Playgroup and Biking

A lot probably has happened since Layna attended her first cheerleading competition, but Mommy has been a little to lazy, we will just say "busy" to share it with you guys ! Let's see... Layna is starting to let Mommy put her diaper on without having a wrestling match, but she still has those times where she doesn't want anything on... Thank God the summer is almost here !

Layna went to her first playgroup with some ladies from Millis (where Mommy went to high school). They are actually older sisters and a friend of one of the sisters of a girl Mommy graduated with. (try to see if you followed that.) Layna spent the afternoon with a 2-year-old girl, Lena (Angelina) and her 9-month-old brother James/Jamie, and their friend 18-month-old friend, Eric, and Lena's and James' cousins Nicky (just over 2-years-old) and newborn baby, Vinny. Layna behaved so well ! She was quiet at first because she is never around little kids and babies. Like always, she just stares and watches them: "hey, they're my size !" At the park, Layna played in the woodchips: picking them up and putting them down. She loved the slide, but would only go on it when Mommy placed her at the top instead of climbing up and sliding down. She scooted down the slide herself and Mommy just had to spot her, incase she leaned back. She kept wanting to go down again and again. We all know what Mommy is getting Layna for the backyard for these warm seasons ! She swung a little, which she always enjoys, too. We walked back to the house, Layna sat nice in the stroller, and the kids played in the backyard for a little. Layna played in the sandbox with Lena. Lena poured sand all over Layna, but she didn't mind! she was scooping up sand and dumping it out; similar to what she does in the bath tub with water. After getting out of the sand box, Layna was picking up dirt and rocks, and saw little James standing at the bottom of the slide, and did what Lena did: put it on his back. Oh ! Mommy told her "no" right away ! Mommy enjoyed spending a few hours outside of the house, outside in the nice weather and with other mommies. Layna didn't get cranky or tired at all, but the second we were on our way home, she was passed out !

This next little family adventure will make you laugh and think twice before taking a bike ride: Grandma and Grandpa Robidoux purchased a bike trailer in the fall, so they could take Layna on bike rides with them. Last week, Mommy wanted to go on a bike ride and use the trailer for Layna. So, while Mommy waited for Grandpa to wake up for the day and  Grandma to return from the grocery, Mommy decided to assemble the trailer. She was very successful, which people usually are when they follow the instructions. So, after lunch, Grandpa loaded the trailer on to the truck, along with the bikes. He informed us, "I checked the tires." We got to the bike trail, biked for three miles, and Mommy realized her front tire looked a little low... and they both were. On the way back to the truck, Mommy was really really struggling: her legs were sore, she couldn't go up hills... nevermind the hills; she could barely peddle! Mommy thought she was just extremely out of shape, she at the top of a hill, Grams, Gramps, and Mommy took a break (Layna finally fell asleep by now). Mommy was just looking around a the tires to the trailer caught her eye. She walked over and touched the tire.... it was FLAT ! Grandpa let Mommy bike on FOUR flat tires no wonder she was struggling ! Mommy made it back to the truck after a really really good workout.  Now, Layna LOVED the trailer ride ! The screen was down, so she wasn't cold from the wind and chill.  She sat there accompanied by her Fisher-Price Laugh&Play Puppy, cloth book, a blanket, and sippy cup! She was such a little princess!

Layna had her 15-month-old well-baby checkup today. She is doing wonderfully! She weigh 24 pounds and is 30 3/4" tall. Mommy can tell she is growing because you can't leave anything at the edge of tables and dressers and counters anymore !  Layna has had some dry splotches on her back and her legs have been really red and dry behind her knees (Mommy calmed heg legs down with lotion). Dr Reynolds said it looks like a little eczema: Lessen her baths, and use Olay lotion or a thick cream. Layna hasn't been really trying to say words, but she knows sounds. Dr Reynolds said "she is very smart. but being smart is different from speech." Layna hasn't had her 1-year hearing test done yet, and needs that asap. Hearing and speech go together.

She has been going great like always !

"aaa-vvaaa"

Layna says "love".... kind of. Mommy slowly says and pronounces "laaa--aa-vaaa", so Layna sees how her mouth moves to make the sounds and it comes out "aaa-va" from Layna's little mouth. She is SO cute ! She is still not saying Mommy which is weird because she's been inseparable from Mommy since birth (almost).

