A big night!!

First - Layla said "mama"!!!! I was feeding her dinner and she just blurted it out! Of course I haven't gotten her to repeat it, but she said it! It was so cute the way she said it, too. She curled her lips around her teeth...okay, it's a bit difficult to explain. Ask me next time you see me and I'll show you. :-)

Second - Layla was playing with her learning table and it is very apparent that she knows what to do to get a song to play. Instead of just randomly hitting everything all the time, she would spin something and dance through the song. When it finished, she would spin it again. Dance again. Stop. Spin it again. She's so smart!!!

Third - You know how you can move your finger up and down over your lips to make a funny sound? As she was playing with her table, I thought I heard that sound. I looked up and her hand was just leaving her mouth. Out of curiosity, I did it myself. And do you know what she did?! She took her whole hand and moved it back and forth across her mouth and made the sound! I thought it could have been a fluke, so I did it again. And she did it again! We did it a good 4 or 5 times! Of course, once I decided it was a real thing and grabbed the camera, she was done. I got one final go...but it's nothing like she was doing. I'll try and post it later.

I just can't believe how quickly she's catching on to things!

Fun times!

I had an absolutely wonderful time last night watching Layla stand on her own! It was so stinkin' cute!!! Words can't even describe...and of course every time Jeremy tried to get a video of it on the camera, Layla became too distracted. This all came out of nowhere! I was sitting on the floor and Layla was crawling on me. Her knees were bent and she was leaning forward when she started grunting (she just started this lately and does it all the time now). Next thing I know she takes her hands off of me and is staying in that position by herself!! I think my excitement startled her a bit. :-) The rest of the night she kept crawling on me and letting go with her hands. Only now she would stand upright with her hands in the air as if to show excitement. Oh, it was such fun!!

On a different note, Layla has now joined the world in loving Texas Roadhouse rolls. She had to have eaten the equivalent of at least one whole roll tonight! I don't know for sure because I kept finishing them off for her :-p I know they're not healthy, but hey, maybe this will put some weight on her bones :-) She also had a tiny bite of mashed potatoes. She turned her head every time I tried giving her another bite, so I'm guessing she's not a fan. I think tonight is the tip of the iceberg with me loosening up a bit on what she eats. Not entirely! I'm not going to be a parent letting their toddler sip soda or eat sweets every day...but I'm allowing a little more freedom with what she eats. I'm not going to obsess on "recommended lists" like I have been. She just might enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner herself this year...something aside from the mundane mixed veggies she always gets.

Shopping woes

I just went shopping for Layla's Christmas dress and think I found one I like. I have to go back to get it because I left a gift card at home. Ugh! Anyway, as I was shopping, I began to get discouraged (I'm not sure if that's thet exact word I'm looking for). Every time I looked at a tag the feeling grew deeper and deeper. You see, Layla is 9 months old next week (wow!). However, she's not even to the weight listed as the low end of the 6/9 month clothes. :-( I've been pretty good the past month or so about not worrying too much about her weight. As her 9 month appiontment draws near, it's been creeping more and more into my thoughts. Today's trip to the mall did not help at all. I guess I could look at is as a positive that my little girl is staying small to let me enjoy this size longer. I'm sure one day I'll look back wishing I hadn't kept worrying abour her size. I just can't help it. And then my mind does mean things and goes off on crazy tangents about what could be wrong or what would happen if this rate continues. I think I watch too many Discovery Health shows!

Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting her appiontment next Wednesday. I am hoping for good news.

Just a bit of Inspiration

Notes from Layla

>..........;;;;;;;77bgf4hyyyyyyyy5mmmmmmmmmmmmmj `

[ ;ptt5hhhhhgggggggg'[
vvv
?TTT%rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfrgrdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddr n m a weeeeale0/qqqqqqqqqqqq22222222exdddddddddddddf

So cute

Layla is really trying to say "mama." She stares intently at my mouth as I repeat "mama" and she will follow it with "dadammmmm dadammmmm." It's so stinkin' cute!

She waves very well and claps in her own special way. :-)

She is pulling herself up all the time and even standing with no hands as she leans on items around her. She sometimes gets "stuck" and can't quite get back down. Mommy always comes to the rescue, though.



**Okay, I just read what I've written so far in case I needed to make any changes and I realized that what Layla says when she's trying to say "mama" looks like she's saying something naughty. Haha. She isn't. It's more like she's saying "dada -mmmmmmm." I hope that clears things up a bit more. **

She has 4 teeth.

She loves her Tigger toy that sings and bounces. She gets excited and bounces right along with him.

Although she's been doing it for some time, pulling her socks off seems to still be her favorite trick.

She loves watching kids. She will contort herself just to keep an eye on any kid in the area.

She had a blast at her friend Kate's house. You see, Kate just turned 1 and has some pretty cool toys. In fact, Layla was so intrigued by the toys, she was up far longer than she ever has been at night (with no nap to break it up) and didn't fuss once.



She would much rather feed herself than be spoon-fed.



She loves to "fall" from mommy's arms. She giggles to no end when I pretend I'm dropping her.

Listening to daddy play his guitar makes her smile.

