Layla took us on a crazy adventure this weekend - her baby group decided to rent a house out on Orcas Island (about a 1 hr ferry trip from Seattle) and stay together for the weekend. 7 babies (toddlers now! they are 18 months) went. Us parents thought it was a pretty crazy idea.
It turned out it was not so bad, if you don't mind not sleeping much. The house was fantastic, a large 4 bedroom with huge windows overlooking Puget Sound and a gigantic porch and yard. It had lots of great amenities for a large group like big comfy couches and two tables and a huge kitchen. It also had lots of extra beds and space. 5 babies and their families stayed in the house, one in a tent in the yard, and another got a separate cabin because his mom just had a little-tiny baby and he thought they'd want some privacy.
We learned a lot about our babies this weekend. They are all very happy kids, willing to do just about anything, go any amount of time without sleep, and play with any kind of toy. They are also very possessive right now, and want just about everything they see. A lot of the weekend was spent running interference on the best toys (a toddler-sized bike and a transformer car). They are also very good at screeching, but they understand a lot more than we think.
The favorite activity of the weekend was hanging out at the small lake in the middle of the island, which has a sandy beach and a playground and a very shallow swim hole. Layla thought it was way too shallow and demanded we go out as far as we could, as often as she could. The other babies were content to play in the sand and make sand castles. At night after the babies went to bed the moms and dads had a really good time and got to know each other better. Some of us even went to a clothing-optional hot tub nearby where there were lots and lots of naked people. We were not brave and opted for the clothing.
We took a few pictures which I will try to post if I get a chance.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Layla's new favorite books
Layla has a new list of favorite books to share with you.
Layla's new most favorite book in the whole wide world is '10 little babies.' She LOVES babies, and loves to do all the things they do in the book (drink milk, play with dogs and cats, drive around tricycles, look at fish, throw big fits, etc). She insists I read her this book at least three times a day, usually multiple times. Fortunately it's a really cute book and I don't mind.
The next book was loaned to me by another my in our baby group - her son LOVES this book and now, unfortunately, Layla does too.
This is seriously one of the hardest books I've ever read in my life. It is all about Elmo's balls. He likes big balls and small balls and footballs and juggling balls. How can you read a book like this, over and over, and 1) maintain enthusiasm and 2) maintain a straight face?? Oh Elmo, I already hate you!
The mom who introduced Layla to Elmo's Balls redeemed herself somewhat by also loaning us this book:
This book is hysterical, very simple, and somehow captivates Layla at the same level that it captivates both me and her daddy. It's about a pigeon, who wants to drive a bus, and throws a big gigantic fit when he can't. I think we can all relate to that. Mo Willems, the author, drew very cute pictures and has a lot of good dialogue in it. This is one of many awesome books he has written, and we've tried some of the others, but this is Layla's favorite.
Layla's new most favorite book in the whole wide world is '10 little babies.' She LOVES babies, and loves to do all the things they do in the book (drink milk, play with dogs and cats, drive around tricycles, look at fish, throw big fits, etc). She insists I read her this book at least three times a day, usually multiple times. Fortunately it's a really cute book and I don't mind.
The next book was loaned to me by another my in our baby group - her son LOVES this book and now, unfortunately, Layla does too.
This is seriously one of the hardest books I've ever read in my life. It is all about Elmo's balls. He likes big balls and small balls and footballs and juggling balls. How can you read a book like this, over and over, and 1) maintain enthusiasm and 2) maintain a straight face?? Oh Elmo, I already hate you!
The mom who introduced Layla to Elmo's Balls redeemed herself somewhat by also loaning us this book:
This book is hysterical, very simple, and somehow captivates Layla at the same level that it captivates both me and her daddy. It's about a pigeon, who wants to drive a bus, and throws a big gigantic fit when he can't. I think we can all relate to that. Mo Willems, the author, drew very cute pictures and has a lot of good dialogue in it. This is one of many awesome books he has written, and we've tried some of the others, but this is Layla's favorite.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
17-month update
On August 11, Layla will be 17 months. Wow!!
Here is an update:
Eating and growing: she is growing like a weed (esp in the last two weeks, she is now as tall as almost all the older boys in her baby group!) but somehow she is eating less, or at at least it seems like it - she has become pretty picky the last two months and went from eating and loving everything to carefully tasting (she sticks her tongue out to taste) and then choosing only the stuff that suits her. It's not a diverse range but it is mostly healthy stuff, like almost all fruit, peas and some other veggies, eggs, and almost anything with pasta. So, it's not so bad. But, we've started making a lot of separate meals for her to try to get her to eat more, especially if she's not eating much because she doesn't feel very well.
