Busy Bee

Morgan has been a very busy little girl lately. She continues to love preschool and is learning so much. They have a theme each week at school, this past week it was Fairy Tales. They read lots of stories including the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. Morgan loves to talk about the big bad wolf and show me how he blew the house down. She had a great time at preschool last week playing dress-up.

Morgan also continues to be a little social butterfly at school. She has become good friends with the two little girls in class and apparently they argue every day over who gets to sit next to Morgan for snack, so Morgan always ends up in the middle.

She has learned many new things at preschool; her newest trick is she has learned how to wink. She is so funny with her winking too. At dinner she will just look at me with the cutest little smile and then wink at me from across the table. It cracks me up, which in turn cracks Morgan up. She loves to be silly.

We did finally arrange to have a play date at our house with her friend Sophie from school. As it turned out Morgan had in fact arranged her own play date. Apparently the same day Morgan told me she had invited Sophie over Sophie had gone home from school and insisted to her mom that she needed to go to Morgan's house to play immediately. So, it took us over a week but we finally got the girls together. Morgan loved having Sophie over and getting to show her all her baby dolls and her kitchen. They played together very nicely and when it was time for Sophie to leave they gave each other lots of hugs and kisses. We walked Sophie out to her car and Morgan kept saying "don't go, stay and play." It was very sweet.

Since then we have exchanged phone numbers with the other little girl in class. Her mom said she is constantly asking if she can play with Morgan, so hopefully we can arrange a play date for them soon.

We have also been busy with Friday Night Football starting back up. Morgan loves to go to the games, although we don't actually see any of the game. Last year we at least made it into the stands to pretend to watch, this year we haven't even done that. Instead, she likes to meet up with her buddies, Maggie and Lindsey, and hang out down along the fence just playing. This past Friday evening Maggie packed enough pom poms for all three girls. They had a blast together cheering for the Bobcats. Maggie would make up and cheer and Morgan would try her best to follow right along. Needless to say she was exhausted by the time we got home.

This week we start back up with Physical Therapy (we have had almost the entire summer off due to our new school schedule) and then in two weeks Morgan starts TROT. TROT is the horse therapy that Morgan will be trying out to try to increase her core strength, flexibility, and balance. She is scheduled to do that ever Wednesday.

Although we are going to be very busy I will try my best not to let it go three weeks before updating again.

It's My Turn Now...

Morgan has now completed her first three weeks of preschool and she still absolutely loves it. Everyday when either David or I drive into the parking lot to bring her to school she shouts "Hooray! Preschool!" She is still not wanting anything to do with her big wheelchair at school (which is exactly what we hoped for). She asks first thing when we enter the room to be put down in her walker. She then hangs her backpack, puts her lunchbox in the bin, finds her nametag to trace, and her picture to hang saying she is present for the day (all with a little help; mostly turning the walker for her). She spends most of her day in her walker, however, when she tires they have her mini-wheelchair that Charley built for her to use.

Morgan loves her new Buzz chair.

Charley even attached a license plate so every knows who it belongs to.

So school is going fabulous. Morgan is making friends and having a blast. The other day when I went to pick Morgan up I ran into the director, Beth. She told me that one morning when Morgan was in her wheelchair (not sure if it was the big one or Buzz chair) that a little boy came up to her and said, "okay, it's my turn now." So cute. I love that at the age Morgan is at none of the kids look at her as though she is different. They all still treat her like everyone else and they all adore her. In the afternoon class that she goes to on Tuesday and Wednesday there are some older kids there too. In fact, some are bused from kindergarten over there so there are even some five year olds. One little girl came up to me last week and just kept telling me how adorable Morgan is and how much she loves her. It was very sweet. So Morgan has made some good friends; one in particular. She really has taken to a little girl named Sophie. They play together every morning in Ms. Terry's class and then I believe they go to Ms. Amber's class together too. The other day she made one of the paras help her walk all the way down to Ms. Amber's room because she insisted that she and Sophie needed to hold hands while walking down (too cute, but I felt bad for the para. I can only imagine how much her back must of hurt after that). Morgan has asked if Sophie can come over to play. In fact, I think she may have already invited her because the other day after preschool Morgan said to me, "Sophie, come to our house, play." To which I replied, "well maybe. I will have to talk to her mom and invite her over." Morgan's response was, "invited." So, she may have already set up her own play date. In the meantime Morgan's teacher emailed me some photos of the girls playing together and also gave me Sophie's mom's contact information so we can set up a time for the girls to play.

Sorry they are blurry.

