Long Time, No Blog!

I have been thinking about blogging everyday for the past 4 or 5 months now. I just haven't done it. You see, I work nights. I rarely on the computer anymore. But, things, they are changing. My new vow to myself is to update at least once a week. I think I can manage that. Layla Jade is growing so fast. She started walking this week. She's still very cautious about it, but she's doing great! She will perfect it before too long.
Since my last entry, we have celebrated her first birthday. Party and all! I will post a bunch of pictures soon. She has 5 more teeth now....so that makes 6! Her favorite time of the day is bath time. She gets fussy when we take her out of the bath tub to get her ready for bed. She has learned to undress herself for the most part. Which is not exactly great, but hilarious! The only bad part is that she doesn't get her shirts off all the way, she just pushes them behind her head. When she is layed down for a nap, it makes this little feat real interesting, and it can go downhill real quickly.
Her favorite food is Mac-N-Cheese. She is constantly asking for juice, and makes a horrible look when we give her water. Then she tries to hand us her sippy cup and tell us to get juice. She say's "up, down, woof woof, ooh wee, oo woo, Mama, Dada, Night night, bath, what's that". She amazes us with something new every day. Her latest is shrugging her little shoulders. It's cute now, but I imagine it wont be when she knows how to do it rather than to answer a direct question. She loves to play on Mommy and Daddy's big bed. She jumps and bounces around, causing quick reactions out of Tracey and myself when she gets too close to the edge. She knows how to get down, but she can't get up on things yet.
When I get ready for the day, she likes to be right there with me and do what I do. When I brush my teeth, she insists on having hers brushed again. She sings and dances with me. If I play music in the car, she sings along as best she can! She has a great personality, and she is so quick to learn....extremely smart. This is all she is going to let me post for now, it's her lunch time. So, I will try to be on here Saturday and update you all with pictures. Till then.....

No Longer a "Toofless" Tot

We have waited ten and a half months for Layla Jade to begin the trials of cutting teeth. We were afraid she would encounter problems considering my history with cutting new teeth. But, obviously (and thankfully), she does not have the same problem. Last Sunday, after church, I had reached in her mouth to make sure she had nothing stuck to the roof of it and really did finish the cracker that fast...and she bit me. Quite literally bit me. I was so happy she finally had a tooth, I could have cried! Instead, I called her Daddy to let him join in the triumph. She only has the one on the bottom front left, but there are soon to be more to follow. She is being very stingy with showing it off just yet. She still likes to feel for it herself.

In other news, she is just about to take off walking. Today I noticed that she will squat down to pick up her paci without falling. She can stand straight back up with the cutest smile that can make a heart melt! She took a small step today, of course before realizing she had already let go of what she was supporting herself with. And, while I have no pictures of her tooth yet, I do have a picture of the day we found she had a tooth! This will be a short blog, but I figured an update would be nice!

Gettin' Around

Last Friday, July 17th, I witnessed a truly amazing feat of Layla Jade's. Let's just say that her little silver flip flops were across the room, and when I turned around from putting away her laundry, she was half-way there. So, naturally, I moved them further away from her so I could see if what I thought I saw was true. It just so happened, I wasn't going crazy and seeing apparitions. I was seeing Layla Jade crawling across the room! Folks, she's mobile!
I meant to post something last week, but we had a bit of a busy weekend, and this week has been crazy so far. She has already started pulling up on things, and we have been "Layla" proofing the household! Tracey even went so far as to putting a child lock on the refridgerator. Yes, I think he has gone overboard with it, but I have learned to choose my battles....somewhat. She is amazing. We have to put a child gate up in her bedroom door, in fear of her venturing towards the stairway. She's getting around extremely well to have only been at it for 5 days now. It's amazing how quickly she learns. She held an actual, cooing-type, conversation on the phone with Mimi. She is crazy about Mimi. I can say her name or Memum's, Pepop's, Daddy's, Denny's, Tigger's (cat), or Henry's (dog) name, and she is quick to turn her head in search for them. I still can't grasp that my baby will be 9 months old next week. Where has the time gone?!
I promise I will catch her in the act on either picture, or video and post it asap! But for now, it's off to bed for me! Night folks!

First Boat Outing

A few weekends ago, we went out on the new boat with Mom and Dad. I thought I would have to talk Daddy in to taking us, but all it took was asking in advance! Layla Jade had never been, and Tracey and I wanted to go tubing. So we packed a picnic, swimsuits, sunscreen, towels, life jackets, and ourselves on to the boat. Layla Jade didn't know what to think. She loves the outdoors, but this was something different. Her little head was turning from side to side trying to take in all the scenery. We got her settled in to a life jacket and Memum plopped her in her lap. It was so hot though. Layla was absolutely miserable in the life jacket. When one of us would come in from being in the water, we would wrap her in our arms to get her cool.


