Christmas Came Early

Dear Layla,

They say great minds think alike.  If that's true than Ya-Ya and I have great minds.

I, uh *cough*, I mean, Santa bought you a Caillou doll for Christmas.  I was so excited about it.  He is your favorite! 

Ya-Ya also bought you a Caillou doll.  She sent it to you in a Thanksgiving care package.  

She wins.

Love,
Mommy

Beefcake

Dear Nono,

LB has been telling us that she's a princess for a while now.  One day she asked if you were a princess. I told her, "No! He's a beefcake!"  It stuck. 

Love,
Mommy

ABC Song

Dear Layla,

The best part of this song is NOT that it's the ABCs.  It does make the teacher part of me so proud to know that you are interested in learning the ABC song. But no! That's not the best part. 

The best part is when you sing, "Sing with me"! 

Love,
Mommy

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Dear Noah,

Last year you had to sit and watch as Layla ate a Reese's peanut butter cup after going trick-or-treating. You didn't know that you were missing out.  They are delicious.

You got to have some this year though! Here's the video from Halloween night:






Then, a few nights later, we gave you another Reese's.  You ate in all in one bite.  It was quite impressive.  And funny.  I think my favorite part might be that you started crying when you realized that your's was gone and LB still had some candy.  She ate her's in about 37 bites. 




Love,

Mommy

Caillou

Dear Layla,

You have created your own bedtime routine.  Usually it's the parents that are supposed to create this routine, but you did it on your own.  

According to your schedule, things go like this:
1. Bath time
2. Put on jammies
3. Play a little more
4. Brush teeth
5. Give Nono a kiss and send him to bed
6. Snuggle and watch Caillou

You take Number Six very seriously.  You insist that we sit together, snuggle under a blanket, and watch a little television.  Last night you brought me the remote and said, "I watch Caillou".  For whatever reason, you are certain that Caillou comes on once Nono goes to bed.  You are very wrong.  Daddy and I have set the DVR to record all episodes of Caillou just for you and snuggle time.  

Thank you DVR for making my Baby Girl happy before bedtime. 

Love,
Mommy

Gator Sweaters and Leaves

Dear Little People,

Mama Jane had an awesome idea.  She told me to buy you orange sweaters and get your names embroidered onto the chest.  Boom! Gator sweaters!! See? I told you it was an awesome idea!

I'm not a big fan of fall.  Some people go crazy about fall.  They love the cool weather, changing leaves, and Pumpkin Spice lattes.  Oh my God, Pumpkin Spice lattes.  People will seriously fall over themselves to get a Pumpkin Spice latte.  My Facebook timeline blows up every fall with people posting pictures of their lattes and commenting on how happy they are that the Pumpkin Spice lattes are back.  I think they are sick.  It's like licking the bottom of the spice rack.

I don't like the cool weather either.  It's just a reminder that it's going to get icy cold in just a few weeks as winter approaches.  I would be happy for it to be hot and sunny 365 days a year.  

Now, about the leaves.  I will agree with the masses and say it's pretty.  I think the fall leaves are very beautiful.  This is something that didn't happen when I was growing up in Florida.  Everything was pretty much green until those few frosty weeks when things turn brown.  Seeing the orange, yellow and red leaves is so nice.  

I do believe one of the prettiest fall spots in all of Memphis is Chimneyrock Elementary.  This is my school so I get to see the campus everyday.  It seems like one day all the trees are green and then just 3-4 days later, everything has bright fall colors.  

So, one Saturday, I dressed you in your jeans and Gator sweaters and took you up to Chimneyrock to play in the leaves.  Layla loved walking around looking for the pink leaves and Noah loved picking up the sticks.  

Love,
Mommy

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Pumpkin Patch

Dear Babies,

Can you call something a "tradition" if you've done it 3 times? I'm saying "Yes!"  That's makes our trip to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago a family tradition! Hooray!

While we were there, I noticed a man taking pictures.  He took a couple of  each of you before I summoned the courage to ask him what he was doing.  He explained that he in the owner of the pumpkin patch and he wanted some cute pictures of kids to post online.  I'm guessing for advertisements or whatever.

I really don't know how I feel about that.  On one hand, I post pictures of the two of you all the time.  On the other hand, he is a stranger and possibly a perv.  

