she makes some things so easy !

Last week Layna wanted her bottle for her naptime, but Daddy "forgot" it at his house. During one visit, the milk in Layna's bottle kept spilling out and drenching everything in milk. It was as if she would take the cap off and spill the milk out. Well, when Daddy dropped Layna back off at home, I (mommy) put Layna down for a nap with her bottle. After Daddy headed home, I went up to check on Layna and her hair was pasted to her head with milk and her shirt was drenched ! In the middle of her deep slumber, I took of her shirt, took the bottle from her little grasp, and looked at the bottle. Layna bit the nipple and cracked the top in 1/2 inch slit. No wonder the milk was pouring out !

The next day, like every other day, Layna wanted milk when she went down for her nap. I brought her a sippy cup of milk. She threw it out of the crib. I gave it back. She was trying to hand it back to me, and was desperate to get it away that she climbed out of her crib ! So, this past week, I didn't only stop the bottle, but I took down the crib, and blew up the queen size air mattress. I was anticipating a lot of stress, temper-tantrums, and lack of sleep for both Layna and myself. However.... Layna has done magnificantly with these changes ! She has adjusted very well, and when we went to Daddy's this weekend, she didn't fuss have no bottle or milk to go to sleep ! At home, she plays for a little in the room, and goes onto her bed (the air mattress) tucks herself in - sometimes - and goes to bed. Mommy couldn't be any happy at how easy this has been !

Hopefully I didn't jinx this by sharing it so soon !


Here are a few more photos (from Dan's phone) from picking pumpkins:

It's been FOREVER - Summer 2011

It has been a VERY VERY VERRRRY long time since last time you all got ending news about Miss Layna. Mommy's computer has been down, and she hasn't been able write anything for you guys. Let's see what I can remember to share with you all:

Layna has been running all over ! She has a mind of her own a is a little michievous child. She has been spending the hot summer days in her little baby pool, and loves every second in the water ! Grandpa took Mommy and Layna to the resevoir down the street to go swimming and Layna enjoyed herself greatly. The second time we went, Mommy brought her baby pool floaty, and Layna loved sitting in it in the water.

Mommy and Layna went to Salisbury Beach with Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux a couple of weeks ago. It was low tide, which made a little wading pool for the little ones. The water was warm and perfect depth for Layna. She just sat in there and splashed and played with her bucket and shovel.

This past weekend, Mommy, Daddy and Layna went to Easton Beach in Newport, and Layna wasn't at all afraid of the waves. She let the water touch her toes and jump right in and sat in the sand while the ocean went in and out.

Going to the playground is getting a little more enjoyable: Layna can walk around, tell us what she whats to do (well show us) and climb up the playground and slide down by herself. You can see how happy and thrilled she is going to the slide; she could do it all day if we let her !

Layna's language/speech is coming along pretty good. She says the last part of words, and tries to repeat works when we say them.
Her words include
trash and splash = "ash"
grass = "ass"
house = "ouse"
out = "ot"
hot = "ot"
ouch = "outch"
and a bunch others such as daddy, papa, hat and wet. In addition, she is starting to say please, thanks/thank you.

Also, she is doing very well with her signing. Her signs include: bye, milk, eat, more, cookies, crackers, hat, baby, bird, banana, apple, and she made her own signs up for ice cream, splash, brush teeth, hot along with noises for certain objects.

Life with Layna is a little easier with these different ways of communicating. :) We think she is almost ready for potty training. She hold her noise either before or after she pees, and sometimes right before or after she poops or farts. So she is becoming aware of the bathroom stuff/signals.

Layna's listening and obeying skills are pretty good even though she will disobey when she wants to. She understands everything that she is told very well also. The other night, Daddy and Mommy took Layna out to eat, and she was a perfect angel. In playgroup, one of the other mommy's said to order the kid's food rigth away and bring a lot of stuff to keep them busy. Mommy ordered Laynas meal right away, but we went to the restuarant before she would be hungry and tired.

Layna mimmicks everything everyone does whether is is right away or some random time. They say babies take in everything, learn quickly, grow and develop quickly, and are absolutely amazing and all of above is true. Layna impresses and amazes Mommy every single day !


(I know I promised some photos, but due to the lack of computer access, I can't put them up right now. Hopefully soon! Keep checking back and hopefully next update will be a lot sooner than this one was !)

