Another Oompa Loompa Sighting

Here, Alison's gut is in fine form! At her 18 month check-up she still weighed in at just under 22 lbs. Go figure.

Goat Snack

We went to Maymont , and old estate home in Richmond, a few weeks ago. They had a little petting zoo and Alison LOVED it.
This goat definitely had it in for her, and BEAR. The drama!

Little Miss Sunshine

Practicing for the "Little Miss Sunshine" Pageant. No really - she had decided to see what a purple marker would taste like and then got pink sidewalk chalk on her cheeks. She is performing her talent "Itsy, Bitsy Spider".Aren't I sweet?

Wait? what is that purple stuff on my hands?

You mean I have it all over my face too?

Some of Alison's friends

The many faces of toddlers.

Pool Party

She loves the water! I'm glad. I think we will be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer.

Summer Days on the Deck

I'm afraid to see our water bill. She could spend all day dumping out water. The concept of putting it in another container so she can reuse it has escaped her a bit.
















She looks surprised here, like where did it all go?

18 month Portraits

Another day at the Picture People and here are a few shots. She will not let go of that bear! I had to distract her with something else to get her to drop him. I like the third one because that's what she looks like when she laughs.

She is getting very independant - I forgot the stroller and I had a hard time keeping her still while I had to decide which ones to get. Anyway - not too traumatic.

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Fish Face











Happy Face











Peekaboo!







One of my favorite things about my new camera is how close you can get and still be in focus!

Fun in the Park

We went to the park the other day looking for ducks to feed. We found a see saw first and Alison took a ride. She seemed to like it - more when Nick was sitting with her.












Yes - this was her sitting on it alone - she looks a little more apprehensive. But it's okay, she has her bear. (and these are the first pics taken with my new camera - I love it!)

Pig Tails and Pink Bears

Alison likes to hang out on the front stoop with her best bud bear. I'll be interested to see what she names her when she starts talking more. I only assume the bear is a she because of the pink pjs - but she takes that thing with her EVERYWHERE. I taught her the sign for bear and she is always asking for her.





I can't resist pigtails and tiny flip-flops, yep there's trusty ole bear.












This was mid-pattycake. She loves pattycake and "itsy-bitsy spider". I think people at the grocery store think I'm a little nutty pushing my cart and singing those rhymes.

Food Fun!

Here is the requisite "first time eating spaghetti" picture. I can't really get her to eat pasta, mac and cheese, anything. But this day she was sort of into it.














This was at breakfast and she was working on stacking her cup on her glass. She was really pleased with herself. I think she might be a future Cirque du Soleil artist.

Time for Daddy

Here she is chilling with dad and then trying on his boots. She fell over before I could get the picture - but they come up mid-thigh - nice go-go look!

New teeth, new words?

I don't know if her new teeth are prompting more speech but she has added several new words to her vocabulary. She now says "bye - bye" (in addition to the wave), cheese (pronounce 'chis'), baby, and this new one (see the video). I didn't even know she'd picked up on this.

Teeth, teeth and more teeth

So she cut another molar and another front tooth a couple of days ago. That explains the mess we've been in for the last couple of weeks. I think she's still got a few more coming, she hasn't quite come out of the crankiness yet. Little Miss Cranky-Pants, that's her name! No new pics as the 2nd one below says it all.

Happy Easter, or just, Hey, it's Easter!

Alison has been going through something lately and has been having a few more meltdowns than normal. I like to chalk it up to teething, lack of sleep (from teething) and the fact that she now has to share Grandma Jan. She did cut her first molar a couple of weeks ago - and she's still working on her top 4th and bottom 3 & 4 teeth. I tried to get a good picture of her in her darling dress from Grandma Suzie, but this is all we could manage. No smiling allowed.

Maybe she was just upset I forgot to make the deviled eggs.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

She loves checking herself out in the mirror.

Dancing Queen

Here you can see what she does any time music is playing - she does like the hoedown Farmer Tad plays on his banjo!

Cherry Blossom Festival

We headed up for an early morning stroll through the blossoms on Sunday morning. It was cooler and more overcast than we would have liked - but still breathtaking and an official start to spring. Here Nick was teaching Alison how to throw pebbles in the water. We opted to keep her in the stroller since there's no barrier to keep her from running into the water. The tidal basin was high this weekend. A friend lent us their digital SLR so I got some great pics. Click here to check them out on my other blog.

I love Paris in the Springtime

Okay, so we're not in Paris, but we love Spring!








Today we pulled out the jellies - remember those? Her feet were cute before, but now look!











She is so well dressed, thanks to adoring family and friends. This courtesy of Philippa and Dave. I think she may be ready for the fashion runways of Paris.

Photoshoot

Ignore my voice on the video - why is it that our own voices sound so weird?! Anyway, we had a little photoshoot on Saturday - she was hamming it up and I got some of it on video. She LOVES being outside.