A future in fashion after all?

Only if her grandparents and relatives keep those outfits coming! Here are a few shots of Morgen from the last few days. In her cute babydoll pink ladybug dress from cousins Jeff and Jackie, she was so happy that she found it hard to keep still...I'm afraid this is the best picture we have of that outfit. Grandma Hammel sent us a very cute yellow jumper with embroidery that Morgen was sporting for a visit to young Rowan, seen here in a pirated pic from Ro's parent's blog...and Gramma Lovett presented her favourite baby with this cute caterpillar outfit during her last visit. Sorry Gramma, it's too warm for the matching cap right now, and there wasn't enough sun in the living room to merit the orange sunglasses...maybe next time we'll capture the whole ensemble. Morgen is so lucky to have these gifts from people who deal with the visual world better than her parents do.

She is also lucky to have such good friends - this weekend was perhaps her busiest and most social so far (which is why she actually got to wear daytime clothing instead of her usual pyjamas). She had a nice visit with Darcy and Sandra, with her Grandparents Lovett, not to mention meeting Eowyn for the first time and having her second visit with Rowan, Dave, and Angela. Watch out Rowan, Morgen may have a bit of a crush.

Play it again, Morgen

At the end of Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart's character says the immortal line: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Well, today we witnessed the beginning of a new friendship for Morgen, as Tal and Kate brought their six-month-old daughter Eowyn over for a visit. The two babes got along famously ... OK, so Eowyn stared curiously at Morgen, and Morgen mostly slept, but we are sure that when the time comes, these two girls will have a grand time together.

The other piece of news is this: Morgen is one month old today! To celebrate, she had a birthday bath and topped it off with a lovely meal at Chez Mama. This is certainly a birthday she will remember until ... well, maybe until tomorrow.

A-Head of the Game

Our little girl is growing up. Today, we reached what were for us major milestones. First, Morgen lifted her head way up and held it there. And second, she outgrew her first batch of sleepers. Next stop, university!

It's Her Party

And she'll sleep when she wants to, eat when she wants to, and play when she wants to. But, no matter whose party it is, your mommy always gets to decide what dress you'll wear...for the first few years at least. Today, Morgen is four weeks old - so I can look forward to picking out her outfits for a very long time.

Morgen spent the wee hours of her day waking every sixty-minutes or so to eat and fuss, and the larger part of the morning hours and early afternoon sleeping. After taking my revenge by putting her in this frilly dress (purely for my entertainment, since we had nowhere to go today) it became apparent that she wasn't going to play in her party dress - she would only feed, sleep and spit up in it. So I took pity on Morgen, and on the dress, and put her in a onesie. She didn't seem to notice.

Escape the Apartment!

Yesterday was the last day of my parents' visit. We had a really nice, relaxing time with them here. By our old standards, we didn't really do much (no visits to the museums and only a minimal amount of boardgames), but it was by far the most activity outside the apartment we have seen in weeks. We went for several walks, and we ate homemade brownies (thanks, Mom). And perhaps best of all for our sanity, on Saturday, Jessica's parents came to visit as well, and we all went out for brunch ... well, by the time we actually got Morgen fed, changed, fed again, and dressed, it was more of a late lunch. Nevertheless, it was an outing. And after all that feeding at home, Morgen was a perfect little baby. She slept quietly in the sling the whole time (which you can see around Jessica's neck in this picture) and only started to fuss when we were about halfway home. Let's hope this is an indication of things to come!

Why I'll never be an interior decorator (or very fashionable)

This picture of Morgen in the very cute sweater and cap that her Great Aunt Pat made for her says it all. Although technically the outfit I paired it with today did have light pink in it, you can see that the yellow pants just aren't helping the set to "pop". Despite this somewhat jarring aesthetic, the sweater was a good match for today's light breeze - so Morgen went to the park in it today. I'll have to put the ensemble together with the white dress Pat also gave her another day! This picture of Morgen's mismatched outfit reminds me of all the room re-painting disasters I've been responsible for over the years. And it makes me wish that I could crotchet as well as my Aunt does. It really is a lovely set.

When Morgen had had enough of her stroller, she enjoyed more quality cuddles with her Grandpa - and didn't even spit up on him (although we were prepared).

Grandparents Hammel Have Arrived!

Morgen's Minnesota Grandma and Grandpa are here for a visit - so in between artistic snoozes she is getting in some quality snuggles.

In other news, we went for a stroll to the post office today - sending a little something to our friends Yen and Ivan who have just welcomed their own new baby girl into the world. Congrats!

Wocket in Your Pocket?

A quick picture from last night's wind down - See how closely Morgen was following along with Dr. Seuss?

Tonight's wind down is proving a bit more difficult. Morgen wants to have her daytime tonight, I think! But she's happy about it, and who can resist a happy little girl? Even if she should be sleeping.

At her doctor's appointment today, we learned that Morgen is now 8lbs, 13 oz. She is in the 75th percentile for length, and right in the middle for weight...so far, she's a tall person...but we'll see if my hobbit genes win out in the end.

How to Pose Like a Pro

It was a big day for Morgen today: she had a special visitor, AND the government of Ontario sent her health card in the mail. Official mail at three weeks!
Her special visitor was Bob from Baby Portraits, a company that convinces new parents to let them photograph their babies by offering a free portrait and photo shoot right in the living room. Later, they come back and try to upsell the parents with package deals of some kind...at any rate, we went for the free portrait and photo shoot at least, and I'm very glad we did. Bob the Photographer came with his mini studio, lights, umbrella, props, and stunningly good baby manner at about 2pm. He got all kinds of great little pictures of Morgen - kitchy, but cute. I'll try to get some up here (at least the free one) when we decide how far we'll buy in to the package deal. In between singing and chirping, Bob kept remarking on how strong Morgen was, and how cooperative she was being - he said she was a true baby model, was behaving more like a 1.5 month old, and knew how to pose like a pro. Well of course, we said, it's because she is so advanced. I also told him that she would be almost that old today if she had come on her due date - which gave him a giggle.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Fathers.

