Father/Son moments

Morgan loves his daddy. When he hears the garage opening in the evenings, he knows daddy is home and so runs to wait by the garage door, which means almost getting hit with it when it is opened.
Morgan also really loves to read with his dad. He seems to have a longer attention span when it's Aaron reading to him than when it is me.
Anyway, here are some of their father/son moments.

This is Aaron's first time holding Morgan. He was a proud daddy.

Morgan had jaundice so we had to suppliment feeding with formula for a few days. Aaron did that feeding. He had a tiny tube taped to his pinky and Morgan would suck on that while Aaron used a syringe type device to control the milk flow. And Morgan's on the billie-blanket.

Aaron was going to take Morgan to get the mail and wanted to keep Morgan warm. This is a favorite photo of many.

Morgan was discovering his tongue and often had it out. So Aaron played with him.

We took a trip to the Oregon coast last summer. This was a stop at Multnoma (I have no idea how to spell that) Falls. Aaron hiked up to see it with Morgan.

At the coast.

Reading. Not my favorite book, by any stretch.


Aaron's artwork on for Halloween.

Morgan cuddling with his daddy. So cute.

A sweet moment.

A first

Ah, firsts. Prized moments in every parents lives, right? The first smile melts hearts, the first step brings great pride, the first word is always accompanied with delight. Yes, it's all sunshine and rainbows. We love firsts.
Morgan had a first earlier this week. His first haircut.
Since Morgan was probably only 5 months old or so, Aaron has been complaining to me that Morgan's hair in the back and on the sides was too long. "It makes him look like a girl!" So he started his Lets Give Morgan a Haircut campaign. Well, at 5 months old Morgan was just getting hair. The long hair in back and on the sides was the only hair he had, I wasn't about to consent to cutting it all off. But Aaron continued to comment on it. Several months later, when Morgan had a little hair on top as well, I agreed to let Aaron give Morgan a haircut. That stopped his complaining. Now I couldn't be blamed for Morgan's girly head. But it was still several months later again that Aaron finally decided to get out the hair clippers. (Actually, a beard trimmer!)


First we prepped Morgan by putting Mommy's t-shirt on him with a dish towel underneath up around his neck. We got him in a booster seat in the kitchen and let him play with the beard trimmer while it was running so he wouldn't be afraid of it. Morgan wasn't even close to being afraid of it. He was exceedingly upset when we took it away though.










Notice here his long and girlish hair in the back. :)

Anyway, so then we got to work. Aaron with beard trimmer and comb, and me with the video camera. But it quickly became apparent that cutting the hair of this 15 month old was going to be a two person job. So I propped the camera on the counter and let it film while I held Morgan's head still so Aaron could cut. Boy did that not work. Soon the video camera was off. We didn't think that this was going to be something worth watching later on. Morgan screamed and cried the whole time, would NOT keep his head still. I didn't want to hurt him, so my restraining wasn't great. Aaron couldn't get anything cut. Morgan was frustrated, I was frustrated and Aaron was frustrated. Many misrable minutes and a broken hand mirror later we had given up. His hair was shorter, in most spots, but terribly uneven and choppy.
This is Morgan AFTER.















After Morgan calmed down a bit, I followed him around with the beard trimmer in the kitchen where he was playing and cleaned up the mess we made on his head. It was tons easier! I had to follow him around and wait for his head to be at a good angle, but he didn't fight me at all! No tears or tantrums. Easier all around.
It never looked very good, but the finished product was better than what we had prepared to settle on.

No more first hair cuts, please.

Koogatoo!

What's that, you say? Well, Koogatoo is the website that my incredibly talented husband has created. It's how we're going to get rich enough so that he can quit his job and just run a website for a living, spending the rest of his time with his family. :) In the meantime, we need to spread the word, so this is me doing a tiny bit. Go check out the site and enter the drawing to win the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3. We actually have them, and they are fun! So, www.koogatoo.com Review it. Own it.

Of church, chairs, and challenges

Yesterday we went to church and sat in the gym, like we always do, for Sacrament meeting. So instead of cushioned benches we had the hard chairs. The plastic kind, not the metal ones. I sat Morgan in one between Aaron's chair and mine. Being a rather active boy, he wasn't just going to sit still and listen to the speaker, and instead did the thing that babies do and stood up on the chair and looked at the people making faces at him behind us. Then he started to play peek-a-boo with someone. He knelt down on the chair and would hide his head behind it, and then poke it up. Peek-a-boo! This is how he discovered the very intriguing holes in the back of these chairs. This is how we discovered that the holes are just about the same size as...

Morgans' head.

