Morgan's 2nd Birthday!

It's hard to believe how much Morgan has changed in a year. (Don't believe me? Check out her the photo we took on her rocking chair on her 1st birthday) A year ago, she was just learning to walk, and her vocabulary consisted of three words: dog, duck, and Elmo. Now she'll talk your ear off if you let her.

To celebrate her big day, we both took the day off from work, took Morgan to the Please Touch Museum in Philly, then opened up presents and had cake and pizza at home in the afternoon.

Maybe it's just a phase (or maybe it's because we've had temps in the 80's and 90's in South Jersey for five days) but Morgan loves playing with water in the sink lately. One of Please Touch's coolest exhibits is a big indoor river. Needless to say, Morgan spent a lot of time there today.

After playing in the water, Morgan enjoyed jumping around the lilly pads, and then picking up some bread at the kiddie-sized grocery store. (She's been to Please Touch twice, and has gone straight for the carbs both times.)

All that bread made Morgan hungry for a good ol' PB&J.

After lunch, Morgan and Mom took a ride on the old fashioned carousel. Then Morgan and Dad posed for a really weird photo.

The kiddie-sized houses gave Morgan a chance to practice her big sister skills.

And, if the big sister business doesn't work out for Morgan, she can always go work for the Postal Service.

After our busy morning, we came back to the house to open presents. Morgan's big gift from Mom and Dad was a Schwinn tricycle. When she saw it, she screamed "A BIKE!!" and giggled with pure glee. (We're pretty sure she liked it.)

Here's a video of Morgan's reaction...

After two years, Morgan has finally figure out how to tear through a stack of presents like a champ. There's no holding her back now.

After all the presents were opened, Morgan was eager to try out her new bike -- while also trying out the hip glasses that came in the DJ Lance outfit (from Yo Gabba Gabba), courtesy of Aunt Jenny.

Finally, it was time to sing Happy Birthday to our big girl, and eat some cake.

Morgan's birthday party isn't until this weekend. And so far, the Terrible Two's are pretty darn good for our big girl.

Wild Birthday for Dad

Friday was Andy's birthday. What better way for a 38-year old to spend his birthday than by going to the zoo? (Especially when Morgan really wanted to go, too.)

Our first stop was familiar territory for Morgan... the hippos.

Next up, it was the rhinoceros, who was too busy napping to say hi. Morgan said "Rhino sleepy. Rhino tired."

A new exhibit at the zoo this year are life-sized animals made entirely of Lego blocks. (Animals and Legos -- two of Morgan's favorite things.)

Here are the Lego penguins...

And here, Morgan and Mom get up close to the real penguins.

Here's the Lego polar bear...

And here, Morgan checks out a real bear.

Morgan was very excited to see the giraffes. "Too tall," she said.

In the petting zoo section, Morgan spotted this frog statue. "I need to ride frog," she declared.

Be careful when disguising yourself as a giant carrot, Morgan. There are lots of hungry animals roaming around.

Morgan loved the otter exhibit (even though she thought they were seals at first). Morgan's expert animal analysis of the otters: "Otters go splash in water!"

Morgan was also really excited to the monkeys and gorillas.

She saw big ones...

Little ones...

Lego ones...

And big ones that she insisted were "teenie"... well, as teenie as a 200+ lb gorilla can be, I guess.

"Mommy -- that gorilla is teenie"

In the "big cat" exhibit, Morgan saw a mommy and daddy lion, and a tiger.

"Tiger go swim in water", proclaimed Morgan.

In four hours, Morgan saw every animal from A to Z... in fact, a visit to the zebras was our final pitstop of the day.

It was a lot to take-in for a soon-to-be 2-year old (not to mention a newly minted 38-year old). Before we reached the highway, Morgan was zonked out in the back seat.

Easter Fun!

After a busy Saturday (see: "Cooper Turns Two" below) and a long drive home, we woke up in South Jersey on Sunday morning.

Last year, Morgan started walking days before Easter. This year, she climbed down the stairs and raced across the room to see her Easter basket, filled with bubbles, Play-Doh, alphabet flashcards, Legos, and the Nutshell Library books (one of Andy's favorites from when we was little.)

After a pancake breakfast, we got dressed and headed outside to hunt for Easter eggs in the back yard.

Finding Easter eggs is a good way to work up a thirst. So we took a juice break.

These pictures show off Morgan's natural talents for posing for juice ads. (Motts or Smuckers, if you're reading this, call me.)

After lunch, Morgan took a 3-and-a-half hour nap (see: "Cooper Turns Two" below). When she finally woke up, it was time to dye Easter eggs.

Needless to say, Morgan thought this was a pretty good time.

Since the weather was so nice, we decided to eat our Easter dinner outside. Ariella's menu included Dr. Pepper glazed ham, asparagus risotto, and broiled potatoes.

After dinner, we finished off our day with Peeps-flavored Water Ice. So Morgan displayed her natural talents for posing for Water Ice ads. (Rita's, if you're reading this, call me.)

Cooper Turns Two

We spent Friday and Saturday in Schenectady, NY celebrating the 2nd birthday of Morgan's pal Cooper. Now that Coop is 2, it means we're at four weeks and counting before Morgan enters her terrible two's.

We started the weekend by opening some presents. Morgan, being a connoisseur of wooden play food, decided Cooper would really enjoy a toy sandwich set to use in his new kitchen. Yum.

When Cooper's grandparents and uncles arrived, Cooper enjoyed another round of presents -- including a fun tunnel to crawl through.

In the afternoon, we ventured off to Cooper's "official" birthday party at a toddler-friendly gym. Morgan had a blast playing in the ball pit with Cooper and his pal Aiden, sliding down the slide, shaking maracas, popping bubbles, and hanging from the trapeze. (Phew!)

After all that, it was finally time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out candles. Morgan studied everything, and took notes for her big day next month.

"So, Mom... let me make sure I've got this straight. First we open presents. Then we play games. Then everybody sings. Then I get to eat cake. Did I miss anything? I want to make sure I get this right when it's my turn to be 2."

Last but not least, everyone got a turn to ride the zip line. (Okay, Cooper and Morgan both got 2 turns... knowing the birthday boy has its benefits.)