Little Miss Lyla has adjusted fairly well to daycare, though it continues to be a slight struggle for Luke to drop her off in the mornings, when she is reluctant and teary-eyed. Her teacher says she calms down within a minute or two, though she has a hard time all morning long as people come and go, and during the various transitions from one activity to the next.
Ever since she started, she's had either one very long cold, or perhaps several normal-length, overlapping colds. Ugh! After week two, I offered Grandma double what we pay the daycare. I just cannot stand the image of her anxiously watching the door, or the horrendous sob she blurts out when I come to pick her up and she instantly recalls the terrible heartache and stress she has bottled up all day. After this week, which will complete a full month, I offered Grandma triple, but she's still not sold.
In other news, she is growing leaps and bounds in language development. She cracks us up daily with her hammy personality and new-found chattiness. She definitely thinks she's speaking in complete sentences, although usually only a handful of sounds are recognizable Lyla-words. I specify "Lyla-words" because I'm pretty sure the average so-and-so wouldn't necessarily understand what she's saying, but I know that "Aya" is "Maya," "Aht-sees" is "ABC's," "It's Oss" is "It's a mess!" and "s'keem" is "ice cream." She has been pairing more and more words together to make two-word phrases, usually claiming, "It's [a] ____." Among my recent favorites are "Sit Momma?" when she wants to sit on my lap, "Bye-bye Dada" when she wants to play Hi and Bye with the door, closing Luke out and welcoming him back in, and ordering the dog: "Aya sit... goo guh (good girl)."
She is loving her ABC's - obsessed with her magnetic letters, foam bathtub letters, letters from various puzzles and books and most recently, tater-tot letters (thanks, Ore-Ida). She readily names or points out A, B, C, F, S, X, Y, L, and O, and we're working on learning all the others. I *adore* when she randomly notices words on books, signs or packaging and excitedly shows them to me, pointing out the letters she recognizes. I am pretty proud of her advanced literacy skills, and at just 17 months! :p
Also, check out my Picasa. As usual, there have been some updates. I am trying to select photos to publish rather than publish them all. Since I got the Rebel for my birthday, I've been even more shutter-happy than before... ... ...
August, 2009 (You'll be happy to know, I spared you approximately 600 photos.)
Fun at the Pool
Children's Museum
Watch Me Grow!
