Your last day in the Toddler Room at Maple Tree

Dearest Lyla,

A lot has changed in our lives during the last six weeks! About six weeks ago you became a big sister.  Little Levi joined our family on February 16th and you have already been an amazing sister. You love to help hold him and feed him bottles. Levi is obsessed with you. He's only five weeks old and he already smiles when you talk to him and follows your voice around the room to find you.

March 17, 2015

Today was a monumental day. It was your last day at Maple Tree Day School for this year. Normally you would continue going to school until June but now I am taking a year and a half off of work, so we had you continue at school for six weeks after Levi was born. Now the three of us will be at home together everyday!

When you started school in the fall I was really nervous. Previously you had been with Asah, your nanny, and one other girl, Erica. I was worried that you would not get enough attention in a classroom of ten toddlers. I was worried that you might not keep your constantly happy personality. I was worried that you might not like it there. I could not have been more wrong.

First day!! Daddy dropped you off! You carried the catepillar around all day! 

You loved your new Elmo backpack and lunch bag.

Cutest school picture ever!!!

Your teachers were Ms. Ree and Ms. Jackie. When the school year started you had about five kids in your class. As of today you had about 10 kids in the class, but not everyone was there each day. Your days in the toddler room were filled with music, singing, playing, learning, and of course, your favorite...projects! You love doing art projects! You've started bringing your projects home and hanging them on the kitchen wall. You are so proud of your artwork!

Turkey feather Thanksgiving project

Your teachers said you eventually didn't want any help during project time! =) Love this snowman!!!

Since the toddler room is part of the bigger Pre-School system, you had a weekly learning theme. Some of your themes this year were: Apples, Turkeys, Bats, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Owls, Snowflakes, Christmas, Penguins, Winter Weather Gear, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter. You had dance parties at school, celebrated Wacky Wednesday, had a Teddy Bear Picnic, a PJ Day, a Thanksgiving Feast, you made applesauce, an adorable Christmas concert where you sang and danced to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (You were the leader of all the toddlers around the tree!), and you played for hours outside! You now know your ABC's, numbers, colors, months of the year, the Pledge of Allegiance, more songs than I could count, and many more things!  

Wacky Wednesday!!

Halloween!! You are Elmo and Landon (your best friend at school) is the bee.

You carved a pumpkin at school!!

So focused during reading time!!! 

You absolutely love your teachers and up until about two months ago, I would have to carry you out at the end of the day because you just wanted to keep playing with your friends. Your best friend this year was Landon. Everyday you would talk about playing with Landon and say, "He's so nice!" About three weeks ago Landon moved to a new school. You keep telling me, "Landon will make new friends." Knowing that Landon isn't at school anymore makes pulling you out early a little bit easier.

Today Daddy dropped you off in the morning and he said that it seemed like your teachers were really sad it was your last day of school. I cried as I drove to the school this afternoon to pick you up. I am so excited about spending the next year and a half at home with you, but I was feeling bad that I was taking you away from a place that you love going so much! Yesterday you got to lead the morning group time. You lead your classmates in the song about the weather and the day of the week. I saw the video today and it is adorable!! Your teachers made you a scrapbook from the school year and you got a little graduation ceremony too. I know you will be back at Maple Tree when I go back to work and little Levi will start in the Toddler class!

First day of school (August 24th, 2014)  and today (March 27th, 2015)...last day in the Toddler Class.

Ms. Ree & Ms. Jackie

As I look back at these pictures, I can't believe how much you have grown in these last seven months. It literally brings tears to my eyes at how fast you are growing up. It doesn't surprise me for a minute how much your teachers love you. You are the sweetest, smartest little girl ever (and I'm not just saying that because I'm your mom, it's true!!) You flourished at school this year and brought smiles to the faces of everyone you would talk to. 

I hope you continue to have a passion for learning little one. You are such a smart girl. I am looking forward to spending the next year and half making wonderful memories with you and Levi. You are my world...I can't wait to get out and explore the rest of the world with the two of you. 

Things I love about you:

*I love that you are obsessed with school buses! We point out each one when we would drive home from school each day.

*I love how you say "Maple Tree Day School" really fast.

*I love that you love your teachers "Ree Ree and Jackie."

