Miriam was a big help to all of us over the summer, and she taught Alyssa how to do things like "bouncy, bouncy." She got Alyssa this nice Pooh bear as a going away present. We wish Miriam lots of good wishes as she heads back to college!
Alyssa has also been picking up a lot of language. She will, on command, do "boom" on the bed (fall backwards from sitting), indicate where the fan is (even in a room that doesn't have a fan), repeat "ub, ub, ub" when it's time to get picked up, tell us that a dog says "mmm mmm mmm" and a puppy says "ub ub ub," correctly pick out the red and yellow building blocks, and even do her best to repeat words like "yellow" and "gorilla" (they sound pretty good, actually). She can point to one's nose, ears, and mouth, and her own ear.
She has become quite a fast crawler, and pulls herself up to standing whenever she can. She can give things to people ("Give the red Lego to mama"), and she loves her books. And she's gotten very good at kissing!
Alyssa really gets into her food. (The first picture is really cute when enlarged, just click on it):
We took Alyssa to the Stone Zoo this week. She loved the bird show, where big raptors flew directly overhead. This is where she finally learned how to clap!
We also took Alyssa into Boston, just for a change of scenery. We saw street performers at Quincy Market, ate dinner at the pier, and went on a carousel set up on the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
Finally, we just had a visit from Omi and Opi today. They visited Alyssa at the park to watch her swing (and, starting today, slide while mostly sitting), then came back home and gave her a gift of a nice peek-a-boo book.
