This winter has been crazy! Just when we were blissfully bragging about the bright, sunny winter weather of late, we get hit with another snowstorm. This storm, however, has been much more welcome and pleasant than the icy mess of Christmas Eve. This storm has left us with beautiful piles of soft white snow, perfect for rolling into snowballs and snowmen!
Lyla was so excited to see flurries falling Thursday morning, and I was sad we all had to go to our separate ways for the day. Grandma picked Lyla up from school early, though, and informed me that her class went out in the snow to build a snowman, so I was happy she got to play in it. I didn't think it'd be around for long. I stand corrected, though, as the foot-deep of fluffy white still blankets our front yard and all of North Texas classes have been canceled. So, Lyla and I have been cozied up at home together, occasionally darting outside to play in the snow.
Last night, we built a snowman with Daddy (ie, I built a snowman while Mr. Gloveless and Miss Snoweater watched). Oh but how ill-prepared we were, with only a scarf at the ready and a mere baby carrot for a nose! Some pebbles and mulch pieces from the yard had to suffice for the eyes, mouth and buttons, and the poor guy had to go armless. BUT! For the first time in Q Household History, there is a snowman adorning our crispy white front lawn!
Hot chocolate immediately followed (of course), which greatly pleased our girl, who snuggled up to Daddy for her sweet treat, marshmallows included.
The next day (today) we went back out to play and saw that our snowman had grown a little overnight with the few inches more that fell while we were sleeping. Lyla got a kick out of the crunching beneath her feet as she plowed through the front yard, snow up to her thighs. She's too little to know just what to do, and has no context to pull from. So other than Mommy's snowman and the snowballs made and handed to her, the only other thing she could think to do with the snow was, well, eat it. And it turns out, she very much enjoyed that.
Last month (yeah, yeah... so I should have posted this last month), Lyla and I took a special trip to the zoo with our good friends Joe and Michelle, and their little boy, Aidan. One might think January is an absurd time to visit the zoo, however, Texas weather is crazy... as we will discuss further in my post to follow this one.
It's almost been a year since Lyla's last trip to the zoo (on her first birthday!) and this time she was much more aware, informed and verbal. Her favorite part, just like mine, was the orangutans. We were able to watch them for awhile as we waited to meet up with our buddies. She loved watching them monkey around and continues to ask to watch the video we took of them that day.
We attempted to feed the birds in the aviary like last year, but we were less successful. They even warned us not to bother because the birds were full and disinterested. It was still cool for my girl to get up close to them, though.
She got to ride the zoo train this time, too, which may have been her (other) favorite part. If you're under age 8, I think trains may qualify as one of the neatest things ever.
We finished up our zoo tour with some ice cream and a little playtime. Lyla and Aidan flirted a little, finally warming up to each other. Of course, Lyla talked about Aidan and the zoo for weeks afterward, even though she hardly spoke a word to him while we were there. Silly, shy toddlers!
What a beautiful, relaxing and fun-filled day! If only every winter day were so warm and bright! As always, the rest of the pics can be seen at my Picasa.
The other day, the nurse practitioner at Lyla's pediatrician's office said, "Never will she have a sicker year than the first year at daycare." No. Kidding. Luke and I think we could count the number of healthy weeks she's had since August on one hand. This Christmas, Lyla was ill the entire two weeks we had off and seemed healthy for just one measly day following the treatment of her double-ear / bacterial lung infection (ie: two rounds of painful broad-range antibiotic injections, breathing treatments four times a day, and harsh oral antibiotic medicine) before she was slammed with yet another viral infection.
Five trips to the doctor later, we are still battling "the crud."
The positives: 1. Lyla has become a pro at pointing out all the yellow fish in the waiting room aquarium, 2. She is no longer driven to tears of fear by the scale or forehead thermometer, 3. She is now able to (very) clearly communicate when she is ready to leave (bye-bye's? go? all done?), 4. Lots of snuggle time with Mommy, 5. Learning how well root beer, M&Ms and Elmo work as bribery tools, 6. A future in the medical field?
