One year old

You know it's true what they say...time flies! It seems so hard to believe that a year ago we were snuggling with a little helpless baby who could do nothing for herself and functioning on very little sleep. Oh how much can change in a year. While Alyssa still needs us for a lot she is becoming much more independent - walking on her own, feeding herself, playing independently, etc. We can even tell her "Go get your jacket" and she'll get it and bring it out to put on. It's amazing how fast they fast grow up.

We celebrated Alyssa's first birthday with all of her grandparents and Auntie Stacy and Ryan. The day got off to a normal start - breakfast, playing, nap, lunch, park, rest, and then party. Alyssa was a little off for her birthday as she wasn't real sure about Nana and Grandpap and she really didn't like being left alone in a room with them or even worse put in a high chair near them. But once the party began, she loved being the center of attention. And let me just say, she sure is spoiled. She got so many different toys from all her Aunts and Uncle and Grandparents. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it all. And I think she would get a little upset because we had to keep her "moving" on opening the gifts to get them all opened and all she wanted to do was play with her new things. Some of her new favorites: lego blocks, sit 'n spin, a drum, ball popper, trucks, xylophone, a phone, snow boots, and shoes. I'm afraid the shoes may have been some of her favorite (Aaron is fearing that we may have a shoe lover on our hands.)


After gifts a quick nap, we all enjoyed a "cookout" dinner and then it was time for cake. Alyssa was quite confused at first by her cupcake and a little upset that the icing stuck to her fingers but then she LOVED all the sugar. She even shared some with Aaron and I (she's so generous to shove cake & icing covered hands into our face!). And then finally she was able to play with all her new toys.


Grandpap Fleming made Alyssa a toybox, brought it in his suitcase, and he & Aaron assembled it for her too. So we're trying to teach Alyssa to put her toys back in there - slowly but surely, depends on her mood.
Alyssa had her one year check up about a week ago. She weighed in at 23 lbs, 5 oz (82nd percentile) and 31 inches long (96th percentile). The doctor thought she looked really good other than some fluid in her right ear which also showed diminished hearing. So we're following up this week with an ear, nose & throat doctor. I guess she has me to thank for any ear issues, we'll see how the appointment goes later this week. He wants us to try to switch to whole milk with her and also get her off the bottle over the next few months. We'll see how that goes. At this point, she just spits the milk back out after she drinks it from her sippy cup.While at the doctor's, she got 5 shots - yes, 5! Chicken pox, MMR, Hepatitis A, seasonal flu & H1N1. Poor little thing. She sure is a strong little bugger, writhing to get away from that mean nurse. They also had to do a blood test for lead and hemoglobin, which meant taking blood from her finger. It was a rough day. We're not sure if all this caused her to not sleep quite as well , loser her appetite, and have a rash on her tummy & back during the past week, but thankfully she seems to be doing a little better. Now she's got a cold. But over all, we're so thankful for a healthy kid.

Grandma Menke treated Alyssa to one-year portraits at Flash Photography this past weekend. Despite Alyssa not quite being herself (see above paragraph), there were still some cute photos. We look forward to sharing all of those with you soon.And a few other little fun things about Alyssa...she's quite the music lover. She loves to make all her toys play music and her eyes light up if you put one of her CDs on, she claps her hands, and she'll even sway/dance. She does this in church also during hymns, she perks up for the music. She continues to enjoy reading and is even starting to let us read some of the words on the page before she turns it. She's now shaking her head no, raising her hands when something falls or is all done, and making a surprised face. Her little expressions just make us laugh; we wonder where she picks them up.


Aaron & I are both doing well. He's busier than ever at work, and I'm trying to plug away at my dissertation while continuining with the job search. I've had two phone interviews and we're hoping that in the coming weeks I'll have a few more. We'll keep ya'll posted.

Thanks to everyone who sent cards, texts, e-mails and just wished Alyssa a happy birthday. We wish she could see you all more. We miss you!

Cock-a-doodle-doo (or trick-or-treat)

Alyssa celebrated her first Halloween this weekend, and thanks to Aunt Dena, she made the cutest little rooster/chicken ever. She started her outing by visiting daycare and two of the neighbors who were outside. Because we told him that she didn't need any candy, the one neighbor gave her the change out of his pocket - 29 cents. We then traveled to Auntie Stacy's where her basket was filled with bananas, and finally we made our way to Jordan where we made a few stops at Great Aunt and Uncles' houses before arriving at Grandma & Grandpa's. Her special treat there were some Gerber puffs - a real favorite! All in all, it was quite the first Halloween outing. We wish you all could have seen her in her costume. Sending big hugs to all of you!

