Morgan Kate

Each night I sit down at the computer with a longing to write. I love writing. It's like therapy for me. However, as I sit down and begin to type I hit a huge wall. My thoughts escape me and I can't think of anything except how badly I want to crawl in the bed and get some shut-eye. So as I wait for the "writing wall" to come crumbling down, here are a few updates on Morgan Kate:


Sleeping
MK has always been a good sleeper, especially at night. She was never really a good napper until she was about 18 months old or so. But, she's always been a great night sleeper and slept for at least 12 hours. Until recently. Ever since she started with this ear infection in early October her sleep has been awful. Therefore, our sleep has been awful. She wakes up probably four out of seven nights. Some nights she up for a few minutes, other nights, like last night, she's up for two hours. I don't know what in the world is going on, but I am praying for a good night's sleep very soon!


Eating/Drinking
MK is a pretty good eater and will try almost anything, at least once. Her favorites still include fruit, veggies, pizza, french fries, waffles, pasta, potatoes and ketchup (Does that count as a food?). As for drinking, she's quite content with milk or water. We have offered her other drinks (juice, ginger ale, Capri Sun), but she really just likes milk and water. Now, sweet tea....that's another story!


Size
At her last doctor's appointment, which was Monday a week ago, she weighed in at twenty four pounds and three ounces!!! She's a growing girl! She's wearing mostly size 4 or 5 shoes and a size 4 diaper. I think I mentioned in the last update that she was wearing size 3 diapers, but that was a total typo. She hasn't worn size 3 in quite some time. As for clothes, I really have no clue. She still wears some 12 month dresses and shirts, other clothes are 18 months and there are some pants and PJs that are 24 months or 2T. I can never really go in a store and buy anything that correlates with her age. I need her with me and I need her to try it on. 


Therapy
We are still going to speech and we still go once a week, but we are getting ready to increase to twice a week. We cut back at the beginning of the school year to get her (and me) adjusted to our new schedule and because her therapist was/is pregnant. However, we are now in a much better routine and we are going to continue with twice a week. A few weeks ago she had her annual re-evaluation. Her receptive language (what she understands) was excellent and almost with her actual age. Expressive language was another story. I expected to see more of a delay there because I know she doesn't talk as well as other two year olds, but her scores indicated that her expressive language was more around that of a one year old. I'm not sure how I feel about the results. One part of me realizes that it's just a test and just a test that's given on one particular day. If MK was crabby or grumpy or just not feeling up to talking, then all of those things could have and would have affected her scores. So, I'm taking it all in stride. She does A LOT of talking at home and A LOT of it makes sense to Travis and I. There are still times where it seems she is speaking in a foreign language, but we really do understand most of what she is saying. 


We are also still seeing our early interventionist twice a month. We will continue to see her until we are finished with speech or once Morgan Kate is three, whichever occurs first. 


Personality/Attitude
Whewh! MK is FULL of spunk and personality. She is the sweetest, most loving child at times who wants to give hugs and kisses as much as she can. She will pat my back and play in my hair and rub my face. I love it! And that same loving baby girl can throw fits like never before and do things despite the fact that she has been told not to. Some days Travis and I say to each other, "What are we going to do with her when she's 12, if she's already acting like this?" Ha! She does not like being told no or being sent to time out. When we do she sticks her bottom lip out and covers her face. I have to bite my lip so that I don't smile or laugh. 


Routine
I feel like we are finally getting into some sort of routine now that I am back at work. I like getting into a routine and feeling more comfortable with things, but being away from her does not get any easier. Any time that I do have a day off (home with her because she was sick, election day, etc.) it makes me miss my days of being home. There are days when I miss that time terribly! I just want to be with her as much as I can because I see how fast it all goes by and how time just does not slow down. Thank goodness Christmas break is right around the corner!!!