Baby Friends

Yesterday, Layla and I headed for the city for our lunch/play date with Carrie and Alice. We went to a Spanish tapas restaurant complete with a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar. What a perfect Sunday (despite the cold and rainy weather). Alice's sleep schedule required her to miss lunch :( But we did get some play time in before and after. Layla enjoyed brunch tapas, especially the spinach and artichoke crepe. I don't think Carrie even got a bite! A little rich for her, but she enjoyed it much more than her bowl of peas and carrots. Um, who wouldn't?

Layla and Alice posing on the couch,
until Layla tried to dive off.
That's Layla's excited face!

Alice's awesome play room with many new toys for Layla to explore.
The girls were curious about each other!

Update on the Mommy-Daughter pics.
Our last one was in September!

One picture I didn't get was Layla chasing Charlie (their pet cockapoo) around. Tomorrow she is going to Bridgette's house while I go to my test in the afternoon, I told her to warn Wrigley. She will be out to get her and she is getting faster everyday!

Quack like a Duck

Yesterday was our first day on our new schedule: work at 7 and back home by 1:30. Being at school in the morning was nice. I like the slow entry into the day, babies trickling in, rather than jumping into a room of 12 babies in full force. The morning routines are predictable since almost all the babies are 6 months and older now. Play, Breakfast, play, bottle, nap, lunch, play, bottle, nap. Then I go home, actually before the afternoon naps really get going in most cases. The shifts overlap at lunch time so we can get all 12 babies in clean diapers, fed, and down for naps. It is a roller coaster: moments of pure chaos and then pure silence. Except for the never-ending cds of Christian music. I am humming "Jesus loves the little children...." constantly.

Layla is having a tough time napping at day care and I am really beside myself trying to figure out how to get her to do it. She is napping beautifully at home. She takes her bottle and we read a book and she lies down in her crib. Sometimes she talks to herself for a few minutes and sometimes she goes right to sleep, rarely crying. At school, she seems sleepy and ready, but when I lay her down she gets up, stands in her crib crying out to me, banging on the mirror (one end of the crib is mirrored), etc. If I ignore her (which I do at home if she isn't going to sleep) she starts wailing. Yesterday she cried for half an hour and then finally fell asleep for half an hour. I cried too. Needless to say she took a long afternoon nap and then went to bed early.

Yesterday afternoon, the weather was questionable, but we really needed some air and exercise so we went out for a long walk. We explored a new playground, not as nice as our usual stomping grounds, and on our way home came across some ducks. They were in a front yard, a few blocks from a stream but otherwise seemed a little lost to me. We sat and watched them (they were two pair) and when finally they quacked, Layla giggled over and over. She was mesmerized by them.

We had plans to hit the Zoo with Carrie and Alice tomorrow, but I think the weather will be too crummy. Either way, animals are obviously a big hit and we will have to get there on another day very soon!

Picture Updates:

Sunday 4/18 at her first baseball game!
She cried when we left.

Hanging out in the Kitchen with Mom.

4/19 Nine Months Old!

Discovery of curtains! They are right next to her favorite window, how lucky!

Playing the drums on the Lincoln Log bin.

Nine Months

Layla is nine months old today. Amazing! We had her physical at the doctor this evening and she is sticking to the same percentile range in the growth charts. She is very healthy and developing right on track.

Stats:
Height is 29.5" (97%)
Weight is 21 pounds, 10 ounces (90%)

The nurses had to take a blood sample (first and unsuccessfully from her arm and then from her finger), but no shots today. The blood draw was much more drama inducing than the shots.

She is crawling, standing (briefly on her own), starting to "cruise", eating real food (like cheese and cheerios), and exploring everything. Her dexterity with her hands amazes us as she carefully inspects objects, turning them in her hands and poking at them. Cause and effect toys and games are popular with her right now and we are investing in a Leap Frog musical activity table for her room. She has shown a lot of interest in music and instruments over the last few weeks, especially the xylophone. Lately, she has starting bopping along to some of her musical toys. I hope she takes after her Dad in the dancing arena, since I am such a terrible dancer. Fortunately, Layla doesn't care. I do silly dances for her all the time, no matter where we are and she laughs and laughs. I prefer to think she is laughing with me!

Mommyproof

Yesterday Layla and I were skype-ing with Grandma and Grandpa (You can skype with us too!) on the Den computer. These days I spend little time with Layla in this room because there is way too much stuff she can get her little mitts on. Since she loves to shred paper this is a great disappointment to her. As we are leaving, me: walking, her:crawling she stops at the outlet near the door. This outlet has the battery charger in it. She pulls it out with ease. I take it from her and put it on the counter. While I have my backed turned for a second (isn't this always the case) she decides she'll stick her finger in the socket. Now, she didn't really get it in there, nothing happened, she's fine. But, I did shout at her to STOP and scared the daylights out of her. She was freaked and started bawling. Great parenting!

