Thanksgiving

Alette is still the pickiest eater. She'll eat yogurt (as long as there are no lumps of fruit), bread (plain or only butter), bananas (occasionally) and cereal (especially if it is from mommy's bowl). However, as we are discovering, she LOVES chocolate and devoured her chocolate turkey. Her and Pippi plunked down on the kitchen for an all-out chocolate feast. Alette used her hands to paint her face with icing, Pippi just went face down into the chocolate. The pictures say a lot, but really, you just had to be there....

Grandmas Gone Wild

Who said grandmas are supposed to be demure and retiring?

A love affair with Elmo and Sesame Street

Everyday Alette points to the tv and says 'lelo, lelo', and oh the tears and wailing if we don't put in her Sesame Street DVD. Her toy Elmo is also a vital part of toilet training. She'll pat his butt and say 'lelo poop', then we need to walk over to the toilet, and go through the whole bathroom routine. While she loves to sit on the toilet too, we have yet to have her actually use it. At this point she just loves the routine of flushing and washing her hands.

Weekend Gardening

It was the perfect weekend for cleaning the yard. We even found a couple of red tomatoes! Alette helped plant some daffodils, but was more interested in eating her snack and watching me work.

Weekend Fun in Princeton

Alette got a sneak peek at what a second birthday looks like-she ate cake, helped Penelope open her gifts, and then helped her play with her toys. Happy 2nd Birthday Pippi! I'm not sure we'll have croquet at Alette's party, although the girls did seem to love it.
Alette's talking up a storm these days (of course that is relative). To our sheer delight she now says 'dada' and 'mama'. She definitely associates Andy with dada, she seems less sure of me being mama. Her new vocabulary also includes 'yes''no' and 'book'. She is also finally repeating words we say to her. What a relief!

More Summer Photos

Even though it is officially fall, I'm still stuck in summer mode-and longing for days at the park, in the pool, and out having fun. Enjoy the pictures of our Maine trip and our camping excursion!

Catching Up

The girls bond over snacks

Alette carefully waters the garden

More watering!
The last part of summer just flew by-and somehow I've neglected to keep up with this blog. Clearly Alette was keeping me too busy!
The highlight of August was our trip to Maine where Alette had the chance to bond with her cousin Pippi.

Camping!

Alette's first camping trip was cut short by rain-lots and lots of rain! We had a beautiful evening on Sunday, and a great early Monday morning but by 10am the rain came in earnest. We took a nap, woke up to rain, went to McDonalds, played in the tent....and then packed it in.
Alette's adventure included a bear wandering through her campsite-she however, was fast asleep. I convinced myself it was only a large dog I heard through the tent walls-yikes!

Our Trip to BC

Alette fixes Grandpa's hair.


Alette seemed to think Harrison Lake was a 'clothing-optional' resort.


Waiting with Grandma and Grandpa for the burgers to be done.



Alette enjoys hanging out with her cousin Nathan.

After a harrowing 24 hour trip across the country, Alette and I enjoyed a great time with family and friends. We went to the park, the pool, the lake, the mall....and spend lots of time at Grandma and Grandpa's house hanging out with the cousins.

Pigtails!

Alette's hair has finally gotten long enough for pigtails! She's remarkably patient as I try new things with her hair - maybe because she knows she is going to pull it all out the minute she is out of my reach.

More Shoes

Decisions, decisions. Alette contemplates which shoes to wear.

Summer Holidays

Our first day of summer holidays together has not gone well. Alette skipped her a.m. nap, only to be too tired to eat lunch. I put her in her chair, she screamed and pushed the plate off the tray.... I remember a time when I washed the floor and it actually stayed clean for more than a few hours. Then she skipped her p.m. nap because she was too busy playing with Nadia and Ganiyah. I can't blame her-friends are way more exciting than naps. Of course, she fell asleep in the car and has been asleep now for hours. I woke her up at one point, carried her downstairs, only to have her fall asleep in my arms again. I'm afraid she's going to wake up at midnight demanding dinner and entertainment. Hopefully tomorrow we are back on schedule... otherwise it'll be a long summer.
Typically, Alette looks like a real girlie-girl (I'm a sucker for dresses and playing with her hair). Every once in awhile she gets a hold of one of daddy's hats and her whole look changes.

