Alyssa - Age 4

I said I wasn't going backwards, but I think I will do a summary for each year. Birth to one was written down, 1, 2 and 3 are a pleasant blur and 4 is happening now, so I will go back a little and piece together what I can remember and add a before and after photo from the collection of 10,000! I have been enjoying my other friends posts so much as their children reach those special milestones. Plus, now I am addicted to blogging and could use some more material - ha!

Alyssa - Age 4 - The Year of Independence (check out the shoes!)

Alyssa is 43 inches tall - the tallest in her class and 36 lbs - stop the Pediasure! Alyssa likes to put her clothes on herself, buckle and unbuckle herself in the car seat and be the "Line Leader." We gave up sippy cups a few weeks ago for special pink and purple (her favorite colors) plastic juice glasses. Her best friends are Piper and Hali and she plays with them everyday at school. Alyssa rides a very small bike with training wheels. She loves birthday parties, especially her own. This year we had a Princess Party at Ready, Set, Jump. She loves singing and Kindermusik but is losing interest in Dance (Momma's heart breaks). She still loves Care Bears but also loves Dora and Little Pet Shop. Her favorite show on TV is Word World which we Tivo. Her current nicknames are Boo Boo, Bookie and Sleepy Deepy when she's tired. She is a very sensitive child and gets her feelings hurt easily. She likes to shop at Walgreen's for candy and Wal Mart for toys. She likes to wear dresses, makeup and paint her nails. She won her FIRST first place ribbon for her Mardi Gras costume contest at school. Alysa met her great, great Aunt Lynda and had her first trip to the zoo in March. Cousin Miller is born in April. "Bless you" is not enough after a sneeze, we must say either "Bless you, baby squirrel," or "Bless you, baby crab."

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

Alyssa - Age 3

Alyssa - Age 3 - The Year of Potty Training - Where did our baby go?

Alyssa was 37.75 (70%) inches tall and 29.5 lbs (50%) - yay! Thank you "milky" (strawberry Pediasure). We started 2007 off with a Care Bear Birthday at school in Ms. Cheryl's Class. Alyssa loves bubbles, puzzles, snocones, cupcakes, feeding ducks, and getting her face painted. Likes to help with gardening and watching her tomato plants grow. Takes a dance class at Ms. Trudy's and performs spontaneous tap shows for family. Loves swinging and teaches others at school to "pump." Enjoys playing with friends outside of school - Steven and Morgan. STILL loves her personal pool. Her favorite music is a Disney song collection and she performs "I just can't wait to be King" from the Lion King with great intensity! Attends many fun outside summer birthday parties and her first Whoop-te-do at the Lake House. Beach bum at Kiawah and Litchfield. Loves to go to "Splish Splash" with Dada on the weekends. Goes to see Sesame Street Live with Granny. Loves Winnie the Pooh, Lumpy and Roo. Drives the Boat with Mr. Billy. Goes to the Aquarium with Eya. Dresses up as Cinderella for Halloween. Goes to Ohio to meet cousin, Holt. Alyssa can write her own name. Visits Santa three times and only wants a "Bee Hive." Not so crazy about taking her "Bath Baths" likes to have special treats like Dinosaur eggs, color foam, Elmo tablets and aquarium toys. AND somewhere along the way she lost her baby face and became potty trained - FINALLY!

Alyssa - Age 2

Alyssa - Age 2 - The Terriffic Twos

We started 2006 off with a Care Bear birthday at school in Ms. Tanya's Class. Alyssa was 33 inches tall (40%) and 23.5 lbs (10%) - grandparents are still concerned about her weight. Starts Mommy & Me Dance lessons. Due to climbing out of her crib, she gets a "big girl" bed. Loves Barney, riding her tricycle, and dressing up as a princess or Clemson cheerleader - Go Tigers! Attends Care Bear Show with Eya - astounded! Still dancing at weddings and a great helper with yardwork and laundry. Beach bum with Ellisons and Andersons, has a blast with her twin cousins. Alyssa's Park is established and she gets her own swingset. Parties down with friends at Chuck E. Cheese, Jump 'n Jack's and Ready, Set, Jump. We start potty training - why I don't know?!? That's in the next blog. Chick-Fil-A opens. Loves chocolate, watermelon, popsicles, hankies and balloons. Helps Momma bash Dada on his 40th. Lovies now are Main Blankies. Loves to do painting projects with Momma. Still loves her own pool. Goes to Wiggle's Concert with Granny, starts playing guitar. Wants to wear dresses to school and ponytails. Attends Camp Meeting, starts taking pictures with her toy camera. Fall trip to NC mountains, jumps on trampoline. Three halloween costumes: Clemson Cheerleader, Super Girl and Sleepytime Care Bear. Loves snowmen, Elmo and her big pink bunny from Granny. Favorite restaurants are Chick-Fil-A and Jorge's.