Finally, Memum had had enough. She pulled the life jacket off and held to her tightly. This made Layla Jade a lot happier. She was much more enjoyable after she was cooler. She talked and laughed. She pulled Memum's earrings out....ouch! But, all in all, she enjoyed it. That's my girl! I always loved the boat. I loved the water, the tubing, the fishing, being with Daddy(and sometimes Granddaddy when I was little), but notsomuch baiting my hook. I still say that Daddy will have to bait my hook if I go fishing. Some things never change!

Memum and Layla Jade played most of the time we were on the boat. There were few times that I looked back, and Layla was perfectly at peace sitting still. That child never sits still. She has to be doing something at all times *just like Mommy*. When we got in that evening, it was starting to get dark, Layla Jade was hungry and sleepy, and so were we. We got back to my parent's, loaded up, and headed home. It was nice to get to spend the afternoon with them doing something we all love.

It will definitely be something we have to do again...and soon!

My Own Little Flipper And A New Friend

Today, Layla Jade and I went to a friends house to play in the pool and try out that awesome "crab" float that Memum got for her. While we were there, Layla Jade made a new friend. Let me introduce you to Lillie Ann, also known as Lillie Pi. Lillie will turn 2 in July, and was absolutely crazy about her new little play mate! She helped her put her paci in her mouth, helped put sun screen on the "her" baby, and swam with us. We also met up with two other close friends of mine, Elizabeth and Jeremy. Layla Jade loved the pool, and was very much so interested in the other "little" person. She kicked herself around in her float, and was at peace with it for nearly an hour.

Renita, Lillie, and Layla Jade.

Lillie loved Layla Jade. She called her "her" little Angel! So cute!

A little while after being in the pool, I decided to get my camera and take a few snapshots of this cutie in her "crab" float for everyone to see! She was showing out for me, kicking around and spashing the water in her "mini" pool in the crab's smile! My water baby! She looked so cute today in her little tankini and her lacie bonnet! Those big blue/green eyes wide open and very aware of her surroundings.

Then there was a big smile as I snapped the last shot of her in the pool. She was chatting as she did so! I took her out after I took the pictures to swim on my back, and let her ride on my chest. I kept one arm over her so she wouldn't try to roll off, just in case. But, she didn't even attempt to roll off. She was too intrigued by splashing the water on my chest in to my face, all while kicking with her legs. I hope she will be a water baby like I was. I have always loved the water. Just disliked the sunscreen that got in my eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the day in the pool with this little one. I can honestly say we had a big splash of fun! Afterwards, Layla Jade was tuckered out. I gave her some juice to keep her hydrated, and chatted for a few minutes more before walking out to the car. On the way to the car, she fell asleep in my arms not to wake up when I put her in her seat, nor to take her out of her seat. She ended up going to bed about an hour after we got home. She has slept peacefully since!

Juice Me, Feed Me

This little girls stubborness and independence is definitely shining through now. I do well with this when she wants to entertain herself on the floor, but when she attempts to take the spoon out of our hands to feed herself...that's where I just have to draw the line. I know I should just let her experiment and feed herself....or at least try, but I just can't bring myself to it! I don't know if it's the fact that we are renting, and I would have to clean the carpets every time that she decided to throw her food off the side of her high chair, or if it is just that she is growing up too fast and I want to feed her a bit longer before I turn it over to her. She has so far learned to love green beans, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, and mixed berries. The pears are a bit sour. But she makes this adorable face and shakes her head, and has us laughing until tears come! She's such a great little girl! She has such a strong personality, and she's strong willed. Not sure if that's good or bad yet. I guess in some aspects, it's good. In others, it's not so great! But, regardless, we love her and enjoy every waking moment with her!

Layla Jade is now to the age where I can switch out her formula with juice once, sometimes twice a day if she does well digesting it, a day. She got to the point, a while back, where SHE wanted to be the one to hold her bottle and no one else! She is growing so fast! Time seems to fly now. She's rounding, all too quickly, on seven months. Her favorite juice is white grape. She's not too keen on the mixed fruit juice that the infant aisle carries. I guess it's an aquired taste that she hasn't quite aquired just yet.

This is the first video clip of eating pears. It's great!

Pebbles

So, I mentioned in an earlier blog that I would post some pictures of my "little Pebbles."
It is the cutest little up-do for infants with a lot of hair! I should know, I was one of those cute babies! Later, I will post a picture of me with pebbles as compared to Layla Jade with Pebbles.

This is after we take her hair down at night.

She loves the camera.

Pebbles with a hair bow

Layla Jade enjoying her "dancing, music playing, bear

Mimi put her hair up this day!! And loved it

Fun in the Sun with her new sunglasses