I'm torn. But, like I mentioned, here's more pictures of you two that I am posting online.  The Internet just might explode with pictures of LB and Nono.

Love,
Mommy

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Gymnastics!

Dear Layla,

You have been taking gymnastics classes for two months now and it shows.  You love showing off your moves.  I am so proud of what you learned.  I can tell that you are proud of yourself too.

Love,
Mommy

Mommy's Bed

Dear Layla,

One of your favorite books is Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  Daddy groans every time you want to hear us read it.  One day, not to long ago, you made the connection between the book and that you could jump on the bed.  It started innocently.  I was putting laundry away in your room and you climbed into your bed.  Then you jumped and liked it.  I mean really, really liked it.  I could tell from your face that you were going to do it again, but I scooped you up and told you not to jump on the bed.

It wasn't long after that first jump that you got a little braver.  You were sitting on my bed, then stood up and started jumping around.  This time I didn't stop you.  I just told you to be careful and stay in the middle of the bed.  After all, jumping on the bed is super fun so I can understand why you wanted to do it.  You probably spent 10 minutes jumping and landing flat on your bottom.  Nono just stood at the end of the bed watching you.  I could tell that he was completely envious of you.  (Don't worry Buddy, one day you will be big enough to jump too!)

It's clear that playing on Mommy's bed is one of your favorite things.  Not only do you jump, but now we take pretend naps and I do my own version of jumping on the bed.  

But like all good Mommies say, we'll have to stop once someone pokes their eye out.

Love,
Mommy

Food Feet

Dear Noah,

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again - You eat it's your job. 

Last night we had spaghetti squash spaghetti.  Now because it's the beginning of the school year and I have 28 students, I'm too tired to clean up messes.  I knew that allowing you to feed yourself would be a huge mess, so I fed you the spaghetti.  Just the thought of spaghetti all over the floors, in the highchair, and on your clothes made me feel super tired. 

This video is of your feet in between each bite. It cracks me up! I've been meaning to video your feet during meals for months now because it's just that funny.  I can feel your nerves as you anxiously await the next bite.  You must be thinking, "Is she going to give me another bite?!" or "I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten in 20 minutes and I'm about to starve!"

You are just as anxious when you feed yourself.  You shovel food into your mouth like it's about to disappear.  That's also pretty funny.

Love,
Mommy

Moves Jagger

Dear Layla,

The song "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 is, without a doubt, your favorite song.  When it comes on, you yell "Moves Jagger" so loudly and dance around the room.  

You dance in the car too.  The buckle restraints greatly limit your moves, but you still manage to boogie.  

But your best moves always happen in the living room.  Enjoy!

Love,
Mommy

Princess Toothbrush

Dear Layla,

We've taken the princess thing too far.  You have princess panties, princess toys, princess toothbrush and now princess toothpaste. 

Boy do you love princess toothpaste.  It's bright pink and tastes like bubble gum.  You love it! 

My favorite part of this video is how you announce "I do it"!  I would hardly call what you do anything even close to brushing your teeth.  All you do is suck the toothpaste off the brush.

Oh well. 

Love,
Mommy

Let Them Eat Cake

Dear Layla and Noah,


When Layla turned one, I bought her a smash cake.  It's a miniature cake just for the birthday kid to eat and destroy.  Layla loved hers.  She ate, and ate, and ate.  Then threw up the next morning.  Lesson learned?  Smash cakes might be cute and fun, but it can make you sick from over-eating.


Fast-forward to Noah's first birthday.

Sorry Noah, but you did not get a smash cake.  You got a cupcake.  And you loved it. And you didn't puke. 


Love,
Mommy

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits!

Dear Layla and Noah,


We took you for your first haircuts yesterday.  I expected Noah to cry and have a total meltdown, but he surprised me.  As you will see, it was Layla that panicked.  She cried the second she was placed in the chair.  







Eventually Layla calmed down.  It actually looked like she was starting to enjoy it.  Charles, the haircutter guy, was very patient and gave her toys to hold.  I love how she watches herself in the mirror.  







Before he got started, Charles suggested that I let him trim her hair so that it is even all around.  He showed me the shortest piece that he would use as a guide.  It would have made your hair just to your ears.  NO WAY!  I told him that I was only comfortable with taking a tiny amount off.  He also wanted to cut bangs.  NO WAY!  Charles may have been nice, but he had some crazy ideas for your hair.