Alyssa - Age 1

Alyssa - Age 1 - A Real Walking, Talking Toddler

January 2005 started off with a Care Bear birthday in our home. Alyssa was 29.5 inches tall and weighed 18 lbs and 3 oz (10%). Her percentiles caused her grandparents great concern - just wait, she's gonna show them! Nickname is predominately Boo Boo. Splashed into the big bathtub, goes through the solid food testing without any problems, loves blueberries. Gets a new "big girl" car seat. Frequent traveller to NC and GA - visits Mattie & Luke. Loves to read books and play with Mega Blocks. Enjoys smearing food all over face but picky eater otherwise. Started daycare at 16 months, walked the second day there. Becomes quite fond of Izzy. Loves to dance at weddings, especially with Dada. Loves her personal swimming pool. Walks over the new Cooper River Bridge (Ravenel) at it's Grand Opening. First real haircut 9/23 - 21 months old. Attends Ellison family vacation to Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Visits the Pumpkin patch and dresses up as Funshine Care Bear for Halloween. Loves to swing and play in neighborhood parks. Talks to grandparents on the phone, usually lamenting either that "Maggie popped the ball" or that "Tipper has sharp teeth." Loves jump castles and becomes a serious climber. A good "helper" with sweeping and mopping - but somehow the house is always a total wreck! Loves to play in laundry hampers. Dr. Boo Boo vists Dr. Poppy's Office in Mo'town. We start Time Out - our home is enveloped in Care Bears.

Alyssa - Age Birth to 12 Months

Well, here's our girl, Alyssa Grace Anderson, born on January 9, 2004 at 2:11 pm. Weighing in at 5 lbs 13 ozs and 19 inches long. Delivered by Dr. Michelle McCusker at Summerville Medical Center. Alyssa was such an easy baby. I think she came out on a schedule. She slept in her own bed through the night at six weeks. We tried to follow the Baby Wise system as close as possible and it seemed to work like a charm. Nicknames: Little Sack of Sugar, Little Gruntsy, Little Squeaker, Doodlebug, Boo Boo. First Road trip to Morganton at 2 months, smiling on cue - such a great smile! Travel to Great Grandma's in Georgia at 3 months and showed first sign of being "independent." Mrs. Tiffaney kept Alyssa three days a week while Momma worked part-time at MUSC. At 4 months she rolled over, discovered her feet and started solids with rice cereal. Favorite song is "If you're happy and you know it." Loves to "Ride the Horsey" with Eya. At five months started drinking from a sippy cup, chewing on toes, noticed Maggie May and Scooby and puts her hands on the faces of others. First food is sweet potatoes. Attended Uncle Brad's wedding. At six months started babbling - mama, baba, dada. Sits up mostly by herself, 1st tooth, slaps knees and bangs toys. Loves the Bumper Jumper and doing the "Lyssa Dance." Baptism at 7 months. Started crawling at 8 months. Favorite Book is Peek-a-boo Kisses, loves playing peek-a-boo. First "Lovey" is small Funshine bear. At nine months waves "Bye Bye" to Dada and Mrs. T. Does sign language "milk" sign and "more" sign for puffs. First word "meow" in response to "What does the kitty say?" Pulling up, high five, pattycake and little piggies. Does not liked to be confined - high chair, car seat, changing table or stroller. 10 months - picking her nose, words: Mama, Dada, ball, uh-oh, cruising, shows off her "pretty hair." Loves the walker, touching her fingers, pointing and has a mouth full of teeth. Momma quits nursing (and writing things down) after 11 months - whew!

