Our Little Water Baby

We took Layla swimming for the first time at Nick's parents house in Bay City - and surprise surprise, she loved it!  We were so excited to see how she would react in the pool, and she didn't disappoint.  As soon as those little feet hit the water, she was kicking and splashing up a storm.  Of course, Mallard had to join her - he is a lab in a dachshund body and swims any time he can.

Honestly, another reason I was so excited about swimming was dressing her up.  Seriously, how cute are little baby girl swimsuits?  So she was ready to go in the suit that Grandma Penny got her for Easter, and I had to add the glasses and hat to complete the look.

Which she then immediately tried to take off.

We are so excited to go swimming all summer.  After seeing her in the pool, I have a feeling Layla is going to be the type to jump right in to the deep end, so I want her to be comfortable in the water!  We'll start swim lessons soon.  Next stop, the beach!

Ten Months

Wow, ten months!  I can't believe we are almost to a year!  The time has flown by, and we've loved every second with our little girl.

Layla, at ten months you are one big bundle of energy.  You do not sit still for a second.  You are a very curious, adventuresome little baby.  At our Little Gym class, Miss Alli has designated you as the outgoing one of the group.  You really have no fear, which doubles my fear for you!  I think you've actually cried all of two times when you've fallen - most of the time you shake it off and keep right on doing what you were doing. 

You are loving big people food and are pretty much over baby food at this point.  And you beg!  If Daddy or I are eating a snack on the couch, you crawl over, pull up on the couch next to us, and stare with your big blue eyes.  Between you, Turk, and Mallard, we have a whole line of our babies wanting what we're eating - such bad habits!  But it's pretty cute too, I have to admit.

You are learning new things every day, mostly by imitating us. You're at a stage where you attempt to copy every sound we make.  You still love being sung to, dancing, and reading your books.  You've started doing "twinkles" with your hands when we sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, which is adorable.  And you are very social!  Going to HEB or Target is definitely a different experience now, because you pretty much charm everyone you come across.  You wave, smile, and try to talk to anyone that catches your eye, so we are often stopped so you can have a little visit with a perfect stranger!

You say "mama" and "dada" pretty consistantly now.  And whenever Turk or Mallard are around, you say "duh" - so I'm going to take that as you trying to say dog.  We're working on it!

We are having such a wonderful time with you.  I can't believe how fast you are growing.  We are so proud of our sweet girl and I can't wait to see what's in store next!

Here are some pictures from a lazy Saturday morning, right after Layla woke up:

Goofball



I constantly have to watch out for this!

Please excuse the hair...



Begging food from Daddy

Meeting the Girls

While I was in Corpus for Easter, Alisa had Crystal, Emily and me over to her house to catch up. I was SO EXCITED to see everyone!  I hadn't met Willa yet, and Crys hadn't met Layla, so I was so happy that we were all able to get together. 

I can't express enough how much these girls mean to me.  They are my lifelong friends - literally.  We've been friends for at least 20 years. It isn't often that you hear of people keeping up friendships for so long, and I know how lucky I am! I could spend hours laughing with them about all of our high school antics, and I have memories with them that I'll always cherish.

How absolutely gorgeous is Willa?  Beautiful baby from a beautiful mommy.  I just want to reach in the picture and grab those little cheeks.

If you can believe it, our ten year high school reunion is this year - yikes!! Time flies!

Nursery? No Problem!

Once Layla hit nine months, I knew we were very overdue with leaving her at the church nursery, but I was so nervous about the first time.  She really doesn't have much stranger anxiety (for now) but I invented all of these awful scenarios in my head.  I don't know why.  The caregivers at church are so nice, and the different nursery rooms, grouped by age, are like mini play lands - plenty to do and see to keep Layla nice and busy while we attended the services. 

So, we got to church and I handed her over, thinking we would get an immediate cry and/or pathetic look.  And what did I get - nothing.  Not even a backwards glance.  This kid made a beeline for the little castle/block/mat thing and never looked back.  So off we went, and I'll admit, I clutched that pager through the whole service, just waiting for it to go off.  And of course it never did.  As soon as we were released, I hurried out of there, got to the little half door that all nurseries have, peeked in, and saw Layla and another little girl crawling around, having a great time playing!  Since then, she's done great, no issues, which I am so happy about.  It's wonderful that I can relax and know that Layla is well cared for, having a great time and making friends so I can concentrate on the sermon.

Nick drew the line at me taking pictures at the nursery. For some reason he thought that was overboard, can't imagine why :)  So here she is, home from church - and very sleepy!  She took a good nap that afternoon.  Look at those tired eyes.  But at least I finally got a bow to stick in that crazy hair!