*I love that you love to check your folder to see if there are projects in it at the end of the school day.

*I love your art projects.

*I love that you love your art projects.

*I love how you walk with a little bounce in your step.

*I love that you point out letters you know on signs we see.

*I love that you love your friends at school. 

*I love that you love your brother....and that you said tonight "ROOOOOOOMIES" because it's the first night he is sleeping in the crib in your room....speaking of that....I better get some sleep before he gets up to eat.

I love you forever little girl...you're my favorite little girl in the whole wide world.

Mommy

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Dearest Lyla,

I cannot believe that yesterday we celebrated your 2nd birthday! These two years have just flown by. When you woke up yesterday we walked down to Meloglaze and you picked out a sprinkled donut for breakfast. It was the perfect morning for a walk...45 degrees on January 24th in Minnesota, is so rare!! We walked down together and you liked to say, "Follow, follow, follow," as you followed me walking down the sidewalk. Later in the day you had some of your favorite people at your party. Auntie KK drove up from Winona, Ellen and Tyler came over, and your bestie Mila came too, of course! It was so fun watching you and Mila play together. GaGa wasn't able to come, but you FaceTimed with her for awhile, like you do most days. 

You've been obsessed with your Little People Farm and School Bus that you got for Christmas. For your birthday Daddy and I got you some more accessories for your farm. You have been going to Maple Tree Day School in South Saint Paul this year and you absolutely love it! Your teachers are Ree and Jackie. You spend your days playing with your friends Mia, Landon, Wyatt, Adrian, Caden, Tommy, and Miles (he's the sassy one). You've done a lot of art projects (which you LOVE), played outside a lot, sang lots of songs, had a Christmas concert (you got stage fright and didn't dance even though you knew the whole thing!!), and enjoyed your time on the "Tumble Bus" that comes to your school every other week. I was very nervous about you being in more of a daycare/school setting after having a nanny last school year, so I've been so happy with how things have gone this year. (Many days you don't want to leave!)

Any day now, your little brother is going to arrive. We've been prepping you for this event for months now. We've talked about your baby brother, encouraged you to carry your baby doll around, and now recently, we've set up his crib, since you will be sharing a room. For the last two weeks you have been saying that you want baby Levi to come to your birthday party, so I think you are getting excited for him to come. I know you're going to be a wonderful big sister, because you are such a good little girl. You're so nice and happy all of the time. It's hard for me to imagine life not being all about you, but I'm excited for you to experience the joys of having a sibling. I'm also looking forward to spending a year and a half at home with you and Levi. The best part of having a brother is that you will still get to be my, "favorite little girl in the whole wide world."

Right now you are able to:
* Identify all of your letters and say some words that start with most of them ("M" Mommy, "D" Daddy, "G" Goldy & GaGa, "L" Lyla...etc.)
* Sing the ABC's
* Speak in sentences (You are a talker!)
* Identify all of your colors

Things we love about you:
* The way you say, "What happened?!?!" all of the time
* The way you randomly hug me (Mommy) and say, "Best friends!"
* The way you sing songs in your crib before you fall asleep or when you wake up. ("Let it Go" from Frozen, "Wheels on the Bus", "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star")
* The way you yelled, "I want Jenny!!!!" in the middle of the night after asking Daddy for "Mommy" multiple times and me not going into your room. (You sometimes call Daddy Andy too.)
* The way you lick the jam off of your toast and then two minutes later tell me, "I want some more jelly on there!" of course, without eating any of the bread!
* The way you constantly tell us, "Monkey has dots." You especially like to say this when you wake up in the morning
* The way you get so excited when we see a school bus or city bus driving home from school
* The way you describe some of the other kids at school as, "sassy" or tell other kids when they are being sassy!
* How OCD you are about certain things (For instance bedtime routine: First you have to throw monkey over the edge of your crib, then we throw you over the edge, then you need to take a drink from the black water bottle you keep in your crib, then from the purple one that is also in there, then we put your Nuk in, then you lie down and we cover you---don't mess with the routine!!)
* The way you chase GaGa's dog and say, "I want my hugs Lily!" ("I want my hugs has turned into a commonly used phrase now in our family.)
* How you sing the Minnesota rouser, really fast and kind of mumbled
* The way you say, "I want to see pictures of Lyla!" (On the iPhone---you say this all the time---sometimes as Daddy once said, "even in the middle of a crisis" which was you, puking all over in the middle of the night!)

