Catch-Up

We have been pretty busy which is where my lack of blogging has come in. It is that time of year! Let's see, what have we been doing??

Ryan softball season has begun (Layla seemed to enjoy it, but I was constantly worried about balls hitting her in the head. I told my friend Nicole that I was contemplating bringing Layla in her bike helmet next week).

Howie is in training.....again. Layla calls Howie "No No." I think that probably explains why he is back in training. Actually, he hasn't done anything big and wrong, we are just working on manners....again. Howie is still barking in the backyard (I've decided this may be hopeless) and needs to be a nice walker (going pretty well...).

Layla is getting a little help with her speech from the local university. She was making progress but the rate at which her talking was developing was making me nervous so I had her checked out for a second round of evaluations and this time she qualified. Layla has had two sessions and is making great progress in that she is taking more risks and gaining more confidence in trying out her words. The therapist has said Layla is a funny little thing with her speech. She skips the simple words (dog, cat, nose, juice, etc) and goes right for words like painting, sitting and yellow. The sessions are play sessions for Layla and she is really happy following our speech time, so far so good!

We traveled to visit my sister, brother-in-law and Shea this past weekend. Layla and Shea are a riot to watch together and they really love spending time with each other. We visited a nature museum the last day we were there and that is where these pictures were taken.

Let's see, what else? Layla likes to be outside, A LOT. I have been sewing often and working on Layla's 2nd (gulp) birthday party. Ryan has been busy with school and I am afraid it will only get busier before it slows down. The end of the year is a crazy busy time in an elementary school.

That is about it around here, you are all caught up. One more thing! Layla has finally started wearing a little ponytail in her hair, her hair has been growing so fast. She is looking like such a little girl these days, not a trace of baby Layla left.

Layla @ 22 Months

Layla is now 22 months and quickly approaching the big 2!

She has been sick off and on for the last 2 weeks but is finally on the mend after getting some antibiotics into her system. She ended up with strep and shared it with mommy and daddy, so the three of us are actually all on antibiotics as I type. Layla was a wild child today so I am thinking she is feeling much better...!

Layla took a liking to several specific items this month. Layla likes her sunglasses, thoroughly enjoys baby dolls, loves wearing mommy and daddy's shoes and is obsessed with coloring in the bathtub.

Layla wears her sunglasses, often and sometimes before bed.

One from afar might think that Layla is starting to take on a diva personality in these sunglasses. Upon closer look, one might find that Layla wants nothing to do with being the center of attention unless she is with her parents or grandparents.

Looks like this diva may look but fortunately not act the part :-)

Layla's month has also been full of caring for her babies. She loves to watch my girlfriends with their babies and Layla really enjoys imitating their actions with her own dollies. Here is a picture of Layla with her shopping cart that now has a stroller toy attached to it. Layla likes to have her baby touch the buttons, it is so cute to watch. Now if Layla would learn how to set this baby down gently when done playing with her we would be all set!

Layla loves to wear mommy and daddy's shoes and walk around the house.

And lastly, Layla loves her bath crayons. If you have a toddler, you have to find these crayons. One of Ryan's teachers bought these for Layla and she is obsessed with them! They produce really vivid colors and wipe clean with a washcloth (I now sound like a commercial...).

Lastly, here is a video of Layla at dinner. Layla was finishing up her dinner and was very chatty as she usually is at dinnertime. I have been wanting to grab the video camera and I finally did tonight. Sorry it is a tad fuzzy! (right click and refresh the page if the video isn't below, it should appear if you refresh).

Easter 2010

Miss Layla on Easter

We started off the day at Grandma and Grandpa Sloan's house.

Easter egg hunt in our jammies!!!

(You can right-click on the collages if you would like to make them larger.)

2nd egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Janisch's house!

Kelsey and Layla on Easter day (and one of me in the black and yellow)

Layla and her papa getting an egg from the tree. That Easter Bunny can be tricky!

Our evening was spent with the extended Sloan family and yes

Layla is in her second outfit of the day :-) You gotta love TJ Maxx and coupons for Old Navy!

Wondering how my pregnant sister is doing? She is doing well, thanks :-) Cassie is now 27 weeks pregnant and looking very cute don't you think?!?

I noticed Ryan wasn't in any of the pictures yet so here is one of Layla and her daddy at the end of the day on Easter. The good daddy was putting Layla in her pajamas before we headed home.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Spring Days

We love warm spring days and I love spring/summer toddler clothes!

(even if they do make diaper changes really difficult!)

Cousin/Friends

Layla and Shea really enjoy each other. Layla loves to play with Shea and Shea loves "his friend Layla" as he calls her. Enjoy some pictures of the twosome from last week!

They dyed Easter eggs together.

(Layla also may have learned how to pose for the camera with one under her chin).

Honestly, they did really well with the eggs this year. The concept of coloring the eggs was definitely there. However, the fragile state of the egg was not quite there yet for Layla. I think she cracked no less than 6 of the 12 eggs that we colored :-) Oops!!

Shea really liked the blue eggs.

Layla liked to stir the eggs.

Shea showed us his blue hands after loving on his blue eggs :-)

I was able to watch Shea for one day last week and it was a beautiful day out so we played and played and played outside. I only grabbed the camera for the last part of the day so here are some wagon and flower pictures.

Loving this picture of Mr. Shea.

Layla making sure she and Shea stay hydrated :-)

Such a sweet twosome!!

Animal Fun

Ryan, Layla and I headed to the zoo on Friday. We have been busy practicing animal sounds/names at home so Layla was very familiar and very excited about the animals. She was so fun to watch and I didn't take very many pictures of her by the animals because she was so eager to show Ryan and me everything.

Layla's favorites of the day were the lions (Layla gave us lots of roars!), the tiger playing in the water with a ball (more roars), the elephant (Layla gave us the elephant sound!) and the geese (we heard lots of quacks from Layla...we are working on the "honk!")

Layla instantly was excited when we got to the zoo, even by the pop machine. You can imagine what she was like when we actually got to the animals!

So windy and watching the animals with daddy.

My favorite is always the primate house at the zoo. Layla liked the monkeys/gorillas but she was a little bit taken aback by all of the swinging they were doing :-)

Here are some pictures of the little and big guys!

Easter Playdate

Layla and I have been lucky enough to meet some good mom/toddler friends in our town and surrounding towns. We both enjoy our frequent playdates and this past week we enjoyed an Easter playdate at Meg and Jack's house. Meg was such a great hostess and had egg dyeing (the four toddlers all did great...the moms couldn't believe how good they all were!), an egg hunt and adorable Easter buckets for the kids. Thanks Meg & Jack for such a fun morning!!

Below are some pictures of Layla and her buddies. They are sure a cute bunch!

One, two, three....get the eggs!!

Layla now is obsessed with this bucket. She carries her Mr. Potato head in it but it also doubles as a purse when necessary :-)