The drawbacks: 1. Copays, copays and copays, 2. Prescriptions, prescription refills, dosing medicine, bribery in exchange for consumption of said medicines, 3. An absurdly inappropriate amount of Elmo, 4. Dwindling sick days available at work, 5. Dwindling tolerance of lack of healthy sleep, 6. A whiny version of an otherwise joyful child who now cries immediately when not serviced with all her favorite toys, videos, snacks and affection, 7. A disgustingly cluttered and filthy house which is otherwise just "cluttered," 8. A grouchy Mommy, 9. A child who has come to expect her day to be filled with time spent "watching" [Elmo, herself] in front of a screen (TV or computer), 10. A sick little girl who just breaks your heart.
Clearly the drawbacks outnumber the positives.
She does manage to make "nebulizing" look slightly adorable, though...
What a wonderful Christmas we had together! I have cherished so many moments with my daughter, family, and friends this December, it will be hard to recount them all, but I will do my best to sum up.
We put up and decorated our new tree shortly after Thanksgiving - a process that took several days and a task which consisted of many steps forward (5 ornaments up) and a few steps back (2 ornaments down). Lyla was particularly fond of the vintage Sesame Street ornaments I made sure to hang right at her eye level. They were hung and rehung all through the month.
Lyla's school had a "Family Blizzard" where they invited family to come eat chili and participate in various holiday activities. Lyla loved playing at school with Mommy, making ornaments, pinning the nose on Santa, writing a letter to Santa (ha!) and eating all kinds of sweets. She did not enjoy getting her face painted.
We took Lyla to the Grapevine Parade of Lights with my family and close friends. We bundled up in many layers and extra thick coats (because it was unTexasly cold) and brought some hot cocoa in a thermos to share. Lyla seemed to enjoy it, her favorite part being Santa at the end. She waved and waved! It was great having our family and close friends there with us!
In preparation for Christmas cards and the December portion of the annual grandma calendars, we attempted to do a mini-photo-shoot of Lyla in front of the tree. I must have snapped a-zillion pictures and managed to get ZIP that I really liked, but I guess the whole ordeal was pretty humorous. I am surprised Lyla hasn't developed a seizure disorder from all the flashes...
We took Lyla, Rain and Faryn, along with Grandma and Grandpap, to the North Pole Express. It's a vintage train that normally goes from downtown G-vine to downtown Ft. Worth, but during this time of year, they send it 15 minutes in one direction, with caroling and the whole bit, then they just head back to G-vine for a 30 minute trip, all after a 30-minute preshow complete with hot chocolate, dancing elf girls in tight clothes, etc. Lyla didn't fair so well with the pre-show. It was a little lengthy and not particularly geared toward 1-year olds and she was very anxious to see the "choo-choo." When we finally got on, she was worn out, but managed to enjoy it nonetheless. Santa made an appearance (briefly) on the train, and she was excited by that. I thought that might be evidence that she wouldn't be terrified afterward when we went to take pictures with Santa. How foolish of me! The poor girl sobbed big fat tears of sheer terror, even with Mommy and Daddy sitting with her. As Grandpap put it, though, you always have to have at least one picture of "crying with the Claus."
Christmas came around super-fast after that. Really, though, I should say "Christmases," since we shared Christmas with our families and friends at separate special times. We had "Roommate Christmas" with our close friends (dubbed so because most of these friends have been roommates at one point or another), "Quattrochi Christmas" with Luke's dad's side of the family, "Pearson Christmas" with my side of the family, and "Nonna Christmas" with Luke's mom's side. Not to mention our own Christmas! Phew!
Somewhere in the midst of all that, we managed to bake cookies with Grandma, too. Lyla enjoyed painting the sugar cookies old-school style, with colored egg yolks and paintbrushes. Mostly, she enjoyed eating them after they baked.
Lyla's favorites among her Christmas prizes this year have been her little piano that Santa brought her, her kitchen that Mommy and Daddy got her, and her dollhouse from Grandma. She seems to rotate between the three throughout the day, occasionally distracting herself with her other goodies and bringing us new books to read.
And last, but not least, here she is "performing" in her school sing-a-long show:
We hope you had a Very Merry Christmas!! We sure did!
We had a fun-filled, food-filled day, as usual! This year, we spent Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpap's house. Aunt Shannon and her family joined us, as well. It was a typical Thanksgiving and there's not much else to be said. We ate too much, the house was chaotic and loud, I took too many pictures, we ate too much food, there was football on TV, and we ate too much food. Still one of my favorite days of the year!
Lyla had a blast because she got to spend the day with her cousins. Rain, Faryn, and Grandma taught her how to play ring-around-the-rosie. She loved the "falling down" part best, naturally.
