Pumpkin Time!

October, 2008

October, 2009

A year ago, we toted our chubby pink-bunny-to-be to the Pumpkin Farm by Grandma and Grandpap's house and let her explore all the excitement of Fall, holding onto our fingers to walk unsteadily around in her very first pair of shoes. I couldn't wait to see what this year would bring for our soon-to-be-lovely-ladybug at the Farm, this time with some additional family. Papa Sam was in town, so we planned to go with him, Nonna, Aunt Mia, Uncle Les and the cousins to share in the fun of hay stacks, old tractors, face-painting, kettle corn, hot apple cider, the ever-daunting corn maze, and of course, piles and piles of pumpkins!

What a busy day! Lyla's day actually started out bright and early (or should we say dark and early?) in order to get her 18-month pictures taken with Kristina from Visual Empathy. We met at the Botanical Gardens in Ft. Worth and had a wonderful time wandering around and snapping pictures wherever a good shot caught her eye. Lyla managed a good hour of spotlight action before she got tired and hungry. As always, we can't wait to see what beautiful moments Kristina captured.

We then met up with the rest of the Q's for a picnic at a local park, since the Pumpkin Farm didn't open until 1:00. We stuffed our faces and ran care-free around old Kidsville, played some sand volleyball and of course, I snapped a few pictures. We hopped back over to the Farm shortly after for all the aforementioned fall festivities. Napless Lyla wasn't quite as exuberant as I had anticipated, but a good time was had by all. She went through the corn maze with her Uncle Les, we snacked on fresh kettle corn and apple cider, played on the old tractor, posed in the farmer cutouts, picked out some pumpkins and packed ourselves up to head back to our place. Of course, I took some pictures along the way... Lyla crashed before exiting the parking lot.

Have a gander at the additions to my October album.

Beach Baby!

Well, we just returned from our first family vacation! It would be a bold-faced lie to say we're happy to be home, with a new workweek looming just 8 hours away, a dishwasher to unload, laundry to tackle, carpet to vacuum, poop to scoop and bills to pay...

On Wednesday night, we packed my sister's Tahoe up with beach clothes, enough food, toys, and games for a long weekend. Thursday morning we dropped the dog off at Grandma's and headed southeast about six hours to Surfside Beach. We were a bit nervous about how Lyla would fare being in the car for so long, but she managed to shock us with a surprisingly painless trip. She cat-napped a few times, snacked, busied herself with toys and books, and of course, a couple Elmo videos. Just as we were reaching our limit, we arrived!

The weekend weather wasn't all that great, but even being inside from the chilly rain was relaxing - how can it not be with the gulf coast waves rolling in just over the dunes? We were fortunate enough to have a couple of afternoons in the mid to upper seventies - what we deemed "sitting on the beach" weather. The rest of the time, we took short walks and I, of course, experimented with the camera, all the while adoring my curious toddler as she explored all the wonders of the seashore. We collected some shells, traced letters in the sand, made sand "cakes" and sang "Happy Birthday" (then blew out the shell-candle and ate the cake, of course), poked at a dead jellyfish, filled the bucket with water, buried our feet and then tried to find them, got especially sandy, and all in all had a lovely, relaxing time.

Sunday, getting a little stir crazy from being stuck inside, we decided to take a little nap-time drive into Galveston to go to the Moody Gardens Aquarium. Being nap time, we thought our girl might actually sleep on the hour drive there, but she opted out, making for an interesting trip through the exhibits. She seemed a bit more interested in pushing her own stroller, climbing on each and every bench and hanging from any and every railing, than in watching fish through glass. The penguins caught her eye a bit more, and so did the one giant sea turtle that swam over us inside the water tunnel, but mostly she was just crabby and testing the limits. She took it upon herself to nap on the way home, instead.

Monday, we had to pack up and head back to life... back to reality (yes, it's been stuck in my head ALL DAY!). This time, the drive was a little less smooth, since our girl knew what she was in for, but we made it, thanks to Elmo and Shannon's fancy DVD-playing SUV.

It was a much needed vacation! I think we should do it every week. Well, maybe not every week...

More pics at Picasa, as usual!

The 18-Month Mark!

One of my little girl's favorite things to do is "watch Lyla." She grabs my finger and leads me to the office, guiding me to the computer desk, upon which sits the "watching device" - that magical thing with all its snippets of digital video that some crazy woman has collected over the last 1.5 years. At random throughout the day, even in the midst of some of the most exciting toddler-geared activities, she will emphatically nod while asking (demanding), " 'atch 'yla?!" Whether it be the techie side to her (thanks, Daddy) or her egocentric 18-month-old ways, she sure knows what she wants. She's even figured out how to browse the thumbnails and point out exactly which video she wishes to watch, very rarely selecting anything from her younger year, as she doubtfully recognizes the strange blob inching her way around on the carpet, drooling and making strange gurgling noises. No, that's not Lyla. That's a baby.

That doesn't stop Mommy, however, from reminiscing about that precious blob. It seems so very long ago and hardly a glimpse of it remains in my memory, so I am ever-grateful for that crazy woman and all her video-taking.

