Boys, boys, boys

Layla sure doesn't have a shortage of boys in her life. We saw many of her little guy friends this weekend.

Brayden, he is the son of our friends April and Ryan, turned 2 this weekend. He is so adorable with a perfect little hair-do and even blew out the candle on his cake twice (everyone missed it the first time with their cameras!)

We won the award for getting Brayden the toy he was most scared of... poor Brayden was a bit terrified of the dinosaur!!

Layla also got some play time with cousin Seamus. He turns two this coming weekend and he will proudly tell you that he is having an "Elmo party" and that he is turning "two." I cannot believe the twos are already here and you know I will have many pictures to follow!

And lastly, Layla got to see a couple of her newest little guy friends at a stroller workout class we have joined. Kayte, Mason, Nicole and Ryker invited Layla and I to the class and convinced me that Layla would stay in the stroller...and they were right! It is actually a really good workout and of course I love to see those little (getting bigger!) babies as much as possible. Our post-workout photo is above :-)

Layla does love the boys in her life but don't worry, she got to see her twin girl cousins and their sister on Friday for a little girl time!

Layla Bugs

*Thanks Steph, for the adorable ladybug towel! Layla, as you can see, loves it!!

Bakin' with Layla

Layla loves to bake. Or maybe she loves to stand on the chair by the counter.

Either way, Layla somehow knew exactly what to do with the egg.

And she had fun stirring. During our previous baking experiences, Layla also had a very good time trying to stick her fingers into the electrical sockets you see in the picture. This is why they have safety plugs in them. I think people must think we have just super babyproofed our house when they are over and see the sockets with the safety plugs so high up in the air :-)

Really into the stirring

Time to bake the dough!

She of course got to sample the cookies. Layla loves to dunk cookies into milk. Yes, she also dunked the grapes into the milk. Actually, she also dunked a pickle into her milk that was also a part of her snack. I have to admit the pickle/milk combo made me a little queasy.

Layla was not ready for the cookie experience to be over. She would not give up her milk. She handed everything else over, but kept pointing to the cookies and saying more and holding onto her milk with all of her might.

Don't worry, Layla did eventually come out of her booster seat...but first she drank every last drop of that cookie/grape/pickle milk :-)

Here Comes the Bride

My friend Stephanie and her fiance Adam are getting married on July 10. This has become quite the significant date in our family. Have you checked out my sister's blog? She (finally!) updated :-)

I am so excited to be standing up in Stephanie's wedding as a bridesmaid. We had a bridesmaid day on Saturday that was so much fun and productive. We had lunch put together by Stephanie's mom and then the bridesmaids got down to business planning Steph's upcoming wedding shower. It was especially neat because Stephanie's sister, Erin (currently in Africa serving with the Peace Corps) Skyped in to be a part of the shower planning. So fun and I loved seeing Erin's beloved kitty Chandler via Skype!! After planning, we headed off to David's Bridal to make a final decision on the bridesmaid dresses.

Here are Steph and I at David's Bridal:

Nope, that isn't the bridesmaid dress. It was one of the contenders, but not the winner.

Okay, now onto these pictures I have of this little girl and she just looks SO excited...

Yelling, yells of joy...

Practicing her dance moves...

And she is just so excited....WHY?

Oh, yes it is because she is going to be a flower girl in Stephanie and Adam's wedding! Isn't she one lucky girl?!? We have no idea if or how she will get down the aisle (Ryan is thinking he might be a great escort...trying to get himself into the wedding party I think!!), but she will still be a big part of their wedding day which is so great. I have a feeling Ryan might have an M&M or two in his pocket that day. Thanks Stephanie and Adam for including Layla in this day, we are very honored!

P.S. Cassie, it would be greatly appreciated if my future niece/nephew comes early or late :-)

P.P.S. I ran into my former co-worker Alisa at David's Bridal as she was looking through wedding dresses. I think Alisa still reads the blog, so I just wanted to say hi and I thought you looked super cute in all of the dresses. She is having two dresses, one for the ceremony and reception...how fun is that??

Shopping at with Barneys

Layla avoids all of those upscale stores :-) She prefers shopping in the kitchen cupboards and her favorite shopping companion is Mr. Barney himself.