Then it was Noah's turn.  Brian, the haircutter guy, let Noah hold two toy trains.    Noah didn't get upset at all.  The trains must have been calming or something.  He actually seemed to enjoy getting his hair cut.  Everyone giggled when he tried to lay back.




Before Noah's haircut, I asked Brian to take just a little hair off.  I wanted him to have a clean hairdo for his birthday.  I also told Brian not to worry about using clippers.  Brian did it anyway.  Oh well.  It was during this part that Noah started to get upset.  I don't know if he was upset because the back was being cut or that Brian was using the clippers.  








You both looked beautiful before the haircuts and you look beautiful after.  


Love,
Mommy

Noah and the Spoon

Dear Noah,


I tell people all the time that you eat like it's your job.  You stuff food into your mouth almost to the point of choking.  


One time you bit your lip while eating. You puffed up like you were going to wail but you didn't.  You just whined, stuck out your lip for a second as if to say "Ouch that hurt. You should pity me", and kept on eating.  


Another time we were at the splash park with some of the kids from Mama Jane's house.  You were eating some dry cereal while sitting in your blue car. One of the kids pushed you into one of the sprinklers.  You sat there in your car, blinking wildly while water sprayed you in the face, and kept on eating. 


All very impressive.


Clearly you love to eat.  Table manners, on the other hand, only get in the way of your feasting. I love how you hold the spoon but show little interest in using it.  You took a few bites with the spoon, but your hands are your preferred method of choice.  


Love,
Mommy

Yogurt

Dear Babies,


You both love yogurt. You will eat any flavor at any time.  So it should not be a surprise that Noah tried to mooch some of Layla's yogurt.  The real surprise should be that she actually shared.


Love,
Mommy

Nono and the Walker

Dear Noah,


I've tried not to do it.  I didn't want to be that kind of parent.  But I can't help it.  It's just too hard to not compare you with LB. 


I find myself looking at your pictures and then her pictures from when she was the same age.  I stare at them looking at every tiny detail.  Daddy showed me that I can select several pictures then click my space bar and the pictures will pop up.  Then I can flip back and forth from picture to picture using the track pad.  It's slightly obsessive.  


I've compared milestones too - rolling over, crawling, sleeping through the night, eating solid food. LB has you beat in some areas and you have her beat in others. 


Who will win the walking contest??  That is yet to be decided.  LB was using the walker pretty regularly at 10 months, but you've only recently started to use it at almost 12 months. Point to Layla.  She started walking at 15 months.  Time to get to it.


Love,
Mommy

Mommy's School

Dear Kiddos,


I think the week before teachers return to school should be called "Take Your Children to Work Week".  You'd think that the 5 days before kids show up would be enough time to set-up a classroom, but that thinking is beyond wrong.  Way beyond wrong.  Pre-planning week is usually filled with meetings, professional development, registration, chatting, and lunches out because we never get to do that.  Therefore teachers usually go to school ahead of time to have everything ready to go. And they usually bring their kids. It's "Take Your Children to Work Week".  Someone should really make that official.


Our TYCWW started on Monday.  In the 3 hours we were in "Mommy's Boom" I was able to place all the furniture around the room.  We are always told, nah, nagged, to not drag the furniture on the freshly polished floors.  We are told to wait for a custodian to come by with a dolly. In my 8, now 9, years of teaching, I've never seen a custodian with a dolly or seen a teacher wait.  Teachers drag the furniture.  I did it and I'll do it again next year.  Those floors are going to get messed up anyway.  Deal with it.


Tuesday was mainly unpacking.  My room has wooden lockers and I stuffed each and every locker with teacher junk at the end of school last year.  Again, we stayed at school for about 3 hours.  


You both were exceptionally good.  I made sure to have plenty of snacks and I let you play with my classroom things.  It's amazing how pencil cups and chairs and things like that can entertain two small children.  The only problem happened on Tuesday.  I was talking with another teacher when I heard Layla cry out, "Pip-pops wet"!  Layla had an accident.


