Lyla is 3!

First, let's take a moment to appreciate these pictures.

That cutie little Baby Lyla is now a giant three year old! Unbelievable.

Lyla's Favorite Things:
Brown Mono, Dora the Explorer, purple and green, playing doctor, chocolate ice cream, her cousins, the beach, grape juice, diggers (bulldozers), princesses, fruit, doing everything on her own, going to the park, singing songs and playing on her ukulele, maps, her kitties, the library, spotting things, and pretending

Lyla's Least Favorite Things:
Potatoes, wet sand on her toes, water in her face

Lyla is....
Smart, silly, imaginative, funny, intuitive, creative, loving, sweet, stubborn, thoughtful, polite, independent, adorable... amazing in every way! She is, above all, a thinker. She is always connecting the dots, absorbing everything we say and putting in her own context. We love this about her, but we have to be quick on our feet all the time!

Things we are looking forward to this year:
Starting dance class, playing in the snow, apple picking & cider doughnuts, another holiday season with family, another summer on the beach, and so much more! We can't wait to see what sort of things Lyla has in store for us this coming year.

Lyla, thanks for teaching us all about being loving parents! Just in this past year, I've learned so much about patience, about what things matter and what is just fluff, and how to find joy in all things. You are truly a blessing to us. I know I would not be the same person I am today if it weren't for you! I can't wait for this year, and all the years to come, that we have to spend together as Mommy & daughter. Love you to the moon and back, times infinity! Keep growing up, but a little slower please!!!!!

Lyla Quotes

Lyla, oh Lyla, you are just the best. Here are a couple of things you've said lately that are cute/hilarious/funny or just make you seem way too grown up.

"Oh Kallan, you're my big girl. I'm so proud of you."

"What a nuisance." Where did you get that one?!

"Sorry I yelled. I was just really mad at you." Aw!! Baby!

"It's fun to have a little sister!"

"I can't get that boat. But I can if I want to. HAHA! It's my job!" Huh?!?

"God lives waaaay up there! There's the ceiling. God lives in the ceiling!"

"Mommy, are you going to make it?" While I was attempting to exercise.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess named Lyla..." how you start pretty much every story you tell!

"Mommy, did you make another big mess?" When she came into the kitchen.

"YO do it Mommy!" "I want the one that's morado!!!!" Just a couple ejemplos of the Spanglish we've got going on here.

"WHAT?!" said in a super funny, high-pitched voice.

"La la la la.. ya ya!" How you say your name

"Kallan you're so squirmy!" Trying to hold Kallan's hand.

Us: I love YOU so much!
You: No I love YOU so much!
Us: No, I love YOU so much!
You: No, I love YOU so much!
etc.

"He just wants to be your friend." Referring to a spider I found in your room. Pretty sure he wanted to eat me, but let's agree to disagree.

I want to share this spider story as well.  I am really, really afraid of spiders. Yesterday I happened upon a decent sized one in the girls' room and managed to exit the room calmly and without screaming, but very fast. Lyla said, "Why did you come out here again?" And I told you nothing and set Kallan down. I attempted to kill the spider but couldn't find him afterwards and started freaking out imagining a vengeful spider coming after me. So in record speed, I packed the three of us up to go to Grandma & Grandpa's. You overheard me telling Grandma about the spider, and I told you that I just don't really like spiders that much, even though they are very nice. You said the above quote, and I said that I like spiders now. Not true. But then you wanted to hear stories about spiders in our home the WHOLE way to G&G's. My skin was crawling... ugh. Mom fail!

Funny Photo Sequence

Kallan: "Oooh fuzzy!"

Lyla: "I see you playing with that!"

Lyla: "Yep, I'll take it."

Kallan: "Uh wait.. what...."

Kallan: "Mom, seriously, did you see that?"

Lyla: "Nope, didn't do anything.. just hugging my cats."

Lyla: "Don't touch my stuff, Kallan!"

Kallan: "Hm, I need a plan. Ok, got it! Here's what I'll do..."

Kallan: "Look at me I'm so cute!!!!!"

Lyla: ignoring 

Kallan: "Really, you're not going to go for that?"

Lyla: still ignoring

Kallan's 6 month update will be coming soon!

Lyla 2.5

Oh what to say about our little girl. She is growing up to be such a caring and fun person, and we just love to see her personality shining through.

