Big Girl

Not only has Lyla said good by to her paci, but a few days after the paci was given up, Lyla decided it was time for her to have a big girl bed. We held off as long as possible, but she made such a big deal about it that we gave in and took the bars off her crib. Boy was she was in heaven! It ended up being the easiest transition by far and we are so glad we waited as long as we did. We haven't had to deal with her getting out of the bed, which was our biggest concern about the whole toddler bed issue. We had a few crying moments, and had to threaten several times that the bars would be put right back up, but overall she did fantastic!
Then, several days later, she decided she was too big for pull-ups at night time and those have gone away as well. All of this happened in a week. I think we all deserve a medal or some type of award. There isn't anything left to give up or say goodbye to...she is officially a big girl!

Bye Bye Paci

When Lyla was just a little over a month old, we introduced her to her very first paci.
Well, introduced isn't exactly the right word...we basically forced it upon her. She was a bit of a fussy baby and there were many times when we had to do Dr. Karp's 5 S's all at the same time in order to calm her down. Her paci quickly became one of the only things that would fully soothe her.

At Lyla's one year well check up the Dr. told us it was time to say our goodbyes to the beloved paci. We tried the method of cutting back the paci bit by bit. She wasn't fooled at all...after several weeks of that we went to the store for new ones. We decided 2 years would be an easier age for Lyla (and us) to handle the transition. Two came and went...and somewhere in there she decided one paci was not enough and had to have another one. One to suck on an the other to hold in her hand or up to her nose next to the other. We have been slowly weening her from them and for the past year or so she has been allowed to have them only at nap time and bed time. We finally set our sights on the summer of her third year to say our goodbyes.
We just had to figure out how to do it. We wanted Lyla to be involved so we talked to her about the paci fairy and all the different ways we had heard how she could say goodbye. Hanging them in a tree in the yard, planting them in the garden, giving them away to a new baby (which she did for a brand new pack of paci's we had in the cabinet- thanks Iris and Lily for going along with it!), or even having a visit from the paci fairy herself...Lyla finally decided on a fun idea I had read about in a magazine.
This morning was the big day! We headed to the Build a Bear Workshop in the mall and she put her paci's inside a brand new bear! She loved the idea of always having her paci's with her even though she couldn't suck on them anymore.

Getting ready the head to the mall.















Lyla had her heart set on a purple bear.




















Putting her paci's in her new bear.

All of the staff at the Build a Bear Workshop were AMAZING! They were so excited for her and made a really big deal about her becoming a "big girl" today. Amber and I were both teary-eyed at this moment. I think this may have been harder on us then her!














Picking out her bear's new heart.



















Giving her new bear an "air bath"














We are incredibly proud of our big girl! She is napping now for the first time at home without her pacis. So far so good...we will see how tonight goes!

Bad blogging Mommy

Okay, so it has been a while since my last posting, but...summer vacation is only 6 days away! Hopefully then, I will have more time to update the blog on all things Lyla...like her 3rd BIRTHDAY (seriously?!)!

Farewell Lucy

A few weeks ago, we lost our beloved dog Lucy. She went into heart failure on Christmas evening and after a long and very difficult night, by the morning of the 26th it was time to take her in to the vet. It's been three weeks since she has been gone and it is still a bit of adjustment every day.

For those of you who didn't know Lucy, she was...well...a very interesting dog. I can definitely say I have never know another dog quite like her. She had many "quirks" about her and I have actually missed many of the crazy ridiculous things she used to do.

One of the biggest things about Lucy was her appetite. She was always looking for something to eat...whether it was edible or not. And she never stopped...even at the very end...if she found something that interested her pallet, she would devour it, from soap to nuts...and no, that wasn't a typo. We always had to keep our toiletries out of her reach after that episode. Her appetite did work at our advantage sometimes...she was by far the very best vacuum cleaner/mop combo I have ever had. I never had to think twice about food that was accidentally dropped...or thrown from Lyla's plate. She cleaned up all kind of messes around the house...She also made messes. Her veterinarian diagnosed her with serious anxiety and hyperactivity which made it difficult for her to relax so we found upset trashcans and chewed up possessions around the house on a daily basis.

Much to our surprise, Luce did mellow out a little bit once Lyla came along. We were worried that there might be some jealousy issues and her anxiety would get worse, but things turned out quite the opposite, and they ended up becoming good friends. I think Lucy even felt a little protective of Lyla as she could often be found sleeping in the hallway at night outside her bedroom door.

One of the funniest things I remember about Lucy is her obsession with balloons. Even as an old dog, she could still put up a good fight with one. Here is a video of her going at one back her her younger days.

Lucy was like the Energizer bunny...she never stopped. She was so full of energy you would have never guessed she had a heart problem. We always thought she would calm down and relax in her old age, but she just kept going. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult to understand that she is actually gone now.

So, farewell Lucy girl...the most loyal, passionate, crazy dog I have ever had the pleasure...and occasional displeasure...of knowing and loving. You will be greatly missed.

Santa Claus

Lyla was very excited about Santa this year…on paper. However, when she stepped within 20 feet of him she would lose it. Needless to say, we did not get a Santa pic this year. I did however get this great video of Junebug and her cousin talking about the big guy in red.

Holiday Time

The fall/winter holidays have come and gone and now we are already starting a brand new year! It is truly unbelievable how fast time goes by. In addition to enjoying lots of time with both sides of our families, we tried to get out and do lots of seasonal activities in hopes of making the holidays last longer. We went to the Sights and Sounds Festival, the Zilker Tree, drove around and saw lots of lights, we even went on a glass bottom boat tour. It didn’t slow down time at all, but we had a ton of fun and have lots of great memories of Lyla’s 3rd Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Here is Lyla's Thanksgiving message. In early November Lyla started coming home from her school talking about Dino Dan. Once we finally figured out that it was not an imaginary friend of hers, but a new TV show on Nick Jr. we let her watch it at home. It quickly became a major obsession of hers. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around she was schooling us all on the difference between a Brachisaurus and a Quetzalcoatlus...





For the second year in a row, we went to Breakfast with Santa at the Driskill with my parents and cousin Renzo.
They have a huge Christmas tree in the lobby which Lyla found pretty mesmerizing.




















It was a wonderful event and we thought it would be the perfect atmosphere to capture a memorable photo for a holiday photo card...this was the photo we got ...
















I don't know if it was the excitement of it all or the pancakes and syrup, but that was the longest she sat still that morning...so we gave up on the photo opp.

Lyla loved pulling out the ornaments from the pockets on her advent calender each day.
She also loved searching for Jingle our Elf on the Shelf each morning. I think Jingle is a little camera shy as he somehow eluded our family snapshots this year...





















Lyla has become obsessed with TV lately. It all started with Dino Dan...and then once the colder weather started TV time has increased a little bit in our household. She is currently obsessed...no...OBSESSED with The Little Einsteins.

Playing with her new doll house from Santa

This last picture here is for my mom who is determined Lyla will be the 2030 Miss USA...

Happy Halloween

Arg!
We had a great Halloween this year! Lyla decided to be a pirate and her cousin who was planning on being Dora, decide that two pirates would be more fun than one! Turns out she was right!









Lyla giving her best pirate face. She kept saying "Arg!" "Ahoy Matey!" and "Walk to the plank!"












Waiting for treats!





Lyla was a little scared at first about going to random strangers doors...but once she saw that they were handing out free candy on cue, she was racing her cousin to the next house.