Hot Dog Dance

Last night we hung out at Josh and Tammy's house.  While we were sitting around talking the kids were playing with all of Gideon's toys.  Gideon was very gracious with his toys.  He would bring some toys over for Alyce to play with and once she started playing with them he would get jealous and take them back.

One toy that garnered a lot of attention was Gideon's step stool. This wasn't a normal step stool, this was a Mickey Mouse step stool!  It had stickers of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy on it.  Once Alyce saw this stool she had to get on it and dance and sing the Hot Dog Dance.  The Hot Dog Dance is a song and dance that plays at the end of every episode of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club House.  Tammy was quick on the draw and took a video of Alyce and sent it on to me to share with the world.

Tree Farm

A few weeks we joined Mom's parents and their neighbor's Trent, Lisa, and Shelby on a trip to get a Christmas Tree.  Shelby's friend Claire also tagged along.  Starting last year we got a fake tree due to size constraints in our living room.  We still like to make the trip to help us get into the Christmas spirit.

The weather this year unlike some previous years cooperated.  It was really cold but as long as it isn't raining and the ground isn't wet we can manage.  Alyce was pretty fired up about going to the tree farm.  One of the reasons for her excitement was that she got to ride to the farm in T&L's van with all the other ladies.  While waiting for the tractor to come around Alyce rode on a mini train that was being pulled around the farm. Shelby and Clair were there to watch her so I didn't even have to cram on board.

The tractor ride to the field was pretty intense.  This year the field on top of a hill above the store was open.  This requires a five minute ride on a trailer where you would fall out that back if you weren't holding on.  Alyce was enjoying every minute of it by looking all around and especially at the tractor.

Stalking the trees didn't take very long this year.  The intense cold had something to do with speed up T&L's decision.  Alyce didn't hang that close to us while strolling around.  Pushing Luke in his stroller around a field isn't easy or quick and Shelby was moving quite a bit faster.  Alyce was very well behaved.  She didn't run off and didn't complain once about the cold.  There might have been a few gripes when her mitten fell off or needed to blow her nose but nothing major.  I think Alyce was taking a lot of ques from Shelby and modeling her behavior on hers.  After the tree was felled we took a few pictures and headed back to the warmth.

Back in the store we were finally able to unbundle, get warm, and take some more pictures.  We couldn't hang around too long though; the place was closing and we needed to head out to Onermark Grams' house.  We let Alyce ride the train one last time, packed up the kids in the car, and headed out.  Both kids fell asleep on the hour long trip and I think they needed it.

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

Artwork courtesy of Alyce. Take note of her proper placement of the magnets. Who knew Rudolf had a brother with a blue nose?

Reading a book.

Last week, maybe even two weeks ago Alyce did something that left me speechless.  Speechless both from surprise and because I didn't need to say anything.  Alyce read a book to me.  Well she really didn't read the book.  She had heard it so many times she knew all the words to it and recited it from memory.  The book was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  The "Brown Bear" book as Alyce likes to call it is one of our favorites.  Mom and I like it because it is short and we can get her to bed quicker than if we have to read something difficult like Dr. Seuss books.  Fox in Sox is its own form of torture if you attempt to read it quickly.  The book comes with a warning.

As I laid next to her and opened up the book Alyce just starts saying "brown bear brown bear what do you see?" and then continues "I see a ....".  This is when I have to turn to the next page to show her the next animal.  The page after the bear has a red bird.  Once she sees the red bird she finishes the sentence by saying "red bird looking at me".  She recites the rest of the book correctly identifying the yellow duck, blue horse, green frog, purple cat, white dog, black sheep, and goldfish.  You could tell by the look in her eyes and the tone in her voice that she was proud of her accomplishments.  Me gushing with praise probably helped.

That's Culvers

Last week the family was out and about doing some Christmas shopping.  As we were going down the highway we passed a restaurant we frequent, Culver's.  Alyce was looking out the window at the time and said "that's Culver's"!  After we confirmed her statement she went on to say "I get hots dog and ice cream there".  We then asked her what her favorite ice cream was.  Cookie dough was her response.  She has good taste.  Hot dogs and cookie dough.

School Pictures

Last week we received Alyce's school pictures.  The group picture is of all of Alyce's classmates.  The lucky or unlucky boy considering who you ask is Owen and the blonde with the white sweater is Aleana.  From the reports I get from Mom when she drops off Alyce at school Alyce is Aleana's friend as she can't keep talking about Alyce to her mother.  Alyce, however, barely makes mention of her so I can't say if the friendship is reciprocal.  I do hear that they play together at the playground so I would guess that Alyce considers her a friend as well.  Ms. Maria is their teacher. 

