Lyla Month 15 and 16!!

I'm sorry I'm a little behind on updating Lyla's blog. Lyla turned 16 months old yesterday. We definitely have an independent little GIRL on our hands. Lyla is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING!! She is our little explorer. She is not interested in her toys right now. She wants to get into everything she's not supposed to be getting into. Lyla is signing like crazy. We say a word (like please) and she signs it immediately. Her most commonly used signs are please, more, all done, bath, milk, night night, and thank you. She will tell us she is hungry or tired by signing to us. Lyla will do things you ask her to do. For example, "Lyla, go get your sippy cup off the coffee table!" We turned Lyla's car seat around so that she is facing forward now. She loves being able to see me driving and to see out the front windshield. It is amazing how much she has grown both physically and developmentally over the past couple of months.

In April and May, we attended 5 birthday parties. Lyla had a blast at all of them. We also celebrated Lyla's 2nd Easter. We took her to an Easter Egg Hunt at Carmichael Park and she did not find any eggs. The hunt only lasted a total of two minutes (it was a joke!). She was very interested in her Easter basket from the Easter bunny. On Easter we went for Lyla's first bike ride in the bike seat on the cruiser. She LOVED it! We have gone several times since. We went to Turlock to visit Brett's family. His Aunt Debbie was visiting from Texas. It was her first time meeting Lyla. On the way home from Turlock we went to Fairy Tale Town and the Zoo. Lyla really enjoyed herself. I was off track for the month of May. We kept ourselves busy with stroller rides (mommy running), playdates, park time, story time, Artbeast, gymnastics, and lunches with daddy. Lyla loves her Friday gymnastics class at Tricks. In May, my two best friends (Julia and Abby) had beautiful babies. It is so amazing to see how happy they are as moms. We celebrated my 2nd mother's day. Lyla and daddy bought me a new running watch. I love it. Mommy and daddy got to go away for a night to the Sonoma Wine Country. Lyla had a sleep over at Nana and Papa's house while we were gone. She hardly even knew we were missing. She is such a sweet girl. We count our blessings everyday for having such an incredible daughter. We are looking forward to a fun and eventful summer!

14 Months Old!!

Lyla turned 14 months old on Saturday, April 2nd! She is getting so big and developing so quickly. She took her first steps on Monday the 4th!!! We now have a WALKER on our hands. She gets so excited and walks on her tip toes. She is such a big talker too. She mumbles in her own language all day long. It is so cute. Lyla loves to mimic mommy and daddy. She holds our phones up to her ear and pretends to talk, she does yoga poses with me, she fake coughs after I cough (I've had a cold), and she'll blow kisses, clap her hands, wave, and give high fives on demand. Lyla is no longer nursing. On her 14 month bday I cut out her last nursing session which was first thing in the morning. She is totally fine with it. She is completely used to cow's milk now. Lyla's hair is growing like a weed. We can't believe how fast it's growing. Her bed head in the morning and after naps is hilarious. The weather has been pretty bad over the past month. We are looking forward to the upcoming warmer days. We are going to get her bike seat rigged up on daddy's cruiser. She is going to LOVE it. I have 3 more weeks of work before I go off track for the month of May. I am really looking forward to spending quality time with my baby girl. Take Care!!XOXOXO

13 Months!

Lyla turned 13 months on Wed., March 2nd! Where did our baby girl go? She is growing and developing into a little girl now. Slow down Lyla!!!

Lyla is ALL over the place! She is very busy and is in constant motion (hhmmmmmm, who does that sound like?) She is not quite walking, but pulling herself up and cruising along all the furniture. Brett and I are not in any hurry for her to start walking, she is already a challenge to keep up with. She is walking all around the house in her walker now. She has finally figured out that it can go forwards and not just backwards. We discovered that Lyla can climb stairs. During our visit at Dan and Mika's house, she climbed their entire staircase. The only stairs she has been around have been our metal, spiral ones. Lyla likes to dance to music. She stands at her activity table, plays the music, and wiggles her little bottom. It is so cute!!
Lyla likes to wave and watch her own shadow. It's so stinken adorable.

Lyla has definitely developed a pallet and an opinion about food. She will let you know when she is full or not liking what you are feeding her. She will stick out her tongue and make raspberry sounds. Brett and I have to refrain from laughing hysterically. She has tried some new foods this past month; peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, greek yogurt, cow's milk (which she is guzzling down now), rice cakes, tri-tip, bacon, waffles, and navy bean and ham soup. She is weaned to 1 nursing per day now.

This past month has been pretty mellow for us, which has been nice. I went back to work after being off for 6 weeks. It was a huge adjustment for me again. Lyla has been having fun with her babysitter, Patty. She loves going over there. Patty has continued to take her to story time at Barnes and Nobles on Tuesdays. I ran a Valentine's race while Lyla and daddy cheered me on. I was thrilled to have placed 2nd in my age group. We continue to go to the park regularly and out to restaurants a couple of times a week. Lyla loves going on the swings at the park. She has a new fascination for the bark on the ground. We took Lyla to the Capitol Aquarium and she loved looking at all of the fish. We are going to take Lyla on her first trip to the snow soon. So stay tuned...............

Lyla's 1st Birthday Party!!

Lyla is ONE!!! We can hardly believe it. The past year went by so fast. It has been such an amazing year. Our little girl is such a blessing. The joy she has brought to our lives is unexplainable.

We celebrated Lyla's 1st Bday on Saturday, Feb. 5th with our close family and friends. It was a cupcake and heart theme with pink and chocolate brown colors. I spent quite a bit of time planning and getting ready for the party. It was so nice that I was off track this past month to get ready for it. It was 70 degrees in Sacramento that day. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had lots of good food and drinks, a fun game asking questions about Lyla's 1st year (my mom won of course), a slideshow of pics from Lyla's 1st year, opening of presents, and cake and cupcakes. It seemed like everyone had a great time.

We are so grateful for everyone who came and shared this special day celebrating with us! We feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in our daughter's life.