Thanks Cassie, Jamie & Shea for the shopping cart, it is so cute!

Sick

Layla has been under the weather since Saturday. She has a cough and runny nose that just continues to linger. We have been staying away from our usual weekly activities and friends so that we do not infect any other kids.

So we have been trying our hardest to keep busy by...

feeding the dogs.

Layla loves to feed animals. We watched Buster, my parents' dog, this past weekend which is why he is in the picture looking for food. I got a super deal on coordinating mom/child aprons and Layla loves to wear her apron as long as the tie is not too tight around her belly :-)

playing dolls.
Layla actually has come around with the dolls after her very lukewarm reaction around Christmas time. Layla has been feeding, bathing, holding, sleeping (she puts her finger to her mouth and tells me "sssss" when the baby is sleeping), walking and even coloring crayon hair on one of their heads. I know the last one is not appropriate baby behavior, but I had to agree that the baby was bald so I just left the crayon hair marks.

playing rice.

Playing rice? Yep, Layla loves to transfer food/liquids from container to container. I cleaned the kitchen while she played rice and I saved floors for last! Good thing Layla likes to sweep!

eating popsicles!

And lastly, we went to my parents house for a little cabin fever relief and Layla had her first popsicle (I believe it is her first?) to calm her coughing fits. She loved it and actually ended up with clean pajamas (thanks to grandma and her washcloth).

In other big Layla news, she went potty on the potty this week! Layla clapped and clapped for herself she was so excited. I completely know that Layla is nowhere near being potty trained but it was still a very exciting accomplishment in the Janisch household. In fact, today she had no interest in the potty seat at all. I am just following her lead for now and as soon as I feel she is developmentally ready (using words/signs to signal bathroom time, staying dry longer, etc) I will jump on the official training. Did I mention Layla likes to read while on the potty? Her favorites??? Elmo's Potty Time, It's Potty Time or a magazine...too funny! She will not take the potty books out of the bathroom. I tried to put them on her bookshelf and she put them right back into the bathroom. Layla likes things very organized!

19 Months

Layla is well into her 19th month. She is full of energy and personality and has a fully formed opinion at most times now :-) Layla is so busy and curious and kind of well....into everything!

This is our first time dealing with all of this "toddler stuff" so I have been reading and reading and reading. When I am clueless on any subject, that is what I tend to do! Here is a peek at my nightstand right now (one book is for Howie):

Anyway, after a lot of reading, what I have found is that Layla is doing everything that is developmentally typical for her age, which is always nice to hear. For all of the other toddler parents out there, I really like the The Toddler's Busy Book (fun ideas to do with your toddler at home) and another book I found helpful that is not pictured is Parenting with Love and Logic. I would save your money and leave the The Happiest Toddler on the Block on the bookshelf at Barnes and Noble.

Let's see what else is new?

Layla is starting to get interested in the potty,

but has yet to go potty on the potty...only on the floor :-)

I think it might be a bit early for her, but I have heard to seize the moment so that is what I have been attempting to do.

Layla still loves to help around the house. Her favorite chore is sweeping. I got a new Swiffer Vac (best invention ever!) for Christmas so we shortened the regular Swiffer for Layla. She really gets into it!

Layla loves showing her belly...and my belly! Next time I see you, I hope that Layla does not insist on showing you my belly button...hee hee!

Layla is very lovable these days. She loves giving kisses, hugs and nose rubs. Here she is giving Blue a nose rub and getting quite a kick of it!

I might take too many pictures because Layla has quite the love for her own toy camera. She puts it right in front of her face and says "EEEZ" for "cheese." So funny!

I know many of you asked and Layla's health is good. We recently went to the doctor and she was 25 pounds and 33 inches long. Layla cannot even go on the baby scale anymore...she maxed it out! Add this to the "no longer a baby list!" In other health news, Layla had a seizure in mid-November and the neurologist switched her medication almost immediately. This new medicine seems to be a much better match for Layla's body and so far, so good on the seizure front. Layla goes in February for her next appointment in Madison.

Well, you are all caught up on Layla for month 19 :-)

Have a good, long weekend everyone!