We could not be happier with how things are going right now. Morgan is doing so well with her talking and seems to be becoming a social butterfly. We are thrilled that she is so motivated at school to walk and wants to get going with everyone else. Our next big step is continuing with potty training. (Man, that is hard work!).

On a side note, we had Lucas over to play on Friday morning. I am really trying to encourage Morgan just to call him Luke or Lucas as she still calls him "Baby Luke" even though he won't be a baby much longer. He is all over the place and Morgan loves it! She was very encouraged by him and loves that he is reaching an age where he can actually play with her. They had a blast blowing raspberries together during lunch and then playing jump rope (one of Morgan's favorites) and just hanging out.
Here are two short videos from that morning:




Morgan kept saying that Lucas was helping her walk. It was very cute! He loved grabbing on and walking along with his "cousin".

First day of Preschool!

I can't believe Morgan is now a preschooler. How the time has flown by. We had a busy morning getting all the last minute things ready and were able to actually make it out the door on time. Whew!

Our preschooler first thing in the morning. She woke up early (5:45) and was ready to eat and start her day!

All dressed and ready to go. Morgan sat still long enough that I was able to French braid her hair.

Morgan was so excited about her backpack and lunch box. She attempted to stand with it on, but I think the backpack weighed almost as much as her.

Outside of school

We arrived at school just in time to meet Brady and his family outside for a few quick photos of the kids together. Morgan was very happy to see her buddy Brady and check out his new lunchbox and backpack.

Morgan checking out Brady's soccer ball lunchbox.

Brady and Morgan ready to go play!

Morgan drove herself in from the parking lot using her big wheelchair, but as soon as we entered the classroom she asked to get down. She wanted to get right into her walker and take off. She noticed the other kids coming in and hanging their backpacks on the hooks under their cubbies, so I pointed her that way and attached her bags and off she went.

Morgan walked right over to the hooks and tried as hard as she could to hang her backpack. I ended up helping as it was hard to lift the backpack. I then turned her towards the lunch bin to place her lunchbox in. Again she walked straight over to it.
I again helped her place the lunchbox in the bin. Then she spotted the table where some kids were coloring their name tags. Morgan headed that way. Ms. Terry held up two name tags and asked Morgan which one was hers. She immediately picked out the right one. With some help she sat down at the table and colored her name tag. By the time David and I got back from the van with our bags full of school supplies Morgan had moved on from coloring and was making her way to the carpet for circle time. She had made a special request for the bean bag song which her teachers gladly obliged.
When we showed up at 10:45 to pick Morgan up they were outside for recess. We spotted Morgan quickly; she of course was riding her bike. We donated her old tricycle to the preschool (the one that Charley attached straps to the pedals) so she would have a bike she could ride.


When Morgan spotted us she was very excited to see us. She told us she had a great day but was ready to go home. You should have seen how sleepy she looked. They really wore her out. In fact for the first time in a VERY long time she actually asked to take a nap. During lunch we got to hear all about her day. Here is how the conversation kinda went:

Me: Morgan, what did you do at preschool today?
Morgan: Circle Time, bean bag song
Me: What else did you do?
Morgan: Play, Owen, cars
Me: Anything else?
Morgan: Snack, Sophie
David: What about outside, what did you do out there?
Morgan: Ride bikes, Sophie

So as you can tell Morgan had a great first day. From what we gathered through her short two word answers (she was so tired she didn't want to elaborate much) they started the day with circle time. At circle time they did the bean bag song and (because I read the board) also sang The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. From what Ms. JoLynn said Morgan was a crack-up during the bean bag song; she was dancing like crazy. She also said that Morgan sang all the other songs and was even teaching Ms. Terry some new moves for the Wheels on the Bus. After circle time I think they did some free play which is when Morgan met Owen and they played cars together.

Then at snack she must have made friends with Sophie. Yes, Grandpa that is right, there IS a Sophie in her class. I have joked with Charley all summer that if there is a Sophie in her class and she calls her "Sophie Dopey" that he would be the one to call Ms. Terry and apologize. You see Grandma and Grandpa's dog is named Sophie and he always calls her Sophie Dopey. Well Morgan has picked up on this too and always calls her it now. Thankfully Ms. JoLynn said that Morgan just called her Sophie.

So, the first day went great. She did a LOT of walking and standing and moving and was EXHAUSTED. Hopefully things will continue to go smoothly and our little girl will continue to LOVE school!

Meet the Teacher!

Thursday evening Morgan had Meet the Teacher night at her preschool. She was very excited to go up and visit her classroom (as she had already met her teacher a few times) and show it off to her daddy.

All ready to go!

When we pulled into the parking lot Morgan yelled, "Preschool! Hooray!" She was so excited!

