A San Antonio Update

Well I spoke too soon on Alyce falling out of bed.  Apparently it happened two nights ago.  Luckily Mom was thinking ahead and put pillows on the side of the bed and Alyce fell into those with no ill effects.  Yesterday they bought some railings for the bed to stop a repeat performance of Alyce's acrobatics.

Mom also send me some pictures of the kids!  It seems like they are getting a long without me. 

Having Fun in San Antonio

Mom and kids have been away from home for almost a week now.  Judging by reports from Mom it sounds like they are having fun. The first leg of the trip took them to Eureka springs where Mom stayed by herself with the kids while Grams and PaPa stayed at a B&B.  This was Alyce's first trip to a hotel in which she didn't sleep in a Pack-n-Play.  Apparently it went ok with Alyce almost falling off the bed a few times.  Apparently she likes to move around a lot at night and not having the railing on the bed can be dangerous.  This was the first time in a long time Mom slept in the same room as Luke and apparently he is a noisy sleeper.  I don't think it was loud enough to keep Mom awake but she did note it.  After Eureka Springs they journeyed to San Antonio over the course of 8 hours.  It sounds like the kids managed the trip pretty well with Alyce and Luke taking naps during the trip.

Something pretty cool has happened while they are gone.  Alyce started to want to use the potty.  Up to this point we have had to ask her if she needed to go and usually her response would be no.  Sometimes the stars would align and she would actually produce.  As of late she would get right down to business when Mom would take her to the bathroom.  That is a big help since waiting 5 minutes on the potty is really boring.  My apologies if this is too graphic but one time after making a movement Alyce commented that there were rocks in the potty.

200th Post

Roughly a year after I started the Alyce's World blog we have already reached our 200th posting.  So much has happened in the past year it is hard to put it all down in text.

• Last year around this time we were worried about Alyce's speech development.  Now she is a chatterbox describing everything she sees.
• She has gone from using single words to whole sentences.
• Alyce ate her first cheeseburger and taco.
• She fell into and out of love with The Little Einstein's TV show.
• Mom got pregnant and gave birth to Alyce's baby brother Luke.
• She shared a toy for the first time.
• Learned how to jump.
• Moved to a big girl bed.
• Had another eye surgery.
• Her first movie.
  

Alyce is a completely different girl than a year ago.  She is a great kid that gives back so much more than she takes.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings.  Most likely some potty training perfection and starting preschool.  The below picture is a perfect example of what I love most about my little girl.  This is a picture of her in the car on vacation with Mom, Luke, Grams, and PaPa.

I'm Going to Miss You

Tomorrow Mom is joining her parents on a 10 day vacation to Texas and she is taking Alyce and Luke with her. The whole trip jumped up at the last second and to be truthful I'm not ready for it.  This will be the longest I've ever been away from the kids and from Mom.  If this were only a three day trip I would relish the break from parenting but longer than that and I think I will really be missing my family.  I'm half tempted to buy some web cameras so I can see them and they me.  I think if I see their faces while talking to them it would be much easier on me.  I hope Mom will take up the blogging reigns in my absence as she will be my only source of info about the kids.

I also wish Mom the best of luck. The trip could go well or could be a nightmare. It really depends on Alyce and how she reacts to being in the car for so long.  They are cutting the trip into two parts so that should help and Mom's iphone should provide hours of entertainment.  I think during the times where Mom is by herself is when the most stress can occur.  When shopping Alyce is used to having the ability to roam where she pleases because I have my eye on her.  With Mom being outnumbered I think it will be tough for her to chase down Alyce while pushing Luke in a stroller

If the last few days are any indication I think Alyce will do just fine.  Just yesterday the family ate lunch at McDonald's during a downpour because swimming got canceled and Alyce acted like an adult.  She sat in her seat correctly, ate her food, and wasn't fidgeting to get out.  She did have something to gain by being well behaved; a trip to the playground.  I've never seen her so comfortable on a piece of equipment.  Once her shoes were off she ran into the tunnels of the playground, only to emerge at the bottom of a slide, and quick as a flash was back in the tubes.  She even interacted with the kids on the playground instead of ignoring and avoiding them.

I Missed You

Yesterday I was treated to something so cute it almost made me cry.  I got home from work yesterday and go in the house like I always do.  As I close the door and put my keys on the kitchen table running into the room comes Alyce.  She yells out as she is running towards me "I missed you!".  She then jumped into my outstretched arms and gave me a big hug.  Nothing brightens up your day like some unconditional love.

After that Alyce and I played in the kitchen by pushing a car across the floor then racing to "gets it" as Alyce would say.  We also took turns galloping and jumping across the floor treating each square in the tile floor like a hopscotch square. 

I love my kids.

Alyce Pretending to be Daddy

Lots of stuff makes parents happy or proud of their children.  One thing that makes me proud of Alyce is when she emulates something I do.  It pleases me that she sees me doing something and she wants to be like me.  Take the below example.  Yesterday while I was at work Alyce put on my Xbox 360 gaming headset and my controller.  Mom grabbed a picture of her sitting in my chair pretending to play some video games.  I look forward to when she can play a video game with me.  I think it will present some good father, daughter, and mother time when we can all sit down and play Rock Band together.

Hopscotch

Today Mom and Liz taught Alyce a new game to play, Hopscotch.  Liz drew the hopscotch track on the sidewalk with some chalk and showed Alyce how to jump on each of the squares.  Well Alyce has the right idea even if her execution is a bit off.  They were already in the throes of jumping by the time I got home from work so I missed the learning curve. Alyce was more than willing to show off her new skills provided someone counted for her.

Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

A very funny thing happened last week. We were out at a local restaurant with the whole family plus Grams.  Mom ordered her meal and substituted her fries for a salad.  When Mom does this she usually steals a few fries from Alyce's plate because how can anyone resist those golden brown sticks of salty goodness?  Mom isn't denying Alyce anything as she never finishes her food except for her milk, water, or juice.  This time was different.  Mom reached over like always and took a few of Alyce's fries with Alyce looking on.  Alyce then burst into tears.  Between her sobs and with the biggest frown she can make she said "Mommy took my fries" over and over again.  Can something be both heart wrenching and hilarious at the same time?  Mom ended up giving Alyce back her fries apologizing for not asking permission then proceeded to reach over and have a few of mine. Hmph.

It is great seeing Alyce develop the concepts of possession.  Every day there is something new she shows us that she has learned.  It must be pretty exciting / scary learning so much so quickly.  And for the record Alyce didn't finish her fries.

4th of July

Alyce has just finished a packed 4th of July.  The 4th festivities started on the 3rd with the fireworks display for a town near us.  Last weekend at a neighbor's party fireworks were set off and Alyce had some major issues with them.  With that in mind we were somewhat apprehensive on bringing her to this display.  Apparently the proximity to the fireworks was what was causing her grief as she had no problem with this display.  We set up our chairs at the back of our car with a view of the fireworks.  Alyce had her little folding chair and we brought her tricycle too.  In the end she ended up sitting in the stroller.

The fireworks or as Alyce calls them "firetrucks" display was really top notch.  There was a constant stream of detonations in a myriad of different colors.  Alyce gave us a great play-by-play of what we saw.  She would say all the colors that were up in the sky with the most memorable being her saying "rainbow colors" over and over again.  Alyce also had comments about the sounds of the fireworks by saying "big loud" and "big noisy".  Lastly she separated each firework by its size.  Describing them as "big one" or "baby one".

We ended keeping Alyce up very late that night getting her to bed after 10:00.  It was to our benefit though as she ended up sleeping in until after 9:30 the next morning.  This played well into the 4th as she didn't need to take a nap.

For the 4th the family journeyed to Uncle Eric's and Aunt Marilyn's house for their annual 4th of July party.  Very surprisingly Alyce didn't exhibit any of her initial shyness.  Usually she is quiet and hangs close to Mom or I, but today she left us pretty quick to go play with her cousin Andy.  She spent a good portion of the evening away from Mom and I playing with the other kids in attendance and sitting in the laps of her grandparents and Aunts.  When we were getting ready to leave after the fireworks display Alyce gave everyone a hug and kiss goodbye.  We love it when she does that as it really showcases her personality and how much she enjoys seeing other people.  As we were getting her into the car she said bye bye and waved to Uncle Eric's polar bear and Uncle Sam's dog Gunda.

When we finally got home Alyce was a tuckered out little girl.  I pulled her out of her carseat like a sack of potatoes and carried her upstairs and put her to bed.  I enjoy seeing her so peaceful and content that she can change into her pjs, roll over, and fall right asleep.

After Surgery Update

Alyce's surgery went just fine on Tuesday. There were no complications and she is back to normal except for a swollen eyelid. We got to the hospital around 11:00 and did paperwork and tests leading to the surgery at 1:00. Alyce was her usual shy self and didn't want to cooperate with the nurses or doctors. They were very patient and understanding and eventually got Alyce prepped. We were asked how we thought Alyce would handle being wheeled away from us by strangers. We thought pure hysteria would be the most likely reaction. Because of that they wanted to give her a version of Valium for kids that would make Alyce sleepy and remove any recollection of the event. Mom and I wanted to lessen her trauma and decided to go with their recommendation.

It took about five minutes for the drugs to take effect and they were quite effective. The first thing Alyce wanted to do was lay down and after that you could see the stress leaving her face. I would equate it with being intoxicated. Alyce turned into a chatter box and started describing everything she saw. She would pick up her pillow and say "big pillow" and then lay back down on it or look at the design on said pillow and say "pretty tree". Alyce's social anxiety also flew out the window. Every time someone would come into the room she would wave hi to them and could care less if they crossed into her personal space for a test. Alyce would also wave bye bye to them when they left. When they came to wheel her away she continued babbling up a storm and didn't seem to mind at all that Mom and Dad weren't there.

The surgery didn't take long at all. After they took Alyce away Mom and I went downstairs to the cafeteria for our first meal of the day. It took ups 30 minutes to get our food, eat it, and get back upstairs. On the trip back up the supplied pager went off informing us that Alyce's surgery was completed and she was back in recovery.

Alyce's exit from surgery more difficult than her entrance. Upon joining her in the recovery room Alyce was irate and crying up a storm. We were warned ahead of time that this sort of behavior is a sideeffect of the anethesia and should go away soon. After some time and pain killers Alyce settled down into Mom's arms and cuddled while watching some sponge bob. Once Alyce drank some apple juice they were able to remove the I.V., tape, and board on her left arm being used to keep that area immobilized.

As quickly as it started we were done. Once Alyce was able to keep her juice down and the I.V was removed we were able to get her dressed and leave. By the time we got home Alyce was back to her normal self; dancing around the house and having a good time. She was pretty spent from the entire experience and hungry as she hadn't had anything to eat all day. We gave her a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich and some milk then put her to bed early. She was so tired she slept until 9:00 the next morning.