Sunday, August 19, 2012

Pirate Party at Imagine That!!! Museum

As part of her prize for the Cute Kid Contest, sponsered by Imagine That!!! Museum and Imene Photography, Layla was given a voucher for a birthday party with her friends.  She chose a pirate theme (big surprise!) and celebrated with five friends.  

My punk rocker pirate girl

Arr!


Pirate Dylan




Sean and Layla


Emily and (almost) big brother Brayden


Bryce and his Mommy, Whitney


Adorable Nia


Gus and Layla playing with sand and dinosaurs


Engrossed in the pirate story



Erin and Calina


Sean and Layla take their job seriously


Baby buddies


An exhausted birthday girl


Super Layla!

When Layla (and mommy!) woke up from a nap, she opened all of her gifts.  She was spoiled with beautiful clothes, tons of hands-on toys and crafts and a personalized superhero cape!  We had such a great time with Layla's friends and their respective "big people." Thank you all for helping to make Layla's birthday special!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Layla - 36 months!

Layla celebrated her third birthday this past Sunday.  Turning three seems like such a huge milestone to me.  A two-year-old is still a "baby" in my eyes, but a three-year-old is a genuine "big kid!" I can't believe how quickly these three years have passed by, yet I cannot remember life BL (Before Layla). 

Layla woke up on Sunday to a special breakfast, prepared by Daddy.  Pancakes and strawberries - yum!  Then she went downstairs where Mommy set up a crepe paper maze to her gifts and pinata.  She was excited to receive a pirate mug and alphabet puzzle, but her favorite present was her basketball hoop.

Later, Aunt Nadia stopped by for a quick visit and surprised Layla with balloons, makeup and new plastic food for her kitchen!  Ammy, Mimi and Poppy gave Layla a chef costume and cooking utensils as an early birthday gift, so I'm sure she will be doing a lot of cooking with her new stuff!



In the afternoon, we went to the Orange Avenue Pool where Layla enjoyed swimming with her cousins, uncles and Aunt Nadia, and eating a delicious pizza dinner from Tony's Pizzeria.  What a fun birthday! 

Here are some other highlights of the past month:

- Layla was given a clean bill of health at her three-year-old well visit.  She weighs a whopping 27 lbs and is 35 3/4 inches tall!  We dropped off her medical forms to Layla's preschool and are now counting down the days to her first day of school.  She also told her doctor that when she grows up she wants to be a bumblebee (hehe).

- In preparation for school, Layla and I have been familiarizing ourselves with the days of the week, weather wheel and the calendar.  Her biggest challenge is remaining attentive during this morning routine, but she sure enjoys using the dry erase crayons!

- Layla is still working on using "breakfast", "lunch", "dinner" and "tomorrow" and "yesterday" correctly.  

- She can write every letter in her name, although she often writes them from right to left. 

- Layla's favorite activity this month is any type of arts and crafts.  We made our own finger paints, which has kept us busy during Dylan's morning nap, our usual "messy activity" time.  She has also participated in arts and crafts time at the Orange Avenue Pool. 

- Layla has mastered jumping forward and backward with both feet together.

- Cousin Christian taught Layla how to rap, which she does frequently and with enthusiasm, much to her audience's pleasure.  For some reason, most of her raps begin, "I've got a belly..."

- Layla had fun swimming in Christian's kiddie pool one hot afternoon.

- Mommy set up a backyard Olympics one morning when cousins James and Jordan came over.  Layla and the boys completed the long jump, several races and an obstacle course and were awarded with hot dogs and lollipops.

- We had a very fun playdate and lunchdate with friends Erin, Gus and Calina at their lovely home.

Funny Layla Quotes:

"I peed on the ground like an animal." - (She will kill me one day for sharing this!)

(while flexing) "My elbows are strong enough!"

"Mommy, I need some peace and quiet."

"Does an octopus have hair?"

"Mom, your soda is blowing bubbles!"

