Fourteen Reasons we Love our Lizzie Lou

Alyssa Rose is 14 months old today!! We are constantly amused, amazed, and blessed by her sweet, spunky, personality. So here are 14 things we love about our girl, and never want to forget:

1) The way she says "Bye."

She says it with a very grown-up inflection, and uses it to mean many different things such as, "I'm ready to take my nap now," "I'll see you when you get back," "I'm going to the park and don't try and stop me!," or "Mom, go away so I can play with Dad."

2) She adores her Daddy.

When I married Graton, I thought that was the end of female competition. Since then we've added two little females to the family, who have inherited my good taste in men. Both of my girls are "Daddy's Girls," but Alyssa really gives new meaning to the old label. She wants to be held constantly by Daddy, and if he wants to do anything without her in his arms (i.e. dress, shower, sleep), I have to keep her shut up in her bedroom with nothing to amuse her but a room full of toys, and my undivided attention. Even then, she'd prefer to just be hanging out in his arms. I can't say that I blame her.


3) She loves the water.

Audrey hates getting water in her eyes, and is very timid in the pool and at the beach. Alyssa, on the other hand, loves to put her face under the water, and is undaunted by crashing waves and tumbling surf. She just coughs, sputters and keeps on going!



4) She loves her toothbrush.

Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that she'll let me brush her teeth. She will grab her toothbrush, suck the toothpaste off of it, and resist any attempts I make to actually get her teeth clean.


5) She is cuddly and compassionate.

One of the first things she does when she wakes up, is give her sister a hug. If she hears Audrey crying, she'll go find her and give her loves. She has a sweetness about her, that has a calming influence in our home. She is a peacemaker.
6) She's our little "Sunbeam"

Since Graton is the nursery songleader at church, she's been attending nursery from an early age. We didn't realize how much she was picking up, until she started singing, "Buuuh-Bee!" while, crouching, and then jumping up. (Her version of "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam") She also cheers anytime we sing a song, and likes to give "high fives," which are also things she picked up at nursery.


7) She loves to eat

Anything and everything. From wheatgrass to dirt, if someone's eating it, she wants some to. Often, while grocery shopping, I'll buy a bag of baby carrots, and then give her one for each hand to keep her occupied while I shop. On one occasion, I was buying broccoli, and although her hands were full of carrot, she managed to grab a piece of broccoli, and put it in her mouth, during the brief time it took me to pick the broccoli from the shelf and put it in the cart. I didn't even realize what had happened, until I heard the surprised laughter of an onlooker.

Although she'll eat anything, she's proving herself to be a true Gathright, buy developing a love of ice cream. Last night, we ate out at "Souplantation." She was happily munching veggies until Audrey started feeding her ice cream. She quickly shoved aside her tray of healthy fare and gobbled down the sweet stuff with gusto.


8) She prefers to feed herself

This one is tricky, because, she'll grab the spoon and fling the contents over her shoulder in her attempt to get the spoon in her mouth. She's happy to give the spoon back for a refill, but insists on dishing it in herself.


9) She loves to drink out of a cup or water bottle

She's remarkably good at this. If given a small amount, she can drink out of a regular cup without spilling. Even when she was still drinking a bottle, she preferred a sippy cup to the bottle, a regular cup to a sippy cup, and Mommy's water bottle to everything else.


10) She loves her Great-Grandpa "O"

During our visits to see my Grandfather, she would just sit on his lap and cuddle. Since then, anytime she sees an older gentleman, she thinks it's her great-grandpa, and reaches out for him. Twice, I had to take her out of the library, because she would reach out and cry when the gentleman wouldn't hold her.


11) She loves putting on socks and shoes

And taking them off. And putting them back on. And taking them off again. Unfortunatley, this requires adult assistance, so it can become a very frustrating game at times. However, once she decides to leave them on, it's fun to see her walk around feeling so grown up and proud of herself.

12) She loves birds

There are lots of them near our apartment, and whenever we walk outside, Alyssa points to one and says, "Kuh, Kuh" (her version of "Caw, Caw.") I love the way her face lights up as she marvels at the natural beauties that surround her.


13) She knows how to get our attention

If Alyssa's being held, but ignored, she'll turn our face towards hers and laugh, or engage us in some kind of imitative game. She loves to play games where we: take turns making sounds, give hugs to her bear, give kisses to each other, etc..

14) She's made us a family

My friend who has adopted two girls says that her first made them parents and the second made them a family. That's exactly how I feel. Audrey made us parents, but Alyssa has made us a family. She's brought so much richness to our lives and added new dimensions of joy as we see the love grow between our girls.


Both of my girls have a special song, that we sing to them as a lullaby. Audrey's is "Always" by Irving Berlin, and Alyssa's is "Lida Rose" from the musical, "The Music Man." The last verse, pretty much sums up my feelings about our sweet Alyssa flower.

"So here is my love song, not fancy or fine, Alyssa Rose, won't you be mine?"