. To make matters worse, the midwives were concerned about the fluid levels surrounding the baby and I was strictly instructed not to sweat too much. Um, they knew I was in a Miami summer, right?

I have now decided it is time to take my body back. I no longer wish to feel like a frumpy old mother. A mother? yes. Frumpy and old? HELL NO! Which leads me back to my original statement. I have been going to the gym to meet with my personal trainer (PT) since January and this past week I signed up at a new martial arts studio, which conveniently is within walking distance of our house, to train for kickboxing again. UFC, here I come! (just kidding)

A full time job

Being a SAHM (stay-at-home mom) is a full time job. Actually, it's more than full time since your day does not begin at 9 am and certainly does not end at 5. This is a job that knows no time restraints. (As has been requested I will soon post up an outline of a "typical" day, although in all honesty such a thing does not truly exist.) These last few months staying at home with Morgan has made me appreciate and admire mothers everywhere.

(Sorry for all the crap I gave you when I was younger, Mom!)

When Jim and I first discussed getting pregnant and having a baby we agreed that I would stay home and take care of him/her. I had all the time in the world to come to this conclusion since it took us over a year to get pregnant. I knew that as much as I loved working on my degree and as much as I loved teaching, I was not going to be happy if I left my baby to someone else to mind for the day, even if that someone else was her father. Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for working moms too, I just didn't think it would work for me. I debated for awhile, before Miss MJ was born, about finding a job teaching online courses. I even went so far as to apply for a position or two. That was before November. That was when I still thought that babies slept for large portions off the day and I'd have time to do work and take care of her. My Munchkin's arrival into this world changed all that.

If you have read any of my previous posts you will realize that MJ does not like to sleep. From the day after her birth everyone who saw her said, “Wow, she's so alert!” Little did I know then that what those words in fact meant were, “My god, you're going to have your hands full!” Morgan seems convinced that if she sleeps, even for a mere ten minutes, in the middle of the day she will miss out on something important so she does her damnedest to stay awake, at all costs... to both her and me. I laugh now when I think back on the naivete' that led me to believe that I could work at home and dedicate as much time to MJ as is required or desired by either of us.

Mothering is a full time job. full stop.

A real mom

A week or so ago I got tagged by Stacie to post about what makes a real mom. I'm afraid I have yet to catch these particular issues on film, but they still happen often enough that I'm sure I will eventually be able to add them to our video library. (Ok,the poo thing was a one time occurrence but the others are in our regular repertoire.)

A real mom nonchalantly will wipe the spit up which has just been deposited in her own mouth in order to continue kissing her baby.

A real mom does not freak out when she gets poo in her hair while changing a diaper.

A real mom knows about 100 different baby dancing steps and can sing made up songs the whole time she's dancing.

I'm afraid I don't know many other blogging mamas whom I can tag, but there is always Hilary at Mom's Tin Foil Hat

However, I do know a lot of mamas who have great mama moments.. and a stay-at-home-dad too. So, if you have a "real mom" moment to share, please do!

2 outta 3 ain't bad, right?

Well, she slept through the night. Mostly. She went down at 8 pm and didn't really wake up again until 8 am. Sounds heavenly. Well, only one downfall. She was complaining in her sleep every hour to half an hour. Now, I'm pretty sure that the complaints were because of a wet diaper, but I'm a chicken shit and I refused to go in and change it. I mean, after the night before I was a little gun shy about waking her up. I figured that if the diaper wasn't going to wake her, who the hell was I to poke the bear.

Well, that would have been all well and good if it hadn't been for the fact that my dear dear husband was snoring louder than a jet engine last night. So between the two of them I got next to no sleep. But, hey, they did.

2 outta 3 ain't bad, right?

chillin'

My own personal horn section.

For whatever reason Miss MJ had some serious tummy issues last night. She was up continuously between 2 am and 6 am. I have never heard such incredible gastric noises! I swear she could have been her very own marching band this morning. At one point she farted for about 5 minutes straight. Wynton Marsalis would have been proud. Anyway, after much crying and a few vials of gripe water she passed out on me at about 6 am while I was bouncing up a storm on the exercise ball.

Here's to hoping her tummy is better today and she takes a long nap. (HA!) I seriously need some sleep.

mesmorized by Simba

Morgan has a decided preference for Simba out of all the cats. Truly her daddy's daughter.

I have this reoccuring fantasy.

