Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !

Layna's "first" (actually her second) Christmas was wonderful. Layna and Mommy woke up at Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux's house and headed to Daddy's house bright and early. (Santa visited Layna Christmas Eve when she was taking her evening nap... and she opened presents then.) When we got to Daddy's we all opened presents, and then headed over to Auntie Bev's and Uncle Donald's for the "Roe" family get together (Grandma Boyce's family). Afterwards, Daddy, Mommy, Layna and Grandpa Boyce headed over to Aunt Sheila's for the "Boyce" family get together (Granpa Boyce's family).

It was a long day but Layna behaved very well. She had some meatball at Aunt Sheila's along with sharing Mommy's dessert: cream puff pie and cheese cake. Layna definitely has a sweet tooth !

Mommy and Layna have been staying at Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux's for the passed couple weeks. Layna has been adjusting pretty well. She prefers to be with Mommy at all times but sometimes Mommy can sneak away for a little while Layna plays with Grandma and Grandpa. She definitely loves Grandpa. They are always playing and fooling around. Layna sits best at the table while Grandpa is there; she likes the attention he gives her and his goofiness.

At Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux's, Layna can take baths (she usually takes showers, which she doesn't mind at all.) She was SO excited and loved splashing in the water the first few baths. Layna got sneakers and boots for Christmas, which she has been practicing walking everywhere in ! She is doing pretty well, but still prefers to be barefoot or with socks on.

Also, Mommy has been doing some sleep training again with Layna. She has been doing very well, and Mommy is very pleased at the progress and proud of her baby girl. Layna takes about 30-40 minutes to fall asleep on her own in the crib. She doesn't scream and cry anymore. Her progress has gone to just standing and whining every minute to try to get someone's attention, to sitting and whining every once in a while, to just sitting there....sipping her bottle, and finally falls asleep after a few bites on her blanket.

The sleep routine Mommy has Layna on goes something like this: while Layna drinks a small bottle (3 ounce of milk and 1 ounce of water mixed), Mommy has her puppy that plays lullaby songs on it on, and reads a book or two to her, and then sticks her in the crib with the rest of the bottle. Sometime she'll go in without a fight and other times, she will accept the fact she has to be in the crib. That is another thing... Layna knows when she is going in the crib and starts crying before she is even put in it. She knows when Mommy is getting the crib ready and gathering her blanket and pillow and bottle to put her in. Layna is becoming a very smart baby... smarter every day !

Tonight is New Years Eve and Layna is already asleep. Let's hope this New Years will bring a lot more great memories and adventures for us !

Happy New Years !!

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas everyone !

Layna and Mommy get to celebrate Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux's house, and tomorrow will be heading down to Daddy's to spend the holiday with his whole family. Hopefully Layna will be in a good mood for the day visiting family in Fall River and then off to Weymouth.

Lately Layna has been wanting to feed herself every once in awhile, so Mommy believed it was time for toddler spoons and forks. Today Layna had pasta and tomato meat sauce for lunch and used a fork for the first time. She did so good ! She got some pieces on her fork and would make it to get mouth ! She looked like such a big girl sitting there with a sipping cup full of milk and feeding herself pasta with a fork!

This morning Layna skyped with Uncle Andre and Nicole, and got to open her presents from them: some really cute clothes from old navy ! She liked Skyping and would say "hi" to them and wave to them through the computer. Mommy was surprised that she knew that they were people talking to her and not a like a TV.

Today Mommy took Layna out on the deck for a short 5-10 minutes. Layna wore her boats for the first time and was bundled up in her winter coat and hat and mittens. She seemed to walk pretty good in her boots even though she preferred crawling. Once on the ground, she would find ice frozen on the deck and lean over and lick it... what are we going to do with her?! hahaha

Tonight Layna will be trying some tradition Ukrainian Christmas food: perogies and beet stew with some bread and some veggies. Hopefully she will like it ! The Christmas feast has became smaller over the years and is now a dinner.

Layna's One Year and Holiday Photos

here are some of Layna's one year old and holiday photos. She was 10 1/2 months old when they were taken. Enjoy ! (ps* mommy made layna's tutu, onesie, and birthday hat!)















here are some of Layna's one year old and holiday photos. She was 10 1/2 months old when they were taken. Enjoy !

layna is one !

LAYNA ELIZABETH IS ONE YEAR OLD !

how amazing ! a WHOLE year went by and it seems like yesterday she was my 8 pound 10 ounces bundle of joy ! We had a small celebration: Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Boyce. Mommy filled the room with pink balloons - not-helium filled and helium filled. Layna didn't really know what to think of all of them. Every so often she wanted to be carried over and hit them or pull the strings. Instead of popping them, Daddy set them free into the air !

Layna had a small cake smash. Just a little cupcake with frosting and covered in bright pink sprinkles ! (Mommy didn't have her camera, but took some pictures with her phone.) At first, Layna dipped her finger in the frosting, decided she liked the texture and grabbed more. The second she tasted the sweet frosting, her eyebrows raised - YUMMY!! Soon the cupcake was broken up into pieces and she was slowly eating it. Sammy (the dog) eventually came and helped Layna clean up the mess !

Layna got a couple books, a purple zebra bath loofah (she is always looking at the ones in the shower) and laugh and play learning puppy.

Overall Layna had a good birthday !

(I figured starting her second year is a good time to go back to blogspot.... it's a lot easier than the other website)