Alice's Wonderland is MOVING!

Oh, the symbolism... Alice and Lizzie's lives are so very intertwined that separating events into "Lizzie's" and "Alice's" for blog posts has become downright intractable. (Lately we've solved the problem by posting to NEITHER blog, but surely that's not optimal...) So we're creating a new blog, "FurstenGirls" (get it? Furstenberg Girls? So clever... right? right?? hmf. Anyway....) You'll find the new combined adventures of Lizzie and Alice posted there now, though we'll maintain permanent links to both of the now archival "Alice's Wonderland" and "Lizzie Kat News". We'll continue to post to Picasa, and we've posted a new feature on the new blog, which (apparently) will allow you to get email feeds of blog posts. (So you can be SURE how little we're posting.) Enjoy! Here is the new blog: furstengirls.blogspot.com

5 months in 5 blurbs

Ough.  Months.  MONTHS since my last post.  Let's just say life has been busy around here.  A recap:

We had an enchanted holiday season, with all of our family here. Our first Christmas at (our new) home:

Not a whole lot of snow, but enough...

Lots of time inside led to some pretty creative Daddy-led projects:

And some projects initiated by the younger set (Lizzie calls these "whiskers"):

As the snow melted, we were treated to more spring like weather and Easter celebrations (though, alas, the two did not coincide):

So there we have it: 5 months in 5 blurbs.  From here on I (we) will TRY to stay more updated with the blog, recognizing that some day the kids will read these entries (Hi girls -- love you; stay in school; be nice; eat your peas...) and will wonder into what deep crevasse their parents must have fallen these past months, to have kept us from journaling their childhood exploits for posterity's sake.

Long Overdue Update

Phew!  Life is busy around here -- holidays, travel, work, school....  but no one - NO ONE - is busier than Miss Alice.  She has so very much to do.  Busy busy busy.

A typical day begins with a clean diaper and getting dressed, then downstairs for breakfast.  While I'm cutting up pears and pouring cheerios, Alice wastes no time removing pots from cupboard and drawers, un-nesting the bowls, and (of course!) taking the kitchen aid attachments out of their cabinet and placing them ever-so gently around the floor.  (CRASH.)

Once I scoop Alice up and into her high chair, she has even more responsibility.  She needs to take one small bite out of each item, then fling (right handed only) the remainder at the adjacent picture window.  Toward the end of the meal, the fork needs a good window-toss too.  Alice is also careful to take a few big gulps of water, thirstily at first, but the last one must (must) be spit out with a nice arc onto the tray.  With that the meal is over.  Bib must be pulled off and thrown (of course), and any form of wash cloth to the face or hands must be avoided and berated at all costs (and at volume).

Once down from the high chair and fueled with several chunks of fruit, and a few cheerios, the day really begins.  First order of business:  remove all books (about 30) from the book basket in the living room.  Board books should be tossed farthest, and a few of the larger books should be placed on nearby chairs, for texture and aesthetic appeal.  Then the cooking magazines need to be taken down from their shelf in what I foolishly termed a "grown-up cookbook section" when we first moved in.  There are a good 50 or so of those to be sprinkled around.  A few should be taken into the kitchen, just to keep us inspired.

Then into the playroom where the real mayhem begins.  Puzzles have been put out of reach (after Eric and I slowly and painfully learned our lesson putting them together each night piece by piece), but there are still plenty of duplo pieces, blocks, balls, stacking boxes, and sorting shapes to be mixed and incorporated into the toddler-family room ecosystem....

Then an amazing thing occurs -- Alice will start to put things away, at least a little.  She even understands "put away" an is pretty happy to do so.    So a few things -- maybe 5% of the total -- are put away.  Not where they were initially, though.   That would be far too banal.  Someplace ELSE.  Someplace exciting, and NEW.  Like down the cat door to the basement.

Upstairs, closer to nap time, Alice has yet more on her agenda.  She dutifully takes Lizzie's tights out of the hanging baskets in her closet and puts them in her pants drawer.  And all of the shirts need to be taken out of the short drawer.  Probably to be left on the floor, but possibly to be taken into the playhouse for a more creative dispersion.  In the bathroom, there are of course a few things that need to be tossed into the bathtub, and more to be taken to the sink (via Lizzie's step stool).  If someone has been careless enough to leave a toothbrush near the end of the bathroom counter, then that should (naturally) be dispatched through the banister railings to the first floor.  Any clean diapers in arms reach should be opened and trotted around the room (possibly on one's head), and dirty ones should be extracted from the trash can (if I haven't been careful to wedge it shut); Alice is careful to check.  every time.

