Ball Pit Fun

Alice did not actually "open" her Christmas presents from me and Larry. We assembled her new toys and just let her explore them. One of her new presents was a ball pit.The ball pit only came with 50 balls, which was pretty lame - not enough to even cover the bottom of the pit, so we bought 175 more - THIS is what MADE the pit. Add balls - instant fun!

Two sides of the pit are open, but the other two sides are closed. One closed side has holes in it to stuff the balls. The other side has 3 plastic "windows"

Alice loves to smash her cute little face into the plastic windows, which gives us a good laugh.

Christmas 2008

Alice's first Christmas went by in a blur. We spent time with both sides of the family and Alice was a sweetie. Of course she got many, many presents. I'm sure we will be opening and putting together toys for a couple of weeks.

We arrived late Tuesday night in Dallas on the day before Christmas Eve. We had bought Alice a new "big girl" car seat for the trip to Dallas and she slept well on the drive. Once we got there - she was up for a couple of hours, which was exhausting but expected.

On Christmas Eve day, Alice got to participate in the Meadows womens' tradition of going to Neiman Marcus downtown to eat brunch in the Zodiac Room and to shop Neimans sale racks. Alice did very well at brunch, trying all sorts of new foods. I think she really enjoyed the orange souffle, mashed potatoes, kiwi, and pasta. She even got a taste of the dessert tray. I think she ate all of the cheesecake. Shopping is not quite Alice's forte as yet, but I'm sure the skill will develop with time - watch out dad! (Nieman Pics to follow when Aunt Pappa gets a copy to me!). That evening, Alice went with Grandma Didi and Pop to the candelight service at their church. Reportedly...she enjoyed the spectacle and was adored by all.


Christmas morning, we all gathered and opened presents in the morning. Alice got a Little People's Garage and a Bounce and Spin Pony, just to name a few.

The extended family came over at lunch and we all ate Christmas dinner together. Alice sat in her high chair and ate off of mom and dad's plates. Her first Christmas dinner was great.


The day after Christmas we saw the Bickel/Meisse side of the family. We pretty much did a repeat of Christmas day there too. Open presents, eat dinner and hang out. Again, Alice ate off our plates and did a great job. Some of her presents this day were an air ball toy and a stuffed puppy that talks and sings. Alice enjoyed watching and playing with her cousins, and we were all exhausted at the end of the day.

Mark off "Baby's First Christmas" - it was a huge success.

Can't wait till next year! (well....maybe I can ;-)

First Steps

I've been saying all along that Alice would be walking before Christmas, and my predictions came true. About a week before Christmas Alice took her first unassisted steps. I'm not saying my child is a prodigy...well, maybe I am, but thats my right as a mother - to think my beautiful daughter is the most smart and talented baby in the world.

PS...The hat was her dad's purchase, but she loved it and looks absolutely adorable in it....see - I'm not prejudice at all ;-)

I can't believe that Alice is almost 1 year old. She is such a part of our lives now, it is hard to believe only 1 year ago, we were still waiting and anticipating her arrival.

Alice is getting more teeth. She now has the two bottom and two top teeth, and more top teeth are starting to emerge. It's kinda cute and funny how her two top teeth are bigger than her bottom teeth and there is a gap between the two.

Alice's personality is really starting to develope. She loves bath time, yogurt, cheese, macaroni, and juice. She hates having her nose wiped, getting her diaper changed, and especially hates putting on her PJ's.

We have finally gotten the kitchen cabinets baby proofed, but we kept one set of cabinets with plastic ware opened for Alice to explore. She has started playing peek-a-boo with the mixing bowls (see picture above), and will scoot across the floor with plastic containers under her hands.

"Daycare"

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Driving Baby

Alice really likes her blue plastic car.

Alice is so much fun....alot of work-yes....but fun.

She is so interactive now. We can play mimic games - I clap/you clap - I click my tongue / you click your tongue - I shake my head / you shake your head - I make a sound / you copy the sound.

She is very expressive with the sounds she makes. Its like she is trying to say something, but someone has taped her mouth closed. She is definately trying to communicate something, but we are too dense to understand her meaning.

She is also very mobile. She loves to stand and walk along side her blue "car" almost as much as she loves riding in it.

Alice Walks!

It is amazing how fast Alice is growing and learning.
Larry told me that a few nights ago, Alice pushed the walker and walked behind it. I thought he meant that he was holding her up and helping her. Friday night, he showed me what she can do. He placed her at the back of the walker and she began franken-walking behind the walker. I was so amazed. By the next day, we had converted the walker into a push walker and Alice was cruising like a pro.
(Sorry for the poor quality - it was taken with my phone)

More adorable pics

My Sweet Little Cannibal

Alice with Aunt Ali and Sammy

Don't know how much longer I'll get to do this, but I love it for now

Alice and her new car

Another car shot!