We first headed to the "Duck Room" where Morgan will be in the mornings on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 7:45-10:45. Her teacher in the Duck Room will be Ms. Terry. I forgot to get a picture of Morgan with Ms. Terry so I will try to get that on Monday. There are currently 11 children in the room and four adults (Ms. Terry, Ms. JoLynn, Ms. Katie, and Ms. Barbara). Although Morgan was not assigned a one-on-one aide, Ms. JoLynn will be there to primarily help Morgan. I went in on Monday and worked with her to show her how to do Morgan's braces. We are so excited to have Ms. JoLynn working with Morgan. I actually worked with JoLynn at Sycamore for the past three years. She is wonderful and is going to be an amazing aide for Morgan.

When we entered the room Morgan headed straight in and wanted to immediately sit down and do playdough at the table. I helped transition Morgan from her wheelchair to a chair at the table and then stepped back to let her play. David and I then spoke with Ms. Terry and got all the paperwork for class while Morgan played.

We then went back to just watching Morgan. I have been telling David for weeks now that Morgan is a peanut compared to the other kids that will be in her class. Well, that night a little girl came in and joined Morgan at the table for some playdough. David looked at her and then turned to me and said, "see, she's not that small. That girl is the same size." Right after those words came out of his mouth we heard her mom say, "No, don't give her playdough. She will eat it! She is only almost 2." David then turned to me and said, "well, maybe you are right."

Shortly after that Ms. JoLynn came in and I was able to introduce David to her. She then immediately jumped in to playing with Morgan. David and I thought it was a great time for Morgan and JoLynn to get to know each other, so while they played we went down to Morgan's afternoon classroom.

Morgan and Ms. JoLynn. While we were in Morgan's other class she and Ms. JoLynn had fun coloring a duckie picture and then reading some books. Morgan also met the class 'dog'. She loved him.

So while Morgan was hanging out in the Duck room David and I headed down to Ms. Amber's room. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays (since I will be working those days) we are going to try having Morgan go all day. She will go to Ms. Terry's class in the morning and then at 10:45 Morgan and Ms. JoLynn will head down together to Ms. Amber's room. Just like in her morning class there will be a total of four adults in the room. I am not sure how many kids they have. Morgan will do lunch, recess, nap, and then more playtime in there. We are very excited that Morgan was placed in Ms. Amber's class. I know Amber through Sycamore as well. She student taught there two years ago and has a son in third grade there. We are very lucky to have Morgan in such good hands.

Morgan and Ms. Amber playing playdough.

After taking Morgan down to see Ms. Amber's class we headed outside to check out the playground. We were also waiting to see Morgan's friends Brady and Seth. My girlfriend, BJ, recently took a teaching position at the preschool and will be right next door to Morgan teaching the pre-K class (I am hoping that Morgan can be with her next year). Anyway, her son Seth is also three and will be attending the preschool. He and Morgan will be in Ms. Amber's class in the afternoon together. Morgan's other friend, Brady, will also be going to preschool. He will not be in Morgan's class yet (he is not 3 yet, but after he turns 3 he may go into her class). However, both their teachers know that Morgan and Brady are good friends and have agreed to help them hook up to play on the playground. I don't think they will have trouble finding each other though. The second Morgan spotted Brady walking out of his classroom that night she began shouting at the top of her lungs, "Brady! Brady!" Morgan and Brady had fun playing together on the playground, especially playing one of Morgan's favorite games: catch.

Morgan checking out the slides.

Playing catch with Brady.

After our visit with preschool was over we headed home for some pizza with Brady and his family. It was nice getting to spend time with Brady and his parents, Bob and Lisa, and his baby brother Jake. We had not hung out with them in a while. During dinner we were talking about how crazy it is that we first met them at the pool at aqua kids when Morgan was 14 months and Brady 5 months. And now look at them; they are starting preschool together. Bob also pointed out that tomorrow will be their first day of school ever and they won't be done with "going back to school" each year until they graduate college. So crazy to think about!

This weekend we have been busy doing last minute things to prepare for preschool. On Thursday night we picked up some of the teacher's wish list requests so Morgan and I headed out to Target on Friday to buy all kinds of goodies for her classrooms. We were also busy (well, mostly me) completing Morgan's first homework assignment. She was asked to design an All About Me poster for a class book they are making. Too funny that that was her assignment, it is exactly what I used to do the first week of school with my fifth graders. Anyway, I stayed up late on Thursday uploading all my pictures to Walgreens. We then picked them up on Friday along with stickers to decorate her poster. When we got home and started working on the poster I quickly realized there was no way I was going to get all of the pics to fit on the page. I ended up using both sides of the poster; I figured since it is going to be a book we should be able to decorate both sides. Morgan, David, and I sat down together this morning to finish putting it together. Morgan helped put the photo corners on to stick the pictures down.

