Warminster

Layla and I flew to PA on Saturday and have been enjoying time with Grandmommy, Granddaddy, and the cats. Though, the cats have not been enjoying their time with Layla. Something about her squeals of delight when she sees them scares them off. She has even been trying to share her toys with them. She hands them the soccer ball and her stickers, but for some reason they're not interested :).

Here are a few blurry pics from the week. I left the camera in MA, so the phone camera will have to do.

Playing with the Sesame Street Clubhouse. She loves all the little Fischer-Price people...even if they are 10 times smaller than the Little People of today, and are probably a choking hazard.


Doing Lego Mini-Fig stickers with Grandmommy (the sticker book was Daddy's idea!)



Yesterday (our first full day here) Layla was very good about just playing with the various toys that her grandparents had saved for her. But today she decided to get into cabinets, drawers, shelves, and basically anything she could get her hands on. Hence, the dolls all over the floor. She discovered all of Aunt Meredith's knick-knacks and stuffed animals and has decided she needs to play with ALL of them.


Layla and I took a stroll around the old neighborhood today. She was obviously impressed!

Fancy Feet!

We couldn't decide which of these clips was cuter, so here they both are:

Sex News

No...not that.

I had some concerning pain (well, I was concerned...the NPs didn't seem too concerned) earlier in the week so I went in for an appointment and ultrasound. Turns out they couldn't identify the pain and it went away after a day and a half. But....in the process, we were able to find out the sex of the baby a full 5 days sooner than planned. Let's just say this baby won't be getting many of Layla's hand-me-downs. Yup...it's a boy! We'll get that confirmed on Monday when we go for the scheduled 18-week fetal survey ultrasound.

Time to break out the baby boy names lists!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came bright and early to our house today. Layla was checking out her baskets by about 5:20 am.

Then she turned into a bunny rabbit!


Later, we got dolled up for church. Here's Layla during "hospitality" reading a book.


Later in the day we took a walk (and got kinda lost) in the Arlington Great Meadows...which is actually in Lexington, right down the street from our house.


In the afternoon we played with the neighbors next door. Layla and Maya had fun with bubbles and chalk.

Our Easter evening ended with what I call "short cut Easter dinner"....pre-sliced ham to reheat, frozen green bean casserole, and boxed au gratin potatoes. Not exactly gourmet. But still delicious!

And because we forgot to post it last week, here's a shot of Layla wearing the bunny ears she made at daycare.

Off to get coffee

It was so beautiful today, Layla and Daddy were able to continue their traditional Saturday morning outings to Starbucks (with a stop at the park on the way home). Here she is all ready to go (it was a little chilly in the early hours!).

Zula Patrol Quotes Uncle Jim

Though it's not Mom or Dad's favorite, Layla sometimes enjoys watching Zula Patrol on PBS...you know.....way, way out where the planets do the hula! Ok, so maybe you didn't know :).

On tonight's episode, one alien stated to the other that they were in the middle of nowhere. The second alien responded by explaining that everywhere is somewhere. Clearly, the writers of the show were eavesdropping on our family vacation back in the late 80s (?). I can't recall where we were or where we were headed, but Jim (and Mere, obviously) were quite young. When one of my parents stated that WE were in the middle of nowhere, Jim, the young philosopher, insisted that this was not possible because, as the aliens repeated, everywhere is SOMEwhere! It must have been adorable at the time because that story has been told many times since that vacation in the Adirondacks, or the midwest, or New England, or wherever we were!

Hey Jim, it's a good thing the aliens weren't having ice cream floats or I'd have another story to tell :).

Words

Layla's expressive language is really picking up. Her latest acquisition is the word "shoe" and she likes to practice it daily while taking off her shoes and socks on the way to day care. Here are some of her other words:

Hi
Dada
Mama
Doggy
This
Yeah!
Kitty (she said this a lot in GA when she was seeing lots of cats, but hasn't said it much since)
Turtle
Elly (the name of her elephant blanket)
Ball, Apple, Bubble (these three are somewhat indistinguishable and seemingly interchangeable)
Choo-choo

There might be a few more, but these are the most common. Many more on their way soon, I'm sure!