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!

Easter 2007

Alette spent the day with family in Huntingdon Valley. At home she had great fun rolling chocolate eggs on the floor, until she discovered how to open the wrapping and they were taken away. I'ld love for her repetoire of food to expand, I just don't think chocolate is the way to go...

Springtime Fun

With the warmer weather, we're trying to get outside more. Yesterday Andy took her to the park on the corner, only to discover she was scared of the grass and leaves blowing across the sidewalk. She's such an urban kid! Today we went for a long walk and stopped at Rutgers for a coffee and bottle break. She was quite happy to show off her new walking skills to all the students (we stayed on the cement sidewalks).

15 Month Details

Alette's 21 lbs, 4 ounces and has just passed the 30 inch mark. At 15 months she's walking around, feeding herself, and has a spattering of words. She says 'dat' for the cats, 'ow' for meow, uh-oh (self-explanitory), and da-da-da-da randomly all day. Does it mean daddy? Unfortunatley probably not. She also says mum-mum-mum when she's upset or has fallen. Does it mean mommy? I like to think so, but unfortunatley, probably not. Her lastest is 'fffff' when pointing to a dog.

Shoes

Can a shoe obsession start too early? Thanks to Grandma J, Alette's got some new shoes to show off. Now that she is walking (yes, she is walking!) we've got to keep her feet in style.

A Busy Week

To answer the question on everyone's mind: No, she is not walking yet. She's having a great time crawling, cruising around with her walker and traveling in the arms of mom or dad. We've had a couple of steps here and there, but the concept of walking seems to be highly over-rated for her. With the warmer weather she is going outside at daycare and because she is on her hands and knees, she gets very, very dirty. Yesterday I picked her up and we had to head straight to the lab for her blood test (just a routine infant thing). I was certain all the other parents were tsk-tsking the bad mommy for letting her baby get so dusty and dirty. Note to self: always carry a change of clothes.

Speaking of getting dirty, we are working on letting her feed herself-a very messy adventure! While she does get some food in her mouth, I feel like I am wiping food off of the walls, the fridge, the counter....She's having a great time though! She is getting used to the sippy cup, at least enough to take one or two swallows before throwing it across the kitchen.

Our big adventure this week was a visit to my kindergarten class. My students have been bugging me all winter for a visit, and finally today it was warm enough to take a walk over after school. Alette was a little overwhelmed by the noise and all the attention at first, my initial attempt to have her sit with some students for a picture resulted in lots of crying (from her, not the students). I forget how loud a group of 5 year olds can be! Once back in the safety of my arms, Alette happily smiled and babbled to the kids, even offering her snack to a lucky few of them. We eventually did get the picture, a quick snapshot before Alette scooted off to try and investigate all the interesting pieces of paper, dust and pencil bits on the floor. By the end of our visit Alette was a pro at working the crowd, waving bye-bye and clapping for everyone. Do we have a little show-off on our hands?

A Visit to the Canadian Grandparents

Alette and I got away for a quick weekend visit to my parent's in BC. Mom turned 60 and we figured the presence of a grandchild would alleviate the pain of turning old (tee hee).
Alette had a great time exploring her new weekend environment. Her favorite spot was the kitchen tupperware drawer, especially once she figured out how to climb into it. She also had a great time at Granville Island. There were so many new smells, colors and things to look at! We spent lots of time looking at seafood, flowers, fabrics, fruits, and vegetables. Alette of course, refused to taste any of the samples. She was also fascinated by the seagulls, with our cats she really doesn't see too many birds.
Grandma and Grandpa did most of the parenting for the weekend, which made it busy for them and a real vacation for me. Alette made sure Grandpa didn't nap for long, or sit in his chair for long, or ignore her for long. She's a real social bug and loves to play and be cuddled! She also loved the long bathes Grandma gave her, none of the quick dips I give her in the rush of daily life. She was a great traveller!(hopefully we can do this trip again in the summer to catch up with friends we didn't get a chance to see)