Here are a few pics from the day. You can see more at my Picasa!
She loved her turkey shirt, and so did everyone at her school, despite the vegetarian propaganda. She did, however, perform her very first googly-eye-ectomy. Twice. Poor bird.
We've been having a lovely Fall, for the most part! Lyla is ever-so-chatty lately. Bossy, too, I might add. She has officially learned that she can say, "No" in response to things she doesn't want and activities in which she would prefer not to partake. I have been trying desperately to teach her to say, "No thanks," or even just not scream, "NO!" as if I were trying to pour lemon juice onto a boo-boo. Will keep you posted on how that's going. She definitely has her own agenda and her own ways of expressing it.
Since our last post, we've started at a new daycare. Lyla switched to my school district's Early Childhood Development Center and we're very pleased with our decision to move her there. I was hesitant, naturally, about having to transition all over again and go through that horrible month-long crying at drop-off, wondering how she is all day, sick to my stomach at the thought of her being scared and confused at daycare phase. But honestly, it's been great. She had only a few days where she was upset at drop-off (and it only lasted briefly), and she usually just walks right on in, happy to be there. Daily reports from her teacher, Ms. Maria, are always positive. She is happy to be there, too, which is how it should be. It's way out of our way, but totally worth it. Lyla is going full time, with the exception of Grandma and Grandpap being right down the road and able to pick her up whenever they need a little grand-toddler time.
I have welcomed Thanksgiving Break with wide-open arms and a huge smile. Man, I needed a break! Teaching this year has been kind of tough, and I miss spending time with my little girl. I did forget, however, that all those things-to-do on my mental preferred priority list will simply not get done over the holiday because, well, spending time with my little girl means just that. She's certainly not going to volunteer to help repaint and redecorate the bathroom, or sort through garage sale items. Although, yesterday, she wasn't far from helpful when I steam-cleaned the living room carpet.
Monday, my first official day vacation, Lyla and I took Faryn and Rain to the park so their mommy could get some school work done. We packed a picnic and spent a couple hours at Bear Creek Park. The weather couldn't have been better! The kids all behaved well and we had a lovely time! They were rewarded with slushies from Sonic on our way back home.
Tuesday, Lyla and I joined Ms. Ray from work and her sweet, adorable 2-year-old, Regan at the Gaylord to wander around, look at the (*cough* premature *cough*) Christmas decor and snap some pictures. We then grabbed a bite at Panera - yum! The girls were ever-so-cute together and at one point even had an actual toddler conversation, consisting mostly of the sounds animals make and also lots of random noises blurted out, copy-catted, and followed by immediate giggles. Regan set an awesome example for Lyla, so I am hoping we get to hang out more often!
We got our 18-month pictures back from Visual Empathy. Visit Visual Empathy to have a peek at our sweet girl - just enter session code lyla18months. Thanks to Kristina for another great session and beautiful pictures!
To see other recent pictures and additional pics from the park and the Gaylord, go to my November Picasa album! There will be plenty more after Thanksgiving, I'm sure...
I also uploaded some videos recently, when it was on my mind. Here are a few more recent clips:
Lyla had a blast this year! Of course, the only other year she has to compare it to was her first, and she didn't exactly have the capacity to understand what was going on. She was just a fluffy pink lump. This year, she understood her costume, thought it was fun that others were dressed up, too (at least I think so), and especially liked the part where she got to knock on doors and get candy! It was a little difficult, at first, to distract her from her desire for instant gratification, but once she got the swing of the whole door-to-door thing, she seemed to enjoy it.
We started Halloween Day off with a little old-fashioned pumpkin carving. Lyla was interested in what her mommy was getting into, but not quite attentive enough to participate in the whole task. She played with the slime and helped poke the shapes out once I carved them... then off she ran. Once we lit the pumpkin in the dark bathroom, her interest was again peaked, although more so regarding blowing out the candle inside than in the jack-o-lantern, itself.
Halloween Night, we were happy to have Grandma and Grandpap join us at Aunt Shannon's house for trick-or-treating. We got to spend some pre-sugar-rush family-time with cousins; Faryn dressed up as a pink lady and Rain as a punk-rocker. They were so adorable! By the end of the night, Lyla had consumed her day's worth of calories in sugar and chocolate, and despite my belief that she would sugar-crash and fall asleep easily after such an active night, she was buzzed until almost 11:00pm!
