Alyssa is just such a “faker” – we all know it. I think she does, too; it’s just a matter of time before she realizes that she doesn’t need to be… I’m referring to walking, of course. She & her Mommy went to meet a couple of friends for breakfast at McDonald’s earlier this week & once we were done eating, she decided she wanted to walk, holding onto my pinky finger, all over the place! Anytime I tried to let go, she tried to “plop down” on her bottom, though – which was no good; I don’t like the idea of her crawling around on the dirty floors & “discovering” discarded foodstuffs & things like that… So, we just kept “walking” together, her leading me all throughout the little, plastic, multi-colored pillars, until she got tired enough that we had to leave.

Later in the week, she decided she was going to push her little Elmo car that has a tall handle on its back up & down the hallway, which proved to be great fun! She would go all the way in one direction, until the car bumped the wall at the end, then we’d turn it around & let her go the other way, while she giggled the entire time! Part of the time, she even took some of her “Little People” toys for a ride – placing them on the car’s seat, prior to pushing it. Of course, if they fell off, she just had to stop & place them back on there – it was cute. Then, that evening, while Jeanette & Katrina were at the Daisy Girl Scout meeting, Aly actually did it! According to Jeremy, he had just gotten her out of the playpen to play & much to his surprise, she took about 4-5 steps, unassisted, from there to the couch! Then, he sat a few steps away & she turned around & came back to him!!! We were told that she repeated this process several times that evening, walking to & from her Daddy, until she grew tired of it & decided to just crawl around & play with her toys. She wouldn’t do it again, once we were all home, of course. And, she still doesn’t seem to want to walk on her own; preferring to “drag” or “lead” people around by their pinkies, instead… Perhaps soon, she’ll realize that we are all on to her “little secret”! 🙂

Alyssa has been taking on new experiences like crazy lately. We switched her to sippy cups, just a couple of weeks ago, which she surprisingly took to rather easily. Well, we’d been talking about trying to get her to drink from a straw, before she got too “set” on sippy cups, remembering that we had a hard time getting Katrina to do so, when she was around 2 or so. We had also heard from friends of ours whose daughter is really close in age that 15 months is a good time for it & they’ve already got her drinking from them. So, we decided it’d be good to “follow suit”. We were originally planning on waiting until the weekend, when we were at home, to avoid any “public tantrums” from the “big change”. However, we made a crucial mistake – on Friday evening, when we went out to dinner, we accidentally left the diaper bag at home & no, we don’t keep a “back up sippy cup” in the car, unfortunately… So, we had to order milk from the fast food restaurant, which they put in a cup for us, but then, we had to get a straw. Aly was *not* a “happy camper”. Luckily, she’s still at an age where we give her food to her first, then give her the milk at the end of her meal. That made most of our dinnertime peaceful. But, as her Daddy patiently tried to struggle with her, she broke the restaurant’s silence, by well, just being a toddler, really… Screaming, throwing her head back, kicking her feet – your classic, “I don’t wanna do this & you’re not gonna make me” tantrum… *sigh* It was rather chaotic & all the time, we just endured, trying to ignore the other patrons’ obvious annoyances. She did get a little bit of milk down her & once her Big Sister was done eating, we decided to go. Well, the next morning, after her breakfast, we tried one of the “transitional” straw cups (ones with short, plastic straws) we’d already purchased & had at home, for some time & she took to them, right away! Jeremy gave it to her & although she struggled a little at first, she actually let him help her, which made it all the more easy. Here at home, we’ve been giving them to her with no problems, ever since. We still take sippy cups when we go out, just because they are “spill proof”, but now we have the feeling that if we accidentally forget & have to use a straw again, it won’t be a big issue…

Just the other day, we were in the car & noticed something funny & cute that Aly was doing, too. She had gotten the hiccups, sometime before we got in the car & as we were driving home, we heard them off & on, small & spontaneous, as usual. But, this time, they began to be followed by giggles! Then, she actually did it – started “faking them”! It was as though she was wondering where they had come from & where they had gone & was trying to reproduce them! It was too precious, because not only would she make a “hiccup-like” sound, but then, you’d hear her little laughter immediately following, so it was obvious that she was doing it herself. I love seeing babies take in & realize new things about themselves & the world around them! 🙂