She enjoys sticking out her tongue.

fall photos (cont'd)

These are pictures in our front yard. Unfortunately, she didn't wake up from her nap until after the sun left that side of the yard. I went ahead and took the pictures because it was our last free afternoon with an excellent forecast.

fall photos

I got a new camera and have attempted a few "shoots" with Layla in the beautiful fall foliage. I'm disappointed with some of the shadows, but I couldn't justify having her look into the sun. Hopefully you'll see my photography mature as time goes on.

the color was much brighter & crisper when i had her facing the sun, but her face wasn't as cute

pretend i've cropped out the fuzzy in the corner

Concerned

I woke up this morning with a feeling that has only intensified as I have watched the news tonight. Although I don't know exactly how to describe the feeling, I can try to explain why I'm feeling this way. I am deeply concerned that Obama received an enormous amount of votes simply because of the color of his skin and not because of his stance on issues. I truly hope that is not the case, but I fear it is. It seems everyone I have seen interviewed today has mentioned his race and how exciting it is that we have our first black president, but has not said one word about how excited they are to see his views be a part of the White House. I fear that thousands upon thousands of Americans were simply wanting to see a black man elected, despite his political beliefs. My fear is that the "change" they were looking for was more based on race-relations than on our country's needs.

When I saw the percentage of black voters that Obama captured (95%) I was shocked, but not surprised. Are you telling me that 95% of all black voters firmly believed that he was the better candidate for President based on his political beliefs?? It just seems highly unlikely to me.

Might I also add that many young voters seemed to be wooed by his "hipness" and eloquent ways.

I do feel his winning is a positive sign (in terms of race relations) of how far our country has come in 40 or so years, though.

Probably not too P.C.

I'm going to preface this blog stating that I hope this does not come across the wrong way.

I am not a big fan of the term "African American." I believe most (if not all) of people being referred to when this phrase is used are actually "Black Americans" as they are not immigrants from Africa. Otherwise, I should refer to myself as a "German American" or a "Polish American" or a "Slavic American." Are blacks in Britain referred to as African Britains? Can't we just all agree that we're simply American?

I'm afraid this next flow of thought could come across in a negative fashion...but I'm hoping it doesn't.

First of all, I don't care for either candidate for President. I voted for someone else in the primaries. It's looking that Barack Obama is going to be the next President of the United States. I'm sure I'll have a lot of issues with this as the next 4 years progress just as I probably would if John McCain were to become president. However, as I'm watching the election results roll in, my thoughts over the past several months are seeming to be looking as if they're based more on reality than just theory. I've heard several "regular citizens" mention that they voted or are *there* to celebrate because this is an historic time with the first "African American" to become president. I get the feeling that *so* many people voted for Obama simply because he is *black* and not because of his stance on issues. I would have thought the same thing had Hillary Clinton become a candidate and people voting simply because they wanted to see a first with a woman being president. It's so stinkin' frustrating!

I really hope "reverse racism" doesn't become more of a problem. I could go on an on about this issue. Can you imagine what would happen if there were grants out there that were only eligible for whites? Do you remember the big controversy with Kramer from Seinfeld? Did you ever hear the video from that night? The black man who Kramer (inexcusably) insulted referred to Kramer as a "cracker." Why is that okay (or at least not publicly abhorred) but what Kramer said was such an abomination (which it was)? It seems like quite the double standard that our country thinks it's completely wrong to degrade one person with a derogatory term yet not blink an eye when another person suffers the same type of treatment. I don't care who said what first...it's all wrong!

I've also heard (over the past couple of weeks) the issue of race arise in topics on the news more and more in regards to Obama's chances of winning. It seems to be that no matter the outcome, race was going to play a part in their excuse...either he lost because he's black or he won because he's black. After tonight's comments from citizens across the country, I find the latter to be true. How sad that a President might be decided not because of where he stands, but because of the color of his skin.

Now...I am in no way saying that the only reason why Obama would win is because of the color of his skin. I feel that the nation as a whole is very much repelled from the Republican party because of the last few years. I've said long before it was even determined who would appear on the primary tickets that our next president would be a Democrat because the nation is so turned off to the Bush administration. I'm just being quite candid with my thoughts.

When is race not going to play a role in our country? When are we going to realize that it's more "politically correct" to refer to people as either Black or White? When will we actually call all those with single citizenship to the United States simply Americans (for that's what they are)?


This ended up being longer than I had originally attended. I apologize if I have offended you in any way. Feel free to email me with any comments or concerns you might have.

missing calendar!

My calendar has apparently been misplaced and it's stressing me out!! I've been asked about all these dates and I have no idea what's going on! I didn't realize how heavily I rely on my calendar to keep myself organized (and sane!). I hope I find it soon!!!

In the meantime, if I committed to something and don't show up, please understand that I lost a big portion of my memory when I was pregnant and it hasn't seemed to return!

camera

I got a new camera and I'm super excited about it! I'm really thinking this is what I needed to get back into getting out and taking pictures. I wish we would have had it 8 months ago...but I'm glad we have it now.

I'm looking forward to developing some amateur photography skills.