You are such a wonderful little girl, who has brought us so much joy in the last two years. January 24th, 2013 was the best day ever, the day you joined us and made we became a family. With that in mind...

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Lyla, Happy birthday to you!

We love you forever,

Mommy & Daddy

Happy 1st Birthday!

Dearest Lyla,

As I sit here and write this at 11pm on January 24th, 2014, I think back to exactly one year ago when Daddy and I were in the hospital and you were almost ready to make your entrance into our lives. I knew we would love you, I knew we would have so much fun together, but I couldn't begin to fathom at that point how much you would add to our lives. In the last year we've watched you grow so much. In fact, it feels like it is happening too fast! I wish we could just slow it all down. Now you're a walking, talking, beautiful one year old little girl. You make us smile and laugh on a daily basis. You allow us to have fun every single day, and you inspire us to make the best choices for our life as a family, because all we want is the absolute best for you. 

Things we love about you, our little one year old:

*The way you toddle around the house

*That you shake your best friend, Monkey, as you walk down the hallway

*The way you hear the door entry beep and immediately say "Dada" and watch for Daddy to walk up the stairs.

*That you are obsessed with your 100 First Animals flap book

*How excited you get when you see a dog!

*When you give us kisses, randomly

*How you do your funny belly dance (you've got some awesome dance moves!)

*When you wave and get excited at the window as I come to pick you up after school.

*When you say Momma

*Your laugh, smile (with all those teeth), and bright blue eyes!

You are the best thing that ever happened to us little Lyla and we love you more than anything. I'll update with more pictures this weekend. (I've been slacking since going back to work, I'm having a hard time juggling everything...and when I'm home with you now, I just want to play with you!!) But I will leave you with this little photo...a flashback to your first days here, when we were still in the hospital. My little, little love. 

Happy 1st Birthday Lyla Jane! 

We love you forever,

Mommy & Daddy

7 Months Old and the End of Summer

Dearest Little Lyla,

"Little little Lyla, little Lyla Lyla Lou, little little Lyla, Mommy loves you!" I've been singing this to you lately and it makes you smile and giggle. You are so cute!! Today you are 7 months old!

7 Months Old!!

In the last month you've learned so many new things. A week or two before you turned 6 months old you started mastering sitting up and also going up onto all fours, preparing to crawl. By your six month birthday you were crawling slowly, and now, you have mastered the crawl. You are so fast!! You follow us around the house and like to get into everything! (Mommy's purse, the cupboards, your diaper bin...) You've also started pulling up to your knees. We think you will be pulling to standing any day!

You are a cute little crawling machine!! Today was your first time crawling outside!

You recently said your first word..."Dada". You have been obsessed with looking at pictures of Daddy or seeing him in person, and saying, "Dadeee, Dada". The other night you and I were in your room and we walked into the kitchen were he was doing the dishes and as soon as you saw him you said, "Dada!" We know that you know what you're saying. It's so exciting that you are starting to communicate. This morning you said something close to Mama for the first time. Your Daddy loves it that you said his name before mine!

What a funny little Packer fan!!!! 

Last night we were hanging out as a family watching the Preseason Packer game and I looked over and saw you hanging out next to Daddy looking like this. You were so relaxed, but it was just so funny to see you with your little belly hanging out and headband nearly covering your eyes!!! This picture made Daddy and I laugh. We love it!! Go Pack Go!!

Some new foods you've tried:

Mango: You LOVED the mango and tried to grab it out of my hand as soon as you got your first taste of it.

Kohlrabi: You were not a fan! Daddy and I laughed when you made grossed out faces and gagged like a little drama queen. =)

Oatmeal: You tried this for breakfast and didn't have much of a reaction. I mix it with fruit and you seem to like it better than.

Butternut Squash: You really enjoyed this, no surprise because it's pretty similar to sweet potatoes, which you love! I mixed it with applesauce and carrots, you loved the blend of flavors!

I've still been making all of your food so that it's fresh and healthy! I hope that I can continue to do mostly this even when I am back into the full swing of working. I have fun making food for you and seeing how you react to different blends!