No other year will make such a difference in her life. At no other time will she not be able to
recognize herself or at least make a connection from one September to the next. How odd! Looking back just one year ago, the changes are astounding. Here is a snippet from this time last year, when I was utterly shocked that the first six months had already passed.

And here she is now:

Daycare update: We were just hitting smooth waters when both of Lyla's teachers left Premier. She has had to transition again, now to two new teachers. Thankfully, one was able to shadow Mrs. Ashley before she left. She hasn't been crying at drop off this week, but for some reason cries when the class goes on their walks. And her teacher asked me today if she ever talks. HA! It made me laugh because well, yes. She talks non-stop at home. But it made me sad, too, because she is clearly not herself when she's there. Maybe a few more weeks and she'll open up a little more.

Our Trouble-Making, Ice-Cream-Eating, ABC-Loving, Daycare-Hating, Chatting-it-up Ham!

So... I forgot how rough it is to blog regularly when working full time and continuing to [attempt to] run the house and manage the family!!! Pheww! (Yes, Luke, I am the manager. ;p )

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

And now, a couple of long overdue video clips:

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!

Big Changes for Our "Big Girl"

Well, it's that time of year again - back to school! Only, this year, Lyla is heading to "school" as well. Complete with her tiny backpack and adorable lunchbox, she strutted confidently into Premier Academy yesterday for her first day with Mrs. Ashley and Mrs. Cheryl in the "Upper Ones" class. She's not quite the right age to be considered "upper" (18-months +) but she will be soon enough, and we figured it wouldn't be worth all the transition trouble in a month to have her readjust to new teachers and routines.

Despite the early rise time and lack of breakfast, she was off to a good start, wanting "inside" as soon as possible. She bolted toward the toys and was immediately surrounded by a few curious faces, all poking, pointing, and sharing exciting toddler gadgets with her. But she soon decided she was fulfilled by this magical place and promptly sought out Mommy, demanded "up" and thoughtfully told her new classmates "bye-bye," all smiles. It took some coaxing to get her playing again, and sufficiently distracted so that Mommy could slip away. Peeking in a moment later, she was clinging to Mrs. Ashley with a look of desperation on her face, her knuckles white where she grabbed hold of Ashley's shirt. And if it hadn't already cracked a little by this point, Mommy's heart split open and burst into a million pieces. Just like that.

And so began the worst day ever. It was very difficult not to fly over to school and rescue her, but our grand plan was to spend the week before Mommy goes back in transition, in hopes that going back to work might be a smidgen less difficult. I called about three times during the day and forced Luke to call once so I didn't look like a nut, although the staff at the school seem very supportive and understanding of how insanely hard this really is. Those check-in calls proved to be more upsetting than comforting, though, as Lyla was never in a good state. She wasn't uncontrollably upset, but she was out of sorts - weepy and confused, not eating, not drinking - all day.

Today and forever, Luke is taking her. Reports this morning are worse than yesterday, which we expected, since she knows what's happening. Last I heard, Mrs. Ashley was taking her for some one-on-one time. Sounds like a good plan...

It'll take time, I know, but it doesn't make me (or Lyla) hate it any less.

Lyla's first day of school, classic "in front of the fridge" shot.
(She didn't like the backpack or understand why she was supposed to stand in front of the fridge.)

Fun with Food

Last night, Lyla got a special treat after dinner. Fruit always follows dinner, but this was different... this was... delicious! Strawberries are super, but add whipped cream and, well, who knows where it'll take ya! Here is the fun that followed...

And then the inevitable...

To see the rest, visit the July album!

Boom Boom!

Hi all! I know it's been a while since my last post... one would think with the summer off I'd have more time, but really it's just a matter of my time being used up in new ways. Admittedly, I am far more exhausted at the end of a day with my little stinker than I was all year after a day's work at school. She certainly keeps me busy (and curtails any chances I have of keeping up with housework).

We had a wonderful 4th of July with just our "own selves," hanging out at home and keeping cool. The night before, the 3rd, we went to my sister's house in Roanoke to watch the city fireworks display. She has a great view from her backyard - they shoot them off from a field right across the street. Every year it seems this party gets bigger and bigger. By the end of the night, Shannon had over 100 guests at her house. Good thing her yard is ginormous.

As expected, Lyla loved the fireworks. I prepped her the day before by showing her some fireworks shows on YouTube. Yes, I am a dork that has been trained in preparing students for situations that might cause some anxiety... so these sorts of things come to mind a lot. I think she would have been fine even without the prep, though, as she simply sat back and watched, saying, "Boom!" and, "Noisy" every so often, with a bouncy nod of finality. That lasted only about 3 minutes... then she was ready to run off and play despite the noise and lack of sunlight. Baby attention span = not so long.

We were so glad to spend the evening with our closest friends and even got see a special visitor from out of town. Lisa and Jake were down for the weekend with Elizabeth - she has grown so tall (although our 6-month younger monster outweighs her!) and beautiful. It was wonderful to see them!

Mary Jo and family, Kerry and Craig, Mac and Kristin, and Melissa and Haydrienne came, too, and we had a blast eating hotdogs and partaking in cool beverages while waiting for it to get dark. The show wasn't too bad, either!