Ed Kilbourne in Concert

Last night we had the pleasure of seeing Ed Kilbourne in Concert. His performance was splendid as always and since the last time we saw him, he has done "A World of Good," a new album.

His beautiful wife, Kathleen, was my Youth Minister and also married Drew and I, so it was wonderful to see her and catch up.

We think they are going to be incredible Grandparents later this Summer.

Can you guess which van is Ed's? "Grace Happens" is my favorite!

Drew's Work Picnic

Thanks Duane for getting me a job with such great perks!

Today was Drew's Work Picnic - there were plenty of activities for the children. Including a jumpcastle and a DJ with bubbles. Alyssa made some new friends and played with some old friends. The food was great. We did not win any of the awesome door prizes but next year we will bring dessert! A fantastic time was had by all!

Especially Ashley - the cutest 1 year old around!

Alyssa had her face painted by Miss Bonnie - a butterfly, naturally.

Lauren and Steven think about Elmo.

Alyssa and Hali playing hackeysack volleyball with their dads.

Alyssa and Hali chasing a remote control truck.

Taking a break to enjoy a good friend and a beautiful day.

Our Girl's Growing

Here are some photos from our favorite pizza place, Andolini's. Alyssa used to be too small to get into the seats at the big long bar. Now she's climbing all over them saying "look how tall I am!"

Where does the time go?

Bamboo Season

How many Bamboo stalks can you find in this picture?

The answer is 12. How about this one?

Would you believe, 17?

April means Bamboo growing season for those of us, here in the tropics. A little sunshine and rain and these beauties grow about a foot a day. Our first year here, it kind of freaked us out, but now it is a welcomed sign that spring has arrived and chopping them down relieves job stress!

Granny's New Kitty

Granny's new kitty, not even named yet, he's six weeks old. See how happy kitties make Granny!

Alyssa loved playing with such a young kitty.

Herbie is happy too, now he has a new playmate he can bully around.

Such pretty blue eyes and so tiny.

Hmmm, what's this a camera?

It's Miller Time!

On Sunday we met our new nephew, only 1 week old, Miller Caldwell Anderson. He was such a good baby and slept most of the time.

Proud parents, Clay and Lisa - welcome to the Club!

"Baby" Alyssa

Don't let us disturb you - Miller Time for Drew too!

Dance Class Picture Day Collage

Wow - it really did work! Fun with photo collages - I'll try to remember to restrain myself!

Dance Class Photos

Oh, such a day of nerves for Momma, but Alyssa was so great and had such patience for her very first experience of Dance Class Pictures. Picture day is always more fun when shared with a friend, especially a BEST friend like Piper. Alyssa and Piper have been best friends since the Creeper Room, ages 16 months and 12 months, almost 3 years. A pretty impressive friendship for a couple of preschoolers!

Children by Kahlil Gibran

This is one of my very favorites - Eya keeps it on her fridge, I'm posting it here.

Children

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, 'Speak to us of Children.' And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. Kahlil Gibran

No Rain Today

How do you stop the rain? Get all dressed up for it and go out and meet it! I couldn't resist sharing a few photos of our Carebear Ladybug.

Last Week

I'm not going backwards, but I will talk about last week,
because it was so great!
Aunt Alison (AA) and Holt drove down to Morganton from Ohio.

Alyssa and I drove up to Mo'town to meet them.

Eya and Poppy had a great time with both of their daughters and grandbabies!

For these and a few more photos see album on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2098&l=271b2&id=1151618793

A few definitions . . .

Time for a few definitions:

The A Team - short for Anderson, first coined for use during Bridge Run training in 2001, when Kim and Drew fell in love, awwww! Current team members now include Alyssa, Maggie May, Scooby and Izzy.

Perdia - Kim's nickname which means "lost" in Spanish - also first coined for use in 2001 - what a year!

Our First Post

alyssa's typing - our very first post - hooray!

The Explanation: Alyssa is learning how to use the computer and typed our very first blog above. I tell her the letters and she types them. ONE at the time. Talk about slowing down your life! Alyssa learns to use the keyboard and Momma practices patience - a win-win for both of us but much harder on Momma!

So I guess the A Team is gonna try blogging now, so far it seems pretty easy. Heck, a four year old can do it!