MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Alyssa LOVES Santa!

I wasn't sure how she would react to Santa when she saw him or when we asked her to sit on his lap. I know most two year olds scream their head off once they touch Santa's lap. I was anxious to see her reaction.

This last weekend we went to the Melconian's (family friends) for a Christmas party. We got there at about 7pm. Santa arrived around 7:45pm. Much to my surprise, she LOVED him! I guess she has seen enough of him around - decorations, TV shows, books, etc...she was completely comfortable to be sitting on him! In fact, she wanted to keep sitting on his lap and I had to keep explaining to her that other kids and people need to have their turn also and she had to wait. And that she did, she waited patiently for her turn AGAIN. She was sooooo sad to see him go. She followed him to the window and watched him leave. I wonder if she was hoping to see the reindeer out the window. Here are some pics from the party...

Sometimes she amazes me...

I haven't written about Alyssa's development in a while so I thought I would. It really amazes me how much she knows as a 26 month old. I just listened to her through the monitor while she is in bed counting to 15. She started counting to 10 about 2 months ago but she recognized all her numbers and letters very early on at 19 months. At 20 months she knew all her shapes and colors. At about 21 months she recognized her name when you write it down for her and while you write it, she will even tell you what letter comes next. Her new thing these days is counting things. Today she counted her toes. It was so cute - she counted them and then said "Mommy, 10 toes!" She counts things when we are out and she counts things in her books. My little princess is growing up so fast and learning like a sponge and talking and communicating so well. I am truly proud of her!!!

Sick...sick...sick...uggh!!!

Our entire family started getting sick about 2 weeks ago. As usual , it started with Alyssa who caught a terrible cold which turned into croup. Her cough was horrible. Hard to believe a 2 year old would cough that way. The poor kid was miserable. To make matters worse, she didn't know how to expel it. Towards the end of her cold is when she finally learned to blow her nose but still has no idea how to spit out the mucus. Mike caught it next and got laryngitis with it and a few days later, I got it and it's still lingering a little bit. It's never ending! Here's a picture of Mike and Alyssa during her croup days. I couldn't resist...they were so cute all bundled up on the couch!

Christmas in the park

We took Alyssa to Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. I was impressed with all the work the city and its volunteers did to put it all up. It was all so cute! We met up with our friends Abby and Brian who also have a 2 year old (along with a newborn) and the kids really enjoyed it....especially the carousel! They wanted to go around it non-stop! Afterwards, we all went to Gordon Birsch for lunch. It was a great day and really set the mood for the holiday season!

A lot to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving was great and even more special as we announced to Mike's family the gender of baby #2. We had the ultrasound the day prior to Thanksgiving and we found out that we are having another GIRL! We are very excited and she has been very busy bouncing around in my tummy as of late. We have a name picked out (which by the way was no easy task!) but that we are keeping to ourselves until her birth.

Anyway, Thanksgiving was wonderful as always. Being pregnant with all that food was FABULOUS. Hahahahaha! It was nice to see Matt and Uncle Steve as we don't see them very often. This was the 1st Thanksgiving with Nonnie and Grandpa Joe as a married couple. :)

Alyssa had a great time on Thanksgiving too as she got to eat a lot of what was offered on the table. She loved the homemade cranberry sauce that Nonnie made. To my surprise, she was not a fan of stuffing. Maybe it's the onions and celery but she wasn't having it. Alyssa was excited to see dill pickles on the table. It's strange but she LOVES them. She's definitely a Nielsen with that regard. I made some dairy free chocolate chip cookies that many enjoyed (especially Alyssa!).

After dinner, we cleaned up and Alyssa was right there next to Auntie Katie washing dishes. Nonna even had matching aprons for them to wear together. So cute!