Christmas celebrations

In Alette's world, Christmas lasts about three weeks. First came a package from Grandma and Grandpa in Canada. Of course we had to open it right away-good thing too since Grandma sewed her a beautiful new dress for the holidays! Then we had Christmas down in DC, then Christmas again up home in NJ. Alette perfected the art of unwrapping-she gladly helped anyone with their gifts. In fact, I had to rewrap several gifts that she unwrapped while I wasn't looking. She has become a busy homemaker with her new kitchen and vacuum!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Alette's birthday was on Dec. 21st, I am obviously way behind here! For her party she played like crazy for the first hour, then fell asleep and missed out on cake and candles. So we saved some and celebrated later. Unlike on her 1st birthday, Alette was more than eager to devour her cupcake.

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!