She is so imaginative and I love seeing the worlds she creates for us. Most of them involve Dora-related activities and stories. She has gotten to be a little imitator. It's kind of funny to hear her say things and know that you must say that a lot.. like, "Can you pick out a book? I'm nursing.." is one she has been saying a lot. "Mommy, can you come in here, it's really important!" "Be right back, I gotta do something real quick!"

The hardest thing has been giving up nap. If she naps, it takes her hours to fall asleep at bedtime. At first it was a really difficult transition for everyone. But now she has about an hour of 'quiet time' in her room to preserve Mommy's sanity, and we're all happy again. It's also great because she sleeps until about 8:30 every morning! So I really can't complain!

She has an occasional accident, but I would say she is potty trained now. We used to put her in diapers while we were out and about, and she would still let us know if she had to go, and we'd take her to the potty. To let us know, she says, "Oh, oh I'm peeing!!!"

Lyla loves to ask questions that she wants us to ask her. Like, "Do you want to watch TV Lyla?" And then we ask her, and she says, "Ok!" Like it was our idea all along. And then if you don't answer right away, she'll say, "Do you?? Do you?" It's pretty cute!

She is a great big sister. Whenever it's just us three, Lyla will say, "Just us girlies!" Whenever Kallan cries, she goes, "Oh, it's ok Kallan! And she'll run around looking for a toy for Kallan to play with or she'll play some songs on the piano for her. This always cheers Kallan up, at least for a second or two! Lyla likes to help out with diaper changes and has attempted to give her a bottle a couple of times. She says such cute things to her. Like.. "Oh, Kallan, you're getting big!" "I'm so proud of you!" "Aw, she smiled at me!" "Where's your tongue, Kallan?!" "Aw, you're hands are so little, Kallan!" etc, etc. 

Occasionally, I still get to enjoy a nap time :) 

Lyla Bee

Oh Lyla, where should I begin? Lyla is beautiful, smart, funny, curious, caring, sweet, studious, snuggly, imaginative and a million other great things. On the other hand, she is defiant, stubborn, bossy and can throw a temper tantrum to boot. I have a love/hate relationship with this age. Most things I love, but there are definitely aspects I could do without. I learned the true meaning of a tantrum this past month... whatever I was calling tantrums before are a breeze compared to the temper tantrums we deal with now.

Lyla loves to make us laugh, and she does so very easily. She makes funny faces, talks in a funny accent and says hilarious things. But she is also very caring and intuitive and can be very serious. One day, I was on the verge of a breakdown because I was just emotionally wiped from the day. Lyla came up to me and said, "What's wrong, Mommy? I just want you to stay happy... do you want a hug?" It was the sweetest thing and made me feel a lot better. I love to watch her take care of her animals. She nurses them, rocks them, sings to them, and gets them band aids for their ouchies. Watching her be so caring makes me feel like I gotta be doing something right!

Lyla's sentences are unbelievably long these days. She talks so much, and the stuff she says just cracks me up. "Mommy, will you come see my show? It is really important!" "Hey Daddy, don't forget to call me!" "And then she can go back home in Mommy's belly!" We have a book called The Quotable Kid where we can fill in quotes... and it is filling up pretty fast! Lyla always says exactly what she's thinking... "Mommy, I don't like that little boy, he isn't nice" is something I often hear while we are out and about. She uses her words to try and negotiate TV time.... "I want to watch a lot. Two isn't a lot." "Just one more." And she is getting the hang of "You" vs "I" and "Yours" vs. "mine." Sometimes she still flips them around, so it's hard to say who she is talking about sometimes. Before bed, I give her a hug and say, "I love you so much!" And she flings her arms around me and says, "I love YOU so much!" And sings me a lullaby. She is so sweet!

I love watching her pretend. She pretends her room is the cottage home, a park, a barn.. all sorts of things. The other day, she pretended that Santa brought Kallan and I rocking horses, just like the one he brought hers, only different colors. So I pretended to rock with her while Kallan laid in her boppy. Lyla still pretended Kallan was on a rocking horse, too, and suddenly she hopped off hers, went over to Kallan and said, "Kallan, you need to scoot a little bit, you're too close to the edge! Careful!" She often acts out episodes of Dora or Diego. She makes bridges to help the ants. She catches falling animals in her room. She follows her map to get to certain places. Her imagination is endless, and I love seeing what she comes up with. 