Mommy made chicken parm tonight for dinner, and Layna ate her whole dinner all up, except for the few pastas that she deliberately threw onto the floor.

Layna's cold has finally gone away. She got a runny nose and cough a week or so ago, and it just went away magically. yay ! The snow is slowly melting and even though it has been warm lately, it is still very wet out ! With all the snow we have plus the rain, the backyard might be wet for a while. Hopefully it is somewhat dry for Easter so Layna can have an Easter egg hunt outside.

Layna is communicating pretty well and learning good too. Mommy and Layna went to visit Daddy the other day, and Layna pointed - correctly - to what Mommy said: head, eyes, nose, mouth. She is doing good with objects-sound relations, but when Mommy tries to add a couple more into her vocabulary, she can't remember the new words/sounds and kind of forgets the old one. Everything animal that she doesn't know, she says "awf awf" (a dog: woof woof) to. When she bumps her head she says "outss" (ouch). She doesn't say "this/that" but she does have her own word that means "this/that" (can't think of it at the moment).

Grandma sings and dances "skip skip skip to my lou" with Layna, and she loves it. Layna laughs and is entertained by Grandma Robidoux skipping, and she tries to skips ! Mommy is teaching Layna "ring around the rosy", "the hokey pokey", "pat a cake", "itsy bitsy spider" and other dancing-like songs. Mommy does all the motions with Layna and Layna just smiles and laughs and lets Mommy control her body to do what the songs says.

The other day Mommy and Layna were outside on the deck getting some fresh air, and Layna started kicking a piece of ice around. Just kept kicking it. She was doing the same today with a ball inside. Before she was walking by herself, Mommy would hold Layna's hand and tell her to kick a balloon. Layna would walk to it and kick it, and walk to it and kick for like 5 minutes. Maybe Layna will be a soccer player ! We got a postcard flyer in the mail from an indoor soccer facility for toddlers and young children soccer program. The youngest group is 18 months - 2 years (or something like that). Maybe in the fall Layna will start soccer.... and gymnastics .... and dance, when she is two.... maybe. Mommy is pretty sure she will be an active person and pretty athletic !

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 !

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.

photos from recent outings and at home

sucking on an ice cold wash cloth

- a trick to sooth her teethies

and cool/hydrate her on hot days -

watching it down pour outside

hanging in her Puma outfit

loving the swing

Layna's new things lately is shaking and banging her toys and to hold her toys and crawl and standup. Layna loves her little baby pool. She crawls around in it and enjoys sitting and playing in warm, bath-like water.

Layna enjoyed the swing at the park and going down the slides with Daddy. However, the water at the beach/park in Somerset isn't the cleanest at all. The family took a little trip to see how the water and beach was, but Mommy felt yucky just dipping her own toes in, she couldn't even let Layna test the water. Not only was there trash but Mommy spot a lovely jelly fish, which topped off that that beach was a "no-way-jose" beach.

Mommy is slowly introducing food to Layna. Whenever Mommy has a cheese stick, she gives a couple tiny pieces to Layna, which is likes. Mommy tried cutting up carrots - Layna didn't really like it.... along with pasta. The next on the list is Kiwi. It should soft enough for her and an interesting and new flavor. Layna's pincer grip is coming along very well, especially because she likes to pick up dirt and Mommy's hair off the floor along with picky at grass when we're outside. She seems a little confused when Mommy gives Layna a bowl of colorful little pieces and allowing her to grab them and put them in her mouth. After a few seconds, she does taste what is in the bowl and experiences and then it falls out.

Boy, this baby girl can scream and cry for hours if we let her .... and we should ! Mommy is getting aggravated that Layna can't and won't fall asleep on her own. It is a stand off between Mommy and Baby. Mommy allowed Layna to get spoiled and now has to live with this. She does sleep 3-4 hours at night before waking.... for a midnight bottle. Again, another mistake/bad habit Mommy got Layna back into. Maybe she is going through a growth spurt and needs the extra food during the night. Anyways, Mommy would put Layna in her crib when she was getting tired but just wanted to play on the couch with Mommy and Daddy. However, when put in the crib she screams and cries. Mommy is trying to be strong and trying let Layna go to sleep on her own, but hearing her cry for an hour straight is awful and heartbreaking. Hopefully Layna will learn that the crib means "sleepy time" and that Mommy and Daddy will not come running when she cries. She needs to learn to soothe herself asleep.