Unfortunately, with your 7 month birthday, comes the end of summer. =(  I can't believe this time home with you went by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital in the freezing cold winter. Now today, it's 97º out, you are crawling around like crazy, and it's time for me to go back to work. Tomorrow is our last day at home together. On Monday you will start going to the Lemke's house where you will play with baby Erica and your nanny Asah. I am so sad that you will be spending more time with someone else that is not me, but I think that you will have fun with Asah and she will take good care of you. Daddy will drop you off in the mornings and I will pick you up when I'm done teaching the 8th graders for the day. I'm going to miss spending everyday with you!!

I loved walking around the lake with you most days. I loved going to Mommy & Baby yoga class on Wednesdays. I loved spending time with our besties playing. I loved seeing you splash in your little baby pool. I loved carrying you around in the Beco baby carrier as we would water the flowers and garden. I loved reading books to you! I loved singing silly songs to make you smile and giggle. I loved spending my summer with my baby girl! I loved all of these things, but not as much as I love you!

Here we are taking a photo break from watering the flowers! Look at your adorable smile!!!!!

"I kiss your little eyes, I kiss your little nose, I kiss your little forehead, now here's how it goes....I love you and love you, I love you and love you. Little Lyla Jane, I love you and love you."

What a beautiful family we have. You light up our life little Lyla!!  We took this picture with the camera on a tripod and used the self-timer. Daddy danced around like crazy to get your attention and then jumped into the picture, not bad!!! You are such a gorgeous little baby, look at those eyes and that smile! 

There are so many things we love about you, little Lyla:
*We love when you are crawling and push into the "downdog" yoga position. (You now get your feet flat on the floor like you are trying to stand up.)
*We love when you crawl over to us like you are saying hi and sit by us.
*We love that you giggle when we say "stinky feet!"
*We love your reaction when you have air blown onto your face.
*We love how you go crazy jumping up and down in your jumperoo.
*We love that you say "Dada"!!

Love you forever little Lyla,
Mommy

Happy 6 month birthday!!!

Dearest Little Lyla,

Happy 6 month birthday big girl!!!!

You're 6 months old today!!

I can't believe how big you've gotten and how fast these first six months went by. I've been having so much fun with you this summer. Of course, the time is flying by. You are such a good baby. You smile a lot, you don't cry very often, and you are so much fun to be around! I look back at the pictures from the first week of your life and am in awe of your growth in such a short time.

You had your 6 month check up today:
28.25 inches = off the charts
19 pounds, 2 ounces = 90% percentile

In the last two weeks you've mastered sitting up.

In the last few weeks it seems like you've turned into a little person! You went from only being able to lay on your blanket and roll over, to being able to sit up on your own and scoot all around. (Almost crawling!!) I think you will be fully crawling within two weeks. Your personality seems to be that of a very independent person. You like to figure things out (today you were exploring the wipes container and started pulling wipes out...and trying to eat them.) I think you will be kind, a little bit shy, but very happy. Your little personality is really shining and I love it!!

Here you are at yoga class this month with your friend Amelia.

Most days after yoga we walk around the lake with Amelia and her mommy, Angie. You are such a good girl at yoga class. You love watching the other babies. Lately, you and Amelia like to crawl to each other's blankets and play together, like in the picture above.

More yoga fun!

To celebrate your 6 month birthday, we went to yoga like usual today (since it's Wednesday). By the looks of it, you had lots of fun. This week you made the first progress toward crawling. You've been propping up on all fours for about a week and a half, and now you move your legs and sometimes your arms. At yoga today you proved that you're really good at crawling on people already!!

Here you are with your bestie, Mila, each month since you were both born!!!

We hang out with our besties every week and it has been so much fun to see you both grow. This week we met Sarah and Mila for breakfast, went shopping, and then went to their house. You loved playing with Mila and her kitty. You pulled on his hair and kept smiling. Sometimes Miss Mila makes high pitched noises and you used to cry when she would do it, but you've gotten used to it now! We love our besties!!!

Here you are attacking Daddy's face. 