I let you skip school on Wednesday to go play with your friends at the splash park.  I can't believe I let you cut class on TYCWW! I should feel ashamed. :)


On Thursday you got the day off again to stay with Omi and Poppi! Skipping twice in one week?! Shameful. . . . but I went to school and got so much done. My companion that day was my hot glue gun.  That's another thing we are nagged about - don't use hot glue on the walls.  I don't care. I do it anyway. It's really the only thing that let's you stick stuff to concrete walls without it peeling off before Labor Day. 


We went back to school on Friday.  We didn't stay long since I had only had a few things to do.  But I did remember to take my camera.  I had to capture TYCWW!  I love how excited Nono was to sit in the chairs and how LB played peek-a-boo in the lockers.  

Love,
Mommy

First Day of Gymnastics

Dear Layla,


For as long as I've known Daddy, he has always said that his kids will not play soccer.  He thinks it's boring.  I think it's adorable to watch a bunch of 6 year olds chase the ball like a swarm of mosquitos.  At that point, it's not really soccer anyway. I say that my kids can play anything they want.


Today you started gymnastics.  You didn't have a choice in the matter, but I think you liked it.  One day when you are old enough you will tell us what activities you want to participate in, but for now you will just do what we want to watch you do.  

And I will always choose the stuff that looks adorable.


Love,
Mommy

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Panties

Dear Layla,


One of my goals for this summer is to get you potty trained.  We've been really working on it for a few days now.  I say, "really working on it" because you've used the potty for months now, but you haven't really mastered things yet. Most of the time you have just a little accident in your Pull-Up and then finish peeing on the potty.  Is that too much detail?!  Oh well. 


I'm hoping that your new panties will help do the trick. They have princesses on them!  What little girl doesn't just love princesses?  And to be really real, I'm sure that there are plenty of boys that like princesses too.


Love,
Mommy

Folding Sheets

Dear Layla,


It took me years to learn how to fold a fitted sheet.  Learning how to tuck one corner into the other, then all the corners into one, and folding everything into a neat square is ridiculous.  When I was first learning how to do it, I would skip the whole corner tucking dumbness and go straight to the folding step and hope Ya-Ya wouldn't notice. :)  


Now I can fold laundry without having to cheat. Do I think it's a super fun chore? No. Do I think you think folding laundry is super fun? Yes. Yes, I do. 


You actually love folding laundry.  You take whatever it is that you are folding, roll it into a ball and applaud yourself.  You often yell, "I do it" when I try to fix it.  


Hmmmm, rolling laundry into a ball kinda sounds like cheating. I guess great minds think alike. 


Love, 
Mommy

Curtains

Dear Layla,


It's still surprising to me the everyday, ordinary things that you use as toys.  Well, on second-thought, I think I should rephrase.  I'm still surprised that I get surprised when you use everyday, ordinary things as toys.  


(Author's note: I wrote, rewrote, read and reread that last sentence at least seven times.)


This summer I decided to take on the project of painting all the trim in the house.  It's a looooonnnnnng project.  It takes a while to prep, paint, and put the room back together when there are two little kiddos in the house.  Last night I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning to paint the living room.  I knew I needed to do it all in one night because there are NO WAY that I would be able to do any painting while you and Noah were awake and nap time would not give me enough time to do anything productive.  When I went to bed, I left all the furniture and toys in the middle of the room.  


You thought having the living room is disarray was wonderful.  You especially loved running behind the couches while yelling at the top of your lungs.  You also loved playing with the curtains.  You must have done this curtain thing for ten minutes, but I only managed to video the last few times because I couldn't find my camera in time.  I missed all the times that you made Noah laugh and your sly smile where you know that you are doing something naughty.


Love,
Mommy

Bananas

Dear Layla and Noah,


Back when I was in high school and college, Jackass was a popular television show.  It was so popular, in fact that they got several movie gigs.  Basically it was a group of idiot guys doing a bunch of idiot stuff.  Stuff that hurt.  Stuff that was gross.  Stuff that was socially unacceptable.  I didn't really get it.  Watching some dude willingly getting kicked in the groin isn't funny so I didn't watch it.  