Cranky Baby and MUCH more !!

It has been a LOOOONG LOOOOONG time since anything new was said about Layna's little life.

So, Layna's top front teeth have come in and it was an awful two weeks. While the bottom two came quietly, the top ones wanted everyone to know they were coming. Layna got a temperature... a fever as high as 102.3* and could barely sleep. Mommy and Daddy were up pretty much every 1-2 hours. Layna refused to eat solids and barely had any formula. Her front teeth are so much bigger than bottom ones.

Layna is finally her happy, go-lucky self again playing and getting into everything. She is starting to cruise now, getting braver and braver. She just takes a step or two at a time, but Mommy thinks she will definitely be walking before she's one-year-old ! Oh speaking of her walking, Mommy lowered the mattress the other day - in hopes of having Layna scream and cry herself to sleep - and now Layna can be in her crib safe without Mommy and Daddy worrying she will flip over the rail.

As fun as Mommy and Daddy are to play with and climb and be silly with, Layna Bayna does like playing and exploring by herself. When upstairs, Mommy puts Layna on the floor in the living and Layna will come to the kitchen looking for Mommy ... well, she will sit in the living room for a minute and when Mommy pops around the corner, saying "Here I am ! Come find me!" Layna will crawl over to the kitchen. She is SO cute when she crawls ! and she is so happy and proud when she "finds" Mommy in the kitchen.

Daddy found a new way of "tickling" Layna. He places her belly right on top of his head and moves it fast. Layna dies laughing right away.

Mommy's new way of bonding with Layna is showering with her. As you have been told before, Layna has "outgrown" the infant tub because she tries climbing out of it and showering her is difficult, especially when she wants to play and get to everything in the shower. So, Mommy figured it would be a lot easier and less dangerous showering with her little peanut. Because Layna can sit by herself like a professional and is content with a toy, she will sit quietly on a towel (so she doesn't slip and smash her head on the shower floor) while Mommy washes her. Sometimes Layna is so good Mommy can washup with Layna in there, but usually Daddy comes and gets Layna out so Mommy can finish up. Layna is so fun in the shower because she tries to grab for the water whether it is coming out of the shower head, dripping down on Mommy or the shower wall/door, or splashing when hitting the floor.

On a side note, Layna finally got a new stroller. Not a small little umbrella stroller, but a light weight one, which is a little bigger than an umbrella stroller but a lot smaller than the Travel System stroller. Now she gets to ride around in a black Chicco LiteWay stroller. Next on the must get shopping list is a new carseat. Mommy is looking at The First Years (compass) True Fit Convertible Seat... we just got to wait and see....

The family took a little trip to Easton Beach in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a good beach day. It was hot and humid but the breeze cancelled it out. The beach wasn't crowded and the water was warm but the waves were big. Layna loved the water like always, but Mommy couldn't bring her in too far because of the waves. Mommy did dip Layna's feet... legs ... and belly in the water. Layna found the sand when we were sitting on the blanket and would pick it up and let it slip between her fingers and after a minute or two... tried to put it in her mouth. When Mommy and Layna were sitting on the wet sand, Layna did get some sand in her mouth, but Mommy was quick to get it out. The sun wasn't fully out until 1ish and then it started getting really hot. Mommy wanted to walk on the Cliffwalk and show the Layna the Newport Mansions but once the sun came out the heat was unbearable for Mommy and Daddy and we didn't need Layna to become overly hot and cranky. So, we headed home.

Mommy has gotten Layna on a schedule for the passed few days - one that works and as long as Mommy wakes up with Layna early then the schedule is set for the day. No more waking up at 9 or 10. It is time to start waking up and staying up when Layna wakes around 7-8ish. Her schedule goes something like this:

morning bottle somewhere between 4-6

wake up around 8

breakfast (fruit and baby oatmeal) around 8:30

bottle around 10:30

playtime and hanging out for a few hours

nap around 11 for an hour (she needs an hour nap sometime between 11-1)

lunch (fruit and baby oatmeal) around 1

playtime/errands/outings for a few hours

bottle around 2:30

small bottle or snack around 4

an hour or two nap between 4-6

dinner around 5:30-6

shower around 7

evening walk around 7:30

bottle before bedtime

bedtime is usually sometime between 8-9

There seems to be a lot of eating but it works for Layna. There is no need for her to be overly filled from eating solids and a bottle for the same meal, so with an hour separating the two it works. One thing Mommy and Daddy can't be strong enough for, however, is getting Layna to fall asleep on her own. She is sleeping in her crib, but can't sooth herself to sleep. If she doesn't need Daddy walking around with her, she atleast needs to be patted on the butt. We don't mind doing that because we can put her down in the crib and pat her tooshy and skip the transition from us to the crib.

