They Grow Up So Fast

I have to update everyone on Lyla. I usually just post pictures and don't really tell you what she's up to. Mostly, Lyla is talking, she even says some sentences. Her cutest sentences are:

• "Are you OK?"
• "I'm OK."
• "My name is Lyla."
• "I need to hold you."
• "I hug you."
• "I need cow." (her lovey)
• "I need to pee" or "I need to poop"

She is talking up a storm. Speaking of the last sentence, I have always said that I wouldn't bother potty training Lyla until she shows many signs of being ready, because I see absolutely no reason to rush potty training because I hear it's no fun. However, Lyla has started wanting to sit on the adult toilet a few times a day. I got tired of holding her up there, so I finally went yesterday and bought her two potties, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. She hasn't "gone" in them yet, but is logging many minutes on them. We're taking it slow, but at least we have a proper seat for her now.

Lyla loves to be outside especially at the playground. She loves to climb and go down slides. She can go down most slides without any help, just a reminder to sit on her bottom. Sidewalk chalk and bubbles are also a big hit. Nana and Papa came to visit last weekend and I think the three of them were outside for three hours straight Saturday. That's pretty impressive since we live in a townhouse and barely have a yard.

Lyla is currently working on her top canine teeth. They are starting to pop through but it's a slow process. After that, we have the bottom canine teeth to go and the 2 year molars. I can't wait until she has a full set of baby teeth.

Lyla's all time favorite cartoon is Dora. She gets so excited when it comes on, she sings the intro song "D D D D D Dora." She knows all the characters: Dora, Boots, Backpack, Map and Swiper. She loves when Swiper makes his appearance and she tells him "No, no no Swiper" or she says "Swiper no swiping" like Dora says. Other favorites are Olivia, Max & Ruby and Yo Gabba Gabba.

She is growing up so fast, and I was reminded in my Mommy group this morning to cherish my days with Lyla because they will go by fast. She is going to be 18 and off to college before I know it.

Lyla's New BFF

Lyla has a new BFF. Anna Claire is in our Stroller Strength class, MOPS nursery, and My Gym class. So Lyla and Anna Claire have become fast friends. AC came over for the afternoon and I got some adorable pictures of them playing in the kitchen and hugging each other.

Lyla is Sweet & Sassy

Lyla got her third and best haircut yesterday. She sat in the chair all by herself the whole time and even let her hairdresser blowdry her hair. That was the first time she agreed to the blowdryer. Note to moms, haircuts are a lot more fun with a lollipop, which comes with a haircut at Sweet & Sassy.

Lieutenant Commander Morrow

Tommy was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on December 30th!! We are all so proud of him! His parents came to Jacksonville for the ceremony. Tommy's birthday was the next day on New Year's Eve, so they stayed and celebrated his b-day and let us go out for New Year's Eve. Thank you Papa and Nana.

Commander Garber, Tommy's Skipper administered the oath. Tommy's mom and I pinned on his new rank.

Lyla was at the ceremony and did great! She had a blast seeing where her Daddy works.
Lyla checking out Daddy's new pins.

Lyla took a few spins in Daddy's desk chair.

Inside the helicopter.

Tommy showed Lyla all the helicopters from inside the hangar.

This is my new favorite picture of Tommy and Lyla. They were inside the hangar and Tommy's dad went outside and took a picture of them. Lyla looks so happy.

After the ceremony we had lunch at Mojo's, our favorite barbeque restaurant in Jacksonville. Maybe that's because the owner is from NC and knows how to cook real barbeque!! They even have Sundrop and Cheerwine.

Our Christmas Card

We had Sarah Eddy, one of my friends sister-in-laws, take Lyla's Christmas pictures. We used three of the pics for our Christmas card. I loved all of the pictures and hope we can get her to take more in the future.

Our Christmas Celebrations

Our Christmas celebration lasted an entire week this year. Tommy, Lyla and I celebrated our family Christmas the Saturday before Christmas. We didn't want to take all of our presents to NC and it's important to me to celebrate at our house, so we treated that Saturday as if it was really Christmas. Santa brought Lyla's gifts the night before, we got up and opened presents and stockings and had a special pancake breakfast. Then we played most of the day. It was great. I'm not sure how many years we can do this without Lyla asking questions, but I guess we will come up with something to help her understand.

Here is Lyla with all of her gifts from Santa. She got a Fisher Price kitchen. There is another level to the kitchen that we will add when she gets taller. So far she loves it and she plays with it while I cook in my kitchen. She also got a backpack with her name on it, stickers, books, DVD's, bubbles, tree ornaments, markers, crayons and coloring books. She played with the stickers most of the morning. Tommy also received and ornament, so here they are putting their ornaments on our tree. We usually have a full size Christmas tree, but Tommy was gone most of December and I wasn't sure how Lyla would do with the tree. I didn't want to fight that battle by myself all month, so we just put up the top of our tree. Lyla did pretty good with the trees at other people's houses, so we will put up the big tree next year for sure.