And thanks for coming to visit us again, Gramma Lovett.

Morgen is such a lucky little girl.

A Rainbow Connection

Morgen's life just got a lot more colorful! Jess and I were recently commenting on how little color Morgen sees on a daily basis cooped up in our white with white trim apartment. The next day, a package arrived from Jess's aunt and uncle, which contained, among other things, a beautiful quilted playmat with some of the brightest colors ever. As you can see from the picture, it was a big hit with Morgen and her moose pal, Mortimer.

Monkey Toes

Yesterday, during Morgen's play mat time with her Daddy, I was jolted out of contemplating the family by Gavin's excited exclamation: "Monkey toes! Monkey toes!!"

I didn't really get what he meant - to be honest, I thought he was just calling her that - but eventually he explained that her toes were curling around his hands like a monkey's toes might (see picture). She doesn't really have monkey toes, at least, her big toe isn't exactly as dextrous as a thumb - but "monkey toes!" may be her new nickname for the next little while, unless someone out there has a better suggestion?

Baby Bath Time

Gramma Lovett helped us catch some shots of bath time tonight. Morgen doesn't like her bath at the moment...even though we've got a cute rubber duckie to tell us the temperature, and lots of cushy towels to dry her off with after the event...she prefers to be dirty, apparently. I've tried to select a shot that will preserve her modesty, but I'm keeping a few others in reserve for when she is a teenager and her friends come to visit.

So don't you take your baby anywhere?

Not really, but not because we're paranoid. Some of you may know that I broke my foot a few years ago - the resulting two-year limp and comfy shoe-buying binge was responsible for Gavin saying: "Sure, go ahead and buy a fifth pair of shoes in one day...but then no more shoe-buying ever."

A few days before we delivered Morgen, Gavin and I were out walking. And I felt a little "pop" in my right foot.

Long story short, the doctors think I have some kind of soft tissue injury and want me to stay off my feet for a while. So my mother has been in town over the last few days, helping us do all kinds of things that would otherwise require a fully mobile me.

I look forward to posting pictures of Morgen hanging around town, but until then, I'm afraid you're stuck with more shots of our baby in the apartment.

Grendel vs The Usurper

Our formidable pet Grendel has been strangely silent lately. Skulking, sulking around, tentatively checking out the being we know he thinks of as "the Usurper". He seems especially upset that Gramma Lovett doesn't seem to want to play with him any more...cheer up Grendel. It's just one step down in the pecking order. One, teeny tiny little step.

A Hot Day And Cool Bloomers

Today the temperature in Toronto reached 33 degrees Celsius (around 91 Fahrenheit for those from non-metric backgrounds), so we decided it was time to put Morgen in one of the several cute summer outfits we received at our showers and head to the backyard. We decided on this unusual tube top/bloomer jumpsuit. Unfortunately, no one was around to see how cute the outfit was, so we have to satisfy our parental pride by posting these shots here.

Bath Time All Around

Just two pictures for today: one of Morgen, looking serious after her bath in a new pink sleeper, and one shot of Gavin just seconds before he realized that our little girl's diaper had just spilled on to his jeans. What can I say? He's a bit of a magnet. I promise that I will include fewer gross postings in future...or I'll try at any rate.

Barracuda Baby Exceeds Birthweight in Six Days!

If only I weren't so modest. As Gavin points out, the perfect accompaniment to this post would be a video of me breastfeeding Morgen to the strains of Heart. The lactation consultant we visited on Monday dubbed Morgen the "Barracuda Baby". She feeds so well that she has regained her birthweight about seven days ahead of time...dare I say it? Ok: our baby is soooo advanced. Unfortunately, she also likes to dive at me, with her tiny, toothless (but still sharp) jaws snapping. I've got a very small window in which to assess whether or not she is going to 1) add to what the consultant called "excessive trauma" to the portions of my anatomy that will not be gracing this blog, or 2) keep her mouth open long enough to latch on in a more or less pain-free way or 3) miss entirely - at which point milk gets all over her as she instead changes course in mid-dive, choosing to suck on her hand or my wrist, or whatever else might make a likely nipple. Options 1 and 3 result in Barracuda Baby wagging her head from side to side and flailing her limbs until I reposition her. Option 2 is thankfully becoming more frequent...but is still outnumbered by the other options. I'm sure that this will pass - I'm a fast learner. Let's hope Morgen is too. I'm sure she is - did I mention how advanced she is??

We've been busy the last few days, but haven't taken many pictures. Time to step back and consider the cuteness has been scarce. Instead, we're experiencing the cuteness, including making the transition into our cloth diapers and gently encouraging Barracuda Baby to spend some time sleeping in her crib. My mother came to town yesterday and helped me manage my first day without Gavin - she cooked and cuddled our little baby and laughed everytime Morgen had a meal. So, there aren't any really recent pictures to offer today - but here is one from the hospital that pretty much sums up the way Morgen spent her time with Grandma Lovett.

Morgen's First Walk

Today, Morgen accompanied her mom and dad on their first post-delivery walk. She, of course, traveled in style in her leaf green Peg Perego stroller (a gift from Grandpa and Grandma Hammel). Mostly, she seemed unimpressed with the outside world, though that may have been due in part to the fact that she slept through the whole thing. Here are a few pictures.