Reading, Climbing, and Eating

It's been nearly a month since we last updated you on life here in Minnesota. Since then, it's rained a lot and yes we've even had two snowfalls. The first was only a dusting, but the second was a few inches. We could be in for a long winter! Good thing Alyssa has taken to reading. She loves picking up books, carrying them to you and flipping through the pages. You can hardly read fast enough to keep up with her page turning. Aaron and I now have every book memorized. Thank goodness for the local library who can provide us some variety on occasion. One of Alyssa's favorite books is Baby Boo; one of the pages reads "Kiss, kiss, I love you". She went through a phase where she kissed the little baby in the picture on this page, she's stopped doing that now, but if you remind her, she'll still do it. The other day she picked the Bible up off the couch, carried it to her chair and starting paging it through. It was so precious I had to take a picture!


In addition to reading, Alyssa has become quite the climber. Not only has she mastered the art of climbing up and down stairs, she's also now trying to climb from one thing to the other. Her little car most often serves as a stool for her to try to climb on the couch or her music table. We caught her like this the other day...can't let her out of our sight for a minute.

And eating. This is Alyssa's other favorite activity. She's eating much more "table food" now. Shes' tried chili, tuna noodle casserole, and pumpkin risotto, really there's not much she doesn't like. I think her favorite may be apples though, wow does she love them! We went to an orchard a couple of weeks ago and she was in her glory. And then just last night, she and Aaron picked some apples off our tree in the back yard. As Aaron says, she was double fisting the apples, one for each hand. And she wouldn't let go of them. This pictures says it all as she wanted a drink of water, but wouldn't let go of the apples to do it.

Everything else is going well. We really just wanted to share these photos with you. Check back soon as there are sure to be photos from Alyssa's first Halloween and her first birthday (in less than 2 weeks now!).

A fish and a monkey?

We had a really fun weekend with Alyssa, she's so curious about everything and loves being outside and running around. Too bad it's starting to get cooler out.

Alyssa was picking up apples off the ground under the apple tree yesterday afternoon, so we gave her a fresh one off the tree. After I bit off some of the skin, she continued to eat the apple...check out the video of her loving her apple! Good thing she has her two front teeth :) And no need to worry about the screaming at the end....that's just Aaron excited over Favre's last minute heroics in the Vikings game yesterday!


And then the craziness began. Alyssa discovered she could climb up onto one of our chairs. She's very into getting on top of things and getting up in the world. She's been climbing up steps for a while now, but this is her first piece of furniture. I think we have a climber on our hands, no doubt she'll be keeping us on our toes. We taped this next video after she did it for the first time yesterday evening. We love when she's struggling and her little bum is "wiggling" around...we have another whole video of just that!


Hope this brings a chuckle to the start of your week!

Water Baby

Alyssa started swim classes last night, and it's official, she loves the water. Not only did she love splashing in it, but she also enjoyed trying to sip it. She's still in the "everything in the mouth" stage, which even included the noodles they had there to float with.

While she won't be able to swim by the end of the class, we're hoping that she'll develop an appreciation for how fun swimming can be and also learn to put her face in the water without drinking it, but time will tell.

Enjoy these short videos and photos of our little fish!

There's no stopping her now

Alyssa took off walking on Labor Day weekend. It was like overnight she decided she was just going to start letting go more and walking from one thing to the next, since then you haven't been able to stop her. She now prefers walking to crawling unless she's in an extreme hurry, then watch out because she'll crawl to get there.

We went to visit Grandpa Menke yesterday since Grandma was out of town and she had a blast "running" in the field. She thought she was pretty cool, trying to follow the adults, just laughing and giggling, and when she'd fall, she'd just get right back up. I'm going to include a video of her walking one night before bed (you'll notice she's kind of tired, she'll give you a big clue right near the end) so you can get a glimpse of her little waddle.



Since she's started walking more, Alyssa has also started to wear shoes. She's figured out that her shoes and socks go on her feet, and she's so funny because if she sees her shoes lying around she holds them to her feet. She also knows that her brush is for her hair and that you hold phones to your ear. We think she's quite brilliant with all these discoveries. It's been such a treat as of late to watch her develop cognitively, figuring out that little things can fit into big things and that boxes have lids that open and close; she's also learned to put the rings back on her the post rather than just taking them off. We're hoping that she'll learn that her toys can go back in their boxes soon so we can starting playing "clean up" together. It's a game we hope she'll really like.