Here are Tommy and Lyla's new ornaments. Hers is the block with the L on it and Tommy's is the one that says "Daddy, the first man I ever loved. ~ Lyla." Isn't she the sweetest! Here I am with my presents. I mostly got workout gear for Christmas this year. Tommy and Lyla got me Lulu Lemon workout pants, jacket and water bottle. If any of you have any Lulu Lemon gear, you know it is sooooo comfy and wonderful. I wish I could afford more of it. I also got snowflake earrings, bath gels and some treats such as Peterbrooke's Chocolate Covered Popcorn. Good thing I plan to workout!! Tommy got new speakers for our entertainment center, a sweater, dress shirt, Croakies, and candy. He will be thrilled that I put this picture on my blog, but I had to show what we all got for Christmas, right?We left for NC Tuesday, the 22nd. Our first stop was Tommy's parents house in Kings Mountain. On the 23rd we celebrated Christmas with Tommy' parents, sister, her husband and kids. Unfortunately Lyla barely slept the first night we were there, so she was not herself. She did enjoy opening her presents and playing, but she was sleepy and and a bit grumpy that day too. She had fun with her cousins Lexi and Max.
Nana and Papa Morrow gave Lyla these bunny slippers. They are so cute on her.

They also gave her Wonder Pets mega blocks. Lyla loves the Wonder Pets and will actually sing a little of the Wonder Pets song.
Here is our 2009 Family picture. Lyla, Lexi (our niece), Max (our nephew), Keith (Tommy's dad), Tommy, me, Kathryn (Tommy's sister), Jeff (Kat's husband) and Avis (Tommy's mom). I think it's one of our best pictures yet. The secret was that we remembered to take it before we started opening presents, so the kids weren't tired yet.
We went to Tommy's parents church for a Christmas Eve service, then we headed to the Morrow's (Tommy's grandparents) to eat and open presents. They have an organ that Lyla enjoyed playing with her Nana.Lyla had a blast that night. She let most people hold her and played really hard. Here she is with her Great Grandpa Morrow.

Lyla is watching her Great Grandma Morrow open a present from her. We spent Christmas morning at Tommy's parents house. We took one present from Santa for Lyla to open that morning, a Fisher Price CD player. On Christmas day, we traveled in the pouring rain to Durham to visit my family. Our first stop was Grandma and Grandpa Watson's house. Lyla and cousin Logan enjoyed playing Grandma's piano. We played the Chinese Christmas game and had so much fun playing with the kids.

The next morning we got up and went to Uncle Tommy and Aunt Judy's for breakfast. Here is a picture of my mom, my sister-in-law Kelli with her baby Skylar, my Grandma, me, and Lyla. It's our four generation picture. This is my favorite picture of the day. Me with my niece Skylar. Isn't her hat the cutest?

Next stop, my brothers house in Raleigh to open presents with them and my parents.

Lyla got so tired, but didn't want to lay down in the pack n play. She did manage to get herself into Skylar's bouncy seat so she could rest. I think it's funny that her feet touch the ground. It's amazing how big she's gotten.

Papa had to hold his two granddaughters a lot. Lyla was jealous whenever he held Skylar so she would climb in his lap too.Our last celebration was at my Grandma George's house where we opened presents with my Dad's side of the family. There are six kids on this side of the family so we always have a great time.We finished it off with a family picture.

Grayson's 1st Birthday Party - 12/13/09

Our neighbors little boy turned one on December 13th. His parents had his party at "My Gym" which is a gym for babies and toddlers. Lyla was a little cautious at first, but as you can see in the pictures, once she warmed up to it she had a blast.

Lyla loved climbing onto the trampoline, but she hasn't yet accomplished jumping into the air. I hear most kids do that when they turn 2. When they brought out Thomas the train, Lyla was the first to ride. I think she thought she should be the only to ride. She kept running up to it to get on. Maybe we should get one of these at home.This was so cool. It's a little airplane on a zipline so the kids could fly across the room. The first few times across Lyla had a concerned look on her face, but her last time across she finally started to smile and didn't want to get out.Lyla on the swing.Grayson came out in style while "Bad to the Bone" was playing. Grayson had his very own Monkey cake and all the other kids had cupcakes. Grayson knew exactly what to do with his cake. Everyone enjoyed the cake, and the monkey theme was a hit!

Thanks for inviting Lyla. She had a blast! We are so fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors who have a baby so close to Lyla's age. Nothing like a spur of the moment playdate.