Lyla is great about going on her potty and even goes on big potties sometimes while we are out and about. And much to my dismay, she has dropped her nap. So instead of a 3 hour nap, Lyla hangs out in her room for an hour of quiet time each day. Not really the same, and I am seriously missing the emotional reboot in the middle of the day. Things will be much easier in the summer when we have more to do during the day!

And she is a great big sister to baby Kallan. She talks to Kallan when she's fussy and says things like, "It's okay, Kallan, Lyla's here!" She doesn't hit anymore and she is very gentle and sweet. She always includes Kallan when she is pretending. Whenever Kallan isn't in the room, Lyla looks for her and asks where she is! Having two is definitely tough, though. I thought it was super easy at first because Kallan slept so much, and even Lyla would sleep 3 hours during the day. But now Lyla doesn't nap, and she is so noisy that Kallan has a hard time napping, too. Sometimes when Lyla is throwing a fit, Kallan will cry, too, and it's just a big headache waiting to happen. On the flipside, Kallan will sometimes laugh when Lyla is laughing... and that is like music to my ears!

Big Moments

Lyla's big moment of the week:

She peed in a big potty!!!

We went to a play group at a nearby church this week. It was so fun, and it was great to see Lyla socializing a bit with other kids. I mean, she actually socialized! She and another girl played pretend at the kitchen for awhile. Lyla didn't even try to hit her (although she did have a couple of other attempts at other kids... she missed! anyway, it's an improvement!). So I let the two girls play on their own for awhile, and then I saw that Lyla was looking for me. She said, "You have to pee!" She had a diaper on and everything. So I brought her to the bathroom, stripped her down, and held her on the big potty. And she went! Just like that! I think we are well on our way to saving money on diapers.

The day after the playgroup, she kept saying, "If you see another Lyla... don't hit!" And she'd raise up her arm like she was hitting and then stop. I was very confused. But I think that she must see other little kids as Lyla's. I mean, I'd hit myself if I saw myself, too, I guess? Anyway. I'm glad we're making headway on that front!

She loves her big girl bed and sleeps great in it, but today she climbed from her bed to the crib (they're next to each other at the moment) and slept in there. Hm.. ok.

Kallan's big moment:

Sleeping 11 hours!! She goes to bed late, so I can't really take advantage of all that sleep. It's quite sad, really. She goes to bed around midnight, and then I get up with Lyla at 7 ish. Oh well, 7 hours of sleep is still something!

She is also grabbing much more intentionally now. It's amazing to see her watch her hand move towards an object.

Alright I don't know why I'm awake while everyone else is sleeping. That will have to be all for now!

Just the daily family dance party! Kallan is wondering what sort of family she was born into....

What Are We Doing?

As it's the beginning of a new year, I thought I should post a bit about what the girls are up to and see how they are different as 2013 draws to a close.

Here's Miss Kallan Marie. She is about 3 and a half months old. She usually takes 2 or 3 short naps and 1 long nap (3 or 4 hours) each day. She is sleeping 8-10 hours straight each night (hooray!).  We can tell that she is already extremely ticklish. Whenever we dress or undress her, she thinks it's extremely funny. I think the shirts that go over her head tickle her chubby cheeks! It's the cutest thing, she smiles and laughs so much! She loves to tell Daddy about her day when he gets home from work and is pretty chatty in general.

She loves to blow bubbles and "razz." Her face is often covered with drool and sometimes attracts lint from her clothes.  Pacifiers and bottles are good joke to her. Like, "Really Mom? Nice try." She bats and tries to grab at toys. She brings her hands together and studies them intently.  She seems really strong but still hates tummy time. Her favorite toy is her crinkly dolly, and she will "goo" and smile at her non-stop. Until she gets overstimulated that is. :) She absolutely loves bath and cries when bath time is over.

So far Kallan's bedtime routine is cluster feeding until she zonks out. I'm okay with this, but it's tiring. She is mostly happy but is kind of hard to console if she's tired. She really fights her sleep! I get a good arm work out in whenever I'm rocking her. We're so thankful to have gotten to meet and love our Kallan this year. Can't wait to see her grow and learn and explore!