So, while he was still on the chair, he bent over and stuck his head through the hole. What fun. He pulled it back through. Then he tried again. This time it didn't come back through as easily and he got a bit scared and needed mommies help. Funny.
Later on, Morgan was wandering from our row. He only went to the row in front of us, so I didn't bother to get him. He wasn't bugging anyone or anything at the moment, so I just watched him. Well, he RE-discovered the holes in the chair, but this time from behind, while standing up. I foresaw disaster, so I went to get him, but I was too late. His head was already stuck. This time he managed to get an arm in the hole with the head. Notice how I didn't describe the hole as being the size of Morgan's head plus one arm? Morgan was kind of freaking out while I and two other near-by ladies tried to gently free him. We managed to get his arm out, but that gave him more mobility and he turned himself completely around. Now his head was still stuck, but he was looking at the ceiling while doing an uncomfortable back bend. This whole time we were trying to get his head out, but somehow it must have grown because he wasn't coming! Plus, his wiggling and resistance wasn't helping. We finally succeeded when one lady lifted his body horizontally to the hole, while I directed his head through without catching his chin or nose. He wasn't happy, but I couldn't help but chuckle my way to my seat. I noticed that everyone in the near vicinity was also containing their laughter so as not to interrupt the meeting. Ah, boys!

Bubbles!

We've just discovered that Morgan LOVES bubbles! He isn't very good at popping them, (though he says "pop" when he tries) mostly he just lets them pop on him. So, when he can finally go to nursery in 15 weeks, as long as they have bubbles, he'll be okay.
The bubbles smell like bubble gum. I let Morgan hold the wand and he put it in his mouth immediately. Probably wasn't the yumminess he was hoping for. :)

The music chair

Morgan got a xylophone for his birthday in October. For Christmas he got a little chair. Awhile ago I put him in the chair and then put the xylophone over the arms, as seen above, and let him play with it that way. Now Morgan won't play with the xylophone unless he's sitting in the chair. To him, they go together. So, if I pick up the xylophone as a suggestion for him to play with it, he runs (well, walks as fast as he can) to the chair and waits for me to place the instrument.
If it's his idea to play with it, he usually struggles and gets frustrated while he tries to get the xylophone properly placed. I always have to help him. He's so funny.

Snow fun

Yay, snow is so magical when you are a kid. (Or when you are a childish adult). Very fun to play in. Morgan's experience with it has made him a believer. So today I took 3 very bundled children outside to play in the front yard: Morgan, and his cousins Anna and Mattie. (Notice their "mittens" in the picture are actually very girly Ked type socks.)

We played. Mattie took pleasure in throwing snowballs at the cat, Morgan wandered and stumbled around the yard, and Anna and I made a snow cat.


I was probably too involved in my own activity and didn't watch where Morgan wandered. I knew he had been playing by the garage, so when I couldn't see him I figured he went around to the side of the house. Sure enough, that's where I found him! Morgan found a big goopey mud puddle, and plopped right down in it to play.

I made a kind of groan, then ran back toward the door to get the camera. Anna heard the groan, saw me quickly going to the house, and she made a conclusion. I was running from a monster. Anna beat me inside, and when I told her we didn't have to go inside yet, she said, "Yes I do!" I was very confused when she started talking about a monster and I convinced her to go back outside to play.
I took the photos of Morgan's fun, then I dropped him in some deep snow and used it as best as I could to clean him off.
Anna kept talking about a monster by the fence. I finally convinced her that that wasn't why I groaned or went inside.
Morgan's dip in the wet, mud puddle soaked through two pair of pants, one which was insulated, the other jeans, his onsie and his diaper. Poor cold bum.

Of Christmas and things

If we were the type to send out Christmas cards, this would be the photo we put on it. Morgan is such a ham for the camera.


This wasn't Morgan's first Christmas, but he was only 2 months when that one came.
Before Christmas we went to a family party. Santa came too. Let me tell you about it. We arrived late to the party, so Santa was almost done. Morgan slept the whole way there, so I woke him up when I took him out of the car. We walk into the room with Santa and all the family, and groggy Morgan is still waking up. Before we really settle into our seats, Morgan's name is called. It is his turn to sit on Santa's lap. So I hand my baby over to a stranger and run back a few paces to get a photo. I knew I wouldn't have much time. Morgan looked around at all the strange people who were cheering him on and making faces at him, tried his best to ignore the hairy man whose lap he was on, and kept his tears at bay long enough for me to snap a picture. Not a moment too soon. Morgan started a very mournful cry and wasn't placated with the gift that Santa was offering. So I retrieved my overwhelmed child and tried to get him excited about his present, but he wouldn't take his eyes off the crowd of funny people. :)

Christmas morning, which was spent with the Nelson family, Morgan wandered around and played with everyones gifts as they were opened, and didn't seem all that interested in his own. But he had fun, and was well behaved.

Cute Morgan

Recently Morgan has discovered the joys of wearing Mommies and Daddies shoes. He finds them and has to wear them. So far he is only successful with one at a time. He tends to get frustrated when they won't stay on him or something. It's quite funny.
Also, one day I put Morgan down for a nap. When I left the room he was crying a bit and had stood up so he was no longer covered up. When he'd stopped crying and I was sure that he was asleep, I went in to put a blanket on him, I found him cuddling with his teddy bear so had to get a picture. I even risked waking him up with the flash, for posterities sake, but he slept through it.