Ten

We are starting to have a big girl on our hands. Lyla learned to wave, stand for a few seconds on her own. She loves riding on dad's shoulders, is starting to dance a little with some of her music toys, and her love for all things electronic continues to grow. She is simultaneously starting to like more foods, and getting pickier about what she eats at the same time. We love our girl so much and her little smile lights up our lives!

Nine

This month....
Lyla cut two new teeth and started pulling herself into sitting position.
We spent lots of time with cousins for my family reunion, and attended Grandma Gyllenskog's funeral this month. She passed away in her sleep on July 12, and I'm so grateful that Lyla got the chance to meet her twice.
Lyla is loving Cheerios, sweet potatoes, and playing in the dishwasher. Lyla girl is also obsessed with her daddy. She cries when he leaves for work and gets the biggest smile on her face when he comes home. It is so fun to watch those two together.

eight months

Lyla at eight months:

Learning to pull herself up on everything

Noticing and liking animals more and more. Loves Yoda.
Loves mom, loves dad, but is never more excited than when BOTH mom and dad are around

Went swimming for the first time at Aunt Liz's pool and loved it

Loves little kids and babies. She often bursts into little laughing fits when her cousins come up to her an acknowledge her.

Got to visit Great Grandma Neda for possibly the last time. We got a 4 generation picture, and Lyla enjoyed some reading time with Grandma Jeanne.

Had her first piggy tails--so cute!

Is getting to be such a big girl. Gone are the days of my little newborn.She is learning so fast, before we know it, she is going to be a toddler! She is into everything I swear its a miracle she's still alive after all the falls/bumps she's taken, but she is also so much fun right now.

seven months

Lyla just gets more and more fun every month! Love being this girl's mom.

Lyla loves her little stuffed giraffe, affectionately known as "Jaffey".

Has started to babble a ton, usually "bahbahbah", and is FINALLY getting the hang of solids.

Got 4 new teeth this month on the top! (that was fun)

Had a very eventful day where she learned to sit up, hold her bottle, and scoot all in the same day. It is really convenient that she can feed herself now, and less convenient that she can army crawl around the house :). Still so cute to watch her grow and develop.

Got her first haircut...mom may have regretted it after but all in all it wasn't too bad.

Has a little obsession with shoes. Her shoes, Mom's shoes, Dad's shoes, stranger's shoes. She loves 'em all.

Is still our favorite girl around here :).

six months

I can't believe my baby is six months old! Honestly, where does the time go? She just gets cuter, more fun, and her little personality comes out every day. I loved her when she was born, but now I feel like I know her so much better, and just can't imagine my life without her. She is such an important part of our family and I am so grateful for our little girl.

Lyla cut two teeth this month. She wasn't even fussy about it. About a week before she cut them, I noticed that her gums were raised in the front and back like there might be some teeth there. Then a week later I could see feel the sharp little edges had broken through. She was a total champ about the whole thing.

Lyla opens and closes her little hand over everything. I think this is her trying to feel textures and things. She rapidly spreads her fingers out and touches her palm to the surface.

Kicks her little legs all the time. In her car seat, in her crib, she is always pumping them up and down whether she's on her back or her tummy.

Discovered the exersaucer this month, which has been especially awesome for me :)

Lyla says "rock on" to playing in her exersaucer

Started solids a week ago. She is still figuring out how to actually eat, but she really seems to enjoy chewing on the spoon and spitting the oatmeal cereal out of her mouth.

Always breaks her left arm out of her swaddle. She can tolerate having the right arm wrapped for a bit, but the left arm must come out immediately or she is not happy.

Lyla is such a joy to have around. I love being her mom. I love watching her grow. I can't imagine my life without my little sweetheart.

Jazz vs. Nuggets

While parents were in town, we happened to get lower bowl tickets to a jazz game. It was perfect timing because my parents could watch lyla (and American idol after she went to bed) and I was pretty excited about the prospect of a date with my husband. Until I realized the catch of the really good seats was that Todd's fed ex rep from work would be joining us. How romantic. Despite a little sulking on my part, It actually ended up being really fun, and I've since decided that this is the only way to do a jazz game. Here's hoping we get offered the tickets again next year!

Todd and I eating the free dinner before the game

J Dog tagged along with us

Free popcorn! I was loving everything about this game.

A taste of the view from our seats

Five Months

I feel like month 4 might have been the most eventful in Lyla's life thus far. At the beginning of the month, I took Lyla into the doctor. Her well check was only a week away, but she had been so fussy for weeks that I felt like either something was wrong, or I needed to know if nothing was wrong so that I could exercise a little tough love. Well, the first thing we did at the doctor's office was weigh her, and I was shocked to see that she had hardly gained any weight since her 2.5 month well check. Poor girl had only gained a few ounces in the 6 week time period and had dropped from the 20th percentile for weight to the 2nd! The doctor told us to supplement with formula and we have both been much happier ever since! At her well check less than a week later, she had already gained 7 ounces. She continues to put on weight, and is really starting to fill out.

At her doctor's visit, the pediatrician also noted that she had a little case of attachment to mom. He said that that was a little bit early, as it doesn't usually start till about 6 months. I'm glad she likes me but it definitely does make life a little harder that she doesn't like other people nearly so much. The great news is that it looks like at the end of the month she has started to pull out of it a bit. She was quite friendly and happy with the visitors we had in town, and I feel like she is finally turning into the baby we thought she would be, based on her behavior from months 0-2.

During Month 4, Lyla:

Started making this high pitched screaming/squealing noise. Sometimes it seems happy and other times mad. Sometimes it's cute and sometimes annoying :)

Lyla's first Easter Sunday

Started grabbing her toes. So cute!

Sometimes can hold her bottle by herself. Sometimes.

Laughed for the first time last month, but starting doing it a lot more this month. It is the cutest (see video for proof!).

Learned how to roll over back to front. I knew she was really close to doing it, but I had to go downstairs to send off an email. I left her on her back on her play mat, and when I came back she was on her tummy all the way over here! I was shocked that she could get so far! Now she loves to roll over and is already working on the next step: crawling. She is constantly "swimming" while she's on her tummy. I am freaking out a little bit about having a mobile baby.

Along with the rolling over, I now find her "playing" in her crib all the time. The first night after she learned how to roll, I found her like this in the morning. And every morning since.

Lyla's angel cousin Lily was also born this month. Though we wish that Lyla and Lily could have grown up together on this earth, we look forward to the day when we can see Lily again.