Christmas Lights

This year Alyce is celebrating her first Christmas.  This year Alyce is getting the Christmas excitement.  She doesn't understand the real meaning of Christmas yet but she has the idea that something special is going on.  The most visible aspect of Alyce's interest in Christmas is Christmas lights.

Alyce is a big fan of Christmas lights.  Whenever we are out and about at night she points out each and every house to us; saying things like "pretty lights", "Christmas lights", "ooh pretty ones", "look over there at that one".  Words can't describe the excitement in her voice.  Just yesterday Mom setup the lights inside the house as part of the Christmas decorations.  When Alyce came down from her nap she was all about the Christmas lights.  She was so distracted by them she barely ate any dinner and left the table early to look at them some more.

During all of this Alyce did learn a new feeling or at least a name for it, fear.  When the first lights were being put up after Thanksgiving we asked Alyce what she thought of them.  She said that they scared her in a scared voice.  She wouldn't elaborate as to why they were scary but after we told her that the light's were pretty and fun, and not scary she seemed to be ok with them then.  Well she is ok with most of them.  Whenever we go past a house or business with lots of blue light she says that she doesn't like those.  Who knows what goes through the mind of a three year old?

New Car Seat

A few weeks ago Alyce got a new car seat.  She didn't need a new car seat, Luke did.  Luke, now 8 months old has grown out of his 32lb pumpkin seat and is in need of a real car seat.  Alyce, luckily, is now within the height / weight range of booster seat.  So we decided to move Alyce onto a new seat and give Luke her hand me down.  Yes this is yet another hand me down Luke gets of Alyce's but at least he won't be able to wear any of her old clothing.

Alyce's new car seat is an EvenFlo "Big Kid" booster seat.  It has an removable / adjustable back, two drink cup holders, and flip up armrests.  The most important feature of this new seat is that Alyce gets to use big kids seat belts.  No longer do we have to attach the car seat to the car and then her to the car seat.  Now we can just plop Alyce on the booster and with a single click she is good to go.  Because it doesn't need to be mounted to the car we can switch her car seat to another car in about 30 seconds; a feature we've already used.  The whole point of a booster seat is to get a kids smaller body in the same position an adult would be to make full use of a 3 point seat belt hence why it doesn't need to be attached to the car.

Since the first time Alyce viewed her new seat she has been in love with it.  Every time she gets into the car she says out loud "I'm going to get into my new big kid car seat" or "that's my new car seat".  I think she likes the idea of using the adult seat belts rather than the car seat's 5 point harness.  It does provide her with some additional mobility that I think she enjoys.  Alyce is also a big fan of the arm rests.  There is one downside to this booster compared to her old car seat and that is there isn't a good way to sleep.  With her old seat it wrapped around her and she could lean into one side or the other, rest her head, and fall asleep.  With the new seat there isn't a lot for her head to rest on so she doesn't sleep much in the car or when she does she doesn't stay asleep for very long.  That being said with her now being three missing a nap isn't as big as a deal as it used to be and if she doesn't take a nap in the car she won't be ruined for the rest of the day.

Daddy Those are Butterflies

Two nights ago after I gave Alyce her bath it was time to get her dressed.  She is old enough now to have an opinion on what she wants to wear and if we can accommodate without jumping through hoops we do.  Well Alyce wanted to wear her blue "Super Cozy" jamas.  A super cozy set of pajamas is a set of footy pjs made out of soft fleece material.  Sadly I had to tell her that the blue super cozy jamas were dirty and in the laundry. 

After after voicing her dismay she put on normal set of pink pjs with butterflies on them without any more complaining.  This pink set however didn't have any feet on them so I asked Alyce if she wanted some socks.  She responded with yes and that she wanted some pink socks to match her outfit.  As an aside she has been really big into pointing out things that match.  A few days ago she mentioned that my blue jeans matched the blue chair in the living room.  I told her to go pick out some socks from her drawer, she walks over, opens the drawer, and pulls out some pink socks.  I mention to her that she made a good choice and that they match the flowers on her jamas.  If you've been paying attention you would have noticed that I said flowers on her pjs where in fact it was butterflies.  Well Alyce didn't miss my characterization and said matter-of-factly "daddy those are butterflies on my jamas not flowers".  I corrected myself and said that yes those are butterflies not flowers.  After Alyce told me a second time that they were butterflies she was satisfied and moved on towards bedtime.

Alyce's Parenting Advice for Jake

A few weeks ago I was bringing Alyce upstairs for her bath and then bed.  Entering the kid's bathroom I saw that Jake had gotten into the trash and I said to no one in particular, "Jake Man!".  Alyce turned around, goes down the stairs until she could see Jake on the ottoman, and said "Jake's a bad boy".