Beach Baby!

Well, we got back from our first vacation with Alyssa a little over a week ago... what fun! We got to have a mini family reunion at the Outer Banks. Alyssa got to spend the week with 12 admirers and even 2 kids in the same house! We had a great time.

Some highlights...

• Alyssa's first time on the beach... she wasn't so sure she liked the cold water or the sand, but she got used to it! She enjoyed playing in the buckets of water. For some strange reason, she even liked licking the wet shells (whenever we weren't fast enough to stop her)!
• Driving on the beach in Ashleigh's "Optimus Prime"... let's just say we were thankful there were lots of other 4WD vehicles and boys who were quite ready to help her out of the sand! We had fun until the storm came in and Mom had to race us off the beach. She said it was quite a rush (after the fact anyway, when she wasn't so worried about Ashleigh's car!) flooring it and getting some air!
• The aquarium was fun... Alyssa did not want to be carried! She really enjoyed marching around like the big kids and checking out all of the fish. I don't think she stood still for more than 2 seconds at a time!
• Mike got to have 3 big seafood dinners... hopefully he is set for a while!
• Alyssa learned lots of new words... beats (beach), Axe (Alex... my cousin), Ha-y (Hannah, my other cousin), Thanks (yes, she even uses it correctly! So polite!), Gi-Gi (the name my grandmother, formerly known as Mama now wants to be called). Most words are also now accompanied by an emphatic head nod.
• She FINALLY figured out how to use a straw! She LOVES Capri- Suns now!
• Alyssa LOVED getting to see everyone every day. She got up with the sun every morning (no sleeping in for Mommy and Daddy with an early riser in the room) and usually had breakfast with my Dad. She woke up calling him every day last week even though we were at home!

A while ago, before we went on vacation, Alyssa named my Dad on her own! We were just calling him Grandpa (because we figured his wish for "Seanachai" would be a little difficult, at least for a while). My Mom would play with her when he would leave the room... "Call Grandpa!" and show her to cup her mouth (like a megaphone). Out of the blue, she started to call him Poppie! So cute! Now, any time we say Grandpa, she says "Pop-pie" with a pause in the middle. He loves it! So from here forward, Poppie it is!

She is also saying "WOW" a lot. She started that on July 4th because of our response to fireworks. It usually comes out "Wow- OW!!"

One last thing for now... Alyssa has her top 2 front teeth now. Total count is up to 4! The poor kid has really had a hard time with the teething!

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