In it I put a sleepy Morgan down in her crib or on my bed and she shuffles around or fusses a bit and then falls asleep. I do not spend an hour bouncing her on an exercise ball only to have to wake up screaming 5 minutes later. I do not have to feed her into a coma guaranteeing later tummy trouble because she passed out before I could burp her. I do not have to feel guilty and inadequate because it is incredibly apparent to everyone around me that my red eyed child who keeps rubbing her face and whining is exhausted and I have not let her nap.

It's a small dream. Please tell me it will happen eventually.

posing for the camera

Sitting pose.

"I can stand"

another attempt at cereal

I think the reason I enjoy giving Morgan solid food is that she makes some of the most interesting and hilarious faces while I do it. We had our second attempt at eating rice cereal this morning. At first I think Morgan was just confused as to why on earth I kept putting a spoon in her mouth inciting her to close her lips. However, after I offered her some on my finger, which she greedily sucked off, she got the point. After a few finger fulls, I offered Miss MJ the spoon again. This time she lunged at it in an attempt to get it in her mouth. The trick was that once she had the cereal in her mouth she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. The pensive and confused look on her face was priceless (sorry no pictures). She had great fun playing with the cereal that I had spread all across her highchair tray. She did her own form of infant finger painting and then planted her hands in her mouth. then we tried the spoon again. After a little while she got the hang of it but since by that point she was decidedly hungry she got impatient and wanted her bottle.

I can't wait to do this again over the weekend so her Daddy can have fun with food too!

Who wants solid food? Not Morgan!

So to commemorate Miss Morgan's 5 month birthday I thought we'd give eating solids a try. I found some organic brown rice cereal and mixed it up specially for her. Here we are starting to try to eat.


After much complaining and spitting cereal out the process quickly devolved into Morgan sitting in her chair having a bottle.

What you can't tell from these pictures is that it took me about a half an hour to clean up the mess she made. At least she had a good time. :)

5 months old today

So here is a list of 5 month milestones that I got from my friend Stacie at the Twinkies blog. I've marked off if Miss Morgan has achieved them. The ones for which I said "sort of" means that she is working on it and only does so intermittently.

At 5 months old:

90% of babies can…
hold head stead when upright --- yes
on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms --- yes
pay attention to an object as small as a raisin --- yes
squeal in delight --- yes
reach for an object --- yes
smile spontaneously --- yes
smile back when you smile --- yes
grasp a rattle held to fingers --- yes
keep head level with body when pulled to sitting --- yes

75% of babies can…
roll over (one way) --- yes (back to front)
bear some weight on legs --- yes
say “ah-goo” or similar vowel-consonant combinations --- yes
blow raspberries --- yes
turn in the direction of a voice --- yes

50% of babies can…
sit without support --- yes

25% of babies can…
pull up to a standing position from sitting --- no
stand holding on to someone or something --- sort of
object if you try to take a toy away --- sort of
work to get a toy out of reach --- yes
pass an object from one hand to the other --- yes
look for dropped object --- sort of
rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist --- no
babble, combining vowels and consonants such as
ga-ga-ga,ba-ba-ba,ma-ma-ma,da-da-da --- no

Is this pink?

Even before Morgan was born Jim and I agreed that just because she was going to be a girl did not mean that we would dress her in pink. Personally, I hate pink. I also find it funny that for some reason people naturally think that if a baby is dressed in anything other than Pepto pink clothes (for example pale lavender with flowers) the baby must automatically be a boy. "Lady, she's wearing flowers!"

All in all our relatives and friends have been quite accommodating with our "no pink" rule on clothing (the one major exception was Valentine's Day. She wore pink then). However, this outfit recently arrived in the mail and Jim and I have been debating for a few days now as to whether this counts as pink, or an outfit with some pink on it.

And yes, I do realize that Murphy, who has taken a special interest in my dealings with Morgan recently, is bound to come back around and kick me in the ass. I figure that my little no-pink-wearing-girl will eventually tell me that she wants to only wear pink tutus and she wants to be a cheerleader. Oh, it gives me a headache already just thinking about it.

belated Easter pictures

Sporting her holiday purple and DKNY skirt (gift from her Great Aunt Andrea.)


Hanging out with her Pa Bruce.

starting early

Her daddy is determined that Miss Morgan will be a gear head and he is beginning the process by encouraging her appreciation of his new motorcycle. :)


Unfortunately my camera fogged up from the excessive humidity in the garage this evening. We will get some better pictures later.

a note on crying babies

Honestly, if I had a dollar or each time I heard the phrase "sometimes babies just need to cry" since the birth of my daughter, I'd be a rich woman today. In response to all those people who feel the need to offer that unwanted and unsolicited advice here are my thoughts on the issue.