However, I did catch a prank they pulled on some unknowing participants that were eating outside on the patio of a restaurant.  The patio was right beside a stop sign and on a very steep street. The idiots drove a hearse up to the restaurant and stopped at the sign.  While stopped, the back of the hearse flew open and out rolled the coffin.  Can you imagine everyone's reaction to a coffin rolling down the street?! The idiots had a camera set-up across the street of the patio to capture the people's reaction.  Their faces were awesome.  So awesome that I am giggling as I think and write about it. 


Watching you two eat a banana makes me think of Jackass.  It is totally disgusting.  You both insist on stuffing the banana into your mouth making you gag and banana goo gets everywhere.  I'm still in disbelief that I actually recorded the disgustingness.  I'm sure the Jackass idiots would be impressed.


Love,
Mom

Beach Trip 2012

Dear Layla and Noah,


Daddy and I tried to take you two to the beach during Labor Day weekend 2011.  We packed up the car, made arrangements to stay at one of Jay's (Daddy's stepdad) beach condos, and drove to Gulf Shores.


It was a disaster.  A tropical storm came in that exact weekend and rained-out our plans.  I was beyond bummed.  At one point in the weekend, the rain stopped so we drove across the street from the condo and looked at the beach.  That's right - LOOKED at it.  Daddy and I showed you the giant waves and white sand. 


In June 2012, you both finally got your chance to experience the beach when we went to Jacksonville to visit Ya-Ya and Poppa.  You both enjoyed the sand, but the water was a different story.  Layla loved digging and trying to fill the wagon with sand.  Noah just enjoyed eating it. :) It wasn't until we were ready to leave that y'all decided that the water was a fun place to play.  Layla started to enjoy the tugging feeling of the water as the waves went back out.  She thought it was so funny!


I'd call the trip a success!


Love,
Mommy

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Slides (Year 2)

Dear Layla,


Last spring I posted a video I took of you and Poppa playing on the slides on March 20, 2011 titled "Slides and Swings". Go back and watch it before watching this one.


I will wait. . . . . .


Watched it? Okay good. Let's move on to present day.


In this video you went down the slide all by yourself while Noah and I watched and cheered! What a difference a year makes! You did the slide several times, and once, while I wasn't watching, you did the twisty slide. Brave girl!


Love,
Mommy

Tacos, It's What's For Dinner

Layla,


When I was pregnant with you, I ate Mexican food all the time. I loved it. I even thought you might be born on Cinco de Mayo.  Not surprisingly, you love Mexican food. I am shocked when you repeatedly dip a chip into the salsa bowl and lick the salsa off. 


In this video, you request your favorite food - tacos!!


Love,
Mommy

Cranberries

Dear Layla,


Once a week we receive a shipment of meats, veggies, and fruits from West Wind Farms in Knoxville.  It is always a surprise for what we will get.  Sometimes we get great things like big turkey thighs, carrots, or sweet potatoes. Sometimes we get not-so-great things like kale, greens, and other stinky things.  There's really nothing you can do but work with what you are given. 


For the record, when we get nasty tasting things, I give it away.  I'd rather someone else use it then it go bad sitting in my fridge.


Last week we got a bag of fresh cranberries.  I had no idea what to do with them. I looked up recipes in my favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman and nothing sounded good. 

The best idea that I could think of for the cranberries was to dry them to make homemade Craisins.  I love packaged Craisins and the recipe that I found online seemed simple enough to try. 


BUT, before I could start the drying process, I let you try one. Yes, I'm evil like that. You spit it out, of course. And I recorded it, of course.


Love, 
Mommy

Licking the Spoon

Dear Noah,

After having some peaches one night, you got really upset. I thought you were hungry for more food, but it turns out that you were only wanting to lick the spoon.  Since that day, I always let you lick the spoon after eating your dinner.  


Love,
Mommy

Come Here Noah!

Dear Noah, 


You are not crawling.  You are not even sitting up really well yet.  But none of that is stopping you from getting around.  I watched you rollover several times in a row to get from one end of the living room to the other end.  It was amazing and I'm still upset that I didn't catch it on camera. 


In this video, you are attempting a new method of moving.  I guess it could best be described as "wiggling".  You don't get very far, but you have fun trying!


Love,
Mommy

All Done

Dear Layla,


One morning a few weeks ago, a radio station was talking about how restaurants and stores are starting to ban children.  They claim that children are too messy, too noisy, and too much trouble.  It might sound surprising, but I can see their point.  Kids are all those things. The key is that parents are supposed to teach their children how to behave in public places. 