"Mommy picking flowers"
National Night Out in Cranford, NJ
Playing with Daddy

We love you, Layla Rosie!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Skin Prick Test

Layla had her three-month allergist visit yesterday.  We had been mentally preparing for this appointment since the spring, because we knew that Layla's pediatric allergist wanted to conduct a skin prick test for cow's milk and egg, as she has been exhibiting signs of outgrowing those allergies.  For the past year, Layla has been able to eat baked milk and egg products without incident, which usually signals that the body may be able to outgrow the allergy.  Layla was not able to take any kind of antihistamine for five days prior to the testing, which was why were were extra vigilant with cross-contamination during our Outer Banks vacation.  She also skipped her nightly Zyrtec for seasonal allergies.

I cannot speak for Monte, but I was very surprised when Dr. M told us that he would also be testing for peanuts and treenuts.  Layla's nut allergies have only been diagnosed through blood tests, although she did have some skin reactions to peanut butter as a baby (she never injested it).  When the doctor told me his plan, my heart stopped beating for a few seconds, but I swallowed my emotions to keep it together for Layla's sake.  I fully trust her doctor and I know he would never put Layla in jeopardy, but it hard to know that your child is going to be subjected to not only the pain of the skin prick, but also the very substances that you've been avoiding like the plague for over two years!

All together, Layla was tested for almonds, cashews, egg whites, milk, peanuts, walnuts and histamines.  Let me just say that Layla is the BRAVEST little girl I have ever met! Braver than her mom, that's for sure.  Besides for saying that she was nervous before the visit, she was SUCH a trooper and didn't even flinch when she was pricked.  She was very itchy and couldn't scratch, but was happy when mommy and daddy blew on her back.  She past the time waiting for the results (20 long minutes!) by watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates on dad's phone.


Unfortunately, Layla has not outgrown any of the allergens that she was tested for.  Monte and I were a bit numb when we left the doctor's office because we had such hopes that she was doing well with milk and egg products, but we have hope that this will change in the next few years.  I hope that maybe by Layla's fifth (or eighth, or tenth....) birthday we can celebrate with pizza and ice cream! If not, that's how the nut-free cookie crumbles, I guess. 


The Outer Banks

Before our family trip to the Outer Banks, I was having some reservations.  Serious reservations that went something like this: "An eight and a half hour road trip with an infant and a toddler, to a destination that we've never traveled to before, without any help? What are we CRAZY?"  I am happy to report, though, that we had a wonderful time, thanks to a lot of preplanning and team work! 

Sometimes it really takes a vacation to bring to mind just what great partners Monte and I are.  Monte did all of the researching on the best area to stay and the best hotels in the Outer Banks.  My job was packing, scheduling and covering the basics (I swear, my family would go on vacation without clothes or food were it not for my crazy organizing and planning skills!)

Most of my energy in the week before vacation went to ensuring that the kids were occupied during the long ride.  Let me just say, thank goodness for Pinterest! I found a wealth of ideas for keeping kids entertained on long car rides.  There was one amazing blog that I would like to credit for many of the ideas that I found, but I can't find it at the moment. 

Layla and Dylan each had a bin of toys within arm's reach.  I made Layla a binder of cloth pencil cases, each with individual activities (crayons and coloring books, dry erase board and markers, car Bingo, wiki sticks, pipe cleaners, little people, stickers, etc.)  She also had Leapfrog audio books and chapter audio books, which she didn't get around to using.  I also hung a ribbon with a picture of a car on it, which we moved every hour as a visual of how much further we had to travel. 


We had a beautiful ride down along the coast, a welcomed change to our usual route of I-95. Coastal Delaware and Virginia were absolutely beautiful, and we all enjoyed driving by farmland, beaches and crossing the Chesapeake Bay during a thunderstorm!