You love playing with Daddy when he gets home from work or school. (He's getting his MBA from The University of Minnesota right now, so he's at class two nights a week.) Daddy can always get you to laugh and smile. Everyone says that you look a lot like your daddy. You love Daddy and he loves you!

We've been adding to the foods that you've tried:

Green Beans-Not.A.Fan. You gag each time I have you eat them. You will eat them, but you make faces and gagging sounds with every bite! Talk about dramatic, but cute!!

Peaches-You tried peaches this week and you really like them. I buy them off a truck that comes up straight from Georgia. Yum! We went with our besties to pick them up last week. It was a fun little adventure.

Peach/Avocado blend--tonight I blended these two foods together and it was a hit! You LOVED it. You kept opening your mouth as Daddy fed you. You ate all of it and wanted more. 

Things we (Daddy & I)  love about you, our sweet Little Lyla:

We love the face you make when we say, "kick your feet, kick your feet" when you're in your bouncy chair...and then you respond by grinning and kicking your feet.

We love that you figured out how to jump up and down in your jumperoo. You get so excited!

We love when you attack your lovey, Monkey, especially in your crib.

We love when you grab Daddy's nose. (Mommy probably loves this more!)

We love when you smile when you see us across the room.

We love that you still love the "kikiki" sound. It makes you grin!!

Love you forever baby girl,

Mommy

5 Months Old & 4th of July

Dearest Little Lyla,

Happy Belated 5 Month Birthday and 4th of July!!

On the weekend of your 5th month birthday, you also got to eat real food for the first time. You'd been showing all of the signs that you were ready for "real food!" I was hoping to wait until you turned six months old, but you had other plans. You started with organic brown rice cereal a few times and then we moved straight to the real food. The first time we fed you the cereal you grabbed the spoon and pulled it toward your mouth! Your first "real food" was avocado. You loved it!!

Here you are after eating the avocado for the first time. YUMMMM! 

Since the avocado you've also had:

Homemade applesauce/apples: You really liked the apples and applesauce I made for you.

Sweet potatoes: These were a huge hit with you, you smiled when you had them for the first time and ate lots each time I gave them to you.

Banana: You just had bananas the other morning with breakfast. Your first bite seemed like you weren't going to like them, but you continued eating them. I wouldn't say that you LOVE them, but you definitely keep eating them, so they must be tolerable.

I'm looking forward to making as much of your food as I can keep up with. (I'd love to make all of it, if possible. I know it will be harder when I have to go back to school in the fall.)

 I'm currently writing this post from Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Tom's cabin in the U.P. We made the trek up here to spend some time with the family for the 4th of July. Instead of making the 8 hour drive from home, we first drove to Neenah and spent the night there and then drove up.

You had your first swimming experience here! We were blessed with beautiful weather and plenty of sunshine for swimming in the lake.

 Mommy & Lyla =)

Playing with Daddy...you're not sure if you like this!

Hmmm....I'll just sit here in my swimsuit and look around. You didn't splash and play like you do in your bathtub!

The second time around you seemed to enjoy the water more!

So cute in your big girl swimsuit. (I had to get you an 18 month suit...it was the only one that would fit because you're so tall!)

Your cousin Elayna loved swimming with you! She just turned 3 years old.

Cousin Ry-Ry loved to hold you, even though it seems like you're almost the same size! 

Cousin Gracyn loved to hold you and help feed you bottles. 

While we were up here we also stopped by Mommy's family reunion. It was for Grandpa Steve's side of the family. They have a reunion every year during the 4th of July time. We didn't tell your Great Grandma Levine that we were coming, so we got to surprise her. She was so excited to see you and to have all of her relatives meet you!

Here you are surprising Great Grandma--You loved her sparkly 4th of July vest and earrings!

Mommy's Aunts/Uncles, Cousins, and your Great Grandma Levine.

You're growing up so fast little girl!! I've had so much fun being home for summer break. We've spent our time: going to yoga on Wednesdays, spending time with our besties, taking walks everyday around the lake, and of course, playing! 

Things I love about you:

I love the way you kick your arms and legs when we bring you a bottle and you're really hungry!

I love the little "hmm" sound you make when you're content.

I love the big smile you get when you see Daddy or Mommy walk by.

I love the way you smile when we read Snuggle Puppy. 

I love the sound of your little giggle, especially when Daddy is pretending to eat your hands.

