Crawling & Cooper

By Sunday after Christmas, Morgan had gotten over her cold and was ready to practice her crawling skills. After all, her pal Cooper was coming over to visit -- and he's a got a reputation in baby circles for being a very fast crawler.



Now that she's more mobile, Morgan is discovering all sorts of new places to explore. Underneath the dining room table is one of her favorites.



When Cooper showed up, he and Morgan discovered that they both got toy giraffes for Christmas.



Morgan: "Hey, Cooper which giraffe leg do you like to chew on?" Cooper: "I'm a fan of the back left leg." Morgan: "No kidding! Me too!"


Morgan: "Umm... excuse me, Cooper... that's MY dad you're crawling on! Hands off, bub."



After playing for a while, Morgan and Cooper got to open a few presents. The presents were great, but ripping up all the tissue paper was definitely the highlight.

A Visit to Cooper's House

Last weekend, we made a trip to Upstate New York for a friend's wedding, which gave us another chance to get Morgan and her ol' pal Cooper together for a play date.

As the kids get older, they get more and more excited to see each other, as the video below proves:



Our friends Jeff and Nicole volunteered to watch Morgan while we went to the wedding. We were very glad to hear that she was very well behaved, ate her dinner, and went to bed at her normal time. (So, if anyone wants to invite Morgan for a sleep-over, you just let us know.)

Morgan and Cooper got plenty of time to play together over the weekend, and try out each other's toys. They took turns playing with Morgan's octopus...





Morgan tried out Cooper's bouncer...



Cooper shared some tips for "almost crawling", which Morgan found very helpful.



And finally Morgan shared Dad's silly tongue tricks, which Cooper found fascinating.

Columbus Day '08: The Next Generation

On Saturday, we hosted our 2nd annual Columbus Day Weekend BBQ at the house.

This year, the barbecue ribs and chicken were only a side show. The real stars of the day were the newest additions to the families: Morgan, Michael (born the weekend of last year's party), Cooper, and Joey. Add in Marissa and Mikey, and the kids almost outnumbered the adults this year.

Morgan and Cooper got reacquainted the way only babies can... by eating each others' hands.



Cooper: "Morgan, I'll trade you my stuffed Monkey for your toy aquarium..."



Morgan: "Talk to the hand, dude!"



Cooper: "Hey, who's the new kid?"



Morgan: "That's Joey! Here, eat this chain. I need to smile for the camera."



After an afternoon of stimulating conversation with the boys, Morgan and Marissa had some girl time inside.



All in all, Columbus Day '08 was a big success. We're so glad everyone could make it. It was great to finally get all the kids together in one place. We're already looking forward to '09.

Boating with the Fricke's

Catching up on some long overdue blogging...

A few weekends ago, the three of us went up to Sandy Hook, NJ (near Ariella's hometown) to go boating with our friends Karen, Shawn, Katie and Andrew. So of course, Morgan had to get all dolled up in her boating outfit and boat shoes (courtesy of Aunt Lindsay)...



Karen, Morgan, Katie, Cabbage Patch Kid (sorry, I didn't catch her name) and everyone else all enjoyed a sunny summer day out on the river...









After we docked the boat, we took a swim in the pool at the Marina...






We've got Morgan trained to think that bath time means it's bed time. So after her swim in the pool, she instantly fell asleep. Whoops.

Morgan's first Road Trip

Catching up on some long overdue blogging...

A few weeks ago, we took Morgan on her first trip outside of the Garden State. Destination: Schenectady, NY.

Our first stop was our friends Susan and Keith's house. Their little girl Ava was VERY excited to meet Morgan. First thing Saturday morning, Ava helped Sue give Morgan a bottle...




In the afternoon, we spent some time by the pool...



And, just before bed time, Ava and Morgan finished off the day with some tummy time.



Speaking of tummy time, on Sunday morning, we stopped by to see our friends Jeff and Nicole, and Morgan's old pal Cooper. Here, the two babies compare tummy time techniques: Morgan opts for the "double-elbow peek-a-boo", while Cooper is a traditionalist who likes the "classic flop".

Morgan's Pool Party

Morgan had her first dip in the pool this week. Her BFF Cooper was in town, so they had a play date at his grandma's house.



Morgan was ready for summer with sunscreen, a hat, and sun glasses!



Even with all the UV protection, she still managed look cute...



We dipped her feet in first...



She seemed to like it, so it was finally time for our future Olympian to have her first official swim (thanks to Aunt Lindsay for the cool Speedo bathing suit)!











Morgan felt right at home in the water. In fact, she even spit up in the pool -- just like she does everywhere else (note the white spots on the front of her bathing suit.)



After all that excitement, Morgan finished off the day quality lap time with Mom.

Morgan meets the world

Everyone says they they're coming to see all of us. But we know who everyone wants to see: Morgan.

The fun started on May 10, when Joe & Sheila arrived (a.k.a. Grandpa & Grandma, or whatever Morgan decides to call them)



Morgan and Aunt Lindsay are already BFFs...



Inter-generational photo opp #1: Morgan and Mom with Nanna...



Inter-generational photo opp #2: Four generations of Stock/Riley/Sakraida/Saucier gals...



On Sunday, May 25, our friends Jeff & Nicole stopped by to introduce their new addition to the family, Cooper...



The first face-to-face meeting of Cooper and Morgan...



After all those introductions, Morgan finally got some quality time with Mom.