They allow us to have children

Tooth Update

For a while there I thought we were going to have to add a second name like Ali-Sue, Ali-Bob, Ali-May, but as it turns out she won't look as hillbillyriffic as I thought.  I can see her second top tooth.  It is not quite in yet, which makes for a cranky baby.  She'll be playing and just burst into tears.  I give her Orajel but she is still miserable.

In other news, she is trying to crawl!  Last week I would have put money on the child never learning this skill.  She hates being on her tummy, loves to stand, has been trying to pull herself up and is just so big (I read somewhere that big babies tend to crawl later).  I figured she would take off running before learning to crawl, but again she amazes us.

So far she can get onto her tummy from a sitting position and back to a sitting position from her tummy.  She goes backwards a lot though which only adds frustration to the teething pain -- poor cranky baby.

All She Got For Christmas. . .

. . . was her two front teeth!  She actually did get a tooth on Christmas day.  Not the fourth bottom one we figured would be next but a top one - which will make her look like quite the country hillbilly.  I didn't know teeth came in all out of order like this.

In addition to her front teeth Ali had a ton of presents!  When you have three sets of Grandparents you get three times the loot.  She got a lot of cool toys, lots of books and lots of new clothes.  She had a great time ripping through paper and trying to eat it of course.  We had to stop every couple of minutes to make sure she wasn't gagging on something.

I must say that both Ali and I were a bit overwhelmed.  Ali crashed hard at nap time -- she took two, two-hour naps!  While she napped I unpackaged toys -- it was ridiculous, it took me over ten minutes to get a little train out of it's packaging, it was like Fort Knox.  But overall Alison had a very good first Christmas.

 

Christmas With the Devil

Guest post from Porkbone:

More on Alison's first Christmas later... (that's right, smartass, I said "Moron") ...but I just wanted to point this out.  We have this magical device called a Squeezebox, which plays MP3 playlists wirelessly from your computer to any stereo in the house.  So we have this giant Christmas music mix, with a couple hundred random Christmas songs on it.

Anyway, in case you needed more proof that Alison has no chance of being a normal child, the song that was playing as she unwrapped her first presents this morning was "Christmas With the Devil" by Spinal Tap.  And yes, in case you were wondering, this Christmas actually did go to eleven.

If you want to hear the song, right click this link and "save target as..." (or if you're a Firefox user, "save link as...") to your hard drive.

8 Months Old

I can’t believe Ali is 8 months old already. I also can’t believe how far behind I am on her baby book.  She is now 28 inches long and weighs in at a whopping 20 pounds!  She is growing so quickly and doing new things every day.

She doesn’t seem like a baby anymore. She plays with toys as if she knows what she’s doing, deliberately pressing buttons, spinning, shaking etc. She laughs at new things, looks for hidden things and listens and watches for people or cats that are out of sight.  She continues to enjoy stories and to say “Hi” to things - mainly to "Dada" but also to the "Keeees" (kitties).

Although it is kind of sad that she has left the little baby stage, I marvel at her accomplishments every day.  I am also looking forward to watching her grow into a wonderful little girl - and curious to see just how strange she is certain to be.

SNOW

For the past three days Ali and I have been watching it snow - we have about eight inches now.  It makes everything so pretty.  Ali's first Christmas will be white!

Also, over the past week Ali has learned a few new tricks:

• On Monday she said "hi, dada" over and over and over again.  She says it in this high pitched little mousy voice.  I tried to get some video of it and of course we called daddy at work to tell him!
• She started throwing her body back and forth in "the ring of fun" (the stationary walker toy) to make it rock.  This is great fun.
• She helped me open my birthday presents - the Christmas warm-up.  She did a great job; she ripped, she chewed, she reached for more.  She tried every present, they were delicious!
• And she can even drink out of a sippy cup!  She still has a hard time holding it up far enough to get milk and when she does she tends to flood herself.  These things take practice.

Too Good to Be True

Yesterday morning we received an e-mail from someone in the local mommy's group looking for child care.  I replied, she came over today and I will be watching the child starting Monday!  The little boy is absolutely adorable. 

However it seems way too perfect.  First of all, the family lives just 2 blocks from my house.  Secondly, the child is only 3 months younger than Ali -- so I know what to expect and already have a bunch of toys and things for him.  Thirdly, I will only be watching him 3 days a week from 8-4.  And finally, if all goes well we may even swap babysitting for date nights! 

At last I will have a form of income and I am very excited for Ali to have a friend.

What a Lucky Girl

Over the past six weeks, Ali has been visited by almost all of her grandparents (Grandpa W, better buy a ticket soon!)  This means lots of hugs, lots of kisses and lots of Grandmas too.  Because she has three sets of grandparents, this had to be more than a little confusing. First my mom came -- hey it's your Grandma!  Next daddy's mom came -- hey it's your Grandma!  Then daddy's dad and step mom came, Ali must have thought - "let me guess, you must grandma."

Confusion aside, we think Alison is very lucky to have such wonderful grandparents and so many people who love her -- aunties, uncles, cousins, friends, etc.  We tell her this often in a game we call "Who loves Ali?"  It is so important to us that Ali know these people because sadly we don't get to see them very often.

Also, everyone was able to do something special with Alison while they were here.  Grandma W was here for Ali's first Halloween and for here six-month portrait pictures.  Grandma D was with us when we took Ali to see Santa.  And although Grandpa M and Grammie B were only here for a short time, they helped set up Ali's first Christmas tree!  We are so glad you all came.  What a lucky little girl we have!

Santa Visit #1

Today we brought Alison to the Mall of America to meet Santa Claus for the first time.  We don't know what we were worried about, because as you can see from the picture Santa used his magic and she had a lovely time.  In fact, she had been moaning and crying as we stood in line (for over an hour...) right up until this picture was taken.

It's a Christmas miracle!

Also, for all you doubters, as you can plainly see from the photograph this is the REAL Santa Claus. 

Dear Santa

I have been a very good girl and would like many nice presents for Christmas.  Here are some ideas.

• bath toys
• weeble wobble toys
• a jack in the box -- not too scary
• some board books -- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, Chicka Chicka ABC, We're Going on a Bear Hunt
• medium, fleece Halo sleep sack
• things I don't need:  blocks and stuffed toys

Please note the size and color of each item and send as many as possible.  If it seems too complicated, make it easy on yourself.  Just send money.  How about tens and twenties. . .

Love Alison