I love the way you kick really fast when we put you in your bathtub.

I love you forever baby girl,

Mommy

4 months old!

Dearest Lyla,

Today you are 4 months old!!!! I can't believe how fast the last four months have gone by. I had very good intentions of writing to you on this blog, but I knew I only had a short time with you on my maternity leave and I wanted to spend every minute playing with you or just staring at you, you're so cute!!

See, I told you that you are so cute! Daddy took this picture for us just the other day. That makes you about 3.5 months in this picture. 

You are getting so big. Two weeks ago I had to return to school after being at home with you for 14.5 amazing weeks of maternity leave. I was so sad to leave you and go back to work, but you've been in good hands. Daddy stayed home with you for awhile and Grandma Jane just spent the week with you. You had so much fun with her, it's so cute to see how your face lights up when she talks to you. This week when she was watching you, you rolled over from your back to your tummy for the first time all by yourself! She enjoyed taking you for walks around the lake and playing with you when Mommy & Daddy were at work. 

On April 16th (Grandma Jane's birthday)

you slept for over 10 hours at night. Until that point you were sleeping about six hours before getting up for a bottle. Every night since then you've sleep for 8-10 hours a night. Way to go!! Mommy & Daddy love it, of course! You really are such a good baby when it comes to sleeping (and everything else, really!). When it's time for a nap or bedtime, I lay you in your crib, put you in your swaddle, put monkey near your head, a Nuk in your mouth, and you go right to sleep! Your sleep habits have been a blessing now that Mommy is back at work.



Summary of maternity leave time together:
When I was at home with you we had so much fun. Every Wednesday we went to Baby & Mommy Yoga class at the yoga studio just down the street. You love yoga class.

 You love to look around the room at the other babies (there are usually three babies total), listen to the instructor's voice, and you love the baby Lyla massage time! After yoga class if the weather was nice we would walk around the lake with Angie and her baby Amelia.

Every Thursday we would meet Mommy's friend Nikki and her son Jack at the Mall of America.

Here you are with Jack taking a break from shopping!

We would spend the day walking around, since most of my maternity leave it was snowy outside. (It was the longest winter ever! We had snow through the beginning of May!!!) One day you had your first celebrity encounter. We were walking around the mall and we saw Tracy Morgan. He's a famous comedian that was on Saturday Night Live and is currently on the TV show, 30 Rock. He was asking Mommy questions about your stroller because his fiance was planning to get the same one. I made sure to get a picture to document your first celebrity sighting!

Sometimes our besties, Sarah & Mila would come to the Mall Of America too, they were there when we met Tracy. 















Speaking of our besties, we got together almost every week (and sometimes multiple times a week) for playdates with Sarah & Mila. Here is a picture from the first time that you and Mila met:

You decided to pose for us in the identical position!

One of our playdates consisted of a trip to visit the Easter Bunny. We were amazed that you and Mila both stayed asleep for a picture of the Bunny holding you together!

Sarah and I have so much fun watching the two of you together. You and Mila love to stare at each other, play, and hold hands! It's so cute! One time when you were playing together Mila stuck her hand by your face and you starting sucking on it.

I'll update the blog soon with lots of Lyla & Mila pictures! We love our besties!

Mostly, I had so much fun being able to spend everyday with you during my leave from work. We had some long days because Daddy would have night class and not get home until 9:30pm. I have 9 more school days until summer break and I can't wait to be home with my baby girl again! This next week Grandma Wendy & Grandpa Tom are visiting and Grandma Wendy will take care of you when we are at work. 

Here are your 'first year' pictures that we've taken so far:

May 24th, 2013---4 months old, with Grandma Jane

April 24th, 2013---3 months old, with monkey

March 24th, 2013---2 months old

February 24th, 2013---1 month old

Things I love about you, my baby girl, my little Lyla:
I love when I go to get you out of your crib after a nap or in the morning and you look at me and your face lights up with a smile.
I love your little giggle that we hear often now!
I love that you babble and talk a lot when you get tired.
I love the cute little noises you make, especially the high pitched little sigh you make.
I love when you grip onto my finger when I feed you a bottle (you usually have your other hand on the bottle).
I love you!

Love you forever,
Mommy