Happy 1st Birthday, Lyla!

On Lyla's birthday, March 19, Mommy and Daddy took her to the zoo! The zoo was "a zoo," as they say... meaning it was super crowded. We found out from a zoo dude that the previous day was a record-setter. I can't imagine it being any more crowded than it was when we were there Thursday. Lyla did really well despite the heat, crowd and being confined to her stroller most of the time. Her favorite part was the aviary - she got to hold a popsicle stick with some seeds on it to feed the smaller birds (parakeets, love birds, doves). It took a little time for some hungry birds to find us, but when they did, our girl was delighted. She was so intent watching the colorful birdies and held perfectly still (mostly) while they ate off her stick.

We also got to see an orangutan showing off to try to win over another zoo patron's orange. She stretched out her open hand as if to say, "Please toss your orange this way." When the lady did not oblige, the orangutan feigned utter sadness by burying her head in her arms and hanging her head sadly. We were cracking up. Lyla stared the whole time... I think she was a little confused by the humanish animalish creature.

When we got home (Lyla crashed in the stroller before we even got to the parking lot), we rested awhile, then helped her open presents from Mommy and Daddy. She caught on pretty quickly, but wanted to play with each gift rather than open them all. We encouraged her to get through them, though, so we could get it on tape... then we taped some playing. She got another Karen Katz flap book, a set of Sesame mini-books, an Elmo puppet, a mailbox shape-sorter, a bubble-blowing hippo and a summer outfit. We went outside to play with the bubbles, which Lyla really enjoyed. She loves to be outside!


The next day was party prep for Mommy, Grandma and Aunt Donna. Lyla had a flower/garden theme. We had to get food ready, decorate cakes, and set up tables/party supplies. Lyla also had her 1-year checkup with Dr. Dickey. Here is the low-down:
She weighed in at a healthy 24 lbs (89%), measured 30.5 inches (88%), and her head was 47.5 cm around (96%).... meaning, she is about the height/weight of a 22-month old and her head is the size of a 3 year old's. It's because her brain is so giant and full of intelligence already!

Saturday, we had all our closest friends and family over to celebrate our daughter's first year. We had a wonderful day - the weather was perfect (although poor Luke couldn't tolerate it for long due to his allergies), the kids had fun painting flower pots, planting daisies in them and breaking (decapitating) the butterfly pinata. They took turns pulling Lyla in the new red wagon Grandma and Grandpap got her. Overall, a good time was had by all and although the big "1" was slightly bittersweet, we made a huge deal out of it and it was totally worth it. Next year, though, Mommy will definitely be scaling down!

See the rest of our birthday pictures at Picasa!

My Milkshake...

Mommy and Daddy have started a diet that allows one cheat day a week. Lyla is a fan of cheat day and she participated today. It turns out, she really likes milkshakes. Are we surprised, though? Not really.




Yesterday, we took our 1-year pictures with Kristina (Visual Empathy). She made a precious little red-velvet cake for Lyla's "cake shots" - we can't wait to see them! We also got some other shots of her playing, reading, laying on the background paper (tee hee) and being her regular, happy lil' self. She did a great job and didn't put up much fuss at all, especially when it was cake time. We stripped her down to diaper only so she could go to town. All in all, she wasn't too messy. At one point, after we knocked the strawberry off the top of the cake, Lyla put it back on top. That must be the Pearson half of her.
We will be sure to post the link to the pictures when they are ready to view.

She has been talking more and more, and recently started to actually use the words she has previously mimicked. For example, today she told our boxer-mix, Maya, "No," when her tail kept wacking her (gently, of course, otherwise Mommy would have intervened). The other day, she picked up my cell phone and held it to her ear while walking around Grandma and Grandpap's house and said, "Heddo?" with the sweetest inflection at the end. I was cracking up!

We have lots of planning to do, still, before her big day this week. Thursday is the real deal, but the big bash won't be until Saturday.

Our Goofball Girl!

We have one goofy little girl. We were able to capture some of her clowning around on tape, this time. Here is our silly goose playing with the pets:

Lyla is cutting her 8th tooth, which should be her last one for a while. Once again, we're lucky that she seems unfazed by the ordeal.

Monday morning was Lyla's last boob meal - we are officially done nursing. The goal was to make it to one year, as per pediatrician recommendation. Well, we got to 11 1/2 months. Go us! It was a bittersweet moment for Mommy, obviously, but necessary. We were down to one feeding/day for a while and Lyla didn't seem to care one way or the other. So, it was a good indication that it was time to move on, despite my urge to cling to the emotional/bonding component. Next month, we'll start shifting from formula to cow's milk.

Our little girl has somehow developed into a social butterfly. Whenever we are in public, she makes it a point to observe each and every person around her, and if anyone's in close enough proximity, she waves to them and flashes a flirty smile. We crack up, along with whoever it is she's entertaining. We're not quite sure where she gets it from, but it's sweet and cute. Also adorable, her little growly noise and "ladehladeh" nonsense she babbles when playing. Just now, she sneaked into the office and startled me with a, "Graaa!" while I was typing What a little ham we have!

