Alyssa’s “new trick” this week is cleaning up.  It took her a while to understand just what we were all doing with her toys, at the end of the night.  But now, before bedtime, she participates!  Her favorite things to pick up are her blocks & the toy animals & other plastic pieces that go inside of her Noah’s Ark play set.  She likes to have her Mommy or Daddy hold the block bag open, then she will bring one or two blocks over at a time & put them in.  Then, we stop to celebrate, by clapping & saying, “Yay” together, followed by putting a couple more blocks away, repeating the entire process.  Once all the blocks are in the bag, Jeremy or I will zip it, then proceed to help her put away the Noah’s Ark toys.  These, she can throw in, one at a time, in the opening at the top of the ark.  Once she’s finished, she closes up the ark & typically gives herself one more round of applause & another “yay”.  We’re so glad she enjoys it & is taking after her Big Sis when it comes to chores, so far, at least…  😉

Alyssa just keeps soaking things in, like a sponge! We’re not sure exactly where it came from: possibly since we let her watch Thomas the Tank Engine on T.V., or perhaps just from playing with her circus animal train that her Grandma Linda got her for Christmas, but she just loves to say, “Choo-choo”, now! It’s especially cute, whenever Katrina sets her up, by saying, “Chugga, chugga” a couple of times & then lets Aly finish the phrase. They kept doing this the other night, in the car & we couldn’t help but giggle with delight at the girls’ sweet voices & the fact that they were working so well together, even if it was on something so simple. Since then, Alyssa has decided that not only trains, but her Elmo ride-on car, as well as other toy cars that she can push along the ground should have that sound effect, too. Her big Sis is trying to teach her to say, “Vroom” instead, but so far, “Choo-choo” seems to be more fun – kind of like the way she “meows” at both the cat AND the dog! 😉

Alyssa is getting so mobile, these days! In fact, a new “trick” she learned just this past week is how to climb on her little Elmo car, all by herself. She also was able to get on a friend’s fire truck toy with no problems. She finally seems to understand what these kinds of toys were made for! It’s exciting to watch the look on her face, as she keeps accomplishing these fun tasks. Not only can she maneuver these “vehicles” well (going forward & backward & climbing on & off of them), but she can walk all over the place on her own, now, too! She keeps on amusing and amazing us, and herself! We can’t wait to see what she will learn next! 🙂

It’s so much fun to watch Alyssa experience things for the first time! We went to Chick-Fil-A a few days ago for lunch & they were handing out free balloons. I tied hers to the high chair she was using, while we were there. It was so cute to watch her – she would eat a few bites, then tug on the balloon string & giggle with delight while it bounced up & down in the air, then go back to eating! Once she was done eating, it was all about the balloon, of course – she would smile at me or her Daddy & just babble at us, like she was explaining to us that she had a balloon & how cool it was, or something! It’s so awesome how sometimes the simplest things bring us so much joy! Of course, we brought it home & although it’s lost a lot of air, the girls are still enjoying playing with it together – rolling it to one another & laughing & such. We just love how sweet they are!

Aly also took off again, just the past couple of days! Some friends at our Journey Group on Sunday were asking if she was walking all over the place yet & unfortunately, we had to say, “No”, however, that has completely changed, now! She will go across the room to pick up a toy building block, then turn around & bring it to you! Then, she goes back for more! Walking for her isn’t a constant thing yet, but it’s like it finally “clicked” & she realized she could do it, all by herself! She grins & giggles & even says things like, “Here ya’ go!” and “Thank you”, when handing off the blocks. We’re just so proud of her for learning & growing & adding this new skill! This summer, watch out, playgrounds, her she comes!!! 😉

Alyssa learned a couple new things this past week.  It’s so much fun to watch toddlers imitate their surroundings!  We’re pretty sure she wasn’t saying it before going to her Grandparents’ house, but on Easter morning, while we took pictures, she kept saying, “cheese”, every single time!  We’re almost certain she picked it up over there – Grandma tends to take lots of photos of her sweet, little granddaughters, whenever she gets the chance!  😉