Alyssa had her 15-month well-baby checkup this week.  She is right on track, although a bit on the “small side”, just like her sister was, at this age.  She weighs 19.3 pounds & is now 28.5 inches tall.  She is also trying to walk, although not completely unassisted, just yet.  She *will* stand & push a rolling toy up & down the hallway all by herself & grin & giggle the entire time!  This is also the age that Katrina did the same thing, so we’re not worried at all & just keep encouraging her, all the time.  She is learning words & can say “Mama”, “Dada”, “Sissy”, “hi”, “wall”, “yeah” & “no”, but doesn’t like to “perform”, so we usually are surprised when she tells them to us.  She still loves to play “peek-a-boo” & blow kisses, and she has some of the sweetest baby giggles ever!  She is eating only table foods now & has many likes & very few “dislikes”.  She will eat “like a goldfish” (if you’ve ever overfed one, you know what we mean), if you let her, so you kinda’ have to stop her, sometimes, but it’s still cute…

We just had to share this funny story about her eating, the other day…  She was at her high chair, enjoying her meal, or so we thought.  She was eating green beans, cheese & bread.  (Yes, it sounds like a strange “meal”, but thus is a toddler’s diet – as long as it’s well-balanced, we figure “it’s all good”).  She had finished the cheese & bread & only had green beans left on her tray.  Her Mommy & Daddy were also eating their lunch, sitting on the couch, unaware as to what was really going on in that corner of the room…  Turns out, Aly had either gotten bored or full of the green beans.  So, rather than being a delicious vegetable to consume, they became an interesting, yet somehow cute, toddler accessory:

She may have just started a new, “winter fashion trend”!  Ha-ha!  🙂

Alyssa just continues to delight us! She is such a happy baby, for the most part. She does have her “fussy moments”, but that is typical for a toddler. There are a couple of cute/funny things she did this week, that we just had to share!

First of all, she loves our cat & dog, equally. She likes to pet each of them & is learning how to “be gentle” when she does it. She thankfully doesn’t try chasing them – yet – but, just loves it when they come near her, while she’s playing! She gets all excited & happy & babbles to them & smiles at them. Anyway, the other day, our cat, Butterscotch was walking by, while Jeremy was holding her. Aly pointed down at the kitty, gave a huge, open-mouthed, beaming grin & said, just as plain as day, “doggie!”

Another cute thing she enjoys is playing with her big sister. Katrina has recently been given a toy from someone else (not a family member) that we have been getting our fair share of hearing a *lot* lately. It’s a whoopee cushion & boy do both girls love it! Kat will blow it up, set it on the floor & plop down on it, as hard as she can & when she does, Alyssa just bursts out in the sweetest, most hilarious belly-laughs we’ve ever heard from her! Of course, this gets Katrina laughing & the mood is just contagious from there! Even though the toy itself can get annoying after a while, we can’t get enough of those wonderful, spontaneous, bubbly, giggly moments!

Well, it’s official – Alyssa’s a toddler.  Although she won’t be 15 months old until later this month, she has already “proven herself” in several different ways, just this past week.  One morning, she was handing blocks to her Mommy & repeating “thank you”, in her own way, of course.  So, she’s now added “Dee-Koo” to her vocabulary!  😉 Not only that, but she is getting more active & less sleepy, day by day.  She will no longer take 2 naps for us, sadly.  This is a recent development that we were battling over, however, she won.  We gave in, because it is much simpler, now, to put her to sleep after lunch & let her have one, long nap in the afternoon.  Today is the first day we decided to do that, rather than her “old routine”, which was: breakfast, playtime, nap, lunch, play some more, nap, dinner.  We mainly had to “phase out” the 2nd nap because, according to her internal, “toddler clock”, it was no longer a time to sleep in her crib; instead, it’s a time to sing, play, yell, scream & basically just stay awake until someone realized she wasn’t going to fall asleep, no matter what we did!  Hee-hee!  But, the one nap she took  today was a three-hour one, so I guess we really can’t complain, too much…

Other than that, she has progressed even more, recently.  Sunday afternoon, at our friends’ house, she took her first, *real*, actual, unassisted steps!  About 4 or 5 of them, all by herself – from her Mommy to her Daddy!  There were several witnesses & we were all ecstatic about it, including her Big Sis, who kept trying to help her take more.  She hasn’t taken that many, since, but we are on the right track!  She seems to be getting more “brave” lately – actually trying to step out, on her own, from the couch, to someone who’s about a step or two away, although most of the “steps” she makes this way result in collapsing into either the person’s arms, or the couch cushions!  Of course, now she thinks she can do anything & has become quite the little climber, as well!  We haven’t caught her trying it with her crib yet, thankfully, but the other day, she made it out of her walker, successfully & has been attempting to escape the playpen lately, too!  So, watch out, world, here she comes!!!

