Day full of pictures!

Here's some snapshots of our day today!

Yogurt by hand is so much better than yogurt on a spoon  

Ah - a new drawer to open  

Mom stood me up, but look how 

tall I am getting!  

Doesn't take much to have fun :)  

Lunch with daddy

Matt came home for lunch today and what a fun time we had!  Alyce loves to make the blub blub blub noise with her hand and her mouth that she makes at the beginning.  And did you hear that Hi Daddy! ??

Movin on up

Look at our little Alyce...this is a first!  

She loves "knuckles".  Dad always blows it up :)

More winter beauty...and Alyce :)

Ok seriously, the sun dogs this morning were incredible!  I took this on our way to baby school this morning, I pulled over on the side of the highway to snap this.  So pretty!

Oh, and here's some Alyce for you diehard Alyce fans :)

Melon girl

Alyce hearts cantalope.  That was the finding of her dad when she shoved all the melon he put in front of her in her mouth.  Forsaking cheerios and potatos, the cantalope was the first devoured. Same thing this morning, cantalope first - carefully picked out of the cheerio and bananas that were also in front of her.  She must get it from her dad, her mom has never been much of a melon eater.  I can't wait till watermelon season comes, I bet she'll love it :)

Alyce also has been eating other new food: saurkraut, tuna fish, a bit of crossaint, she eats everything so far.  She is in love with finger foods and feeding herself.  She'll eat from a spoon for a bit, but generally makes a wrinkled up face and closes her eyes when we try to feed her.  Such an independent little monkey!  Wonder what I should do with all those pureed sweet potato cubes I have in the freezer??

We've been staying in a lot since the weather has been so cold.  Matt is out of town until tomorrow so I think a run to target to look around is in order after Alyce's nap this morning.  Keep up both from going stir crazy...  Alyce is a great shopper, I think she also gets that from her dad :)

Hope you are well...

Watching the inaguration - so exciting!!  (she doesn't use a pacifier usually, she found this one in her toys and crawled around with it for a while)

This was this morning in her pjs...warm and fuzzy :)

Frozen beauty

Let's not dwell on how cold it is outside...

Here is the view from my kitchen window. It changes daily, but nature always makes us some beautiful artwork. I love it...well insulated windows are overrated :)

What a difference a year makes...

Then...

And now...

Happy 2009!

We hope you had very happy holidays.  We had a wonderful Christmas, our families came over Christmas eve and Alyce got to open her first presents!  She loved tearing the paper and of course trying to eat it :)  She also loved the bows, and generally just all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday.  Her cousin MacKenzie was here, and Alyce just loves to watch her and see what she does.  We have lots of new toys to keep Alyce busy...some of her favorite are her books.  She likes to "read" out loud and kiss the pictures in her books.  Her attention span is getting better for when we read to her as well.  

Alyce pulls up on lots of things, but still not quite to standing.  She's a speed demon when crawling, going for just what she wants when she gets sight of it (like Murphy going down the hallway).  Her favorite noise to make right now is weh - but more like a french version than wah (It actually is a perfect impression of Kevin Kline's accent in the movie French Kiss - haha)  It seems to indicate she has found something she's interested in.  She also still says ooh when she's sees something new.

Alyce is eating very well, she loves veggies and fruits and Cheerios!!  She's eating some cheeses now, and yogurt.  Her pattycake and "so big" are stellar, although she thinks they are intertwined, so she'll often clap, "so big", clap, "so big"...  It's adorable :)

We're quite happy with a new purchase we made, a baby gate that we use to give Alyce her own "gated community" in the living room.  We wanted to give her a big area to play in, rather than just gate off the most dangerous parts of the living room.  So far, it's a big hit!  She lets us know she would like to be off motoring down the hall (by her hanging on her gate and bellowing), but generally she's happy in her space.  And mom and dad can fix a quick snack or pour a cup of coffee without worrrying that Alyce has discovered the toilet without them.  Seriously, she's fast!

We took down the decorations yesterday, and the tree is soon to go outside today.  I get a little sad when all the decorations come down.  It really reminds me how much I want to paint!!  Well, we have a whole fresh year for that kind of ambition, for now, we wish you a blessed new year.

PS - I have more pics and videos to post, but wanted to get these up for you to see...will update more soon!