Tomorrow morning we will be off to her first day of preschool. I think it will be harder on us to leave than it is for Morgan. We will try to post pictures tomorrow as soon as we can.

Visiting some old friends

Three years, two months, and one week ago we met two of the most amazing nurses ever, Dede and Karen. Karen was Morgan's main nurse while we were in the NICU. She was our angel. It was thanks to Karen that we never had to leave the hospital without our baby girl. They had discharged me on a Saturday, but Morgan was not ready to go home. At the time the tiny little NICU did not have space for parents, just the babies. But they did have an isolation room. One tiny little room that did allow for parents to stay. Karen was able to arrange to get Morgan placed in there so we could stay with her. I can't tell you how grateful we were for that. The other nurse, Dede, was actually never assigned to take care of Morgan, but she was constantly there helping out in every way possible. It also just happened to be that Dede's oldest daughter, Angela, was going to be in my class for the upcoming year. So through having her oldest daughter and now her younger two in my SUMS class and now ELP Dede and I have remained in close contact over the past three years.

Dede has often asked if we would come visit the new NICU and we have always said yes, just tell us when. Well trying to find a weekend day (so David can go) that both Dede and Karen are working has been a challenge. Finally, this past Sunday I received an email from Dede saying they were both working as well as Dr. Mehrabani and another nurse that were there when Morgan was born.

So out went the plans of just relaxing at home on our final day of break and we instead headed up to St. Joe's to check out the new NICU. Let's just say this place is HUGE. It is like going from the roach motel to a five star resort. It is amazing. It is exactly what a NICU should be for babies and parents if they should ever have to end up there. There are rooms for each baby and chairs for the parents so they can stay. There is so much privacy. It was just amazing. The best part of the visit though was not seeing the NICU; it was seeing Karen and Dr. Mehrabani. We hadn't seen Karen in about two years so it was nice to get to show off all Morgan has learned. They were both very impressed with Morgan's chair and her ability to drive it. I wish that we had remembered to take pictures, but maybe next time. I promise not to let it be two years before we make it up to say hi again.

A Special Daddy Daughter Date

This past weekend was my last weekend before going back to work. We had planned to just take it easy as a family and stay at home as much as possible. Well, that did not work out, but that's okay because instead of relaxing at home we had two great days of seeing friends. On Saturday I had a ton of errands to run to prepare for the week and my girlfriend BJ had invited me to lunch, so I took off to do my stuff and David decided to surprise Morgan with a Daddy Daughter Date.

Since it was the first Saturday of the month it meant it was Storytime at the U of A bookstore. This month was featuring Clifford, the Big Red Dog. We don't actually read many of his books, but Morgan still knows who he is, she has even caught of few minutes of his show on PBS once or twice.

Morgan on her way to Storytime. Notice the Fancy Nancy book next to her. We can't travel anywhere without books in the car now. One day I cleaned the van out and took the books out. I will never do that again. I heard about it for the entire car ride.

Cruising in style up to storytime.

David said this storytime was even more crowded than last time, but Morgan still wanted to wait in line to meet Clifford. After storytime they headed to a quick lunch together at Subway.

When I got home from lunch and running errands I got to hear all about it. Morgan had a great time and enjoyed having some special time just with her Daddy!

Our Final Week of Break

It is hard to believe that our summer is already over. Well, I should say mine. Morgan still has one more week before starting preschool. For our last week of break we had a very low key week. We stayed at home most of the week and played. It was very nice to have such a relaxing last week of break. The one main event of the week was on Thursday. Morgan had an evaluation for TROT. TROT stands for Therapeutic Riding of Tucson. We have been trying for a while to get Morgan hippotherapy (horse). We know that she can benefit from riding the horse by working on balance, core strengthening, and flexibility. She can also can gain confidence and we all know she loves horses. So now that she is three (the required minimum age) we set up an evaluation to see if Morgan would be a good candidate for the program. The evaluation was done by an OT and a riding specialist. They were both very impressed with Morgan and very amused by her. She was so excited about riding a horse. She was able to get on and ride a horse named Monty. She fit very well on him and even had the chance to ride him backwards. During lessons they said that they will do many different riding positions to target different muscles. Anyway, the eval went very well and Morgan is now set to begin TROT in late September when the weather begins to cool off. In the meantime she has been talking about riding her friend Monty everyday.