Little moments.
How she was crying just after she was born, then stopped when I held her close and sang, "You Are My Sunshine". Ahhhhhhh, something familiar!
The helpless feeling of not being able to hold her and seeing her in the NICU with tubes and lines for those first few hours. The relief when she was strong enough to come out of the incubator. My heart hurt for the parents who were not so lucky.
Wondering if we would ever get the hang of nursing.... We did and did.... She nursed til just after her 5th birthday. We still talk about it now and again and she remembers :-)
Watching her take her first steps when she was only 7 months and 2 weeks old. Delighting in the dance that soon followed.
She would not even taste her first birthday cake! No messy pics for posterity.
The first time she initiated peek a boo by putting her head down on my shoulder. Later, the first time she played hide and seek with Papa and me at Lakeside. She hid behind the curtains.
First sentence: "Mama go up, down."
Halloween costumes:
Baby Clown
1 yr old Lady Bug
2 yr old Witch
3 yr old Peter Pan (with Ari as Tinkerbell)
4 yr old Dorothy ( Rae as Wicked Witch, Charles as Lion, Dad as Scarecrow and Mom as Tin Man)
5 yr old Tie Dye Butterfly Fairy (she designed this one and we dyed it ourselves)
6 yr old Velma from Scooby Doo (and her Velma twin Ari)
7 yr old
8 yr old
9 yr old
10
11
12
13
Birthday Themes
1 - Bunny Cake by the pool at Rolling Hills
2 - Elmo Cake, pool party at Rolling Hills Cathy Rigsby as Peter Pan at TPAC that night from Papa
3 - Dora Cake and Dora her self at Dog Creek! Mom as grumpy old troll on the bridge.
4 - Tinkerbell Cake at Dog Creek
5 - Scooby Doo Cake and Scooby him self helping solve the mystery of the missing gifts at Dog Creek
6 - Giant cupcake cake decorated by Alyssa & Ari, little cupcakes for guests to decorate @ splashpad
7 - Crazy awesome cake by Radmila and Harry Potter birthday at the splashpad.
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14
Going to Disney World at 5 years old, when Papa and Connie got married. What fun!
Dancing, dancing dancing. She's a dancin' machine!
At 2 years old Alyssa had her own one girl version of "Wicked".
At 5 Alyssa made her stage debut in Oliver! as an orphan. Followed by roles as an Oompa Loompa in Willy Wonka, Downy in Honk Jr and chorus in Oklahoma and Miracle on 34th Street.
At 7 she adores listening to all kinds of musical theater, dancing, taking karate and gymnastics.
Alyssa was invited to a birthday party when she was 6, where the birthday girl asked for donations to Heiffer International instead of gifts. Alyssa gave everything in her piggy bank, which included her Christmas money $103.
Visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was big stuff this year (2010). Alyssa was brave enough to get on a lot of rides, but also kept her eyes closed for quite a few.