Here's Lyla Soo! She is getting to be such a big girl now, although she will insist upon being called a "little girl" only. She loves books and reading. She is still a huge fan of Dora and Diego, but we have started branching out on occasion. She loves puzzles and coloring. She has an insanely good memory... she remembers random details from months before! She is definitely at a 'defiant' streak, something I hear is common in 2-year-olds, and she likes to do everything herself. I wouldn't say that she is a "terrible" 2-year-old. We have our days and our moments, but she is great for the most part!

She talks in full-on sentences now, and she will often repeat things we've said or things she heard on TV.  She is starting to understand "I" and "You" much better. She will often say, "Can I? Can I? Can I?" "Can I have one please mommy?" She is getting to the age where the questions never end. "Why are you laying down Mommy? ....Why are you sleepy? .....But are you tired?... How are you doing that?" I love that when I ask her a "Why" question, she says... "becaaaauuuse....." I wonder if she gets that from me. Hobbies she likes include painting, yoga, kicking balls in the hall and copying Mommy's stellar dance moves! She is potty trained at home.. just about time to try going out and about some!

She is such a bright, sweet little girl. We are so proud of her. I can't believe how much she has grown and learned over the past two years. This coming year, Lyla might even be going to Threeschool!

We love both of our girls so much! Here's to a great 2013 full of more memories with our little family!

Lyla's Quiet Book

I wanted to share this present I made for Lyla for Christmas because well, it took a lot of work, and I'm happy with the way it turned out! Plus, I'm sure some mamas out there on facebook have tons of time on their hands and are just looking for a new project ;)

I wanted to make a Quiet book for Lyla after seeing my cousin's. His grandma (great-grandma?) made it for him when he was a baby, and I thought, "How cool would it be to make one for Lyla?" It was full of fun baby/toddler activities like braiding, zipping, making felt faces, etc. Lyla loved it!

The problem... I don't know how to sew (I know, shame on me). I figured I could learn, no big deal. As I started browsing for ideas though, I realized that these books might be a little complex and time consuming for someone who doesn't even know how to sew. So I found some ideas for velcro quiet books that seemed more up my alley (there are also some for magnetic books and dry erase books, also very cool!).

Pinterest has a lot of ideas (I browsed Here), and for some personalization, I started thinking about Lyla's favorite things. She loves letters and spelling her name. She loves shapes and matching. She loves counting. And more than anything, she loves Dora.

What I did:
I cut card stock paper in half for the pages and decorated the pages with scrapbook paper.
I drew and cut out the pieces.. probably the most time consuming part.
I laminated everything to protect it from toddler hands and time. Maybe someday Miss Kallan can play, and I also hope to add pages as Lyla gets older. Erik helped cut out all the laminated pieces!
I hole-punched the pages and put the book together with the binder rings.
Finally, it was time to cut and attach the velcro!

Here's the inside of the book:

Name Page

Map Page.. "First we go to the castle, then Benny's Barn, and that's how we get to the Animal Rescue Center!"

Counting page.. mmm apples!

Match The Shapes! Lyla was quick to point out that my circle is in fact NOT a circle, but an oval. 

Pattern Page

And some close-ups

I'm probably most proud of my drawing of Map!

Now I'm sure you are all wondering.. "Well, how did she like it?" She loves it and plays for it as long as her 2-year-old attention span will allow! I'm a happy mommy!

Sisters

I was so ecstatic when I found out that Kallan was a baby girl. I just kept picturing our two little girls, growing up together, the best of friends! 

Although having a new sister isn't always what it's cut out to be for a toddler, Lyla is adjusting great and loves her sister so much (even though she would never admit it). And Kallan just lights up when she sees Lyla or hears her voice. 

Tummy time for both my babies! Lyla likes to help out :)

Playmat playtime!

Lyla holding her little sister. Kallan is pretty happy about it.

I imagine them growing up together, sharing secrets, giggling together, fighting and making up, crying together, playing together, having sleepovers in each other's rooms, riding the bus together, painting each other's nails, playing dress up, talking about boys together (way later in life, of course). We are so happy to have two beautiful girls in our lives but even happier that they have each other! 

In other news, here's a preview of the project I'm working on!

One of Those Days...

