Easter Weekend

I had to work on Easter so we were not able to leave town and spend the holiday with family. I didn't have to work until late Saturday so we made reservations to attend the Bunny Brunch and Egg Hunt at the Wildlife Prairie State Park. We had never been to the park but heard good things and it actually stopped raining long enough to get outside a little bit. Ally enjoyed her brunch but wasn't too interested in seeing the Easter Bunny. After the Santa Clause incident, we didn't even push. She was very interested in the duck and the real bunny they had on display for kids to look at. The weather was warming up so we took Ally along the trails to look at the animals. It was wet and muddy but we got to see some bears, bobcats, eagles, bison, a badger, a fox, wolves and play on the swings at the playground. There was quite a bit of time between the brunch and the egg hunt so when Ally started to get a little tired of being in her stroller we decided it was best to not stick around and make her run through the mud in her cute clothes for eggs with a million other kids.

On Easter Sunday, Ally came downstairs to find a basket full of goodies and a whole bunch of eggs scattered around the house. The rest of the day was pretty simple: put the eggs in the basket, dump the eggs out of the basket, repeat.... She loves the puzzle and immediately took out the pieces, told me what they were and put them back in the right spot. Genius! I had to work again most of the day so I didn't take too many photos but here are some from our morning time together. Enjoy.

Current Favorites

I love yummy granola bars

And talking on the phone

And color in my Dora coloring book

And dancing and clapping to Sesame Street

Ally Can Sing

Check out these great videos we took of Ally singing her favorite songs. She knows the hand motions and even some of the words. She is also watching Sesame Street while doing this so we will have to try again when she is more focused because she does a great job. Please ignore my terrible singing and focus on the adorable child!

Injury #2

After last weeks fat lip, this week she decided to add a black eye. Yesterday afternoon she was sitting on some pillows reading at school and slid off the pillows and caught the corner of her right eye on the book shelf. It just looked like a small bump and cut last night but already this morning its starting to make a pretty good black eye. Looks like I put a big stripe of purple eye shadow on just one eye! Poor girl, when did she get so clumsy? I know its part of being a kid but really- twice in one week.

Sad First

We experienced another first with Allyson yesterday: her first fat lip. I went to pick her up from day care last night and the teacher informed me that I wasn't going to like what I saw. Ally came over and I immediately noticed her big red and puffy right side of her top lip. Apparently there was an incident on the slide outside in the morning that involved her mouth and another child's head. The incident report wasn't too specific but it looked pretty cut up and swollen. They had iced it and it took her while to calm down and she kept saying "owie" and pointing to it. She was definitely a hot mess last night!

Figures that she would have an accident like this the day before picture day at school. I was hoping to use todays photos as her 18 month pictures but we may have to schedule something else for when her lip is back to normal. It did look better today and it doesn't seem to bother her as much so we will see how they turn out.

New Toys

This weekend we went back to Oshkosh for a quick visit. When we got there on Friday, Great Grandma Marilyn and Great Grandpa Jack came over to say hello and brought new toys for Ally. The first was a beautiful hand-made doll swing. Ally didnt quite get it at first but she quickly learned that she could not fit in it. It had a stuffed bunny in it to show that it was only for toys but she still tried to climb in. Once she didnt fit she decided to get some of her toys out and give them a ride on it. Monkey really liked it. So cute!


The second gift was a Radio Flyer red tricycle. Apparently Great Grandpa picked this out on his own special for Ally and put it together by himself. She knew exactly what to do with it when he put it down in the kitchen and she hopped right on. I didnt think she would be able to get on but she surprised us all. She cant quite reach the pedals yet but she wasnt going to let that stop her. I pushed her around the house and then on Saturday she spied it in the garage and Grandpa Dew had to push her around for awhile. It won't be long before she can pedal herself which Im not sure I am ready for. We got the trike home and put it in the garage with little fuss from Ally. She did spy it when we were getting in the car yesterday morning to go to school and a screaming fit ensued because she wanted to ride it. The good news is that she hasn't tried to stand up on it yet but that too wont be far off I am sure. Lucky girl! Thanks Grandpa Jack and Grandma Marilyn.

200th Post: 18 Month Stats

This is my 200th blog post!

We had Ally's 18 month well visit today. She checked out great and took her 3 shots like a champ. She weighed in at 23 lbs 1 oz which is actually down a little bit from a few weeks ago, but totally normal, and was 33 inches long. She is rapidly moving right along the growth chart and is excelling in her motor and communication skills. She has all four molars for a total of six teeth on top (5.5 really) and six on the bottom.
She is starting to figure out the whole idea of visiting the doctor and its not quite as easy at is used to be. She is not exactly a fan of letting a stranger check her over and she definitely let the nurse that gave her the shots know that they were not going to be friends. She did enjoy the toys in the waiting room and checking our reflexes wit the little hammer just like the doctor did to her.