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.