Our weather has been amazing as of late, so we've been enjoying lots of time outdoors. We had some moms & babies from our class at the hospital come over this past weekend and played in the backyard and we've been spending lots of time at the park as you can tell in the next video. Alyssa and I ran a 5k at church together this past weekend - it was a perfect morning for it, and we enjoyed the fresh air. I was excited to finish the race without walking, especially since I was pushing her in her stroller. My time wasn't the greatest (34 minutes), but since I'm only running 3 times a week or so, that's ok. We'll get quicker.



Alyssa is also starting to show a preference for feeding herself. She loves to eat pasta, ground meats, cooked vegetables, cheese, soft fruits, and "treats". We went to a chicken dinner with Grandpa Menke and Auntie Stacy yesterday afternoon, and Alyssa ate corn, deli ham, mashed potatoes and some bread. I think her favorite was the little bit of pumpkin pie Grandpa shared with her though. She's also figured out that she can bite into things with her front teeth, so we can give her big chunks of graham cracker and/or baby cookies and she'll bite off little pieces. The other day I picked an apple off the tree, bit off the skin and she bit off little pieces of the flesh to eat. She's quite taken with this new discovery because she even bites cheerios in half now. It's kind of funny.

That's about it from here in Minnesota. We're both excited for Aaron to come home this afternoon from his boys weekend in Cable, Wisconsin where there was lots of poker, golf, and football. Sounds like Aaron had a fun time. He continues to be super busy at work and one proud daddy - he loves to brag that his little girl is walking! I continue to try to make progress on my schoolwork; the first list of job postings came out for next fall so I'm also preparing my materials to start applying for jobs. It's a scary process, but we're trusting that God will tell us where we're to be.

We hope that you're enjoying this beautiful beginning to fall and that you're all doing well. We love hearing from you, so drop us a line when you get a chance. If you call, Alyssa may even press a button on the telephone to let you know she's excited to hear from you too!

(No, she's not crying here, she's just really excited about what she's doing!)

Birthdays are fun!

Hi! Mommy and Daddy are finally letting me write on my own blog...it's about time seeing as I'm 9.5 months old now! Both Mommy and Daddy had birthdays in the past couple of weeks, and I really enjoyed them. For Mommy's birthday we went out to dinner. The next day I got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Menke because Mommy & Daddy went to Mankato; they went on a bike ride and celebrated another friend's 30th birthday. I got to visit some of my Great Aunts and Uncles as well as some of my second cousins, plus Grandma and Grandpa took me to the park. I really liked the swing, slide, and playing in the rocks.

I got Mommy a Magic Bullet, really it was a gift for me though. One night, Mommy & Daddy made fajitas for dinner, and they ground it up in the Magic Bullet so I too could have fajitas and refried beans. Yum!

Daddy's birthday was even cooler. He let me help him open his gifts. I thought the paper was really cool, I can't wait for my birthday, when I get to open my open presents!

After church, we met Grandma, Grandpa & Auntie Stacy for lunch. I like going out to eat with everyone because they all give me food off their plates. I liked Auntie Stacy's garlic mashed potatoes, but I really liked the ice cream sundae. I couldn't get enough of it.

After lunch we went to Como Zoo. It had been a few months since we went, and this time was so much cooler. We visited the Butterfly Garden first. There were butterflies all over the place, and they were all different colors. One even landed on Grandpa's head. I really liked looking at all the flowers, playing in the dirt, and checking out the butterflies.

After the Butterfly Garden, we went to the Primate House. I watched all the different monkeys as they hung from limbs, climbed the rocks, and walked in front of me. The last time we went to the zoo, I hardly noticed there were even animals, but this time I watched very intently the monkeys. Some of them had long tails, kind of like Roni's, and I wanted to reach out and touch them. I even got to see a baby orangutan; I squealed when the mama orangutan picked the baby up and put him on her back. The other animals were kind of far away, and they didn't move as much, so they didn't quite captivate me like the monkeys.

I think my favorite part of the zoo was the water gardens in the entrance. Mommy & Daddy let me stand and stretch my legs, so I splashed in the water. I splashed so hard that I ended up soaked. My whole front side was drenched, but it was soooooo fun. Good thing Mommy is always prepared and had a change of clothes in the bag!