--Emily

Our Little Booty Shaker

Apparently, babies have an innate ability to notice and move to rhythm. She sure as heck didn't learn this from either of her parents!


In other brags, Lyla has added, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" to her expansive mimicry vocabulary, after copying Daddy's reaction to something-or-other at dinnertime. Probably her tossing undesirable food off her tray (anything other than green beans, these days). She also likes, "uh oh," which she hears Mommy say quite often.

Last Sunday, we got to spend the day with Nonna, Mia, Les and the Wise cousins. We had a lovely time. We even got to spend some time outside in the beautiful weather. Lyla had a blast riding in and pushing Nonna's yard cart! When we weren't outside playing, she was standing at the backdoor wishing we were outside playing.

The last two nights, Lyla has gone right to sleep when I laid her in her crib. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she has finally caught on to the whole bed-time thing. It definitely makes our evenings less stressful.

She seems to be getting brighter every day. When I get to Grandma's to pick her up after work, she's always got something new to show me. She is signing more spontaneously now, and grunting or squealing emphatically when she sees something or someone she wants. And she just loves her Grandpap!

We are very excited about planning for our girl's upcoming first birthday. I picked out a "theme" and bought some decor already. Can't wait to celebrate... but it's kind of bittersweet, thinking how fast the year flew by! Good thing for digital cameras, keepsake books, journals and blogs!

My Mama's-Girl!

Hi all!

I do realize it's been even longer since my last post than any other posts on our old website... and that I promised I'd be better about it now that we have a blog instead of a site to keep up with. But... what can I say? Life happens. We are busy people. So busy, in fact, that we actually got house-cleaning quotes from a few different maid services. And we quickly decided it was okay for our house to be just a little dirty... even if it makes me more than just a little nutso.

Our little girl is almost a year old. She is going to hit 11 months this Thursday and we just can't believe how fast it has gone by. I find myself overcome with emotion thinking about it, and slightly anxious that I don't feel like I've kept up with stashing and preserving memorabilia quite as much as I'd like. It's very difficult to find time these days! When I look back at old photos or video clips, I get nostalgic, but also sad that I don't think I could have pulled those memories from my own brain bank without the assistance of the physical images. So I guess I should just be grateful for the time I have had to record so many wonderful moments from my daughter's first year.

Lyla has been walking like a pro for a while, now, but she has recently started to pick up some speed. She plays chase with Grandma around her kitchen island. They both sneak up on each other and yell, "Hachaaa!" with a growly little voice. She has turned into a little copy-cat; she will try to comb her hair if she sees me do it, same with brushing her teeth or patting her tummy. At times she mimicks noises we make or words we speak... which has brought about her actual first word: "Mama!"

It's funny that there is no distinctive moment in which your child says her first word. You don't hear her and then rejoice. No... there is a set of criteria. Or at least for me, there is. She has been able to babble "ma, ma, ma" for many months, but to have her repeat it on command AND know what it means... well THAT'S a first word. And how do I know that she understands the meaning? Well... if Daddy asks her where Mama is, she looks in my direction. Good 'nuff for me! In the same day, she blurted out Dada, though she typically just whispers his name, for some reason. And since that day, we have also heard "bye-bye," "no," "uh-oh," and something resembling "okay." Sometimes she will fill in an "ooo" to attempt "go" when you give her "ready, set... ___." We are just beside ourselves!


We have also been occupying a lot of our time lately with trying to "sleep train" Lyla. It's a ridiculous term, I agree, but basically it means we are trying to teach her to go to sleep on her own, without needing me to nurse her to sleep or needing to snuggle in our bed and be transferred to her crib, only to wake up confused a few hours later and need to come back to bed with us. You can see, certainly, why this has been a problem. Well, sleep training involves letting her cry quite a bit, so it's been a tough lesson for all three of us. We found that immediately, despite the means to get her to do it, if she falls asleep in her crib, she will pretty much sleep there all night with no complaints. So, the quality of her sleep would appear to be better. So that's good.

I'll be sure to keep you posted as we continue to zoom along... milestones around every corner!

--Emily

Quattrochi's Relocate to Blogspot

Hey all! As difficult as our previous website was, we decided to just start blogging. We understand you'll now be able to comment (just for you Kristin!) and since it's so much simpler to use, I will probably manage to post more frequently.

Lyla hit 10 months on the 19th! Yikes! We can't believe she's almost a year old. She is walking everywhere. Seriously - everywhere! The only time she is not walking is when she's crawling toward something to pull up on so that she can walk. When she figures out how to free-stand, there won't be much to slow her down. She is also cutting tooth #7 and signing up a storm. Her most recent sign is "book," which looks completely adorable. Instead of opening her hands and keeping them together like an actual book, she opens them out to the side of her body, more closely resembling a circus performer at that "ta-da" moment. Cute. She is playing peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake regularly as well, although peek-a-boo for Lyla is more like hear-a-boo, since she covers her ears instead of her eyes. Not sure what that's about, but it's precious.

I still have to get January pictures uploaded, including New Year... once I get them on the computer I'll be sure to post some!










~Emily