No More Bottle :)

My almost 16-month-old no longer gets the bottle... YAY!  Layna has been doing SO well without her bottle. Mommy has been trying on and off to give Layna less milk every few days, but that has no been working. Hence, Layna still wanted her bottle. This past week Mommy has stopped giving Layna the bottle when it was time to go to sleep. Usually it is the bedtime bottle that goes last, but Mommy made it the first one to take away. And then the next day, Layna didn't get a bottle for naps. She will cry for about 5 minutes just because she is fussy, but sometime she will go down without a sound. Mommy has been sleeping on the couch for the past week, also, so she wouldn't be able to hear Layna wake up expecting a bottle and probably cry. Layna has been successfully sleeping through the nights. Mommy is so very proud of Layna and hopefully this will continue on for forever.   :-)

Also, Layna's sippy cups have been leaking more and more recently, so Mommy needs to get new ones. She has seen ones in OneStepAhead (a parenting catalog) that are very much like "big people" cups; they don't have a spout so the child has to put her/his mouth on the cup and tip it up. I think Layna will do good with these, so we will be trying these !

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day !

For Valentine's Day weekend, Mommy and Layna head over Daddy's. It was a relaxing weekend with all three of us together. On Sunday, Mommy and Daddy saw The Lion King broadway show at Providence Performing Arts Center aka PPAC. Grandma and Grandpa Boyce babysat Miss Layna for the afternoon. They said she was well-behaved and kept active: going up and down the stairs. She ate most of a Healthy Choice frozen dinner that Grandma Boyce gave her. When Mommy and Daddy came home, Layna was fast asleep in her pack'n'play upstairs in the living room. Mommy's sleep training definitely helped with keeping her anxiety away from Layna down.

Layna has been loving books a lot more lately. She is always looking at them and you can see the wheels turning. She likes to have them for car rides to. Once Mommy, Grandma Robidoux, and Layna were out shopping and Layna would make Mommy read the picture book to her over and over and over from the front seat. Hey, whatever keeps her content and not screaming. :)

Layna is still not liking diaper changes... that's all that needs to be said there.

She tries to put her socks on by herself, but can't yet. She knows the top from the bottom and puts her little fingers in the top, but can't manage to get her toes in it; same goes with shoes. She likes putting Mommy's and Grandma's shoes/slippers on their feet when they are sitting on the couch.

Layna is doing a lot better with eating. Sometimes she is picking... or just not in the mood for what we feed her at the time, which can get frustrating. However, since we stopped giving her baby food or prepared toddler food she has been eating better.

Layna has learned how to go down the stairs safely... on her belly, but she lets herself slide down quickly. She is definitely going to be a risk-taker and like things that get her adrenaline pumping and probably will LOOOVE rollercoaster. (Mommy can't wait to see how she goes up!)

Even though Layna isn't speaking yet, she is learning sounds of things:

(object = sound = Layna's pronounciation

car = vroom vroom = vrm vrm

dog = ruff ruff = arf arf

elephant = = she puts her bottom lip out and blows

bee = bzzzz boink = bzzzzzzz (and a pitch sound)

snake = ssssss = ssssss

(and a couple other things I can't think of right now).

Sledding !

Layna went sledding with Mommy and Grandpa Robidoux this afternoon. She didn't like being put into the sled by herself. She went down the hill twice with Mommy and once with Grandpa. Layna has been doing a wonderful job falling asleep in her crib, but won't go back to sleep in it once she's up in the middle of the night. Mommy is working on that with Layna.

Layna isn't a big fan of strollers and store carriages or being held anymore. She just wants to walk everywhere ! When at a store, she finds something on the shelf to take off one shelf and put on another. As long as she doesn't throw everything on the floor, Mommy doesn't mind.

Layna is becoming such a big when it comes to eating. She has been eating big people food and will reach for the spoon or fork instead of grabbing her food with her fingers.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy:

first snow fall of the year

you can't see it but she's cheering on her Patriots wearing her Tom Brady jersey

after sledding with Mommy

playing with her birthday party hats... goofball !

Just a little update :-)

Layna has been growing so quickly ! Every day it seems like she is learning new things quicker and quicker. She plays on the stairs and goes up them when she wants attention. Also, she is learning to sleep in her crib wonderfully (tonight Mommy is going to attempt to put Layna back into her crib when she wakes up). She is starting to feed herself more and more with a spoon and fork. She definitely knows the difference. She stabs her food with the fork and tries to scoop with the spoon. She is walking more and more instead of crawling. Grandma Robidoux and Mommy took Layna to the mall where she could practice walking in her new beginning walker shoes.

Today Layna had her post-op appointment with the urologist. Every one in the office was at awe with Layna and her outfit ! Her big, cream sweater with black leggings and her "cute" had. She was ready for the slopes ! The urologist said that the incision healed beautifully. We go back to get the stint out (a little piece of something that is put in the ureter so the scar tissue doesn't close up the hole to the bladder) .. we go back January 14, and she has an ultrasound February 9th to see how the kidney is functioning.

Layna LOOOVES chocolate just like her Momma ! Every time Mommy would open her little piece of chocolate, Layna would come running to her, making her "Hum..." sound, which mean "share?" or "more". She is definitely communicating with sounds and pointing. We are just waiting for her to start saying some words instead of sounds. She is babbling a lot though with different sounds.