Talk to the Hand

A couple weeks ago, Morgan couldn't get enough of her toes. She was finally able to grab them and then stuff them in her mouth. But now she's onto new things: hands! That seems to be what Morgan spends a lot of her day thinking about. Her own hands, other people's hands. It doesn't seem to matter. They fascinate and delight her. She giggles and stares when we move our hands in front of her face, while her own little fingers try to mimic ours. She loves to hold onto our fingers and jerk them around. I have decided that the human hand is one of the best baby toys ever invented. It can't get lost or broken (well, hopefully not by a baby), it's waterproof, and it is always around. Morgan also becomes entranced by her own hands, moving them right in front of her face. Her short attention span makes her hands very convenient and distracting at the same time. Their movements resemble a hula dancer (or perhaps belly dancer?) in their wrist action. She now has learned to flip her hand from front to back quite quickly. I will catch her doing this and she looks as though she is trying to make sure it's actually attached to her body. We are working on teaching her to wave hello and good-bye, and she genuinely seems to be trying. But the hands have minds of their owns and never seem to cooperate when she wants them to! I haven't been able to film all this hand action yet, but here is a clip of her talking to her hands a few weeks ago. Apparently, they can also fight with each other, and if they misbehave, she can eat them!

Furry Friends

We just got back from spending part of our spring break in Central Oregon. Morgan was a good little traveler, and despite a few wakeful nights, adapted to the new places and people with her usual smile. The first part of the week, we hung out with friends in Sunriver.  Sam's parents, Kim, and aunt and uncle were there too.  (No, it isn't just coincidence that they were there the same weekend Morgan was! Yes, you could say that "Captain Morgan" has her own entourage.)  Needless to say, Morgan adored their affections.   

Then we headed over to Aunt Kay and Uncle Hans'  ranch in Sisters, where they had lots of animals for Morgan to check out.  She got to see horses, miniature donkeys and a miniature horse up close.  But I don't really think she could tell that they were living creatures.  Besides, she kept getting distracted with her hands (that's another blog topic, though).   But she did get her first experiences with their two dogs, Sophie and Luna. Both of them love babies, are very well trained, and wanted to check out Morgan.  At first Morgan seemed a bit confused and a little leery of the dogs,  but after being on the floor with them for a while, became fascinated with them.  She didn't even mind it when they accidentally licked her face or wagged their tail into her head!  In fact, she had a big grin on her face most of the time.  We had her in her "johnny jump-up" thing which was the perfect vantage point for watching these furry friends walk by.  The dogs were much more focused on retrieving their toys, but I'm sure Morgan thought they were putting on a show just for her.  Just like the relatives are glad they get to visit with a baby but not have one all the time, we are glad to "borrow" the dogs.  It works out great!

Tiny Dancer

It took Morgan a few times to get the hang of bouncing, but once she did she was quite proud of herself. I have this feeling there may be dance recitals in our future...

Stop growing!

It seems like literally every day Morgan does something new. She has been rolling with ease for a couple of weeks, but now does 180's in her crib. When we go in her room in the morning, besides her head being at the opposite end of her crib, we see her feet sticking straight up. Fortunately, she's got her sleep sack still securely zipped around her. Morgan has realized that by pivoting on her back, she can kick and bang on her mirror in her crib. Besides her babbling and "coughing," this is yet another way to get Mom and Dad's attention. The other night, as I changed her diaper, she showed off another new trick: grabbing her toes! Then Tuesday, while Sam was home with her, she figured out how to get them in her mouth! Since Morgan will put anything she can manage in her mouth, this was a delightful achievement for her. She seems to have a sense of humor, too, and knows how to get people's attention. She's such a happy girl, but would always choose to socialize over just playing by herself. She is starting to see the fun of playing peek-a-boo and loves looking at herself and us in the mirror. One really cute moment was when we watched videos of Morgan over the past few months on our computer. Morgan was playing on the floor next to it, and seemed quite perplexed by the familiar sounding baby on the screen! But my favorite new thing she's doing is laying her head on my shoulder when she's awake, not just when she happens to fall asleep there. It's as if Morgan likes to cuddle with Mommy now, and I can't get enough of it. So I take advantage of any chance I get to snuggle with my quickly growing girl.

I know everyone says that the time flies by when you have kids, but honestly, the first few months of Morgan's life felt pretty long to me! They were absolutely wonderful, but the days were long taking care of a tiny baby that didn't do much. But now, the days seem to be zooming by as Morgan changes and grows into her own little person. I wish she would stop growing already and just take a break so we can enjoy the wonderful little person she is right now, before she changes into something new.

Peekaboo Girl

Last weekend Morgan and I went to Oceanside with my parents. I guess turning 5 months old and being away from boring old home inspired Morgan to teach herself peekaboo. We had played it a little with her, but she didn't seem to get it yet. But while we were at the beach, my mom and I laughed hysterically at her own peekaboo game with her bib.


For a while now, Morgan had flipped up her bib over her face and immediately started breathing hard and panting. As new parents, Sam and I freaked out and thought she was suffocating. But now we realize it was her own way of entertaining herself. With her bib off, Morgan has figured out how to put it on and off her face. It is especially funny when she gets the strap positioned right over her eyes. At only five months, it amazes me a baby can have such good hand-eye coordination as well as a sense of humor!