Best big brother EVER!!

"I yuh you, sistuh!"

Timothy really is a fantastic big brother.  I was so worried about how he was going to behave towards Lyla when we brought her home, but he is nothing short of amazingly loving and sweet with her.  He is totally protective and possessive of her, calling her "our baby" and "NOT your baby!" when he talks to people about her, and most mornings he comes over and gently strokes her head and says, "Aww, he's so cute!" (and yes, I meant to write "he's" hehe), or "I yike sistuh!"  And, as evidenced above, he likes kissing her. 

Seeing the sweet little bond forming between them makes my heart swell, and I think I love them a million times more than I ever thought possible before Lyla was born!  And to any of you considering having a second baby, but are worried that you couldn't possibly love another the way you love your first, don't.  Don't give it another thought, because you won't have to split the love you already feel between the two; no, instead, that love will grow to epic proportions and you will love each of them that much more. I promise.

Lyla Mae, 16 weeks old

Smiley girl

Boy, oh boy, has little Miss L been up to quite a lot in the last couple of weeks!  She has discovered her tongue, which means that she is trying to taste anything and everything that comes in close proximity to her face, or that she can grab and pull into her mouth.  She is also spitting and blowing raspberries quite a bit, which is decidedly cuter than when her brother does it!  She will also often stick her little tongue out when she smiles, which is just adorable. 

She still has not fully rolled over, but she almost has the mechanism of how to do it down.  She crosses one leg over the other and pulls herself in that direction, but she hasn't figured out that she needs to get her arm out of the way to flip over.  I don't think she's too motivated to do it, though, because she can pretty much scoot herself in every direction while on her back, so she's able to get at things that have captured her fancy in that manner.  I also think that her very (adorable) bulky cloth diapers are probably hindering her mobility a bit, and she doesn't get to play on the floor quite as much as Timothy did at this stage because of flying blocks, balls, trains and cars - courtesy of the doting big brother, himself.  Either way, I'm not concerned, and it's quite nice to be able to put her down for a minute or two to change laundry, or whatnot, and come back to find her in the same place.

She's also vocalizing a LOT more - even when she's supposed to be eating!  She is making a "brrrrrrrr" sound a lot, but she's also moving on to making vowel sounds that are more controlled and sound more like words (i.e. "aaahhhhh, ooooohhh, etc.) than just random tests of the vocal chords. 

One of my favorite things, though, these days is her extreme interest in Billy and Timothy.  Although I absolutely love being her sun, moon, earth and stars, it is so sweet to see her watching her brother so intently, and being so overjoyed by silly little things he does. She's enjoying spending time with papa, as well, and since she's spacing out her feedings a bit, this is ever-more possible. 

Ahh, such an accomplished little lady!  (And yes, time is passing much too quickly for this mama!)

Halloween preview

Could we be any cuter??

Lyla Mae, 15 weeks old

Lyla Mae, 14 weeks old

My li'l cuties

 

Lyla Mae, 3 months old

Our sweet little girl, 1/4 of a year old already!! So, what's new, you ask? Well, she's continuing to spend more time awake during the day, but amazingly, she's still a solid little sleeper at night.  She's very active - she loves to play on her Gymini mat, and she scoots off the mat or turns herself all the way around when she's down there for a few minutes.  She's also getting very good at grasping toys, and she seems to decide which one she wants and then moves towards it until she can reach it.  No rolling yet, but she gets onto her side by using her legs as a lever, so it probably won't be too long.  I have no idea how much she weighs, but she's got several rolls (something we never experienced with Timothy!) and she's a champion nurser, so I'm sure it's a lot. ;)

She's also vocalizing a lot more.  She still does her sweet little owl baby sounds, but is also doing some funny gurgling sounds, a little bit of yelling, and she's also starting to laugh!  I found a ticklish spot on her a couple of days ago, and I've been enjoying making her laugh.  She's also mimicking us a lot more - she'll shake her head "no" if we do it to her, and she will also imitate sounds as if we were conversing. She's also starting to blow spit bubbles, but I'm not sure if that's on purpose yet.

All in all, she's the sweetest, happiest little baby I've ever met.  I can't believe we ever thought Timothy was a mellow kid - compared to Lyla, he was a whirling dervish from the get-go! :)

More work time

Apparently Timothy is a Jack of all trades.

I'm wohkin' on the pewter

I'm goin wohk.  I'll make dinnuh for you when I get home.

She's got The Look

This one, I will take credit for.  We call it The Look. (Cue dramatic music.)

Little thumb-sucker

She's most definitely a thumb-sucker, and I have it on good authority that she didn't get this trait from my side.  Let's just hope she stops before she's 8. ;)

Touristy Fun

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to San Francisco for a thank you luncheon with the National Marrow Donor Program.  The lunch was at Neptune's Palace on Pier 39, and they validated our parking for 3 hours, so we decided to do the tourist thing and just walk around the pier and then up to Ghiradelli Square.  We couldn't have asked for a better day, weather-wise! 

Self-portrait at Ghiradelli

View from Ghiradelli

Lyla, of course, was with us while Timothy had a blast playing with gwapa Bisto for the day. It was really fun! I think the last time that we went to the city together was in 2006, which means that Timothy has never been there.  We'll definitely have to remedy that sometime, but since he's not quite as portable as he used to be (i.e. he wants to actually walk everywhere himself!) it's not as simple as bundling little Lyla up in her sling and going wherever we want to go.  Maybe we'll stick to Tilden with him for the time being!

Lyla, pooped and taking a pacifier for the first time, on our way back to grandpa's