January Birthdays

The beginning of January brings many birthdays for our family. My Grandma B celebrates her birthday at the very beginning of the month, I follow shortly thereafter and then comes Howie who turned the big T-H-R-E-E today. I had a wonderful birthday weekend filled with family, eating, friends, eating, gifts (which Layla opened for me after fine-tuning her gift opening skills at Christmas), eating and more eating. It was a very fun weekend, but let me tell you, I pretty much rolled right into Monday :-)

Two weekends ago, my mom, sister, Shea, Layla and I went to visit my grandma for her big birthday. Grandma was napping for the first part of our visit so Shea and Layla spent time waiting for the train to come by, following Joan around, playing with fun toys Joan had at the house, playing in Joan's room, competing for a seat on their great, great aunts' chair and playing on the stairs. Yep, they kept themselves busy!

Joan, my mom, Shea and Layla waiting for a train (choo choo). One, maybe two?, did come by!

Shea and Layla competing over the antique chair. Layla looks quite proud of herself in this picture, doesn't she?

Layla and Shea playing on the stairs...so much fun! My sister and I used to do the same thing on these stairs. I tried to find a picture but this was the best I could do, a family picture (including Max the family cat) next to the same staircase. I thought all the family members would get a kick out of this photo!

Shea and Layla are so lucky to have their great grandma in their lives and I know my sister and I are very thankful that we have been able to share this parenting experience with our grandma. Happy birthday grandma, I know Joan will make sure you get the message :-) Anyway, it was awful of me, but I did not get one picture of the babies with their great grandma on her birthday. I did gather up some pictures of grandma with the babies, when they were...well, babies!

My family baby shower (I was seven months pregnant, Shea was about 8 weeks old).

Layla meeting her great grandma for the first time at three weeks old.

Happy birthday to all of the January birthdays out there including Layla's Grandpa Verlyn!!! He is one of Layla's favorite people and here he is looking quite model-like :-)

Layla's Talents

Layla has had some unique talents during her first 18 months of life. Most have been food related (sippy cup mastered the day after it was introduced at 6 months and using eating utensils early on to name a couple), some have been creativity related (using a paintbrush, crayon and pen to paint and draw) but nothing has been as entertaining as the motorcycle :-) We have no idea why Layla knows how to ride it. She steers it, has the reverse button almost figured out and looks behind when backing up....SO funny!

For some reason the video is acting a little funny and not showing up every time people enter the blog. If there is not a video below, right click with your mouse and hit refresh. The video should then pop up. It is too funny to miss :-)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Snow Day!

Ryan, Layla and I had a snow day today! Ryan's school district closed and our swim lessons were canceled (brrrr!!) :-) Ryan actually went into work right after the snow day call for a few hours, but Layla and I were just eating breakfast when he came home so we barely noticed that he went to work at all!

We wanted to take Layla sledding for the first time so we headed to the park that is very close to our house. We didn't want to take Layla down any big hills, so we found some small ones. Ryan said we could call it cross-country sledding :-)

Layla LOVED being in the snow and in the sled and kept saying "peez" for us to keep pulling her in the snow.

2010 Here We Come!

We celebrated New Year's Eve with our good friends Nicole, Kris and baby Ryker,Kayte, Brody and baby Mason and with Cassie, Jamie and toddler Shea.

Shea and Layla were in good spirits but CrAzY on New Year's Eve. I think they were showing off for our guests. They did a lot of running, yelling, chasing and cramming themselves into this spot next to the TV cabinet. They were so funny!

Next, we headed downstairs and Shea donned some wings declaring himself Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street and Layla swept and swept in good fashion of course :-)

Here are the happy families below. Ryan and I took a picture but my eyes looked super funny in it so I just couldn't put it on the blog!

Left: Kris, Nicole and Ryker Right: Brody, Kayte and Mason

Cass and Jamie

And of course some baby pictures!! None of the kiddos made it to midnight but the little guy in red stripes came very close :-)

Here I am holding sweet Mason. His mommy and daddy said he was sleeping to gear up for the nighttime when he likes to wake up often :-)

Sleepy Ryker (left) and Mason (right)

Sweet, sleepy Shea who was determined to ring in 2010 :-)

Happy New Year everyone!