hopefully, there will be a new update soon ! new photos will be added within the next week! Mommy is slacking with the blog because she is enjoying her growing baby before she isn't a baby anymore !

The Beach with the Girls

Layna has been so active lately ! The pack'n'play is up to keep her "under control". She climbs all over Mommy and Daddy on the couch, and when she sees something she is on the go to get it. She knows how to sit up now: the easy way - push herself up when she's on her belly, and the hard way - sit up. Yes, Baby Girl has some major ab muscles ! She is pulling herself up to a stand more frequently now, and she is starting to crawl on her hands and knees. Sometimes when she's on her hands and knees, she pushes up on her toes.

Mommy swears she knows when she's doing something she's not. She will stop doing what she's doing, look at Mommy and continue on. Also, Layna is "talking" a lot more these days. Her squeals that sound like she's about to cry are actually squeals in delight and laughter. She's a very smiley baby too...

Mommy brings Layna outside to relax and get some fresh air, and Layna just wants to pull and eat the grass. Mommy needs a big blanket to get the grass from her mouth. Layna's top teeth may be coming in because Layna is drooling everywhere and always biting everything.

Layna and Mommy went to the beach with Kim, Nina, Kait and Aislyn. It was a little breezy but besides that it was a perfect beach day. The water was perfect, and Layna dipped her toes in, which she loved. She liked the wet sand, and wanted to put it in her mouth.

napping in her Red Sox diaper bloomers

standing

always pulling herself up in her crib

toes in the ocean

looking like a boy lol

First Swim in a Pool

Layna wakes up in the morning and doesn't want to go back to sleep for a couple more hours, so instead of being stuck inside playing, Mommy takes Layna on a walk before it gets hot. Mommy has started to get into an exercise routine and lose the extra weight, especially since her Rheumatoid Arthritis is a lot better. Along with morning walks, Daddy and Mommy and Layna takes walks in the evening as part of her bedtime routine, if the temperature has cooled off.

Layna has started getting three (solid food) meals a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner - along with her bottles of formula bottles. She is doing a great job eating solids. Mommy makes a bowl of baby rice and mixes her baby food with it. Layna's favorites include peaches, pears and applesauce, squash, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. She doesn't enjoy carrots or bananas, but Mommy is willing to give it another try soon.

Layna got her first little bump on her head - she hit the coffee table. Just a little bruise and bump nothing big.

Yesterday Daddy had surgery on his jaw, leaving Mommy and Layna for a girl's weekend. Yesterday Layna and Mommy went to visit Auntie Libbie, where Layna got to swim in a pool for the first time. She loved it and couldn't have been happier ! She behaved so well. At first, Layna had a little stranger anxiety, but warmed up to the Howley's quickly. Layna would laugh when Mommy moved her back and forth in the water and her feet just dragged. She would stand on the first step with her toes in the water, and it was just the cutest little sight ! Mommy put Layna in her pack'N'play to play quietly, but she just wanted to get out. She somehow managed to stand up while pushing the mesh sides for leverage - she is such a little monster !! Layna took a nap in the later afternoon; falling asleep quietly even though Mommy had to carry her for 15 - 20 minutes. Layna was the most sociable and happy with strangers than she has ever been. On the way home, Layna and Mommy stopped by the hospital to visit Daddy.

After getting home, Layna got a small bottle, a bath and was ready for bed around 9. However, it was just one of those nights where Layna couldn't stay asleep. She would quickly fall asleep when in front of the fan, but the minute Mommy adjusted her hand or arm or tried to put Layna down, Baby Girl would wake right up. This went on for a good 2 hours.

taking in the surroundings

Mommy would only put a bathing suit on for her little angel !

relaxing on the steps

naptime !

Auntie Lib