Summer Kickoff

Sigh...Alessandra Mae Torres. Baby. 9 months old. Wild child. "Sigh" because I really can't believe how quickly time has passed. Also "sigh" because MAN is she starting to become a crazy critter! I honestly can't keep up! Less often is she napping and more often she is exploring. Incidentally, it also turns out that she is freaking hilarious!

I'll bring her into our bed with us on the weekends while Ricardo is still sleeping and she will purposefully crawl over to where he is lying and pull up onto him. She will shake him and slap his face and back (sounds like a horrible wakeup call, doesn't it?!?) and say "Hey Daddy!" over and over again. I supposed I shouldn't encourage this kind of behavior, but it is pretty darn funny.

Alessandra's daily duties include trolling the floor in search of any foreign object to see exactly what it tastes like. So far, she hasn't had a dust bunny in her mouth she hasn't liked! I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've done the old "hook the finger and sweep the mouth" action to get whatever it is that she's found. I'm convinced that babies are able to yield a treasure trove of ridiculous objects from even the cleanest of floors! Last night while doing a mouth sweep I did find a fun treasure for myself though...A sprouting tooth! At 9 months old, this makes her a late bloomer in the dental department, but from what I hear, that's a good thing!

Other accomplishments as of late: She claps when she is proud of herself or in a good mood (usually always). She is further encouraged when we say "Yayyyy!" She loves to play peekaboo and would play it all day if we let her. She pulls a blanket over her face and waits for us to say "Where's Ali? Has anyone seen Ali???" Then she pulls it down really fast and I have to say "Peekaboo!" Or else "There she is! Yay!!" This elicits hysterical laughter from her that I must admit is contagious. Her "lip razzing" has graduated to a far more complex sound, it almost sounds like a bird...Kind of like a really high-pitched "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

In the not-so-much-fun arena, it nearly takes two of us to change her diapers or clothes. One of us has to distract her (or pin her down in extreme circumstances) so that she won't roll over and fall clear off of her changing table. Man, does that make her angrier than a bee after its hive has been knocked down. When there is just one of us doing the job, it takes twice as long and a stern talking-to while looking her straight in the eye and telling her "No!". It's about the only time so far in her life she's been yelled at, but I can assure you it won't be the last!

What else, what else? Well...

...Her #1 Dance Party Hit right now is the alphabet song on her Spanish/English (or Spanglish as I like to call it) table. She just plays it over and over again and dances by swaying back and forth. She actually kind of has rhythm too.


She really likes to hang out in the foyer. For one, she can fulfill her position as Neighborhood Watch Baby, and for two, she really, really, REALLY likes to "twang" the door stopper. Always a good noise for drowning out say, a really good TV show you WERE watching.

One thing that hasn't changed...Elmo has remained equally as fascinating.

Ali also love to go "spelunking" in her aquarium cave. This actually was one of those "3-in-1 playmats" that went from her just batting at the hanging down objects to tummy time to this tunnel thingie. Remember when I was so excited that she could just lay one her back and bat at the objects? My how times have changed!

Now:
Then:

"Every day Ali is doing something new and entertaining to make us laugh. She has been smiling and making all sorts of fun noises and coos...Here she is exploring her new playgym. She squeals and laughs at the fish and the mirror hanging down from the bar. "


Ha! "Squealing and laughing"...All while she stared at it. Wow...How on Earth did we handle such action-packed days?!? ;)

Here she is just movin' and shakin' like she does best:

She LOVES looking at herself in the mirror. She gets it from her dad. ;)




At day's end after all that activity, we have a tired girl on our hands. Even then she usually tries fighting it. This is about the only time we deal with an ornery girl.

She'll resist and whine and cry until finally she surrenders to Mr. Sandman.



I know it sounds like I'm overexaggerating, but she really is the happiest baby I've ever seen. Plus, we hear it from friends and perfect strangers alike, so of COURSE it must be true! :) In all seriousness, it is very common for someone to approach our table during a meal out to comment on what a good baby she is. We are truly blessed, and we do know how lucky we are. :)

As much as I could go on about Alessandra, mommy and daddy have lives too. As such, this Memorial Day Weekend we all headed up as a family to one of our favorite relaxation spots...Lutsen. Or, as we local Minnesotans call it, "The North Shore". About a four hour drive north of the Cities, this quaint skiing and fishing town about 20 minutes shy of the Candian border was discovered by our group of friends about 5 years ago, and we have all continued to go up at least once or twice a year since! It was Ali's first time up, but she seemed to appreciate it as much as we all do!

Just a tiny example of the beautiful scenery around the North Shore


The boys managed to squeeze a golf game in.


Here's the whole group. We brought the inside out so the boys could watch hockey!


Nephew update! The cuteness continues!

Gabriel looking all dapper after a bath:

One of my most fave Marley pics lately:


And for good fun, see how far we've come, how quickly time has passed, and how much we've learned! Check out my posting from one year ago. Gotta love those flashbacks.

See you at the next update and hope you are enjoying your "summer kickoff" season as much as we are!

Love,

D, R, and A