The weather has been really nice here in Minnesota lately, so we've been out in the backyard in the evenings. We don't stay out too long because the state bird (aka the mosquito) likes to bite us all, but I love being outside. I crawl around on the cement just like a monkey because I don't like to scrape up my legs. In the past few days, I've figured out that I can stand up from a squatting position without holding onto anything. I'm getting really good at standing on my own, and I'm still trying to take off walking. I can usually get 2 or 3 steps down before I reach for my destination and fall, but I keep trying. It won't be long now...

Step by Step

Well, just as we write that Alyssa is standing, that little stinker goes and takes a couple of steps. Last Saturday we were at Grandma and Grandpa Menke's house and showing them how she can stand, the next thing we know she starts moving forward. It is pretty fun to watch her move along the couch in our living room and try to walk over to something else (she falls, but it is fun to watch her try). Each day she is getting more daring, and pretty soon she will be running around here - and maybe even catch Roni too.

Healthy, happy baby

Alyssa had her 9 month check-up today, and it went great. She smiled the whole time and was quite pleasant with the doctor. He commented several times about what a happy baby she is and what a great disposition she has. He was very impressed with her development and after watching her stand for a few moments, he agreed with us that it won't be long until she's walking.

She's grown a good bit; she continues to top the charts in length. She's now 29.25" long (94th percentile), and her head circumference is 18.5" (99th percentile). Aaron laughs at how big her head is and I just say it has to be to fit her big brain! She's slimmed down a little...only 20 lbs, 12 oz (81st percentile). We thought she was heavier, but it shouldn't surprised us that she's "lost" a little weight since she NEVER stops moving. She's kicked crawling into a new gear as of late!

Alyssa also had another tooth poke through, this time on the top. It's not one of the middle teeth, but one right next to it. She's getting there!

But we're so excited that she's healthy and happy! For a happy baby = happy parents!

Going Bananas Part 2 (aka I forgot to include this detail)

Alyssa goes bananas at grace time. It is absolutely precious and so sweet. When Aaron and I say grace before a meal, Alyssa always watches us so intensely with this huge smile on her face. From the moment we make the sign of the cross through the whole prayer she smiles...it's like she's happy we're praying or that she knows God is pleased that we're thanking Him for another meal. It is one of the highlights of each day to say grace and watch the glow that comes over her.

(I had to be sure to include this here, so that when I'm old and senile I don't forget this small detail about her!)

Going bananas

Alyssa goes bananas over the splash pad at the end of our street. She thinks it's pretty cool how she can stick her hand in the water stream and water sprays everywhere. We visited the park today with Auntie Stacy and she loved it. She was the only kid there, so she was able to play with whatever sprinkler she was interested in. She even squatted over one of the jets at one point and thought it was funny that she was getting sprayed in the butt.

Alyssa goes bananas for new foods. She is trying all sorts of new things each day. She has now started to eat meats which has opened a whole new world up to her; she's enjoying meals such as chicken noodle and macaroni and cheese (made with squash and sweet potato!). She's also started feeding herself finger foods; she really enjoys puffs, graham crackers, cheddar cheese, cantaloupe, and honeydew. By far, her favorite is still bananas. We didn't realize just how much Alyssa enjoyed bananas until I was eating a banana one morning this week in the living room. She crawled as fast as she could over to me to have some...without me even asking her if she wanted any. She now wants to try everything!

Alyssa now has two teeth, both on the bottom. We think some of her top teeth are beginning to poke through, but it's really hard to tell. She doesn't let you see that upper gum very often. We'll keep you posted on when they do show themselves!

Alyssa goes bananas over walking. She's now able to walk holding on with only one hand. She thinks she one cool cat when she's doing it. She laughs and giggles the whole time. She's also started standing for about 10 seconds at a time without holding on to anything. It's fun to watch her as she's playing because she'll have a hold of something and lift it up, thus letting go of her grip on the table. She's getting pretty good at it. If she realizes she's not holding on to something though, she either sits or reaches out for something to hold on to.

Alyssa also loves to be chased. If she's crawling, and you approach from behind on your hands and knees and tell her "I'm going to get you," she'll take off at full speed ahead. Again, she'll giggle and laugh, but she'll crawl away as fast as she can. She loves to be chased!