So, after lunch we headed to Home Depot to pick out some baby-proofing materials. How is this not done, you ask? Let's just say that we could be an informational video for fourth graders on the concept of procrastination. Not something I typically get into but there you have it.

I haven't really worried that much about baby-proofing because Layla and I are never what any sane person would describe as "apart". If Layla is awake she wants to be close to me at all times (or Jason if he is home). If I am out of sight, she yells and then crawls after me. If she happens to be "alone" and yells in glee she is probably into something she shouldn't be. She gives herself up almost every time.

In the kitchen she plays in her high chair or on the floor while I cook, wash dishes, etc. She never had shown much interest in the dreaded cabinet under the sink. We all have one: you know where all the POISON is kept. The one you go in EVERY DAY. So I got a cabinet lock. I hated it before I even got it on the cabinet. I am not big on reading directions, but I had to read this to figure out how to do it. Jason will hate it even more.

Layla, on the other hand, now loves this cabinet. She sat in front of it for 10 minutes playing with the cabinet lock. Maybe she will figure it out before we do.

What's Up?

Thought I might provide an update of what is going on with our family this month.

I start work next week at Layla's school as a real employee. It is only part time temp work (7-1 each morning), but will help bring in some additional income which will be nice. One of the regular staff is going to Jordan for 3 months to visit her family. Layla and I will enjoy having afternoons together for getting out for walks, swimming, and general household duties. On the test front: I am taking another exam in two weeks, so trying to get to studying each night after Layla goes to bed.

My new company, DeBaker Design Continuum, has a website up and running! If you are interested in visiting: www.debakerdesign.blogspot.com Your feedback and referrals are welcome.

Jason is busy at work which is a very good thing for the business. He is working on some exciting remodel projects. His baseball league, where he plays third base, starts this coming weekend. I am hoping to be able to come to some games, but it will be tough with Layla's sleep schedule.

Jason is always busy with some project for the HOA of which he is the President. This month he is bringing a new management company on board. This is a relief after many headaches with our current manager. We are hopeful this one will be better!

Layla seems to have finally gotten the hang of sleeping (we think). She goes to bed at 7 each night and sleeps until 6-6:30. She also takes two naps during the day, usually for 1.5 hours each. This is a huge milestone for our family! Layla is crawling everywhere, enthusiastically. Although she usually sticks close to Mom, she is getting braver about exploring. Her balance is good and she pulls up on furniture and is starting to "cruise" along it. She continues to be very happy outdoors and seeks out windows in our home when she is inside. We try to visit the park across the street everyday for rides on the swing and slide. She has six teeth now and is eating Cheerios. She hasn't quite got the hang of putting them in her own mouth, but she likes them!

That's all for now..........

Arizona, I miss you already!

Sajuaro in bloom

We are back home in the midwest. On our way to school today the temp. was 48 and gloomy. It is looking much better now, but 85 and sunny every day is easy to get used to. Jason is traveling to Warroad, Minnesota today for a visit to the Marvin Window factory. I told him to bring a parka and hockey skates. I haven't been to Warroad, but I am pretty sure it's not thawed out just yet. His weather adjustment is bound to be a bit more severe than mine!

Cool ladies in cool shades

Our trip to the sunny desert was very relaxing and low key. Layla's pack and play parked in Grandpa and Grandma's room for the week so we could get some extra sleep. And we did. It was wonderful. Layla rewarded us (or the time change did) by sleeping until 6:45 today. Of course, Jason was already gone to the airport........


The airplane ride was stressful, but overall went very smoothly. Traveling with a nine month old who wants to crawl and stand (and talk a lot) is a far cry from walking on the plane with a coffee and a book. On the way home we sat right in front of a family with a 7-month-old, 2-year-old and a 6-year-old. Yikes! We were glad not to be them, but I guess someday that we will be!

Layla's first bathing suit!

Monkeying around with Aunt Allie

Who can sleep like this?

Layla's First Easter

Layla enjoying the Easter egg hunt

Layla in her first Easter dress

Looking cute in her chair and new shoes

DeBakers' first Easter

Our Easter morning started with Layla donning her first Easter dress, tights and Mary Jane's.  She was most intrigued by her shoes having only worn shoes on Christmas and otherwise only in stockinged feet.  She was quite taken with the whole getup. We celebrated our Easter at Immanuel Lutheran with a pancake breakfast hosted (but not cooked) by the church Youth Group.  Then, Layla got to enjoy her first Easter egg hunt out in the play yard.  The babies got a head start!  Church was lovely and Layla was a trooper, enjoying the music and flowers despite her tired state.  It was a nice morning together. Happy Easter to everyone!