Toddler Room

On Monday, Ally officially moved up to the toddler room at her day care. She has been spending time visiting in the room for about a month and she has always loved it. The staff was very confident that she was more than ready to be there full time at 15 months, which is about the time they try to transition babies that can walk and feed themselves. Last week Ally spent about half her days there and tried napping a few times to get used to it. The sleeping and eating are my main concerns because now she will be on a cot rather than in a crib and sitting in a chair rather than in a contained seat in a table.

The toddler room includes up to 15 kids ages 15-22/24 months. It offers a more structured day where they have circle time, daily art or science related projects, story time, and begin to learn alphabet sounds with zoo phonics. Already she has done a fish painting and a monkey drawing this week. When she is ready they will also offer potty training support. She will also begin to spend time outside when the weather improves.

So far she has done very well during the day. Nap times have gone better than expected as she has stayed on her cot but not really slept for that long. She has shown her unhappiness for nap time but is at least laying down and staying fairly quiet if she isn't sleeping. It usually takes just a few days and the kids give in to the peer pressure and deal with it so she will learn. At least she isn't running around like a crazy child. She really loves all the big toys and isn't afraid of anything. There are some other younger kids that hide in the corner but not Ally- she runs with the big kids and is content to play in a group or by herself. The staff is very impressed with her development and we are so happy she is so easy going and adapts easily.

She Learns Something New Every Day

15 Months Old

Allyson celebrated 15 months on December 30 and she is now officially a toddler. YIKES! She has all kids of new found independence and is getting a little temper. We have noticed a significant difference in the way she reacts to things she doesn't like lately which we know is to be expected but it doesn't mean we have to like it. She is getting good at crying for what she wants and then throwing herself on the floor as needed if we say no or cant figure it out fast enough. Hard not to laugh at first but now its just a little over dramatic and getting old quickly.

Ally does have a great new understanding for almost any verbal directions. She cant point to many body parts, animals, specific things in books and bring items to you when asked. She loves to help feed Ella and knows where her dish goes, where the food and treats are and how to pet and kiss nicely. She can say cookie very clearly as well as Ella, mama, dada, hi, and school. Animal noises are a new skill and if you ask her for specific animals she can roar like a lion, quack like a duck, bark like a dog and make a monkey noise. She is obsessed with animals and loves all books and songs with farms or jungles. Old McDonald is a big hit these days!

Her motor skills are getting very good and she can almost run now. She takes your hand to walk around sometimes and likes to "jump" or dance if you hold both her hands. Her favorite activity is running across the sectional couch- we are positive she could do it for hours if we let her. She has fallen off a few times so we try to keep it to a minimum but she is very sneaky and can climb up using her stool and chair. Again, very funny to watch but we are trying not to let her do it until she learns to stay away from the edge. Stacking blocks has become very easy and she can also take out and put in toys of all kinds. Ally likes to wave, smile and blow kisses which are just so very cute. All this ability to move has come with its issues as she hates to be confined to anything, especially a stroller and car seat. She cries and squirms so now we find ourselves letting her push her stroller around to occupy her when shopping. She can walk that thing around forever! The car seat she is just going to have to learn to deal with for a long time.

Since we went to visit a new pediatrician recently, Ally wont go back until 18 months so we don't have real stats to report. She is transitioning into the toddler room at day care this week and will be there with the big kids full time next Monday. We love our independent, curious and crazy girl!

Low Key New Years

Yes, we are boring and did nothing special on New Years eve or New Years Day. Karl and I both had off on Friday and we woke up to bad thunderstorms and tornado sirens going off. It was crazy! We are very thankful to have a house with a nice big basement so we spent a little time down there until the storm passed. We did a little shopping and I went in to work for a few hours. Karl made a delicious cheese fondue dinner and we just played with all of Ally's new toys and watched football like the boring people we are. Ally's idea of a good time was spreading her toys all over the entire main level of the house and running across the sectional couch. Karl and I stayed up until midnight eastern time and then called it a night. Saturday I had to work at 4 so we just hung out at home and watched bowl games and played. We all were sporting our Badger gear but sad to say it really didn't help.

Karl and I kept reminding each other that we were the ones at the Rose Bowl 10 years ago. Hard to believe its been that long and we didn't even know each other then. We had very different experiences- his as a manager for the football team and mine as a twirler with the band. I barely remember much of anything because we were so busy and tired but I clearly remember the parade as the best part. Ally and I watched the Rose Parade this year and I told her that some day she could march in the parade too. I think she liked the idea!

Ready for bed and relaxing in her chair on New Years Eve

Go Badgers!

Holiday Celebrations

Now that we have moved away from both of our families, the holidays have gone on for a few weeks. We went back to West Lafayette to have a celebration with Karl's family a couple of weeks ago and then went up to Oshkosh over Christmas to celebrate with my family. Ally is still really too young to get into the presents and wrapping paper but she does enjoy playing with the new toys once we get them out of the package. She got a slide that is going to stay at Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Henry's house and a big rocking horse that will stay at Grandma Julie's until she isn't scared of it anymore. We brought back car loads of stuff from both places!

In Oshkosh, we did our annual Christmas eve dinner with my dad and grandparents then Christmas morning with dad and Christmas afternoon with mom's side of the family. Ally was so happy to see everyone and just bounced from person to person and toy to toy. I was really sick those two days so we didn't get many pictures or video which is disappointing. Karl and Corey had to come back on Monday but Ally and I stayed until Wednesday so we got to see some friends and drive through the holiday light show at the park. Ally was fighting a cold so she did not have a good week in the eating or sleeping department. She then infected grandma, grandpa, Karl and me with her sickness which we are all still fighting. Sorry Grandma Julie and Grandpa Dew :(

While at home Ally learned her new favorite word: cookie. She ate a lot of them! It was also her first time being able to walk around the houses so there was a lot of exploring going on. The weather was very cold so we couldn't go sledding or play in the snow. I think Ally had fun with everyone anyway and it was tough to leave. Now that we are home, we have found a home for all of her new toys and clothes. She really likes her kitchen set and shopping cart with play food, her ride on pink horse, blocks and new books. I am excited to try out her new sleds but with no snow it might be a few more weeks before we get to use them. Thank you to everyone for all of the wonderful gifts! Here are some of the pictures we did get of our weeks of holiday celebrations.