Alyssa goes bananas over camping. Last weekend we traveled about 2 hours southeast to a campground with some friends. The weather was cool, but we enjoyed being outdoors for the weekend. Alyssa loved exploring the grass, dried up leaves, and everything else. She sat around her first campfire, slept in a tent and tried to play fetch with the dog. The dog kept bringing her the ball, but Alyssa wasn't real good about throwing it to him; the poor pup couldn't figure out why she wouldn't throw it for him. The poor little thing had a runny nose from the moment we got there, but she did great with the cool evening temperatures.

Alyssa also goes bananas over music. She loves her CDs, she'll bounce when they play, and just this weekend, she started clapping her hands. It's too cute!

Alyssa has her 9 month check up on Tuesday afternoon, so we'll finally know if she's still big for her age. We think she's getting taller and thinning out a bit, but we'll know for sure this week. We'll try to give you an update on her appointment as soon as we can! In the meantime, we hope that you're enjoying some of the summer heat and sunshine that has finally made an appearance here in Minnesota. love to you all-

Busy, busy, busy

As you may have guessed by the lack of postings, we've been pretty busy the past month. Since Alyssa has started crawling, we've got to keep our eyes on her constantly, and we laugh because she doesn't stop moving. If she's not crawling from one spot to the next, she's pulling herself up to standing or bouncing while sitting. She's loving her new found independence. She continues to torment Roni on occasion and find things that she shouldn't have.

We just got home from Pennsylvania where we enjoyed visiting with many of you. Alyssa flew just as well this time as she did the last, but she wasn't sure what to think about some people at first. I think she saw Grandpap Fleming as a scary person during the first few days as she would scream if he just walked into the room. Over the course of the first 5 days and daily breakfast feedings of bananas, she began to realize that he wasn't quite so scary. By the end of the week, she was walking around with him, sitting on his lap, and letting him hold her. She clung to Nana during those first few days, never letting her out of his sight.

While we were home, we made a trip out to Philadelphia with Wally & Dena (Alyssa stayed with Nana and Grandpap). We saw all the historic sites, took in a parade, a strongman competition and fireworks. Aaorn & I then made a trip to Niagara Falls; we had a wonderful time and were quite amazed by the falls.

We also enjoyed lots of time with the Fleming clan while we were home, which was lots of fun, especially since we were all celebrating Stephanie & Chris's wedding. There were lots of opportunities to catch up with everyone. Alyssa loved all of her cousins that were there; we're quickly learning how much she enjoys other kids and puppies. She lets out a squeal and heads toward them almost immediately when either are around.

Alyssa is now eating three meals a day. We're starting to run into a few foods she doesn't like. While Alyssa will eat lentils, they're definitely not her favorite and must be mixed with another vegetable or fruit. Someday she'll think the lentil-mango mix is gross, but for now, she loves it. And we recently tried ham; she hated it (can't say I blame her as it smelled pretty gross), but when mixed with sweet potatos, she'll gobble it up. Alyssa had the opportunity to try several new foods while we were in Pennsylvania - whipped cream, pumpkin pie, jello, cheese curls, baked beans, and who knows what else! Thanks to all of you who are broadening her culinary repetoire :)

We were also fortunate enough to get to meet Mitchell Andrew Rend while we were home. He arrived on July 11, so we were able to visit with him and Mark & Lisa before we headed back to Minnesota. He's a cutie and we laugh because he already has more hair than Alyssa! Congratulations to the new parents and grandparents!

Since we've been home, we're all getting back into a routine. We celebrated Grandpa Menke's birthday as soon as we got home and Alyssa is back with her buddies at day care. She'll start going to day care everyday as of next week; I'm excited about the time to work, but sad about missing our time together. I might have to keep her home every once in a while for some mother-daughter time! Alyssa has also taken to her walker toy; she thinks it pretty cool how she can walk on her own. I think we better start lacing up our running shoes!

Thanks to all of you for making our time at home so much fun; there really is no place like home. We're already looking forward to our next trip home at Christmas! many hugs-

What do you have now?

This is our favorite question to ask Alyssa these days as it seems she's always got something in her hands or in her mouth that she shouldn't. A week ago, Alyssa figured out how to crawl and get to where she wanted to go. Since then, nothing is safe. Anything on the couch, floor, or coffee table is fair game - she finds a way to grab it all.

Alyssa was definitely a little awkward when she first started crawling, her left leg kind of drug along behind her and then she tried keeping it out to the side, but she's now got in figured out. This morning she followed me from the living room and back the hallway; I think she'd have made it the whole way to her room if she hadn't got sidetracked in the bathroom. She even managed to pull herself to standing on the side of the tub. Although she can now crawl, she definitely prefers to be standing. If all the rest of her milestones are any sign, she'll be walking in just a few months! We miss being able to set her in one place and know that she'll be there when we get back.

