Two (and 4 months)

And just like that, our baby is two.  Ok...two and 4 months (I'm a little late -- shocker!)  I know I'll always think of her as my baby, but it's so hard to admit that she's really not a baby anymore.  Although she is definitely starting to assert her independence, she still loves to be cuddled and held -- and I won't lie --I love the cuddle time too!  We call her our little koala bear, because she loves to perch herself on our hips.

At 2, Alyse

• Says many 2-3 word phrases, like "sip up mommy" (sit up), "ake up, daddy" (wake up), "sit next you" and "i wuv you"
• Calls herself "Ees"
• Loves to wash her hands
• Likes to wear hats
• Loves to go outside
• Loves to give hugs and kisses to her siblings at bedtime
• Is very polite -- please, thank you and excuse me. I just love hearing her sing-songy voice say "Thank you, Mommy, thank you!"
• Despises footie pajamas
• Is a choco-holic
• Is always asking 'W'sat, Daddy, W'sat?"
• Asks "why" a lot...but I think she's just mimicking her sister 
• Loves to point out the moon and airplanes in the sky and she thinks every airplane is "Grandma's airplane" 
• Loves to "play yegos" -- especially with big brother's legos! 

 

She has always been so easy to put down for naps and bedtime...until recently.  She must think we are having a raucous party after she goes to bed, because she now very adamantly tells us "No nap!" and "No bedtime!" She is really particular about her crib arrangements.  Her two favorite dolls and her cup of water have to be in very specific spots, and the babies absolutely MUST be wearing pants.  And she just has to have her zebra pillow pet to rest her sleepy head on!  She loves that "zebrat."

Like her sister, she absolutely loves babies (dolls and real ones) and dogs. She is really sweet with her dolls and loves taking care of them - especially changing their diapers.  She insists that her own diapers are not for her, but for her dolls.  At some point, she adopted Rohan as her favorite baby doll.  You may remember that Rohan was Tessa's favorite doll. Miraculously, Tessa has generally been ok with this, which is great, because there is just no separating Alyse and Rohan!  She is often found roaming the house looking for him and asking "Howan go?"

The window seat is her favorite little spot.  We find her here all the time, taking care of babies.

 

When she turned two, she had a followup with her neurologist. He was very impressed with her progress and called her a "preemie poster child"! Can't get much better than that! She's still using a brace on her right leg to help with muscle development, and has graduated to biweekly physical therapy sessions. She also still drools quite a bit -- which is another result of her condition. So, she recently started weekly speech therapy to help build the muscles in her mouth.  She's becoming more tolerant of the therapy with each session, and we're seeing little bits of progress already. 

A few more things to remember about Alyse at age 2...

She scares very easily.  Up close, she's terrified of the same dogs that she loves from a distance.  And she hates loud noises.  She tells us "I scared."

She loves necklaces and bracelets, but hates things in her hair.  [two girls who hate hair accessories = sad mommy!]

She doesn't like messes or spills, and likes them to be cleaned up right away. She likes to help out by throwing things in the “traf.”

When she doesn't want her picture taken, she will yell "No cheese!"

Her favorite color is "geen."

Her favorite songs are Wheels on the Bus and the ABC song.  She's super picky about which songs she will allow you to sing to her at bedtime!

And overheard recently...
Calder – "Aww, man, this girl is crazy!"

Alyse – "Crazy, yeah!!!"

That about sums up our life these days! 

So, while I'm at it, here are a few pictures from her birthday.  We just had a fun little family celebration at home. 

Girls Like Trucks Too

Calder Turns 6

Since I finally got around to my Calder update, I thought I'd take this opportunity to catch up a little and post some pictures from his 6th birthday party. He had a dinosaur-themed party at a local nature center. It turned out great!

Trying on a stegosaurus plate

And a triceratops horn!

Seeing what they can find on a nature walk!

Cake time!

Yum!

Goody bags!

Back home for presents!

And silliness!

6.5

I never did a 6 year update last August, so I'm doing a 6.5 year update instead.  Back on February 19th, I surprised Calder with 1/2 birthday Pokemon brownies.  He was thrilled!

At 6.5, Calder is consumed and obsessed with Legos.  He puts his lego sets together at lightning speed and then immediately sets his sights on a new set.  He constantly scours the house for old toys that he wants to sell so he can make money to buy more legos!  He goes through phases as to which particular sets he's obsessed with.  First it was Lego Police, then Dinosaur Legos, then Chima and now Star Wars Legos.  Our 6 year old neighbor is also a big fan, so they spend hours and hours playing with them together. 

As of late, his love of Pokemon might be dying down. He created a Pokemon "club" at school with his 3 best buddies, and they make up Pokemon games at recess.  For the first several months of school, he did nearly every one of writing assignments about Pokemon.  But lately there's been less talk of Pokemon and more talk of legos, legos, legos!

 And his newest obsession?

Yep, Uno.  It was a gift from the Easter Bunny, and he caught right on.  And if you're not on top of your game, he'll beat the pants off you.  He was totally cracking me up the other night as he practiced his dance moves while I shuffled the cards for the next round of Uno.  Dude loves to dance.  (That must come from Daddy.)

In school he loves science, math, reading and art.  He is not so fond of writing, p.e. and music. He loves to read, and he really excels at it.  We are so proud of him!  He loves chapter book series', especially Magic Tree House, A to Z Mysteries, Flat Stanley and more recently, the Ready Freddy series.  He frequently has several books going at the same time.  He looks forward to every Wednesday, when he gets to choose a new library book at school, and lately he has finished the book before I even pick him up on Wednesday evening!

He's a super deep sleeper, and could quite possibly sleep anywhere.  He gets really hot and sweaty at night, and frequently ends up mostly undressed with his ceiling fan on full blast. 

A few fun recent conversations: 

Calder: Why don’t magnolia trees lose their leaves in the winter?

Me: Hmm, I don’t know.  I never noticed until you pointed it out.

Calder: I didn’t POINT mom, I just said it.  Is that an expression?  You always use expressions!

One day I was teaching him about making change when paying for something in cash.  When it finally sunk in, he says "Oh, I get it!  Wow, you're good, mom.  I like you better now."  I think I just stared at him like, "What??" and he says "Well, I mean, I liked you before.  I just like you better now."  I guess he's easily impressed. 

He still says "ridicluous" and "reglear."  And, I'm not in any hurry for him to stop.  It is just so cute.

 

He is still a very sensitive, loving and curious boy.  He asks questions about how things work all the time.  He loves nature, climbing trees and just being outside. He is just so much fun to be around!