So I just put Lyla down for a nap... an hour earlier than usual. I am just wiped out today. Something about Friday is always rough. Maybe the lack of a full night's sleep during the week catches up to me at the end.

Some days, Lyla goes through typical "terrible twos" behavior. Everything ends in crying and whining and occasional screaming. She might ask for help, and then as soon as you try to help, she will scream, "Not like that!!!!" and the crying begins. These days are filled with "Mommy not do that!" "Mommy not pick up Kallan!" After awhile, every scream or cry feels more like a pounding to the brain.

As you can imagine, it's hard to stay patient on days like today. Usually I just flip on the TV and go in the other room and regroup for half an hour. Otherwise I think I would lose my mind.

But these days make me thankful for all the other days of the week that aren't like this. I'm sure some toddlers are like this a lot of the time. This age doesn't get its name for nothing!

Lately I've been really happy because Lyla has started to include Kallan more and more. She likes to help me show Kallan toys to play with. One of her favorite things is to show Kallan how to clap. She will go in front of her and clap and say, "Look, Kallan, this is how you clap!" When Kallan cries, she "cheers her up" by actually cheering for her. She will run over and go "kal-LAN! kal-LAN!" This doesn't stop any crying but it's still pretty darn cute!

In the car yesterday, Kallan started fussing a bit, and Lyla said, "It's okay, Kallan, we're here, we're here." One of those family moments that fill you up in a way nothing else can. I love my little family so much! Even on days like today.

Nap time for everyone, including this mama!

Potty Training Update

Awhile back, we started a sticker sheet for Lyla's potty success. It is filling up fast! Yesterday Lyla went on the potty three times.. and two of the times, she even had a diaper and pants on. She came over and let us know she had to pee! We're moving to underwear only at home now, hopefully we can get her out and about sometimes, too!

She's so proud of her potty paper! This morning, the first thing she said to me when she woke up was, "It's fun to go potty on the big girl potty!"

#2 might be a struggle. She used to go on the potty, but now she holds it all day until nap, and then she poops in her crib almost every time I put her down for nap. Even if she doesn't have to, she will try for a LONG time until I finally say, "Lyla lay down and go to sleep or we won't watch TV later!" haha

So proud of my biggest little girl. So excited at the thought of having to only buy one box of diapers at the store!

Week 1 Milestones

Today marks the first week of life for baby Kallan Marie! We have had such a great time snuggling her and loving on her. Things have gone really well for the most part. A couple nearly sleepless nights, a couple stressful moments. But overall, we have had a great week! Things don't seem too crazy yet, being a mom of two. I'm sure once Kallan starts growing and spending more time awake then things will get a little bit more hectic!

So what's gone on in this family of four this week?

1. Lyla went pee in her potty! We were reading a potty book and she suddenly wanted to be a 'big girl' and sat on her potty... for an hour and a half. And then finally went!! We had a great celebration full of "Hooray's" and chocolate covered dried cherries! YUM!

2. Breastfeeding success!

3. Breastfeeding related breakdown!

4. First big sister temper tantrum... when Daddy was carrying Kallan and Lyla wanted UP. "Just carry Lyla, just carry Lyla!" Other than that, Lyla has been adjusting really well... so far!

5. Kallan slept in her Pack 'n Play bassinet thing! The first night she would instantly wake up whenever we set her down, so we took turns just HOLDING her all night long.  The next night we got her to sleep in the baby swing.  But now it seems like she is growing accustomed to lying down. Last night she slept in there all night... and by all night I mean in increments of 2-3 hrs. But that means I got to sleep for 2-3 hrs at a time, too!

6. First time out and about in our DOUBLE STROLLER! That thing is heavy with two children!

7. Realizations that our family has changed... when we say "our girls" or refer to Lyla as "our oldest." How strange to refer to your first baby as the "oldest"!

8. First name mispronunciations. Likely the first of many. Sorry Kallan. :(

9. Kallan's first sponge bath! She didn't like it but she DID seem to like having the water run over her hair.

10. And to celebrate a great first week, we are off to the "cottage home" for the weekend to see family and celebrate Tim's 21st birthday! Kallan's first road trip and first time to the cottage! Lyla is SO excited. She has been looking forward to it all week! There will be 15 of us in one house. Sounds crazy, right? I'm sure it will be, but only in the best way!