And that's just the morning...

Alice, Alice, Alice.  What a little wonder.  SO delightful.  And ridiculous.  And BUSY.

I'm calling it. First official (non greeting) word!

Miss Alice has a (second) word:  Book!  Grandma called it last week while we were on vacation (apparently I'd forgotten my usual please-don't-tell-me-if-she-does-anything-for-the-first-time-while-I'm-away request), and yes -- sure enough, Alice says "buh, buh" everything she picks up a book.  (Which is quite often, I should add -- the kid loves flipping through board books right now.)   Let's just hope this doesn't mean she's going to be in the humanities...  (Kidding!  Sheesh, lighten up...)  ;)  For the record, Alice has been saying "hi" for quite a while, though opinions vary on when it morphed from a happy-to-see-you coo to official first word.

The developmental blur

Alice is changing so fast, and every day her personality comes out more. She is very curious and inquisitive. She tries to figure out how things work, and is always willing to try new things. While not always successful, she has tried to put on her own shoes, tried to help build a block tower, and tried switching the balls from two separate ball toys. I get the feeling that she is always thinking "what happens if I try this," and "that didn't work, I'll try it a different way." Quite a little problem solver.

Of course, this all comes with some frustration...and a few mini-tantrums. When things really aren't going her way Alice will cry inconsolably, rejecting toy after toy that is offered to cheer up. Occasionally she will toss or slam toys parents bring to try and cheer her up.

It is probably fair to say her first word is "hi". It sounds more like "aye", but she responds when you say hi, and will offer an "aye" when you come to get her from her crib after a nap or when you enter a room.

She has a new way of showing excitement -- quickly stomping here feet up and down. When she is really excited or happy, she will add her usual "tssss" sound.

She and her big sister have a new game. It amounts to Lizzie sitting in the push-wagon and calling Alice until Alice pushes her down the hallway. Then Liz gets out, turns the wagon around, gets back in, and calls Alice to push her back down the hallway. It is quite a sight.

Have you ever pooped a barette?

'Nuff said.

Happy Birthday, Alice... I'm Sorry!

Alice turned one on September 24th.  We celebrated with family party at our house;  Alice celebrated by coming down with a terrible cold and feeling miserable for the subsequent week.  Poor dear.  But she was a trooper for her party.  Didn't eat cake, but nibbled some ice cream and loved playing outside with her cousins and big sister (who happily "helped" her open and play with her presents).

But as any parent knows, the real marker of baby's first birthday is a trip to the pediatrician for shots.   We went today -- just returned in fact.  The highlights, starting with the good:  Alice and Lizzie's new doctor seems great.  She's young, smart, friendly, and has a 15 month old of her own.  So that's good.  Alice got a gold star for baby-wellness.  She's now at the 60th percentile for height and weight (up from 50th), and quite strong, expressive, mellow, and mobile.  Nothing we didn't know, but it's always nice to get the nod.     Her recurring rash is almost certainly from diaper irritation (we've switched brands and it seems to have abated), and almost certainly NOT from food allergy.  So yay!  It's fine if Alice doesn't eat much these days -- also good, because she doesn't -- it's just a phase and the doc says not to worry about it one bit.  (We weren't particularly concerned, but again -- it's nice to hear that we're not simply neglectful.)

Now the bad:  FOUR shots (MMR, c'pox, pneumococcal, and flu).  Alice turned the most awful shot of crimson before finally letting out a horrific wail (again and again and again).  Those shots clearly hurt.  Then we were sent downstairs for a "quick finger prick" to test her iron levels and for lead (apparently standard here at 1 year).  We waited nearly 30 minutes to get in for the lab, before Alice's finger was pricked and "milked" for enough blood -- must have been at least 3 minutes of screaming baby and flustered lab tech spilling blood all over...  I was unimpressed.

Alice fell to sleep for her nap almost instantly, poor dear.  Knowing her, she'll wake up right as rain, happy and delightful, in a few hours.  What an amazing little baby she is.  Or rather *sniff* _toddler_.