Yes, sometimes babies do need to cry, like when their diapers are dirty or they are hungry or they have hurt themselves. The rest of the time, there is no need. Putting a baby down for bed should *not* necessitate crying.

I do not believe in allowing my daughter to "cry it out" for multiple reasons. Firstly, if there are babies out there who release stress by crying, my MJ is not one of them. When she starts crying it is because she is genuinely upset and ignoring that fact is not going to make her stop and all of a sudden realize she is over reacting. Instead she will escalate and be upset for hours. Not pleasant for her or anyone else, so why do it? If she does stop crying because she has exhausted herself, how horrible is that! I have never voluntarily chosen to cry myself to sleep, why on earth would I think that she should have to? Secondly, why on earth would I want to teach a brand new human being that the world is so awful that when you are upset no one cares? Now, that may be true and it may be something that she will have to learn at a later date, but my belief is that not quite 5 months old is way to young to become so jaded. Thirdly, I'm sure it is true that when she cries she knows I will come in there for her. At least, I hope that's what she thinks. How awful to think that my little girl does not have faith that I will come to try to comfort her. No, she is *not* trying to manipulate me. No, she is not "spoiled". She is a baby and sometimes crying is her only means of communication. Lastly, how can anyone who has ever heard the heart wrenching sound of your own flesh and blood, a spawn of your own self, crying inconsolably possibly stand by and do nothing about it? These people must have no feeling.

So, in short, while it is impossible to have my little one go through life never being upset and never feeling sad, I scoff at people who tell me that I should just let her cry it out and get over it. There is time for that later in life. There is no need for it now. So I will happily (ok, maybe not happily) suffer through nights of sleeplessness so that she can feel comforted and secure. I WILL pick her up when she cries and I will NOT let my poor little munchkin think that Mamma is not coming for her.

4 month sleep regression.

Well it would be a stretch to say that Morgan's sleep has been following a linear pattern since she was born but I've come across a phrase in the past few weeks that would imply that was the case. The infamous "4 month sleep regression". What I take this to mean is that MJ is totally normal in the fact that she won't sleep for more than an hour or so at a time and that she just simply won't nap during the day. So far the only thing that has worked for us is to pull her into bed with me and hold her tightly, one hand behind the head, one hand under the butt. Unfortunately she still wakes up screaming every 20 minutes or so.

The reading I've been doing suggests that this is because she is making some big cognitive leaps these past few weeks and, admittedly, that is a good thing. Lack of sleep for everyone in the house (even the cats have a hard time sleeping through Miss Morgan's sleep-screaming fits) is most decidedly *not* a good thing.

Here's to hoping that the "regression" comes to a head quickly and she is able to sleep for longer stretches again. this sleep deprivation is making my normally happy little girl into the bear we feared she might be.

Scorpio baby

I just recently stumbled across this description while I was playing curious mom (kind of like trying to read the last page of a book first) and get an idea of my child's future in advance. I'm floored by the accuracy of these statements:

When a Scorpio baby enters the world, all eyes will focus on them. And that's exactly how it will be for a long time to come, as this baby must be the center of attention! To that end, this is quite the manipulative little tot, sucking up energy from everyone around. The Scorpio baby is also a bit mysterious, making it hard to figure out what's wrong when the crying starts. So often, it's something which is seething below the surface and will be very hard to draw out of this child. You must also consider power struggles when thinking of this child, as the Scorpio baby will expect that Mom, Dad, and everyone else will fit into their schedule and plans. Make no mistake, this is a powerful child! The flip side of this is that this baby is quite clear on what they want and can get that message across. One important note: Scorpio babes loathe lounging in dirty diapers, so change them often! Many times, this can be the simple source of their discomfort, although the malady may not always be so clear. For that reason, the Scorpio baby should be watched closely. Someone will generally be watching this child, though, as the Scorpio tot enjoys a crowd, especially one where it can lead. To sum up, the Scorpio baby is clever, wants things on their own terms, and will know how to get it. Watch out!

she's a big girl!

Today was Morgan's 4 month well baby visit. Yes, I know she is 4 1/2 months old, but the pediatrician was not taking morning appointments the week she turned 4 months and there was NO WAY I was bringing a 4 month old in for an appointment at 6 pm.

