Pictures and Videos of Alyssa, from ages 3 to 3.5

Remember -- you can see larger version of all of these pictures by clicking on them!


May 2012. A hike in the woods!

In the video below, Alyssa helps navigate with a map. She says, "This is where we are, and THIS IS WHERE WE'RE GOING!"

In the video below, Alyssa sings the WPI Fight Song: "e to the x, dy/dx, e to the x, dx! Cosine, secant, tangent, sine! 3.14159! e, i, radical pi! Fight 'em, Fight 'em, WPI!"

April 2012. Grandma came to visit!

Alyssa being cute

Around Easter time, Alyssa attended a presentation about therapy dogs. Somehow, an egg race was part of the presentation. She had a great time learning about the different types of dogs!

March 2012 and January 2012. Our only two snowfalls this past winter!

December 2011. Alyssa enjoys her new tabletop easel, and time with family!

 

November 2011. Alyssa can type her name on the computer... and she knows how to use "backspace" to fix a mistake!

October 2011.Here, Alyssa is dressed up as her favorite character, Super Why!

In the video below, Alyssa signs the Super Why theme song, while dressed as Super Why!

Alyssa turns 3!

It's been a long time since we've shared some pictures. Let's start with the most pictures and movies, starting at Alyssa's 3rd birthday! (Remember to click on a picture to see a bigger version of it)

October 2011:

Alyssa tells us that this is her third birthday. I wonder what gift Mama and Dada got her?

A scooter! Yay!

Alyssa smells alyssum outside of a local art show

September 2011:

On the swings with Dada!

Family photo at Diana's Falls, North Conway, NH

Family vacation to Storyland! Alyssa loved the Merry-Go-Round...

... and really loved Alice's Teacups!

August 2011:

Guess who can climb the ladder behind her!

July 2011:

Eating peas in Mr. Cronin's garden

Beach hair!

June 2011:

May 2011:

April 2011:

Alyssa singing the manatee song

"From time to time, I dream that I'm a manatee / undulating underneath the sea / unshackled by the chains of idle vanity / a manatee, that's me!" (followed by, "I want to see!")

Butterfly Kite

Alyssa and her new butterfly kite, followed by some pictures with Mama and Dada.

19 months: New pics, and telling us about colors

18-19 months: Verbal explosion!

Alyssa has been delighting us with her rapidly-advancing language skills lately! First, she learned "and" and "both": "Alyssa, what types of drinks do you like?" "Apple juice and milk and lala [water] and Big Bird juice, both!"

Then, she learned "not." In addition to telling us what things are, she now tells us what they are not. Like when we turn on music: "Claco [classical]! Not rock roll. Not Dido. Not jazz," each "not" accompanied with a rigorous head shaking.

And possessive forms. "Alla'ss bear. Not Mama'ss. Not Dada'ss. Alla'ss," making more of an 's' than a 'z' sound.

Then there's "you mean," which is really cute. "Okay, time to change your diaper, Dada's going to take off your parachute!" "You mean, pants!"

She's been joking with us, too. We'll point to a picture in a book, and ask, "What color is the dog?" - it's clearly brown, and she knows it. Alyssa's answer: "Purple!" "That's not purple!" we say, and Alyssa laughs as if we fell into her verbal trap. She'll eventually reveal the correct color, in a more serious tone.

We've taught her a bunch of flowers, and she can correctly identify and say (sometimes in her own dialect, but she's saying it) lilac, daffodil ("daff-dil"), dandelion ("dan-li"), iris (very clear!), bleeding heart ("beedee HOT!"), andromeda ("an-drilidli"), and rhododendron ("ro-den-da"). Without even looking at one of these flowers, you can ask her what color it is and she knows. "What color is a daffodil?" "Yeyyow!"

And a firetruck says, "vroom vroom vroom, honk HONK!"

Singing, dancing, and counting

We have some new videos of Alyssa to share. In the first video, Alyssa shows off her dancing skills. She says that she likes to dance to jazz, but apparently this isn't her jazz dance. Alyssa can ask for her favorite types of music by name, and she can identify them when she hears them: jazz, rock-roll, Billy Joel ("baba joel"), Rusted Root ("ruhruh root"), Dido, and more.




Alyssa can also fill in the words to various songs, like Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. We took this video just before bedtime, which is why Thumby is one of the supporting characters.




Alyssa can count up to two, and likes to describe her world in 3-word sentences. "No sock Mama!", "Dada at home", "Alah cat shirt." What else... oh, she takes after her dad: she is really hard to wake up in the mornings. Sometimes, when trying to touch, sing, or move Alyssa awake, the only thing that really works is saying something that disagrees with her world view. "Look Alyssa, Dada's not wearing any socks!" That wakes her up in an instant! (and sometimes gets her out of bed so she can grab a pair of socks from the laundry and bring them to Dada!)