Another thing she began showing real progress on is her eating habits.  She used to always try shoving food in her mouth, no matter the size, without taking any bites at all – whatever fit, that’s what would go in & whatever didn’t, she just let fall out, onto her bib, the tray on her high chair, etc.  Well, just this week, she started taking actual bites of things!  We can now give her whole crackers, cookies, even French fries & she eats them “like a big kid”, for the most part, anyway…  She has also been using a spoon more frequently.  We used to never give her things in bowls, because we were worried that she would just dump them out, either on her high chair tray, or on the floor.  But she recently seemed to stop throwing things on the floor, which is something she used to do at almost every mealtime.  So, along with the spoon, we tried giving her food in her little, plastic bowls & she’s doing pretty well with it, so far!  She tends to hold the spoon in one hand, while eating with the other, but it’s progress, nonetheless…

Alyssa has just been “taking off” in her vocabulary this week!  She began repeating, “Meow” to the kitty & her Big Sis also taught her how to say, “Uh-oh”!  And, she actually uses both of them in the correct context, although once she starts in, she can’t seem to stop, ha-ha!  We also play a little game with her, where we will touch one of her hands & say, “Got’cha”!  Well, this week, she has made it interactive – she touches our hands & will now say, “got”, it’s sooo cute!  Another fun word she loves is “that”.  Whenever we put her to bed at night, we read one of her baby books to her.  She has 3 that we typically let her choose from & she has always either pointed, or touched the one she wants, to show us her choice.  Well, just recently, along with the pointing or touching of the book she wants, she has begun *yelling*, “daaat!”  It’s funny & cute, because she does it with such enthusiasm & giggles about it, too.  She’s really getting to be a little smarty!  😉

She also had a little bit of a “walking breakthrough” a few nights ago.  When her Daddy was at a meeting, learning about a new computer programming language, Aly, Katrina & I were home, playing on the floor, when out of nowhere, she just decided she wanted to pet the kitty-cat, who was sitting on the rocking chair at the time!  So, without any begging for help, or warning that she was going to do it, she just took off, letting go of the edge of the couch that she had been “cruising along” & grabbing on to the rocking chair in victory, once she had reached it.  It was only about 3-4 steps, but she has once again proven that she *can* and *will* do it – you just can’t watch (or at least she has to think that you aren’t looking), ha-ha!

Thankfully, Alyssa hasn’t been bothered by this strange weather we’ve had lately.  She had a runny nose, once, but that’s about it.  However, she did learn how to make fun of her Daddy, this week!  Poor Jeremy had an awful cough for a few days & of course, he would cover his mouth each time he needed to let one out.  Well, one time, Aly proceeded to imitate him, placing her little hands over her mouth & letting out the cutest, funniest, little “cough-noise”.  Of course she smiled afterwards, completely pleased that she was able to mimic Daddy’s actions so well.  We couldn’t help but laugh, which caused her not only to giggle herself, but also to do a few more “fake coughs”, just for reaction’s sake, ya’ know?  😉

Sometimes copying is the best way a toddler can learn, though!  We’ve heard several new words from Alyssa this week!  She is beginning to really try communicating with us, beyond fussing, which is such a welcome surprise.  She enjoys greeting people, now, and will say all three words, “Hi”, “Hello” and “Hey”, usually in combinations.  It’s cute.  She also likes to ask us to “go whee” – basically, we lift her up in the air, above our heads & say, “Whee” while smiling at her.  It’s just cool, because lately, she will crawl up to you, lift up her hands & say the word, whenever she wants to do it!  We all can’t wait to see in what new ways she will communicate with us, from now on…

Alyssa has just been bubbling over with personality this week!  She has gotten to the point where she will just come up to you & start “jabbering”.   She typically uses no real words, but occasionally, when she feels like “performing” she will…  But, she can giggle, smile & just be spontaneously cute with the best of ‘em!