To date, Daddy and I have only had to "take you outside" once.  You were 6 or 7 months old, tired, and cranky.  Daddy took you outside and walked you around the parking lot until you calmed down.  It felt like an hour, but it probably wasn't even half of that.


It's been one of my pet peeves for years now to see parents leave behind huge messes made by their children. We went out to Sunday lunch after church a few weeks ago and I saw a family leave a monster-sized mess at the table.  The worst part was the floor: it looked like the two children had thrown more food on the floor than they ate. The parents just left it there. They left it there for someone else to clean.  It just bothers me. More than once I've knelt down and wiped up things with a napkin when you've dropped food on the floor. Daddy and I have had waitresses and waiters tell us not to worry about any of your messes, but I do worry about it. I can't help it. 


Daddy and I are working really hard at teaching you how to behave at the table, especially in restaurants.  We want you to sit, not stand, in your chair. We want you to eat with your fork and spoon.  We want you to wipe your mouth and hands when you are done.  We want you to have fun and enjoy your meal. We aren't a bunch a tyrants for crying out loud! :) 


In this video you do something that I have never taught you. I don't know where you learned it, but my guess is at Mama Jane's house. It's become your after-dinner routine.  While I start cleaning the dishes, you push in all the chairs and bring me your plate.  It's cute. And, as a bonus, it's good manners. 


Love,
Mommy

Peek-a-boo!

Dear Noah and Layla,


Who doesn't love a game of peek-a-boo?! It's difficult to say which is cuter: Noah laughing or the way Layla says "peek-a-boo"?


Love,
Mommy

Flowers in the Winter

Dear Layla and Noah,


I can't believe the daffodils have already bloomed!! They've been out for weeks now and I have been itching to do a little photo shoot with them.  Today was the day! Noah, you were more interested in crunching the dry leaves.  Layla, you were ran from flower patch to flower patch, picking several of them. 


We managed to get a few great shots, but my favorites are of you two sitting in the front seat of the car.  I giggle each time I look at them. 


Love,
Mommy

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Valentine's Day

Dear Layla and Noah,


Right after Christmas, like literally the day after Christmas, I found the most adorable matching outfits for Valentine's Day.  I was so excited about them!! I imagined dressing the two of you in the sweet outfits and getting a great, frame-able picture. 


It was a lot harder than I had anticipated.


Love,
Mommy

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Hair-Do!

Dear Layla,


People always comment about your hair.  Sometimes they talk about how long it is, or how you have such pretty curls, or how you have great volume.  I've even been told that you look like you are wearing a wig because you have so much hair. :)


One of your favorite things is to have me blow-dry your hair.  Nevermind the fact that your hair is always bone dry when my dryer is out.  I think you just like feeling the wind in your hair.


Love, 
Mommy


P.S. - The loud noise in the background is Daddy in the shower.  Just ignore that.

Getting Dressed

Dear Layla,

I've been trying to teach you how to put on your pants on for a few days now.  If "pulling up your pants" means grabbing them at the leg openings and yanking them up to your knees, then you have already succeeded.  

Love,
Mommy

Noah is One-Half!

Dear Noah,


You are officially 1/2! Happy 6 months Little Man! 

To celebrate, we took you to Muddy's Bake Shop for your first ever cupcake.  I just love that place.  They are a local bakery with a great atmosphere.  They sell a variety of desserts, coffee, Coke in glass bottles, and other goodies.  My favorite cupcake is the Pucker Up.  It's lemon cake with lemon icing and surprisingly it's not super lemony.  


They were all sold out of the Pucker Up cupcakes when we got there so I ended up with a Prozac (chocolate cake/chocolate icing) and you got a Classic (vanilla cake/chocolate icing).  


You were not impressed. Perhaps next time you will need to try a Plain Jane (Vanilla/Vanilla) or a Capote (Chocolate/vanilla) or a Grasshopper (chocolate/peppermint) or a Chocodoodle (chocolate/cinnamon brown sugar) or . . . or. . . . oh, who am I kidding???  We will eventually find you favorite even if it means tasting many, many cupcakes.

And that is NOT a bad thing.