Alice on the back porch - what a cutie!

Again....what a CUTIE!

Alice with Daddy and Ginger (and Todd's hand)

9 month stats

9 month stats:

17 lbs 9.5 oz (25th percentile)

28 inches long (80th percentile)

I took Alice to Dallas the first weekend in November. I took friday off and left with Alice for Dallas Thursday night after her dinner, bath and bottle. She was so good on the ride up...she slept the entire way. Once we got to Dallas, she woke up and was up for about 2 hours - new place - new people (not really NEW, but not wholly familiar)

Grandma Didi and Pop took care of Alice while mom got to go shopping :-) and that evening we met Aunt Papa and Uncle Paul at Northpark Mall for Halloween. We didn't want to stay at the house with the dogs barking up a storm at all the trick-or-treaters, so we strolled around the Mall. Alice was a doll, and she slept on the way home.

Saturday Alice began getting (what I thought were) bite marks on her arm, leg and belly. We were confounded as to what was bitting her because we were all on the floor with her and no one else has noticed anything. At first we thought it might be something in Grandma Didi's house, but a trip to the Doctor upon returning to Austin proved it to be an allergic reaction to the medication she was on for her ear infection...plus Thrush.

Alice is now on medication for the Thrush and the spots are starting to fade and everyone is happy that Grandma Didi's is safe :-)

The Pumpkin Patch

Patra and I took Alice to a Church Fall Festival this past Saturday in Round Rock. Although there wasn't much to really see or do (some crafts, a dunk tank and a small petting zoo) Alice loved to people watch. They also had a pumpkin patch, so we brought along Alice's dragon costume to get a few pics.

'What is this big orange thing?'

'Maybe if I taste it I can tell what it is...'

"Rawr" I'm a Dragon!

World's cutest and most ferocious Dragon.

I Love the Park!

Alice loves to spend time outside. Our new favorite outdoor activity is the Park near our house. It has swings, slides, monkey bars, forts, etc... Alice is best at the swings, but will watch the other kids intently as they play on the playground and can't wait to join in. Gotta get that walkin thing down first...grrrrr.

Alice with Gammy

Grandma DiDi

Swingin' with Aunt Pappa

My list of Achievements

Almost 9 months old - and here is what I can do:

• Say mama, dada and baba


• Expert crawler


• Pull up on EVERYTHING


• Balance with one hand


• Feed myself a bottle
• Blow Rasberries


• Drink from a sippy cup


• Feed myself cheese, puffs and cheerios


• I finally have my 2 front teeth


• Enjoy my favorite video (Baby Mozart) - over and over


• Dip my face in the bath water - on purpose!


• Play with classmates

Some more pics

This picture was taken in Daddys lap in his readin' chair

This pic was taken in Grandpa Meadows' lap during a visit last weekend

Showing off for the Grandparents

This was taken at Dog and Duck

This was also taken at the Dog and Duck

Alice's first real vacation

We took Alice on her first official vacation this week. Mom, Dad and Baby drove 6 hours south to South Padre Island for a few days of rest and relaxation. Relaxation was pretty much all that could be done because of the rain for the first 3 days of vacation.

Dad wrote and created graphics between baby sessions, Mom napped and listened to an audio book and baby played, ate, slept, watched videos and was cute in general...all in a typical day for Alice - just in a new location and with tons of attention from Mom and Dad. We all enjoyed hanging out on the patio to watch and listen to the surf.

By day 4, the weather decided to cooperate and we got Alice out on the beach. She had fun crawling on the sand, and we had fun trying to keep her from eating it (yuck!). The most fun was mom and alice sitting in the surf and anticipating the rush of water. Alice rocked and jumped with the coming and going of the waves. She is definately not afraid of the water and getting her hands (and face) dirty.
We all had a good time just spending time together and hope to get dad back to the beach again ;-)

Some cute ones

Here is Alice smearing her dinner all over the place. This feeding was definately her most messy yet....and I stress....YET. Food was in her hair, in her nose, in her ears and forehead. This meal consisted of Winter Squash...YUMMMMM.

We followed the Winter Squash with a few sweet potato puffs (squash is still in her hair). Alice has really worked hard on the "pincher" grasp and can get most of the puffs in her mouth now.

This pic was taken one morning at pre-school

Here is Alice with one of her classmates. She loves to play on the mat with the other kids