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!)