Developments

Layla had a big developmental week last week. Early in the week, Layla started razzing (blowing raspberries with her mouth). I believe the razzing is a part of language development and it is just so very cute when she does it :-)

The other biggie was Layla rolled over from back to belly!!!! She rolled over from belly to back quite some time ago but from back to belly requires some core strength and she did it all on her own on Friday. I had been worrying (who, me??) that this major milestone had not happened yet and the doctor told me early last week that it is very common with first babies because the parents never put the baby down (who, me?) and therefore the babies do not get as much time practicing the rolling. Anyway, I have been putting her down more and four days later...she rolled over :-) Now she just rolls and rolls. See the new skill below!

Let's see what else did we do last week???

We worked on Layla's sitting skills (she is now able to sit for very short spurts of time without the Boppy) and Layla helped me do some laundry :-)

Have a great week!

100th Post & The First Christmas Festivities Continue

We had an ambitious Christmas party day with the babies yesterday. Two family parties in one day! Sounds like it could be disastrous, but the babies did great.

We started with the Baader side of the family and enjoyed the afternoon and early evening with my Grandma, Super Aunts and Uncles galore, and many cousins. Layla and Shea enjoyed opening and playing (maybe chewing on would be the more appropriate word for Layla) with new toys and books. Layla opening Elmo Live (VERY fun toy!) while Super Aunt Ann holds her. Layla is in outfit one of the day.

Layla and Shea hanging out. Layla shed her leggings, jean skirt, and bow by this point :-)

Outfit change! Shea and Layla in coordinating outfits for the big Sloan Family Christmas Party. Look at Shea's bowtie!

Hanging with Grandpa (can you see the pictures in the background of Layla at Grandma and Joan's house?)

Shea with Jamie and Layla with me

Okay...crazy eyes I know! But this is Layla's first time meeting Santa. No tears were shed as I think she was too tired by this point to even notice whose lap she was on :-)

Party Time

Saturday night was our first Christmas party of the season and it was with my college girlfriends, their significant others and many others.

From left the college friends: Amanda, Stephanie, Me, Karyn, and Katie

Layla was invited too and was spoiled with many presents from the girls. For a six month old, Ryan and I were surprised how into the gift opening Layla was...Christmas should be fun!

Layla opening a gift while Amanda holds her

Opening more gifts!

Enjoying a new toy from Stephanie and getting tummy time at the same time...yeah!

Thanks Katie and Josh for a great party!

Layla's first solids

Layla has been acting extremely interested in food lately and she is now six months old, so today she ate her first bowl (actually 1/2 tablespoon) of rice cereal. She LOVED it and wanted more, more, more. I've heard most babies spit most of it up during the first feeding but Layla was a champ and sucked it all right off the spoon.

Here's how it went:

Waiting patiently for her food while sucking on a washcloth

Here it comes!

After 6 months of watching, Layla is in disbelief she is actually going to eat something!

Loving her food but wondering why a camera is capturing every moment :-)

More please!

Ahhh, good stuff

Layla says, "Okay, that was good, can we do it again tomorrow?"

Some things you may be wondering:

Her bib says "My First Breakfast" and yes, she does have a Bears cheerleading outfit on...go Bears!!! :-) Thanks Sloan girls for the cute outfit.

The Craft Show Went...

pretty HORRIBLE! Ha ha, my sister and I were thinking of different blog headings I could put for this post while we sat for hours at the booth with no customers :-)

This is pretty much how it went:

9-10 AM No Sales; my sister and I rationalize that people must be sweeping the booths first and then coming back to buy all my baby items later.

10-11 AM No Sales; the booth next to us is so busy the lady can barely keep up (My sister, Cassie and I decide the nursing covers are offending people as many people think at first they are aprons....lots of laughs from Cassie and I!!!)

11 AM-3 PM Wonderful friends (Stephanie, Stephanie's mom, Katie) and family (Ryan's parents, my parents/Shea, and Ryan/Layla) come to support my baby booth and buy many items. I make only ONE sale to a random person for the whole day.

Pictures of my booth:

So I think these were the problems:

Snowy day outside (I think total numbers were down for the craft show), not the right target audience, my items are for too specific of a customer, people didn't even know what some items were, and it was my first show... Maybe, just maybe I will try another one in the Spring. My friend Stephanie is working on a whole marketing plan for me :-)

Anyway, even though my sales were pretty much a bust, I had a fun day sitting with Cassie (design guru of the booth) and seeing friends and family. A special thanks to my teacher friends for making some pre-show purchases :-)

6 Months Ago Today...

Layla was born!

A half a year has already gone by since Layla has entered our lives. We are loving life with our little Layla and cannot believe how fast the time has gone by and how busy life has become! Here are some recent pictures of our rosy-cheeked, smiley girl.

I did this "How is Layla doing?" after her first month, so I thought it would be fun to update it for the big month six.

After 6 months...

Weight: Layla was 5lb 13oz at birth, and last time she was weighed she came in at almost TRIPLE this weight; 15lb 7oz. If the doctors could, they would tell me they told me so :-)

Length: She was 19 inches at birth, and I measured her this week being 25 inches long.

Diapers: Layla started in teeny tiny preemie diapers and will start 2/3 diapers as soon as they arrive on our front porch from Diapers.com (just arrived as I am writing!).

Clothes: Layla also started out in teeny tiny preemie clothes and is currently in 3-6 month clothes. I look at the preemie clothes now and cannot believe we had a baby that tiny. Good thing I took lots of pictures to remember!!!

"Playing" Then
Look at those tiny legs!


Playing Now


Favorite hobbies: Playing with toys, "petting" and smiling at her animals Howie, Blue and Rocket, eating (although definitely ready for solids that will start next week), smiling and playing with mom/dad and the pets, practicing standing (sometimes doesn't like to bend those legs), sitting in her Boppy, putting everything in her mouth (those two teeth still haven't popped through!), being carried, and exploring items in the house.

Speaking of exploring, below Layla is encountering our Christmas tree, actually any Christmas tree, for the very first time.

A video of Howie and Layla. The ceiling fan is really starting to take a backseat to this little brown dog.

Not so favorite hobbies: Taking naps in her crib (Ryan and I are going to work on that over Winter Break!), riding in the car when no one is in the backseat, and not a big fan of these teeth coming into her mouth.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Let It Snow

Happy December! Last night was Layla's first step in the snow. Living where we do, I'm sure there will be many more snow experiences to come. For right now, the Christmas lights were much more exciting than the white stuff.