BFFs

Long before it was immoralized in text speak I've been lucky enough to have my own Best Friend Forever (BFF). I can't find a recent (digital photo) of Michelle and I. But here is a picture of our daughters; Julia, Ally and Karina taken on Easter Sunday. It is really special to know that our daughters are forming a special bond like we have.

Weekend Pics

I guess every parent feels this way about their kid, but we just think Ally is AWESOME, she is the cutest, most adorable, most brilliant, happy, fun and exciting kid on the planet. We feel so lucky to be her parents.

This weekend photo montage actually starts on Friday morning. Becky went in to get Ally up out of her crib and she found Ally looking like this. Becky calls it the "Elvis look". I was at work, but when I came home for lunch Becky made me look at this picture to see. Not only is it just funny, but Ally figured out how to unsnap her sleeper and unzip it all on her own! See - I told you she was brilliant!

One of her latest favorite things is to climb. My mom and dad gave her a doll stroller for Easter. Ally wants to sit it in - you can see her here kneeling in the seat of the stroller. The funniest thing to me is that she is so small she actually can sit in the stroller, and we could even buckle her in. We were so scared it would topple over, but it did not.

Saturday morning I was so thrilled to finally dress her in this outfit. My Aunt Martha bought this for Ally last February. We spent a week in Florida last year after our visit trip, when we met Ally for the first time. Aunt Martha bought this adorable warm up suit for Ally - its size 9 month, but she is finally big enough to wear it. (It is still loose, because she is so skinny). Here she is pictured doing one of her favorite things - sucking the water bottle. We have a couple water bottles around the house to spray the cats with, and Ally likes to suck the sprayer, and I think she actually manages to get water out!

I just could not resist this picture of her walking - she looks like such a big girl in the outfit with her shoes on walking so well!

A shot of Ally and me.


Another picture of Ally climbing - this time it was on baskets, once again her small stature comes in handy, as a larger kid would just break thru the wicker, but not our light-weight girl!



She really enjoyed her scooter this weekend, and started saying beep beep when she is on it. She has not yet figured out how to move herself, but Becky pushes and pulls her around, and Ally loves it!

Remember the climbing theme? This is actually a cat scratcher-thing for the cats, but she thinks its her own personal step. At one point her favorite cat Carl wanted to use it, but she pushed him off so she could stand on it! (and this weekend Ally started calling him by name! - yes she can now say Carl - it does sound like Ahrl - but we know what she means.)

This weekend she also started saying the number two! When I put on her socks and shoes I always say, one (for the first one) and then two (for the second) and after I said one she said two! I was so excited! Another big thing this weekend was that Ally now knows the difference between up and down. We spent quite some time saying Up and she would stand up tall, and then down and she would squat down low, then Up and then Down - over and over again. It was super cute. I think Becky got it on video, but I'm not sure. When ever Ally gets something like this she claps for herself - she is so proud. I just want to bottle up her self pride and save it for her teenage years!

Kisses and cuteness

The title says it all to me! Ally started kissing a few weeks ago. We'll ask for a hug or kiss and she usually shakes her head and says no. But sometimes she obliges us and it is THE BEST THING. I was so happy Becky caught this one on film.

Easter Recap

We got back late last night from Easter weekend with Grandma Barb, Grandpa Frank, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Christine and cousins Kaitlin and Jackson. We had a great time! All three kids were mobile now, which was a little crazy, but lots of fun. Here are some photos!

Ally loved to sit on this little booster seat!

Grandpa Frank, Ally and Mama

The Three Cousins!

Grandma, Grandpa and the Kids

Ally got her own stroller!

Mama and Ally

Another Quiet Bedtime

The other night, we gave Ally her bath, did the normal wind-down stuff, put her in her pajamas, and then set her on the floor for some reason. I think the photo above indicates how sleepy she was. She discovered how hilarious it is to look at me upside down through her legs.

In other news, her list of words grows every day. She can say cat, dog, duck, more, sock, ball, yes and no. Guess what the word of the week is! That's right, NO. She says either NO or NO NO. Anything that you say that sounds like a question seems to get the answer NO. It's amusing to us (so far!) and she is obviously saying no even when the answer is yes. Hopefully the word "yes" becomes more interesting to her soon!

Right now she is tormenting playing with Carl, giving him Ally hugs, and giggling. Remind me to get him some cat treats!

Hippity Hoppity

We thought it would be fun for Grandma Barbie to take Ally to see the Easter Bunny. Unfortunately Ally did not enjoy it. But I think the picture will bring a smile to your face.

Sunset on Siesta Key

Our first full day in Florida we had fantastic weather it was a clear day so we decided to walk down to the beach to see the sunset. I love these next 2 shots of Becky and Ally.Walking hand in hand. - It was funny all week - Ally kept wanting to hold our hands while she walked around outside. She would walk all over the condo by herself and then outside she wanted us to hold her hand. I guess I shouldn't complain b/c I am sure in a few years I will WANT her to hold my hand and she'll refuse.

3 generations: My mom, me and Ally!

Ally in deep thought.

Here she is walking on the beach. If I let go of her hand she would stop and cry.

Her little footprints. She is wearing shoes because if we took them off she screamed and would try and climb up my legs. She was fine in shoes but barefoot it took a lot to get her to walk!

The beautiful sunset.

Vacation in brief

I'm sorry there are not more pictures. We got back last night from Florida. We spent a week in Siesta Key with mom - it was wonderful. Ally was a good traveler as usual, even with a delayed flight and no crib until 11PM. Today we did lots of laundry and unpacked most of the stuff. I promise a longer post in a few days.

Here is Ally in her brand new swim outfit. You can tell she wasn't too thrilled about the pool.

Here we are at sunset on the beach. Ally was fine walking as long as she had shoes on and someone holding her hand!