Purina Farms

Last weekend the family along with Josh, Tammy, and Gideon all went to Purina Farms.  We had a fun albeit cold time as the weather turned unseasonably cold that day.  We did the best we could to keep Alyce and Luke out of the cold.  I think Alyce and Gideon had a good time.

 

 The first show Alyce saw was the dog show.  Purina Farms hosts the incredible dog challenge every year in October show casing all the neat things dogs can do.  From the agility course, Frisbee catching, to long jumping.  The Purina team showcased the dogs on their team and all the great things they can do.  Alyce's favorite event was the dog long jumping.  After every jump as the crowd was cheering Alyce would jump up and down clapping and squealing.

Later on we ended up in the barn where we got to see bunnies, chickens, pigs, and a very loud cow.  Whenever the cow would moo Alyce would giggle and say the cow was mooing at her.

Alyce also got her picture taken with the Easter Bunny.  We thought she was over her fear of costumed creatures but we were wrong.  It was our turn for pictures and I told Alyce to go stand by the Easter Bunny so I could take a picture.  Alyce's demeanor immediately changed and she clung to my leg with no intention of letting go.  I asked her if it would be ok if I held her while standing next to him.  I guess I was all the security blanket she needed as she agreed and Mom took our picture.

Green? Where are You?

Alyce has learned a lot.  A lot of what she has learned has come from school and other knowledge comes from that place that knowledge comes from.  Maybe it is repetition, mimicking behavior, or maybe it is time.  Regardless she has acquired a lot of knowledge.

One thing she has learned is what a stop sign looks like and what it is for.  She also understands the significance of stop lights and that the green light is much preferred over the red one.  I'm guessing she picked all of this up from school or watching how Mom and I drive.  She took that knowledge and applied it to some other time where she witnessed Mom and I talking to each other or no one in particular to create the following funny scene.

The whole family was sitting at a stop light waiting for the red light to turn green.  Coming from the back seat came the following "Green?...  Green?...  Where are you green?".  Mom and I roared wondering where exactly that came from.  Stuff like that is what makes being a parent great.

Potty Success From Nowhere

Coming completely out of left field we had some potty success yesterday.  When I got home from work I was greeted by my little girl and she was all hyped up I guess from school.  At one point she was in the bathroom playing around with a box of Princess Band Aids.  I asked her if she needed to use the bathroom and like normal her response was a "no".  After a few minutes she closed the door to the bathroom which isn't that unusual.

I checked on her to see what she was getting in to and to my surprise there was my little girl pants and diaper at her ankles putting her potty seat on the toilet.  After that she moved her bench into position to get up on the toilet.  At that point she discovered she had put the cart before the horse because she wasn't able to get a foot on the bench because her pants were at her ankles.  I told her to pull them up so she could step up and sure enough she did.  At this point Alyce was all about her "privacy" and wanted me to close the door.  Less than a minute later Alyce has taken care of business.  I thought I could go back into bathroom at this point to praise her potty success but I would be wrong.  Alyce still wanted her privacy while she was pulling up her pants and diaper.  She moved her bench over to the sink, washed her hands with soap, and dried them with a towel all by herself.  Finally she emerged from the bathroom having done all the potty stuff "by herself" to mountains of praise and candy from Mom and myself.

We thought we were on to something but we were wrong.  Later that night Alyce did her business in her diaper.  She is so close to being potty trained.  She is physically ready just not mentally.  You aren't supposed to force a kid to do this but how do you get them to want to?  It seems like Alyce only wants to do it when she wants to.  Oh well.  I'm sure one day she'll just start doing it.

Play Ball!

Alyce and I took advantage of the beautiful weather we're having today and played outside. At one point she said to me, "I want to play baseball!". So we got the bat and found her ball and we played baseball. Well Alyce would throw the ball to me and I would do my best to hit the ball. It wasn't always easy to hit the ball since she threw some wild pitches. Here's a couple of pictures of Alyce with her bat. Enjoy!

Teeth Brushing

This is a story retold to me by Mom.  Earlier this week, Tuesday, a dentist came to visit Alyce's class at school.  to talk about tooth care etc.  Alyce came home with a bag full of goodies including a 2 minute sandglass and a new tooth brush.

Forwarding in time to Wednesday morning Mom tells me this story.  She was brushing her teeth with Alyce in the room and Alyce says "I'm gonna go brush my teeth by myself".  By myself is part of another post.  To continue on this story.  Alyce leave's our bathroom and goes into her own.  By the time Mom catches up Alyce has already turned the water on and is trying to put toothpaste on her toothbrush.  Mom helps Alyce with the toothpaste and Alyce asks Mom for some privacy.  Mom moves into Alyce's room to keep an eye on her while she is brushing her teeth.  After a time of brushing Alyce turns and asks Mom "has it been two minutes yet?".

Goodbye Mommy, Goodbye Daddy

Hello Mom and Dad.  Starting just recently Alyce is making a transition from calling Mom and I Mommy and Daddy and instead she is calling us Mom and Dad.  We're not sure where she picked up Mom and Dad or why she is saying it the new way but we don't like it.  Well we don't like it yet.  Our little girl is still 3 not 13 and we really enjoy hearing Mommy and Daddy on a daily basis.  Most likely she picked it up a school which is where she is picking up most any new behavior.

Can My Little Girl Stay Healthy?

Tonight Alyce got sick.  Again.  Instead of it being an ear infection like the past two times tonight she caught the same stomach bug that afflicted Mom on Monday night.  If Alyce's run is like Mom's it will be pretty rough for the first 24 hours and then signs of improvement.  Right now Mom is laying in bed with Alyce so that if she were to get sick again Mom can get Alyce to a tub before she ruins her sheets and pillow.  I'm hoping that Alyce empties her stomach out pretty soon so she and Mom can get a decent nights sleep.

This whole experience tops off a rather difficult winter for Alyce.  It seems that since the start of the year we can't keep her healthy.  It might be ear infections, colds, and now a stomach bug always knocking her off her feet.  If I had to guess I'd say that Alyce's longest running sick free streak is about 2 weeks since the start of the year.  With all the snow we've had lately and school being canceled Alyce has probably been to school 5 times since the start of the year.

This Winter has been holding on for far too long.  Because of these long cold streaks everyone is cooped up inside and indoor spaces are becoming a breeding ground for infections.  We need a break from the cold and a break from cabin fever.

Happy Birthday Song

Either through repetition or through school Alyce has learned the happy birthday song.  Her rendition isn't perfect as she misses lots of words but she has the melody down pat.  Other than a high number of birthday parties as of late Alyce likes to sing the birthday song when I read her a Winnie the Pooh book called Pooh's Birthday Book and it is part of the Read With Pooh All Year Through set.

The plot of this book deals with Pooh and Piglet deciding to have a birthday party for no one as a way to get a piece of honey cake that Rabbit was cooking; pretty sly.  At the end of the story when they are all sitting down to birthday cake the ask they ask the question of who to sing to?  Conveniently a set of baby birds hatch in a tree above them and are noticed by Christopher Robin.  As the book finishes I ask Alyce if she would sing the birthday song to the baby birds.  Her rendition:  "happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday birdies" and as she finishes the last phrase she takes in a big breath and blows it out pretending to blow out the candles on the birthday cake.

Valentine

Alyce received her first Valentine from a boy today. It was from her best friend, Gideon. He also gave her a box of chocolates. Here's the Valentine.

Artwork

Alyce colored this picture today at school. I think it's my favorite picture she's done at school, so I wanted to share it with everyone.