The past four weeks Lyla has had many accomplishments. Much to her parents joy she shared her first real smile with us at only 5 weeks old! Talk about melting your heart. We're still so tickled when she responds with a smile to our oohing and awhhing over her. Lyla has also recently shown off other newly learned skills. Just a few weeks ago she gripped her rattle and held on to it for the first time. She's also been working on her hand-eye coordination by swatting at some of her hanging toys. We've been having so much fun playing with and talking to Lyla. She's much more responsive in her communication the last few weeks. And she definitely has a voice! She loves to ooh and ahh when she's happy and playing. And when she's not so happy she has no qualms with letting you know. :)
At 7 weeks old, Lyla slept in her own nursery room for the first time - and did great! Mom and dad were, of course, delighted to have their room back. We were free to read before bedtime, put laundry away, and walk around without tip-toeing. I will say though that the first night I almost bailed on the whole plan. I felt so bad with my baby girl sleeping all by herself in a big dark room :( I got over it though! Some other firsts that we've seen: Lyla attended her first
play group with mom a few weeks ago. I got to meet and hang out with some other moms while Lyla got to be around some other babies. She also worked on her first craft! With the help of some friends, I painted little Lyla's hand red so that she could make a hand-print for Daddy's Valentine's Day card. She was a real trooper and Daddy loved his card! Lyla has had alot of fun looking at her reflection in the mirror and talking to the baby she sees. And she has recently found a lot of amusement in watching Molly, our dog, howl and wag her tail. You have to wonder what she thinks of that strange creature :)
And one thing we're very grateful for is the fact that she's been sleeping through the night for the past three weeks. She'll usually go down between 8 and 8:30pm and won't wake until somewhere between 4 and 5pm.Trust me - I know we're lucky! She's also been pretty consistently taking a long nap during the day - which mommy is really thankful for. That way I can catch a nap or get some of my own projects done. Thank you baby girl!
All in all, we're just having a wonderful time being at home together. I know how lucky I am to be able to stay at home with Lyla. For many moms, they'd just be getting ready (if not already) to return to work. I just can't imagine having to leave Lyla for several hours every day. So, I know how abundantly blessed I am to have this opportunity. And I'm grateful for it every day.
It's been almost a month since Michael went back to work full-time. He loves his job and is incredibly fortunate to work for such an amazing man! Steve has been such a blessing in Michael's life, and therefore has blessed my life and our marriage. He's been an incredible mentor, in both his prof
essional life and his personal and spiritual life. Every man could hope for a relationship like this. Thank you Steve for the profound impact you've made in our lives!
Finally, Ginger and Ditty are doing well. Ditty has made a full recovery from her hip surgery that she underwent this past October. I've been so thankful for her help as we've adjusted to having a new baby in the family. At 87, she still helps cook some of the dinners, goes to the grocery store with Amanda (our caretaker), and holds Lyla a couple times a day. It's because of her I get to shower every day! As for Ginger, she has found so much joy in being a part of Lyla's life. She loves to watch her play on her activity mat when we're all hanging out together in the morning and late afternoons. With Michael going back to work (out of the house) we've hired an additional caretaker to come out on Wed. and Thurs. afternoons to help out. So far, we feel good about this new caretaker, Alisha. She's already proven to be very capable of doing the job and Ginger seems to like her a lot.
As we move into March we have a few things to look forward to:
- Our first road trip with Lyla to Dallas - my brother, Skai, turns 16 years old! Lyla gets to meet some of mommy and daddy's friends and family
- I start a new mom's group with Lyla
- Lyla starts Bath Tub Babies swim class - can you believe it?!
- Spring time - means more walks and outside time - yea!
