Santa baby!

It was all about tradition, Lyla had no idea whose red lap I put her on and wasn't quite sure what was going on. She was fine until I walked away to let them take a photo and the picture they captured is one that had shown her pouty lip. Not the best picture but cute to mommy because I know that pouty bottom lip. Ha! Grandma, Grandpa and myself took her to Bass Pro Shop in Garland, and they had an oversized aquarium that Lyla just loved to look at. There were like 200lb catfish in there, hard to miss and she sure enjoyed it. Just wanted to share her cute dress with everybody.

Milestones

It's official! Lyla is independently sitting and crawling since last week. At just six months old, she's about a month ahead of her "class". =) She's got very good balance and she is always on the go. Today she had a very busy day. We took her to her first service at First Baptist Church in McKinney and then to lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. She had on her pretty dress for church and was so excited to see all the people while we were in the foyer waiting on some friends. She was laughing at all the people (in excitement, not at them) and they all just thought she was BEAUTIFUL. When we got into the sanctuary, my friends mother asked to hold her and she got passed down the pew, everyone just ooo-ed and aww-ed at her. After a long, fun-filled day with Grandma Jane, Lyla had her bath and bottle and is sleeping peacefully. I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful baby that is so good natured and happy. It's so wonderful to share her, but the most rewarding part of all is when she finds comfort in me, more than ever. The music was very loud in the church and she fell asleep in my arms, even through all the noise. Grandma said, "only in the arms of her mother could she fall asleep through all of that." That's one of the most wonderful parts of being mommy.

All fours

Look at her trying to crawl. She's rocking back and forth, not sure what to do next. She's still only 5 months, almost 6. Karen, the daycare lady said most babies begin crawling at 7 months. Lyla is really impressing me!

This week: Growing fast, again

She's changing so much and growing so fast. It sounds so cliche but it's true. She is rolling over and over and over. Her little arm no longer gets stuck, she's a pro. And she likes sweet potatoes and her rice cereal now. I am impressed on how she is eating it so well. Mommy and Lyla have dinner together, then she gets a bath and playtime til she gets sleepy. I have attached a picture of her Lovie, a bunny that one of our friends gave her. She usually wants to hold my hand to her face so I decided to try out the bunny. It's very sweet. We also went through the Sunday paper with Grandma Jane, Lyla seemed to really like the Best Buy ads.

Oh, what a face!

Lyla had her 4 month checkup last Wednesday and passed with flying colors. She is 24 inches long, 13.8 lbs and 75% percentile for height, weight and head size. Dr. said she looks great, healthy and happy. We also got the go ahead for rice cereal and baby foods. We tried out some rice cereal and she made several faces and pushed it back out of her mouth several times. I thought, well, maybe she would like fruit. So, I should have known better than to try a fruit that her daddy can't even stand, Peaches. She made the worst face I have ever seen and gagged on them. I felt bad for her and thought they couldn't be so bad...so I taste tested them. The final verdict is that Peaches are more tart for a baby than you would remember.Oops. We'll try those another day. Her latest hobbies are looking at books, trying to turn the pages and exploring her new Baby Einstein Activity Center. She is so excited about the activity center, she doesn't know what to look at first. It's pretty cute watching her experience cause and effect. Here are a few of her latest pictures.

Settling in, again.

So we're all getting adjusted to Lyla's new daycare and mommy's new commute/schedule. We didn't get to be with her as much last week since Grandma Katie and Papaw were so nice to take care of her while we secured a good spot for childcare. We missed her soooo much, it hurt. So glad to have her back home every night. Lyla really is such a good baby, we are so proud. Can't wait till the little stinker sleeps through the night though. My friends tell me it won't be much longer till she does. Her 4 month check up is on the 12th of September so I can't wait to see how much she weighs now. She's growing so fast. Her latest developments are ROLLING OVER from her tummy to her back, LAUGHING out loud (mostly at Daddy's funny jokes), and she is clearly REACHING for objects (lately it's her feet). At her new daycare, Ms. Karen is working on getting her on a schedule. Ms. Karen has been watching little ones for over 20 years. I have complete confidence in her ability to handle whatever they throw her way. Lyla is the 5th baby at daycare and she seems to love being around the older babies. When I pick her up, she is truly ecstatic about all the activity around her. She is usually laughing loudly and talking quite a bit. When I hold her in my lap, all the other babies surround her and try to "pet" her. They seem to really like her. She's a cutie, its no wonder.