Alyssa has been experiencing many milestones, recently.  We keep noticing more teeth in her mouth, for one!  Even though she has had the 4 front, top & bottom ones in (8 altogether) for a while now, we’ve begun to notice new ones, towards the back of her mouth, now – not sure if they are molars, or not, but they are a bit further back than the front ones – she has space for more to come in, in-between them all, it seems…

She has also finally decided that she’s ready for sippy cups, exclusively.  We kept her on a kind of “transitional cup” between the holidays & this week, since she had been sick & we didn’t want it to be a difficult or frustrating experience for her.  But, she took to the sippy like a fish to water & loves to show us what a “big girl” she can be, drinking out of them all by herself!

Along the “walking front”, she really hasn’t taken off on her own, quite yet, but she’s obviously ready…  She will stand & push a wheeled toy, hanging onto its handle, for a few feet & grin the entire time.  We keep praising her for trying, but have yet to see her be fully interested.  We’re not pushing it, but encouraging her every chance we get.  Hopefully, we’ll have the news of her official first steps, soon!

Alyssa had a rough end of the year, but has started the new one, feeling much better. Poor baby was such a “trooper” – she had a bout of pneumonia, followed by a throat infection, then an ear infection, all in a matter of about 2 weeks! As soon as she was over one illness, she would get another, it seemed… But, she was all better by Christmas, thankfully & got to spend time with family & friends, who “spoiled” her, but it’s really a blessing that she has so many loved ones.

She has been enjoying her new toys & is especially interested in those that play music. She likes to “dance”, bouncing up & down while seated or crawling & she giggles when we put her on the big, stuffed pony that she got for Christmas – it makes a “clippity-clop” noise & whinnies, which she thinks is so much fun!

So far, she hasn’t begun walking, unassisted, but will take a step, here & there, if you’re close enough to something/someone else that she can quickly grab on to! We’re looking forward to seeing more steps from her, soon! Other milestones are that she has begun getting more teeth, including 2 upper, back ones we just noticed, recently & she is also rejecting some of the “Gerber graduates” foods now, preferring the food that Mama, Dada & Sissy get to eat, instead! She will fuss & let you know about it, too!

She continues to entertain us with her wrinkled-nosed grins & sweet laughter when she interacts with us. We just can’t wait to see what new things she will soon learn, as she ends the infancy phase & continues transitioning into toddlerhood!

Alyssa started rolling over last night. She’s been trying all week but didn’t realize she needs to tuck her arm in first. She finally figured it out last night and rolled from back to front four times. She hasn’t rolled from front to back yet, but it probably won’t be long. She doesn’t like “tummy time” so she’s motivated.

Alyssa Jasmine Zongker was born Tuesday night, October 24th at SouthCrest Hospital in Tulsa. Jeanette was in labor most of the day, but didn’t realize she was having contractions until about 5:00 p.m.; she just felt light pressure beforehand.

We all ate dinner, left for the hospital and checked in around 7:30 p.m. Family & friends met us there to watch Katrina in the waiting room, while we went into Labor & Delivery. Jeanette continued to progress throughout the night, and was able to get an epidural put in, but she also had a bulging water sack (like she did with Katrina), that didn’t break until about 11:15 p.m. Things progressed very quickly after that, though. The doctor arrived at about 11:30 and Alyssa was born at 11:43, after only 4 pushes! She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 18.5″ long.

All of us are excited & happy she is here, especially Katrina. She seems proud of the fact that she is now a big sister & even says things like, “I love our baby”, and, “Alyssa’s a part of our family”! She has already had a chance to to hold her baby sister (with our help) & even helped hold her bottle for a feeding.

Things are going well here at home, so far. We feel ecstatic & blessed to have 2 beautiful little girls, now. Thanks to all of our family & friends for your love, thoughts, prayers & well-wishes!

In case you didn’t already know, we are currently expecting another baby, due October 30, 2006.  So far, things have gone “like clockwork” with this pregnancy & the growth of our little one.  We found out not too long ago that it’s another girl, which was exciting news!  The name we’ve picked out for her is Alyssa Jasmine.  Sounds nice with her big sister’s name, Katrina Michelle, or so we think, anyway…  😉  We also feel so happy & blessed that God has created this little miracle for & through us & continues to keep both Mommy & baby strong & healthy!

Today was Jeanette’s “36-week check-up”, which means that they consider the baby to be “full term” & we could actually deliver at any time, even though most pregnancies can last up to & even just past 40 weeks…  Our doctor took some really great pictures (facial close-ups) on the ultrasound machine today, though, which we thought we’d share, here for you, below!  They are basically the same, but the second one was what the doctor referred to as “in color” (sepia) — I originally thought this was the “3D image” option on the machine, but I can’t really tell the difference, myself, actually…  In any case, thank you for all your love, thoughts & prayers & please be sure to check in for future updates, soon, as we will be sharing more, once the little one arrives!