All I want for Christmas...

OKay, I knOw iT;S nOt eVEn THANksGiviNg yEt, bUT SIncE GrANDmA and GRAndpA arE cOMing fOr CHRisTMas eArlY, i'M sHaring mY wISH LisT nOW.

cLICk oN tHe LINks oN thE rIGHt TO sEE ALl thE COOl stUff I pICkeD oUt.

MeRrY (eARlY] ChrIStMaS.

LoVE,

MORgaN

Happy Halloween

Morgan's second Halloween was has come and gone. Halloween weekend kicked off Friday afternoon. Mayie and P-Pa arrived in time to attend the "Harvest Party" at school.

Morgan finally got the chance to wear her Elmo costume. All the other toddlers immediately recognized who she was dressed as. Yet, amazingly, there wasn't another kid in the entire preschool dressed as Elmo.

Morgan and her best friend Charlize got ready for the big Halloween parade. We took video of the parade, but it's a chaotic mess.

Apparently, getting 60 preschoolers to walk in a circle while dressed in costumes and hopped-up on sugar is harder than it sounds.

On Saturday night, Morgan went Trick or Treating with Katie and Andrew.

At first, she wasn't sure what to do when she got to someone's door. But she figured out pretty quickly that all she had to do was smile, take candy, and stick it in her bag.

Morgan and the parents lagged behind while the "big kids" raced from house to house. This gave Morgan another chance to come face-to-face with her worst nightmare: Zoe the Puppy.

Looking at little Zoe, it's obvious why Morgan is scared to death of her. I mean, look at her. All fluffy and cute. Clearly, this dog is a menace to society.

Despite the terrifying pooch, Trick or Treating was a great experience for Morgan. Her favorite new discovery was root beer lollipops.

After dark, we headed back to Katie and Andrew's house for snacks. Since it was so nice out (it was still in the high 60's at 7pm), Morgan got to go on a late-night tricycle ride with Mom.

Kitty Face!

Morgan got a little taste of Halloween at school today. When Jenny picked Morgan up from school today, she had sprouted kitty whiskers on her face.

We're not sure who painted her face, really. According to Jenny, none of the other kids in the Morgan's class had face paint. Maybe she ended playing with the big kids class today. Or maybe Morgan was the only kid in her class that was brave enough to get face paint. Or maybe Morgan liked it so much she didn't want the teachers to wash it off.

Either way, she was very proud of her kitty face paint. When we asked her what she was, she said "Kitty... MEOW!"

2nd Annual Monster Cupcake Contest

Last year, we decorated Halloween cupcakes with Henry and Alex, then asked all of our loyal blog readers (all 8 or 9 of you) to choose their favorite. The voting ended up being more popular than we expected. So we decided to bring back the Monster Cupcake Contest for a second year.

The competition was held a few weeks ago. The props included 2 colors of icing, gummi eyeballs, worms, candy ghosts, and a bunch of different breakfast cereals.

Morgan was just a spectator for the first Monster Cupcake contest, but she quickly got the hang of adding Trix to her cupcake.

Of course, she also very quickly realized that cupcakes and sugary cereal is just as fun to eat as it is to decorate.

After a massive sugar rush, Alex had to help Morgan get her head back in the game. All in all, though, not a bad rookie performance for Morgan. She'll be a champ some day.

Without further ado, here are the entries in the 2nd annual Monster Cupcake Competition.

Entry #1: Skull Gravestone

Entry #2: Alien Cyclops

Entry #3: Ghost & Coco Puff Swirl

Entry #4: Harry Potter Glasses

Entry #5: Marshmallow Spooky Tower

Entry #6: Creepy Melted Fluff Face

Entry #7: Little Girl Ate My Face

Cast your votes using the poll at the top of this page!

Please Touch Museum

On Wednesday, Nanna (Sheila) and Grandpa (Joe) arrived for a weeklong visit. It has been rainy and cold here in South Jersey, so we decided to go to Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum on Friday.

The first thing we saw when we got there was the Lazy River. If this had been the only exhibit Morgan saw all day, she would have still had a great time. Water + Ducks = Fun.

After a few more fun exhibits, Morgan spotted the carousel and was really interested in riding. She waited in line with her ticket.

Once she got on, though, she was a little freaked out by the horses. But she liked the bench, and enjoyed the ride.

After the carousel, Morgan took the stage in the musical area. She really liked the pint-sized piano.

After finishing her performance, Ariella and Aunt Mimi spotted the Alice and Wonderland exhibit downstairs. On the way to Wonderland, Morgan and Grandpa checked out the nursery rhymes area, with the cow jumping over the moon.

To get into Wonderland, Morgan had to go through a maze. She was a little scared to go deep into the maze, but once she got through, she was rewarded with all sorts of adventures.

Morgan and Nanna painted flowers with the magic paint brushes.

Of course, no Alice In Wonderland exhibit would be complete without a rabbit hole. After going down a couple times feet-first, she decided (all by herself) that it would fun to go down the rabbit hole head first.

Before we left, Morgan wanted to pick up some things at the pretend grocery store. The food was all fake, but the mob of little shoppers and the long lines at the checkout were just like at real grocery stores!

It took Morgan a minute to understand that she was the one picking out all the food today, not just riding in the cart.

Once she realized she could pick out whatever she wanted, she created a pretty interesting shopping list...

1 bottle of Fruit Punch

1 Avocado

1 Corn on the Cob

3 jars of BBQ sauce

3 Dinner rolls

9 Baguettes

This proved what we've known for months... Morgan loves carbs!

Sick Time is Play Time

In two weeks, Morgan has been to the doctor three times. First, she had a double ear infection. Then she got the flu. Then, after getting over the flu, she had to go back again to get her flu shot.

Of course, you'd never know she was sick by looking at these pictures. Despite the never-ending barrage of antibiotics, Morgan has been playing with her toys like it's her job (which would be a pretty cool job, by the way.)

Lately, Morgan has been obsessed with riding inside things. Here, she attempts to climb into her boat. She's also tried this trick with her shopping cart, and her toy baby carriage.

Baskets are also fun to play in. If you're looking for a unique present for the upcoming holiday season, may we suggest the "Morgan Penguin Gift Basket"?

When she's not squishing herself into places that are too small for her, Morgan has really gotten into role playing with her animals and dolls. On Wednesday, she wanted to feed dried fruit to her kitty. Yum.

Four things occurred to us when we saw the picture below:

1. Morgan has learned how to ham it up for the camera

2. Morgan's hair has gotten REALLY long

3. The gap between Morgan's front teeth and molars looks weirder in pictures that it does in person

4. We're incredibly lucky to have a little girl who's this happy when she's sick

Morgan's First Slippers

We often use this blog to post the news of important milestones in Morgan's life. 

This is definitely not one of those posts.

Morgan got slippers. But they're not just any slippers. They're Elmo slippers. With big fuzzy Elmo heads. They're pretty ridiculous. Plus, they're too big. Even Morgan thinks they're silly. But they make her laugh. And that makes us laugh. So the ridiculous Elmo slippers are here to stay.