My girl is 16 lbs 12 oz and 25 1/2 inches in length. That puts Miss Morgan in the 90th percentile in length (I'm assuming I can't call it "height" until she is standing) and the 90th percentile in weight. She's growing so quickly.

a big day

Today was a big day in two ways. Not only did she figure out how to roll over onto her belly but she was able to sit up on her own for a good few minutes. Long enough, at least, to let me back away and take a few photos. :) Here are my two favorites:

sleep rolling?

I've heard of sleep walking and even sleep talking but last night Morgan decided to sleep roll. We put her down for bed last night on her back like we always do and at 6:30 this morning when I was marveling to myself that she had slept straight through I went into her room to get her up for the day. She was lying on her tummy. She had managed to do at night what she never could in the day, roll form back to tummy. Guess we'll see where we go from here. :)

the color purple

I have to admit it, I'd missed my purple hair. I got rid of it and went back to a "normal" color the December before Morgan was born. Before then, it was a beautiful shade of purple.

Anyway, today I decided enough was enough and I needed to do something to make myself feel less frumpish. So, I went to the local herbal store, bought an herbal (ammonia etc. free) hair dye with the alluring color title "violet" and took the plunge this evening.

I will report back later on the results, but the early verdict is that my hair is superman black with purple instead of blue highlights. When my hair dries completely I will take and post up some photographic evidence.

I'm also curious to see if the change of my hair color will confuse Morgan tomorrow.

It's a miracle

I can't believe it! She fell asleep on her own! I'm still in shock and it happened over 4 hours ago.

It was almost 1 pm and I wasn't ready to get in the car to head out to my mother's house until at least 1:30 so I decided to put my little girl down in her crib under the mobile in hopes that it would entertain her but knowing in reality that I would have to prepare myself to endure the wailing that always ensues when I attempt this little trick. I turned on her mobile, rubbed her tummy and told her I'd be right back (I had to transfer laundry over before leaving at the very least). When I got back into the house (the laundry machines are out in the garage) I went into her room to check on her and lo and behold! She was asleep! She put herself to sleep!

I'm sure it will never happen again, but wow, was it every worth it even if just for today.

a drop in the bucket

You may have noticed (and if you didn't, please do) that on the top of the right hand column there is a new page element. It is Google AdSense and yes, it is intentional. Every time someone clicks on one of the ads, a dime goes into an account specifically designed for Miss Morgan's future. I got the idea from my friend Stacie who runs a blog for her twins (the link to her Twinkies site is also in the right hand column). She calls it their 529 fund. Feel free to contribute to Morgan's financial future by visiting the ads.

Thanks.

addendum

Not only did Murphy kick me in the ass, but I think he lost a shoe.

She woke up literally the moment I hit the "publish" button. You'd think I'd learn my lesson.

getting better all the time....

"I used to get mad in my school. The teachers who taught me weren't cool. Holding me down, turning me 'round, filling me up with their rules. I've got to admit it's getting better, getting better all the time." (Thanks, Paul).

As you can tell, we're in a much better place today than we were last week. Although Her Highness was refusing to nap all morning, she is down for a nap now and I think we may be on an upward trend.

Murphy, please don't kick my ass.

Notes from teething hell...

I've known that Morgan has begun teething for quite some time now. She has been a drooling champ and nothing makes her quite as happy as having a cloth rub her gums. Everything she encounters goes into her mouth these days. Little did I know that this was only the beginning.

This past week has been a new experience in teething hell and I'm assured it will only get worse. Since she has been so uncomfortable of late, Morgan has been exceedingly clingy. She will fuss and fuss unless I am holding her *all* the time. Most of the times no one else will do. She refuses to nap in the day time unless I'm holding her, which I assure you makes posting (and doing anything else, for that matter) rather complicated. Multitasking while holding a sleeping infant is not as easy as it sounds. Ah well, so much for housekeeping.

I thought at first that her inability to nap alone might have been related to the NSS plan, but my dear girl sleeps just fine unswaddled throughout the night. She has also developed a bit of a cough, which I am convinced has its origins in the excessive drool she inhales while lying down.

Poor thing has been rather needy the past week and it has worn me out, through and through.

However, on the lighter side of things, I got her a new bathtub last week so that she could have more fun playing while bathing. She loves the water and here is my favorite picture to prove it.
Here she is kicking and splashing in the water and generally having a good time. :)