There are a few reasons that I feel sorry for my child ......
1. Today she had her 4 month check up. She is 11.11 lbs, which is only the 25% percentile. She is such a petite little thing (even though I think she is so big). She also had to have 3 shots. She cried and cried. It was very dramatic. I wonder where she got that from?
2. Today, I was in the kitchen cooking a bunch of food to take to a friend. Alyse was in there with me bouncing away in her jumper, but started to get tired. I tried to put her in the swing for a little bit, but she wasn't falling asleep, so I did something that I have never done before. I got her little vibrating chair, set her in front of the TV, and put a Praise Baby DVD on. She loved it! She was smiling at the TV, and eventually fell sound asleep. When Josh walked in, he looked at me like I was crazy. He says that I am starting her TV addiction too soon.
3. She has animals around her all the time. I really think that she is going to get licked to death by Bo. We are constantly saying, "Rocky, leave her alone!" or "Bo, that is enough". Poor thing!
Bubba, the cat, has also started to take an interest in her. Last night I was holding her and Bubba crawled up and started to sniff her. He has never really paid attention to her, so I thought this was interesting. The next thing I know she reaches over and starts to pet him. It was very cute. Well, it was cute until I had to pry the cat hair out of her little hand.
4. THIS IS THE BIG ONE!
Apparently, Josh and I have confused the world with our child's name. Lets brake her name up.
I know that it is a little unique, but is it really that odd? No one can say it. For those of you who do not know, it is pronounced Ah-lee-se, not Alice, not Al-lice (I guess that is the Southern way of saying it), and not Alicia or Alyssa (THERE IS NO A!!!!).
I chose her name because, I have always liked the name Elise, but I wanted it to start with an A (Ah sound), not an E (long E). So, we changed the spelling a little (other spellings - Elyse, Ellyce, Elice, Elise, Alise, Aleese). I also love the meaning of her name. It means "Loves God" and/or "Soft-mannered". These are things that I pray for her. I want her to love the Lord with all of her heart. I also would love for her to have a soft-manner and show God's love to others by her actions.
Middle name: Nicole
Josh and I had a deal when I was pregnant. We decided that if the baby was a girl, I got to pick the first name, and he would pick the middle name. If it was a boy, he would pick the first name and I would pick the middle name. (If she was a boy, the middle name would have been Michael. Actually, Josh said the full name would have been Michael Jordan van Almen. That would really have been bad!) So, Josh picked Nicole because that is my middle name.
Last name: van Almen (TOTALLY JOSH'S FAULT)
No one can pronounce this one either. (It is not von-Almond or van-Al-man) Trust me, Josh and I both sympathize, but I guess we are all stuck with it.
So I guess she is going to be that person who is always having to correct other people when they say her name wrong, and she is never going to find little items at the store (like little license plates, pencils, magnets, etc) that have everyone's name on them, but that is ok. She is a special girl, and she deserves a special name!
Amy