Playground Fun

Alette is definitely gaining confidence on her feet as she now tears over any surface and over any obstacle. Her time at the park consisted mostly of her running around and under the playground equipment with me in hot pursuit.

Watch out Lance, here we come....

Alette has made several trips out in her new burley bike trailer. As long as she has juice, crackers and a book, she's happy (until we hit a bump). Our trips have been relatively short, mostly around the waterfront here in Camden, so I think we'll start training for the yellow jersey next year.

Celebrating Dads

Alette had the chance to hang out with two of her favorite guys over the weekend. She also had the chance to show off some of her new skills: drinking from a cup, throwing things in the trash, and wiping her face. Alette loves an audience and made sure we joined in clapping for each accomplishment.

Some Favorite Activities

The weekend brought the unexpected delight of a visit with Auntie Laura as she stopped by Philly on her way back to DC. Since Alette is the focus of every family visit, she wishes they happened more often!
In the meantime, Alette is honing her drawing and reading skills. So far we have managed to avoid her drawing on anything but paper. Our fridge is rapidly being covered with some of her finer masterpieces-however, she enjoys crinkling up and tearing the paper as much as drawing on it, so few actually survive the creative process.

Summer is here and it is time for.....

chasing seagulls at the beach. The gulls were way more interesting than any sandcastle I could make.


catching up on some good books. A fun afternoon at the Camden Children's Garden.


being silly! The packaging is always so much more fun than the toys inside.


seesaws at the park. The time on the seesaw was cut short when Alette spotted some geese and took off after them.


enjoying our new backyard. Thanks to Andy's hard work, we now have a fabulous play area!


playing in the 'pool'. No need for a real pool yet, Alette is still not convinced that she should actually sit in water.

We're training her early

As Alette gets more confident on her feet, she loves to push things around. At Starbucks the other night, she spent quite a bit of time pushing the magazine rack from one end of the store to the other. It kept her amused and let me actually have a conversation. She also HAS to have the broom if I try and sweep. So much for doing any cleaning when she is around (darn). If only I could teach her to go in one direction and get all the little bits in a pile-wouldn't life get a little easier?

Alette doesn't have a security blanket, she has her books.

Mother's Day 2007

Alette spent Mother's Day up in Princeton with some of her favorite ladies, and her cousin Pippi. According to Pippi she is no longer 'baby Alette' but 'just Alette'. The two girls were rather oblivious of each other's presence, although they did join together for a couple rounds of ring around the rosey. Alette hasn't quite figured out the falling down part.

Alette's latest adventures

Alette just spent a great weekend at Grandmom's house, where she got to visit with Grandpa and Grandmom Terry also. She seems to have picked up the habit of sticking out her tongue and making raspberries....hmmmm. They all obviously had a great time and wore each other out!
The other day Alette and I went to Barnes and Nobles for storytime. We ate lunch (yogurt and steamed milk) in the cafe-Alette did remarkably well and stayed relatively clean until she decided to share with a gentleman two tables down and flung yogurt at him. Luckily her aim is a little off. Alette wasn't so much into the storytime, decided she had heard enough, and was much happier walking up and down the aisles reorganizing the books. She was also quite smitten by the trainset-and proceeded to also reorganize it. Alas, despite my best efforts, it may take the staff awhile to figure out where all the train pieces are and why there are books under various shelves.
No camera, no new pictures :(
Happy Mothers' Day to all!

A Sunny Florida Weekend

Alette and Pippi check out their new sand toys

Pippi helps Andy give Alette her bath

Alette points out the gigantic mickey mouse to her new friend (in case he didn't see it)
Alette went with her dad down to Florida for a family weekend. Although I am sure she loved the time with her daddy, it looks like her cousin Pippi was her constant companion. Alette loved the pool, loved investigating her new surroundings and loved all the attention. Apparently she wasn't so crazy about the sand or the ocean...we'll have to work on that this summer.
Although Andy and Alette made it safely back, our camera did not. So this blog may be in hiatus for awhile.
Check out more Florida photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/marna.seltzer/FloridaApril2007
Thanks Marna!