We arrived at the Hampton Inn in Corolla, NC on Wednesday afternoon.  The last hour was a rough ride, as there is only one main road into Corolla.  Needless to say, the kids were happy to have a large hotel room to run around! We soon found out that dining out would not be part of our vacation experience, as the majority of the restaurants in the Outer Banks served seafood and we could not find a place that could safely make Layla a meal.  I cannot speak for the entire OBX community, but from my personal experience, the restaurants that we made inquiries in were not able to avoid cross-contamination issues and ran the gamut from apologetic to rude.  We were very lucky to have a kitchenette and grocery store nearby!

We spent Thursday morning playing pirates in the lazy river pool.  After a much needed nap and lunch, we ventured into the town of Duck to the Scarborough Faire shopping area where we did some window shopping and explored their toy store. 


We were at the pool bright and early Friday morning, but then left on an adventure to Currituck Heritage Park, where Layla and I climbed the Currituck Beach lighthouse.  Daddy and Dylan played in the grass while they waited for us.  We arrived only ten minutes before closing, so we had to hurry! It was a good thing that I was well-rested because I carried Layla most of the way to the top.  It was worth it, though.  What a wonderful view of the park, the sound and the ocean! I was thankful that there was another visitor at the top to take our picture. 











 
Saturday morning was spent on the Northern beach of the Outer Banks.  Driving on the sand was very different from our experiences on the flat sands of Florida!  The sand dunes made for a very bumpy ride.  Although we didn't see any of the wild ponies native to the area (and opted out of the three hour long Jeep tour), we did see crabs, fish and many dolphins playing in the waves.



In the evening, we packed up dinner for the kids, picked up some takeout for the adults, and headed back to Currituck Park for a picnic dinner.  After we ate, we took a relaxing walk on the grounds of the Whalehead Club Historic House and Museum and enjoyed reading the many markers, describing the wildlife found in the surrounding marshes and sound.









 Sunday was our last day on the Outer Banks.  We expended a lot of energy in the pool in the morning in order to tucker out our kids before heading home.  Both Layla and Dylan took nice long naps during the drive north, and fell asleep again after dinner.  We are very thankful to have been granted the opportunity to take not one, but two vacations this summer and really enjoyed the quality time with Dad! I would love to visit the Outer Banks again in the future, probably when the kids are a bit older.

To see the rest of our vacation pictures, click here.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Dylan - 9 months


What an action packed month for our little Dilly boy. If you look closely, you will notice that Dylan got not one, not two, but four of his top teeth.  Gone are the days of the gummy smiles.  Our little boy is getting so big!

 Now that he's had a taste of mobility, Dylan does not want to be contained in a crib, exersaucer or car seat.  In fact, we had to upgrade to a big boy car seat because Dylan's long legs were making for some uncomfortable car rides (and some serious back pain  for mommy from carting him around in the carrier.)  This came just in time for our road trip to North Carolina.


This month, Dylan began pulling himself to standing in his crib.  Nothing quite prepares a mom for that first time when you enter your baby's bedroom and are greeted by your little one upright!  Dylan has just begun to cruise, although his prefered mode of transportation is crawling, which he does in the traditional form.  Bye-bye, inchworm!

Speaking of bye-bye, Dylan learned to wave hello and goodbye and let me tell you, when he waves and says "HA!" with an open smile, it can make your day! He really enjoys when mommy and Layla sign to him, and he sometimes signs "milk" and "all done!" when he's had enough.  Da-da-da and ba-ba-ba are some of his favorite sounds, along with his prolonged "aaaaaaaah" which signals that it's time for a nap.


Dylan self-feeds well, and enjoys gnawing on an ear of corn, a whole piece of fruit (especially plums) or munching on mum-mums.  He has graduated to Stage 3 foods and has been known to polish off some Chef Boyardee that his sister refused to eat. 

Dylan loves remote controls and being chased and is very hesitant when mommy or daddy run the vaccum or Layla plays with her remote control car.  As much as he enjoys being on the go, Dylan is definitely my laidback, go-with-the-flow child.  He's so snuggly!