Woopee

We took Layla for another visit to see my Grandma, who we officially dubbed "Woopee".  Layla was a hit and smiled and laughed the whole time.  I love taking her to see family, and she really loves my Grandma.  She snuggled right in and grabbed her hand and giggled.  Grandma always has a special stuffed animal for Layla, and this time was no different.

Gossiping

I was so lucky to have both sets of grandparents in town while I was growing up.  My childhood memories are filled with them, and it is so wonderful to be able to sit with my Grandma and my daughter and listen to the stories about when I was a baby!  Apparently I was a handful...and am now getting payback! 

We love you, Woopee!

Nine Months

Layla, you turned nine months old on April 17th.  What a month - you've changed so much in such a short time!  One day you just seemed to decide "OK, I'm ready to get moving now" and haven't looked back since.  You are a busy little girl.  You crawl so fast all over the house, pull up on everything you can (scary for me), and cruise along furniture.  I can't take my eyes off of you for a second.  You follow us everywhere in the house!  If Nick or I run to the other room, we hear your little palms and knees hit the floor and off you go behind us.  It's the cutest thing - I'll purposely go in the kitchen and wait behind the corner for your little head to pop around, searching for me.  It's such a fun time, and it's amazing to watch you grow into an independent little girl.

You had a great report at your nine month check up.  You are right on target for all of the developmental milestones, and are in the 50th-60th percentiles for all of your stats.  You now weigh a little over 18 pounds - most of it in your belly and cheeks!  I haven't seen any new teeth lately, but I think more are on their way since you are chewing on anything you can.

You are definitely making your preferences known as far as food.  You aren't too interested in bottles anymore.  The only time I can really get you to sit still and take a full one is first thing in the morning.  The rest of the day, you are go go go and we have to really work to make you slow down and have a bottle or some water.  I even tried a little juice to see if I could get you more interested but you didn't really take to that either.  However, you are loving big people food!  You've liked most of what we've given you so far.  Anything with cheese is great, and you really like plain bread, yogurt, cut up fruit or veggies, crackers...the list goes on and on.  The only thing we are struggling with is meat - you aren't a big fan (you take after your mom).  But you're getting plenty of protein and the doctor isn't concerned, so we will just keep trying until we find the magic food!

You and your dad are best buddies, honestly.  You two are a pair.  You light up when you see him, cry when he walks away, reach for him constantly, it's crazy.  I think you forgot who carried you for NINE months...You two have so much fun playing and have your own special little games and songs.  I love that you are a Daddy's Girl - and I don't think he minds too much either!

You love to be read to, which makes me so happy.  You have Pat the Bunny memorized and can do everything Paul and Judy can do.  We are working on shapes, colors and counting every day.  I know it doesn't mean too much to you right now, but it's never too early!  You love to be outside, especially when school lets out and you can wave to all of the kids getting off of the bus.  You are happier in the car now, and we got your convertible car seat this weekend which should be a big help since you'll be more comfortable.

You are also a dancing machine.  You bounce to any music you hear, whenever, wherever.  The other day we were out eating and an Aerosmith song came on, and you just danced up a storm in your high chair - people at other tables around us noticed and were laughing.  You also sit and bounce to the music that all of your toys play.  It is so cute, I'll have to get it on video soon.  You are a little daredevil and love to be thrown in the air, held upside down, bounced around.  And if someone is doing any of those things with you and decides to stop, you just throw your head back or try to pop up and make then keep going - tiring, but fun!

We love every minute with you and are so lucky to be your parents.  Love you!!

Hiding from Turk - you stole his ball!

More Birthday Fun!

In honor of all of the April birthdays...

At the beginning of the month, we attended Gabby's 5th birthday party at Jumpin Jungle.  Layla was a bit too small to take full advantage of everything there, but she didn't let that stop her.  She had so much fun watching all of the other kids play, jump, and slide!  And of course, her daddy had to get her on one of the bounce houses for a bit - and she loved it.  We took note for future birthdays...

We had a wonderful time celebrating.  The party had a princess theme, and everything was beautiful as always due to her talented family! Gabby is so sweet and polite, and we were so happy to be able to share in her special day!

 



Happy Birthday, Nana!

As you can probably tell, April is a big birthday month in my family!  My mom, sister, husband, and I all have April birthdays.  Add Easter to the mix and it makes for one busy month.  So, I'm very behind on my blogging and have lots of catching up to do! 

For starters, Happy Birthday Nana!  We love you!