Love,

Mommy

Foot Fight

Dear Noah,


Noah, you have always been a kicker. Even when I was pregnant with you, you were kicking.  And kicking hard.  One time you kicked so hard that my shirt moved. 


You are still kicking. Mama Jane says that you "ride a bike" all day. Ya-ya says that your legs are "always just a-going". I say that you are "running a race".  However you put it, your legs can't seem to stay still. 


There will be many times in the future that you will copy Layla, but for now, she is copying you. She has learned to splash and kick from watching you in the bathtub.  When both of you get going, I call it a foot fight.  It's kinda like the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos but with warm, soapy bath water where I need a poncho like they give to the people on the front row of the Shamu show.


Love,
Mommy

You Gotta Fight. . .

Dear Noah,

I like to keep things light and fun here in Blogland, but it's time to get a little serious. . .

You woke up Sunday morning with nasty goop coming out of your eyes.  No fever.  No other symptoms.   Just goopy eyes.  We thought it was just a cold. No biggie. And definitely not pink eye.

Your eyes got worse on Monday at daycare.  When I picked you up and saw your crusty eyes, I knew I needed to call the doctor.  I described your eyes to the nurse, she said it sounded like pink eye, and called in eye drops to our pharmacy.

The more I thought about things, the more uncomfortable I got.  It just didn't seem right to give my 5 month old baby medicine without having been seen by a doctor.  I also had a feeling that something else might also be wrong since you had two restless nights.  So, I called the doctor back to make an appointment.

The nurse that answered my call didn't seem to agree with me.  She didn't see any need for you to be seen, especially that night. She even told me that I should just wait until the morning.

That whole conversation really pissed me off!! Your health and well-being was my number one priority. All I wanted was for a medical professional (nurse, doctor, physician's assistant, whatever) to see you so, why did she give me such a hard time? Why did she smirk when I told her that I wanted you to be seen before giving you medicine?? WHY???

Even though it turned out that you did have pink eye, I was super glad that I fought to get you into that doctor's office.  You also had an ear infection.

Love,
Mommy

These pictures were taken Tuesday afternoon. It's amazing the difference eye drops and a little amoxicillin can do for a sick little guy!

Dishwasher Cleaner-Outer

Dear Layla,


I know it's not a real word, but you are a great dishwasher cleaner-outer. 


I have always considered unloading the dishwasher as a one-person job. Boy was I wrong! You love to help! You love to take the clean item off of the rack, hand it to me, and watch as I put it away. Your favorite part is closing the dishwasher door. You've been doing that for months now.


It might take me twice as long to empty the dishwasher, but it's worth it!


Love,
Mommy

Self-Esteem

Dear Layla,

"I Like Myself" is a song that I teach my First graders at school.  The lyrics are:
I like myself (clap, clap, clap, clap)
I like myself (clap, clap, clap, clap)
I like my hair (pretend to flip your hair over your shoulder)
I like my chin (touch your chin)
I like my skin I'm all wrapped in (give yourself a hug)

I like myself (clap, clap, clap, clap)

I like myself (clap, clap, clap, clap)

It's been stuck in my head lately, so you've heard it quite a few times during bath time. Sometimes you listen and smile, other times you completely ignore me and do your own thing. Tonight you proved that you are starting to learn the song when you would hug yourself when I said, "I like myself".  

It's so much fun to watch you learn and even more miraculous when I am able to capture it on video.  There's even a little "bonus" footage of you trying to put your shoe on and giving yourself applause. 

It's really too bad that everyone can't have such high self-esteem like you do.

Love,

Mommy

Gettin' Dizzy With It

Dear Layla,


Sometimes you play so quietly and intensely that it kinda freaks me out.  The house seems too quiet then nervous feelings rush through me and I think, "Where is she and what kind of mess is she making?"


Just the other day I found you sitting in the corner of the living room "reading" books.  There must have been ten books all around you.  You sat there for at least 30 minutes just looking at the pictures, turning the pages back and forth, and talking to the characters.  It was very cute.


And then there are times like in this video. Wow! You make us laugh!


Love, 
Mommy


P.S. - Just ignore the fart conversation at the end. I could have edited that part out, but it's true: Calvin is a very gassy dog. There's no need to ignore the truth.