The last month

Ok, everyone you wanted an update. Here's an update. How has Alice been the last couple months? Great. I can't believe how much she has learned in the last two months. Meal time has always been stressful. When I say always I mean from day one. I didn't produce enough milk so Alice was never happy with me and then when it came to eating regular food, she just was never that interested in it. It was a constant struggle. Well, finally at sixteen months I was shamed into taking her bottle away. We only used it twice a day, but it was time to stop. I couldn't

believe the difference. I guess since Alice wasn't drinking as much milk she was actually hungry

so when I would put food in front of her she ate it. Not only did she eat it but she would ask for more. She even started eating whatever I was eating with limits since she still only has her top and bottom four teeth. I can't tell you how much happier we all are with meal times not being a battle. Yeah for no bottles. You know those moments when you look at your kid and think, oh, I wish I could freeze this moment forever, well this was one for me. Alice was laughing and smiling while she was eating. Andy was just sitting enjoying the moment and Alley was sitting under the table waiting for whatever food that might drop to the floor. Everyone was so happy and I thought. Oh, if it could be like this forever.

This was another one of those moments for me. It was early in the morning and Alice was teasing Andy. Once again I wanted to freeze this little one like this forever.

Alice has entered into the dreaded clingy stage. It's gotten to the point when even we just enter into someone else's house she begins to freak out. The good thing is it only takes about 15 minutes for her to adjust. Hopefully it wont last to long. The good thing is she still likes to go and visit her grandma's.

Alice loves her front facing car seat. She has been in it a while, but we never have to fight her to get into it and that is just a joy. I love when I turn around and see her just chillin in her car seat.

Alice is still super curious. She is always checking things out, trying to figure out how things work and maybe find something she can still and run away with.

Alice loves to watch movies. I mean she loves it. Her favorite right now is Tangled. If she had it we would watch it on repeat all day everyday. Look how happy this person is.

Smoothies. this kid is so happy over smoothies.

Oh, and remember this bump on her head. This is not the same one. She has not hit this spot on her head three times. Poor kid.

Alice finally has some hair. I can't believe it. To bad I'm not very creative so I have no idea what to do with it. But I am happy. I thought she would be bald forever.

Alice is into helping pick out her clothes and she loves dresses. My aunt sent this dress the other day and when alice saw it in the box she insisted that we put it on immediately. I mean she started holing it and screaming until it was on. She then ran and got her rain boots and wore it until it was time to go to bed.

Speaking of dresses. My sister Shauna sent me a package with the girls first dress up. I thought there was no way Alice would be interested in them, but boy was I wrong. She loves them. At least one a day she drags the box out hands me an outfit and starts lifting her legs waiting for me to put whatever she picked out on. Usually she likes to layer up. After she has the outfit on she starts to twirl and twirl. It cracks me up.

Oh, and yes she still loves her rain boots. They complete any outfit.

Alice has decided that fruit is her favorite thing. When she sees a piece of fruit on her plates she starts to laugh and clap her hands. Her favorite are raspberries, but she also likes apples, oranges and strawberries. Well, I hadn't tried giving her grapes because I thought she would choke to death, but the other night my mom convinced me to try them. I cut them into quarters and gave them to her. She loved them. I mean she grabbed them by the fist fulls and shoved them down her throat. Then she would ask for more. I thought it was pretty hilarious, so the next night I wanted to show Andy. Andy gave her her grapes and she proceeded to eat them in the same fashion. Except one thing. She decided to place one grape gracefully on her head. She kept it there until she was finished eating. She then ate it. It was hilarious.

She was so proud of herself.

Alice has always loved Tucker. Nothing brings her more joy then to be around Tucker. She loves to chase him, pet him and even kiss him. In fact one day she was chasing him around the house making kissing noises. Rarely does tucker let Alice sit by him long enough for me to get a picture of the two of them, but I got lucky one day. Look how happy that kid is. This particular day anywhere Tucker was laying Alice had to run over and curl up with him. It was so cute. Poor Tucker. He puts up with a lot.

Alice has started to get attached to a few things. Her first one is a little blanket thing that has a frogs head attached to it. She loves this thing. She has learned to crawl in her crib (not out thank goodness) so she can retrieve her frog. The problem is once she is in she can't get out and that is very upsetting to her. Her other thing she has attached to is any blanket that has silk on it. She is constantly dragging one around. The other day I found her just laying in a pile of blankets and that is unusual since she usually doesn't stop long enough to lay down.

Alice loves to go outside. Every day she brings me her shoes then walks over to the door and tries to open it so she can go out and play. I love that she loves to be outside.

Whenever Alice is near a car she tries to open the door so she can go for a ride. I guess she figures most of the time when we go in a car we do something fun.

Alice has learned a few more words and sounds plus a few other things. Some of them are:

Hi dad and bye dad. I mean she can say it clear as a bell. It's crazy hearing her say real words.

ball

dog

yawn on command

snap like an alligator

recognizes stars and has to point them out everywhere

again

elephant is now done with sound and arm swing

wawa for water

she does a great fish face

she can make a great octopus noise. I made it up. It's what I think an octopus would sound like when they squirt out there ink.

squawk like a parrot

mum means grandma

If I ask her where poppy is (that is what we call my dad) she runs up and gets a photo album and turns to his picture.

I'm sure there are more, but that is all I can think of. Oh, and she hardly ever says mom or mommy. That always makes me feel good.

This next part is not for the weak stomach.

We had our first bout of sickness this past weekend. It started on Thursday. Alice woke up and she didn't eat breakfast. I thought that was kind of weird, but she had a huge dinner the night before so I figured she wasn't hungry. That afternoon we went to gymnastics and after I tried to feed her lunch and she didn't want it. That should have been a read light, but I thought she was just tired. I gave her a drink of milk (the worst thing ever for a sick kid) and went to put her to bed. She started making a choking noise and I thought maybe she had swallowed her milk wrong and then it happened. Projectile vomit all over the Ottoman, chair, carpet, wall and even the curtains not to leave out Alice and I. I was stunned. I called my mom right away, she came over bathed Alice while the next 45 minutes I cleaned vomit off of everything. I can't believe that much stuff came out of one kid. Over the next three days Alice continued to puke and diarrhea. Poor kid. Today was the first day I think she is all better. She actually asked for food and then asked for more. The good thing is Alice didn't have to go through this alone. My dad was sick the same days as Alice and then two days later my mom and I got it. Thank goodness it's a gorgeous day today so we can air our sick house out. Oh and thank goodness Andy is the best dad and husband ever since I was in bed all weekend and he had to take care of Alice all by himself. And let me tell you, he never complained even having to clean up all that puke. Thanks Andy, love you.