EXCLUSIVE Never before seen footage!!!

I just had to broadcast this video for all of our friends and family to see. It's hillarious! Laura doesn't start her new job until next week, so she has had the entire week off to spend with LJ. Let me tell you folks... this is what I call ENTERTAINMENT. (And YES they have obviously spent most of their time indoors this week... and NO Laura hasn't gone "loco"). Please enjoy!!

Summertime Blues

Lyla is closing in on her 3 month mark and she's becoming a little charmer! We went up to Denison this weekend to see Grandma, Papaw, Aunt Jenny and Brendan. She loves to smile, laugh, and drool on everyone. She even tries to talk by making light baby conversation (or cute noises if you are not fluent in "baby") with you! We are also very proud of Lyla's big blue eyes or her "Summertime Blues". They really stand out and sparkle back at you when she's dressed in bright, colorful outfits. Lyla even got a chance to take a dip in Grandma and Papaw's pool! We think she liked it, but I think most would agree that 104 degree temperatures can only be experienced briefly. Still, we managed to take some great pictures...Be sure to check out the new slideshow added above with a collection of our most recent favorite moments!

Miss Independence

We all had a great time celebrating Lyla's first Independence Day. It started with a trip to her first "Itsy-Bitsy Yoga" class with mommy. Lyla looked so cute in her blue, stretchy yoga pants! Her big brother Noel stayed for the whole 4th of July weekend. He is such a great helper! Noel volunteered to entertain Lyla and even feed her a bottle. I think she can already look at him and recognize that he is her brother! Lyla is really starting to get her own "attitude" when it comes to eating and sleeping. And she sometimes cries out as if she's telling us "Hey, I just want to be held, so get over here and pick me up!" It works. Our little cutie has us in the palm of her hand already! One thing that we've learned recently is that Lyla is starting to really enjoy her baths right before bedtime. She seems very relaxed and even smiles back at us while we scrub her little body!

Something changed

So Lyla is 7 weeks now and after Grandpa Frank and Great Aunt Cookie left on Wednesday, I noticed something new about our little girl. Instead of crying out to whoever was listening, my little Lyla looked me right in the eyes when she was crying. It is like she is saying, "Mommy, help me. I'm upset." Direct eye contact has been more common during her quiet alert states but overall the crying has been to the general public. It melted my heart. She is also passing out more smiles to both of us, not only in the morning but randomly through the day What it tells me is that she is feeling good and feels like showing us that. Auntie Shohreh also came to visit Miss Lyla and we all had a nice lunch together.

6 1/2 weeks

This week we are spending time with Aunt (Great) Cookie and Grandpa Frank. Lyla has been handing out a few smiles to all of us. She is happiest in the morning and starting to settle into some routines which will probably change as soon as we get used to them. Lyla is getting heavier everyday and if I had to guess, she probably weighs 10-11lbs by now. We have our next Dr. appointment in July (2 month check up) where she'll get all her shots and her weight and height checked. She's growing into all her 3 month clothes, very cute. Daddy is going to upload some pictures to show you what a doll she is. = ) She loves all her relatives, and anyone who will hold her. So come and visit so mommy can rest her arms. = )

She's here! We were blessed with our little miracle Thursday May 8th, 2008 at 1:31pm. Lyla Jane weighed in at a healthy 6 pounds 13 oz.

Pictures from Lyla's big day.