development

The last few weeks she's been a horrendous crank - last Tuesday Jim picked her up fram Pam's and she started crying right away saying mama needed to pick her up (I had conferences). I guess she sobbed from the time Jim got her at 4 until I got home at 6:30. Jim was at his wits ends. We never see it while we're in it, but she gets really cranky (for days/weeks) and then makes a developmental leap. This weekend she's been a JOY - and a major communicator! In the beginning when she was signing her brain made the, almost Pavlovian, connection that signs equaled what she wanted. Now she's made the connection that her words have signs. She came running in the other day signing, and yelling, milk. It was like she'd never seen the sign before (when it was the second sign she ever used); her eyes were wide and shinning, and she was so excited to use it. I was able to sign, with no speaking, "Morgan, milk want you? (ASL syntax structure)" her vocal response, "No, I watch Si-Ti" and off she charged. Her spoken language is is really taking off in terms of conversation. She is able to ask questions, listen to responses and then respond back. In other terms she is learning to stay on topic and turn take! Amazing!

For Kat

Morgan figured out the Jack-in-the-Box awhile ago - she would just trip the lever with her finger. Today, though, she was showing baby how to work it using the crank.

Oh the energy!

Morgan has wonderful books (by Joost Elffers & Saxton Freymann) that create pictures from fruits and vegetables. It amazes me that she is already able to comprehend the abstract concept that a banana can become a giraffe or an eggplant becomes a penguin and she will label both ways: by the animal or fruit.

We love Signing Time

Morgan's favorite "TV" show is 'Si-Ti'(Signing Time). She watches it on our laptop, and whenever I bring the computer out to work she comes running, "Watch Si-Ti now Mama!, no Mama I watch, you go-way(go away)!" Luckily she really does like to sign with it, so we sit down and she'll watch the signs then look at me to see a real 3-D rendition. I am able to sign full statements to her now and she understands, but does not respond back in sign. The other morning though out of the blue she said, "Mama stay home now!" and signed STAY. It was so cute but also broke my heart when I had to say mama has to go to work. She was very happy at Pam's (daycare) when she got to show off her new sign though!

Happy Valentines Day

Morgan went around the house all weekend talking about Valentines (which she says very clearly) and asking for 'cha-lah-clit' (chocolate). She's discovered dark chocolate M&M's - the only chocolate she can eat without getting sick. At daycare the kids all gave goodies and Morgan came home with 'make-up'(chapstick), 'stickuhz'(stickers) and heart 'brets'(barrets). Everybody knows that stickers have to all come off the paper and immerdiately get stuck somewhere on the body! OK, so I helped her get them straight on her nose.

walking in a winter wonderland

Last week we had experienced some warmer weather and get a lot of rain (which froze into 2" of skating rink all over town) and snow. Then the temps bottomed out and this morning was 10 degree below zero, but since there was so much moisture in the air we got freezing fog! These pictures are outside one of my school buildings at 9:45 AM and the frost hadn't even begun to thaw.