She had a hard time on Sunday, though.  We’re not sure if she was just tired, or what, exactly.  She didn’t have any symptoms of being sick at all, but she was extremely fussy.  For example, we can usually leave her in the church nursery & she has no “stranger anxiety” or “separation issues” whatsoever.  She’s pretty “happy-go-lucky” when it comes to that & will typically just go play with the toys & enjoy her little self, no problem.  But, the other day, she started crying the second I handed her over to the staff worker.  She didn’t stop before I left, either, but I had to quietly exit in the hopes that she would.  Of course, Aly had a great time during the hour that we were in worship service.  If you’ll remember, she had just successfully weaned herself from using pacifiers a couple of weeks ago, too.  Well, when I went to pick her up, I noticed the nursery workers had found her “reserve pacifier” (we had accidentally left one, connected to a clip, inside her diaper bag) & they had clipped it to her dress for her.  They said it was just to calm her down, which was fine, but we have since “removed the vice” & hope that she will continue to be okay without them, from now on.  We also hope our “poor, sweet baby” won’t have pathetic outbursts like that, any more, but I guess we’ll just have to see how things go…

Alyssa learned a couple of new things this week.  One, cute & fairly nice, the other, not so great nor quite as nice…  The first thing she learned was to give a “high-five”, although her version of it is extremely gentle.  You can hold out your hand & ask her, “gimme five”, to which she places her hand softly on your palm & smiles.  It’s really sweet.  We always respond by saying something like, “alright!”, or “good job!”  It’s kinda’ funny, now, though.  Sometimes, you’ll be holding out both of your hands, in order to pick her up & she gives her little “high five” with a smile, instead.  She’s a sweet, silly baby…

Along those lines, she has also managed to “teach herself” a way of throwing tantrums that is somewhat quiet, yet still very undesirable.  When she is being stubborn (doesn’t want to stop doing something, or is mad you’ve taken a toy out of her reach, etc.), she has begun putting her head down, on the ground, in silent objection.  Occasionally, she will let out a little yell, like, “augh!” with it, but that’s getting rarer, as time passes.  Either way, the “head-down pout”, as we’ve come to call it, is usually followed by some fussing, or sometimes she just looks back up at you to make sure you’re watching her protest.  It’s kinda’ funny & cute, in a pathetic sort of way, to be totally honest…  But I’ve been wondering lately, is it just me, or isn’t she too young to be starting the “terrible two” phase…?

Alyssa keeps growing & changing, which is a good thing, but at times, you just wish they would stay little, ya’ know…?  Since she seemed to love her pacifiers, but her Big Sis never cared for them after about 6 weeks of age, we weren’t sure exactly how we were going to “wean” her from them.  We knew the time was coming soon, since it gets much more difficult after a child turns 2, though…  Well, one day, we forgot to keep a paci. in her crib during her nap, but it didn’t even seem to phase her!  She slept well & woke up without fussing, too.  So, that night, we decided to “experiment” by leaving the pacifier out & if she really seemed to be searching for it, we’d give in, of course – we weren’t trying to completely get her off of them, so abruptly, necessarily…  But, she didn’t even notice it was gone then, either!  So, believe it or not, she quit, “cold turkey” & has not gone back to them since – most likely because we haven’t offered them any more; however, since she doesn’t seem to notice and/or care that they are “gone” now, we believe that she’ll stay weaned, at least that’s what we’re hoping…

Another way Aly’s continued to show “toddler progress” is that when we spoon-feed her, she now tends to grab at the spoons, sometimes in a “correct” manner that allows her to “help” feed herself; it’s so cute!  It’s interesting to note, too, that although she started out being more of a “lefty”, when feeding herself finger-foods (her Dad was the same, as a baby), that she tends to grab at the spoons now with her right hand.  So, we’re curious to figure out which one she will prefer, as time goes on.  We won’t be forcibly having her focus on either, though.  We’ll just sit back & see what she goes with!  🙂