We do of course have a few fun little stories to share:

After pulling herself to standing while holding on to the pillow cushions of the couch, Alyssa spotted Roni's scratch pad around the side of the couch. She got to it and picked it up. By picking it up, she dumped all the loose cardboard and catnip all over herself and the floor. So she was covered in cardboard and Roni was rolling around on the floor next to her. I think he was a little confused by wanting to be so close to her!

I put Alyssa down for a nap one morning. I turned her mobile on, I heard the music play for a while and she fussed for a bit, but then things got quiet, so I assumed she had gone to sleep. After a few minutes, I heard the music on her mobile start up again. I couldn't figure out how that had happened. I went to check and Alyssa was standing up, playing with the animals on her mobile and turning them, which made the music play. I told her if she wasn't going to sleep she had to come play more, so I put her in her jumper in the living room. Within two minutes, she was sucking her thumb, had her head laid down on the seat and her eyes closed - silly girl!

I was in Austin, TX this past Sunday to Tuesday, so Aaron had Alyssa all to himself. They went to visit Aunt Stacy on Sunday afternoon. While Aunt Stacy was giving her one of her bottles, Alyssa held it herself. This in and of itself, isn't so exciting because she's been doing that for a while, but what was impressive is that she used both her hands and her feet to hold it!

Alyssa had her first experience in a lake and a swimming pool last week. After a walk around one of the lakes, we stopped and swung on the swings and stuck our feet in the lake. Alyssa didn't know quite what to make of the small waves lapping at her feet. It was one of only a handful of times that I've seen her freeze and not know what to do. She was quite intrigued by the water. Later that afternoon, Alyssa took a dip in her very own swimming pool. She donned one of her two swimsuits and splashed in the water. You could see her staring at her hands in the water and being startled when she splashed water on her face. I think she may be a water baby!

We had an unexpected trip to the doctors a few weeks ago because Alyssa had a flare up of eczema. He prescribed hydrocortisone cream, which cleared it up pretty quickly. Alyssa also has her first bruise, right on her forehead. She bumped her head on one of the chairs at day care, so she has a nice little brown mark. She's hit her head on several things. This morning, she was trying to stand, using the door frame to pull herself up, but she kept hitting her head on the frame. It was kind of funny to watch (only because she wasn't hitting it hard of course!). When she does hit it, she cries for a minute, but once you pick her up, she stops almost immediately. She must have a higher tolerance for pain than me.

That's the latest on Alyssa. She's spending Saturday night at Grandma & Grandpa Menke's so Aaron and I can celebrate our anniversary (better late than never). I don't know where we're headed, but Aaron promises me it will be fun - we'll see! Hope you too have a great weekend.

Standing Tall

Happy Memorial Day to all of you! It seems weird that it's Memorial Day and we weren't camping or at the cabin, but we celebrated the unofficial start to summer here at home. We went out to dinner on Friday night, had friends over for a cookout and campfire Saturday night, picniced at Grandma and Grandpa Menke's on Sunday afternoon, and visited the zoo today. It was a beautiful weekend here, in the mid to upper 70s and blue skies. We really couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.

Aaron and I are continually amazed how quickly Alyssa changes. On Friday she was still only pulling herself on our fingers, and now she's pulling herself up by holding on to almost anything. She almost pulled herself to standing in the bathtub. So in a matter of 2 days, she's gone from fingers to anything! And she's also started taking a few steps when she's standing, kind of scary to think that she could be walking later this summer. While we love to see her develop, we miss our little baby. She's becoming more and more independent. I think a few more days and she's not going to need us to sit her up, pull her up, or get her from point A to point B. She's so close to crawling. She's got reverse down really well, can move all over the living room in reverse, but that forward motion is still eluding her. Aaron calls it the "Backup Boogaloo."

We think the doctor may have been right; we need to start babyproofing the house. We had to lower her crib mattress this morning, and I fear we may be lowering it another notch pretty soon; the moment she can get into a sitting position on her own, we'll have to lower it again as you'll see in one of the video clips that follows. We're so proud of our little Alyssa and we love to see how much she enjoys other people. While Aaron and I watched animals at the zoo, she people watched, it was really cute.

Hope your summer is off to as good of a start as ours!