Lots of "Firsts"

Layla has experienced a lot of new things over the past couple of weeks.  Time is just flying by, she's growing up so fast.

She outgrew her little baby bathtub, so we tried out the big girl tub this past week.  I can tell she likes it - she has much more room to kick and wiggle.  Look at how small she seems in there!

She also met Gene and Dottie this past weekend.  It was really nice to visit with family, and Layla loves all of the attention.  Dottie made the most beautiful blanket for her and they gave us a book of children's prayers that we'll be reading from every night.



"Layla, would you like some candy?"

Layla smiles all the time, but I swear, as soon as the girl sees a camera, she stops.  These are really the first pictures that I've been able to get, and they still don't do her justice.  She can let out some laughs and it's so cute!  One of these days I'll capture it...

I also finally got a picture of her on her belly, lifting up and actually not crying. She's getting pretty good at rolling over - she really doesn't like tummy time, and I'm a mean mom by making her do it every day.

Finally, a first for both Layla and us - the pumpkin patch - every parent's rite of passage.  I was really excited to go and thought we were finally going to get some great photos of the baby.  OK.  We seriously took no less than 40 pictures and NONE of them turned out well.  I guess she's not at the best stage for posed pictures right now.  She's not big enough to sit on her own yet, but she's too big to just stay where you put her.  So we had lots of pictures of one of us propping her up, catching her as she tipped over, fixing her shirt, the list goes on and on.  I kid you not, these are the best ones:



My favorite, look at that face!  She was tired and had little puffy eyes.

Her shirt was much more interesting than the pumpkins

I know it looks like she was aboout to fall through the opening, but she wasn't, I promise!

Pumpkin head!

As you can tell, a photographer I am not, but we still had a great day.  I'll worry about getting good pictures next year!

Aaah...Three Months Old!!

Layla, you turned three months old on Sunday, October 17th.  I can't believe it's already been three months since we had you, time has flown so quickly.  You change every day, and it's bittersweet.  I love to see all of your new tricks and experiences, but sometimes I wish I could freeze time and keep you as my baby forever...

You weigh 12.5 pounds and are 22 inches long.  You eat 6-7 oz every 3 hours, and usually sleep from 9pm to 6am (other than the last couple of nights, but we won't get into that.)  You are in size 1 diapers and wear 3-6 month clothing.  You've officially rolled over three times, so the tummy time seems to be paying off, even though you still hate it!

You absolutely love to be sung to, we can always get big smiles from you with silly songs.  You also get super excited when it's bath time and kick and wiggle the whole time.  And I love to come get you when you wake up from a nap.  I lean over to say hi, and you look at me for a second and then break out into a huge smile.  You are also already a Daddy's Girl - when he gets home and comes to give you a kiss, you let out a squeal when you see his face.

Your rainforest mat is still your favorite, and it's really fun to watch you discover and reach for new toys.  You get a very serious look on your face to study everything you see - we call it your "Judging" face.  You are also starting to experience a bit of stranger anxiety - sometimes you get overwhelmed if there are a lot of new faces at once.  I'm trying to make sure that we get out somewhere every day so that you become more accustomed to being out and about with other people and places.

I've loved and treasured every second with you so far.  We are so proud of our beautiful little baby!

Layla on her three month birthday



Starting to get annoyed with the camera



"OK Mom, I'm over the pictures!"



Happy Birthday, Amelia!

We went out to celebrate Amelia's birthday last Friday night, and I had such a fun time!  I love getting together with the girls, I seriously laugh the entire time.  We met at La Griglia and had a great meal, not to mention the three delicious desserts that we all split.  It was so wonderful to just relax and enjoy time out with my friends.  It seems like we are all so busy nowadays, so we have plenty to catch up on every time we have a girls night.  Unfortunately, I had to leave a bit early since a certain little girl needed to eat, but we did make plans to check out Jus' Mac next time.  Ugh, not the best idea for the baby weight but I bet it's worth it!

Hope you had a great birthday, Amelia!

Norway Trip

Nick had to travel to Norway for work last week. We missed him so much, but luckily my mom was able to come stay with me and Layla.  We had a really fun week and my mom was a HUGE help.  I got so much done - deep cleaned the house, got a haircut, organized closets, washed the dogs...It was wonderful to have an extra set of hands and Layla was just eating up all of the attention, she was smiling the entire week.  My mom also helped me find a bottle that Layla will at least tolerate, which is great since unfortunately I need to start preparing for my return to work. 

Layla is becoming more and more animated every day, and is starting to imitate us.  When you stick out your tongue, she tries to do the same thing and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I'm trying to capture it, but of course she never does it when we have the camera ready!

But back to the title of the post - Nick was in Norway from Sunday to Friday.  They are seven hours ahead of us and he was pretty booked up the whole time, so we were only able to have quick conversations.  It was strange with him being gone - it's the longest that we've been away from each other, so needless to say I was so happy when he got home.  He brought back some yummy Swiss chocolate and lots of pictures:

View from the plane:




Horse races - they ride in buggies behind the horses, and race at a trot as opposed to full out galloping:

Random scenic pictures (it looks beautiful!):

And because a post wouldn't be complete without some baby pictures, here are a few of Layla:

Having fun on the play mat



Gave up during tummy time

 

Cute little feet that I can't get enough of!