Talking and interacting: she's got a lot of words down now, including apple, bike, ball, car, whoa!, mine, book, eye, nose, mouth (and pointing at the parts), Layla (Yay-ya!), and she can associate animal sounds with dog ('woof! woof!), cow (moo!) and she's almost got duck (ga! ga!). She's still working on a lot of consonant sounds like "L", "S", "T", and there are a lot of words and phrases that pop out that she doesn't repeat regularly (like 'hey you guys!' 'who's that?' and 'help please!'). She can understand a LOT and I keep reminding myself to make sure to explain things to her and be careful what words I use now - she's paying close attention!
Mobility: She's almost running now, and has really gotten into CLIMBING - she climbs up everything including the jungle gym at the playground, our book cases and dressers, kitchen chairs, and anything lying around. So far she has had only had a few big falls including one from a chair that was kind of scary. She climbs boldly higher and higher though and has been giving us mini-heart attacks on a regular basis.
Favorite activities: Layla still LOVES daycare and wears herself out completely every day she's there. She has developed a great relationship with each of her teachers and even knows the teachers of the other classes so I suspect she's become quite a social butterfly there. Outside of daycare she likes everything we do as long as we keep doing different things throughout the day - our house gets way boring by about 10 am. So we spend a lot of our weekends going to park playgrounds and various social events with other kids, farmer's markets, playing with the neighbor kids, a little shopping here and there, a zoo or aquarium trip now and then, and lots of time in the backyard. Fortunately that's all pretty easy since it's so nice outside right now. The winter will be a whole new game though - and we're already starting to brainstorm some ideas for indoor fun for our little Adventurer when it gets dark and cold out.
Here is an update:
Eating and growing: she is growing like a weed (esp in the last two weeks, she is now as tall as almost all the older boys in her baby group!) but somehow she is eating less, or at at least it seems like it - she has become pretty picky the last two months and went from eating and loving everything to carefully tasting (she sticks her tongue out to taste) and then choosing only the stuff that suits her. It's not a diverse range but it is mostly healthy stuff, like almost all fruit, peas and some other veggies, eggs, and almost anything with pasta. So, it's not so bad. But, we've started making a lot of separate meals for her to try to get her to eat more, especially if she's not eating much because she doesn't feel very well.
Talking and interacting: she's got a lot of words down now, including apple, bike, ball, car, whoa!, mine, book, eye, nose, mouth (and pointing at the parts), Layla (Yay-ya!), and she can associate animal sounds with dog ('woof! woof!), cow (moo!) and she's almost got duck (ga! ga!). She's still working on a lot of consonant sounds like "L", "S", "T", and there are a lot of words and phrases that pop out that she doesn't repeat regularly (like 'hey you guys!' 'who's that?' and 'help please!'). She can understand a LOT and I keep reminding myself to make sure to explain things to her and be careful what words I use now - she's paying close attention!
Mobility: She's almost running now, and has really gotten into CLIMBING - she climbs up everything including the jungle gym at the playground, our book cases and dressers, kitchen chairs, and anything lying around. So far she has had only had a few big falls including one from a chair that was kind of scary. She climbs boldly higher and higher though and has been giving us mini-heart attacks on a regular basis.
Favorite activities: Layla still LOVES daycare and wears herself out completely every day she's there. She has developed a great relationship with each of her teachers and even knows the teachers of the other classes so I suspect she's become quite a social butterfly there. Outside of daycare she likes everything we do as long as we keep doing different things throughout the day - our house gets way boring by about 10 am. So we spend a lot of our weekends going to park playgrounds and various social events with other kids, farmer's markets, playing with the neighbor kids, a little shopping here and there, a zoo or aquarium trip now and then, and lots of time in the backyard. Fortunately that's all pretty easy since it's so nice outside right now. The winter will be a whole new game though - and we're already starting to brainstorm some ideas for indoor fun for our little Adventurer when it gets dark and cold out.
Monday, July 25, 2011
A real Bee-mergency
So, it's not such a big deal having chickens and goats and bees in your neighbors' yard, as was pointed out on my post below, except when they escape into your yard and you have a 1 and a 1/2 year old that loves getting into anything new and interesting.
But guess which one it was that got into our yard?
It was the BEES.
That's right, bees are like an adventurous dog that won't stay at home - sometimes they wander off and you have to go find them and bring them back!!
So, the Studly Hubby was at home on Friday innocently eating his lunch when he looked outside to find 10,000 bees swarming in the front yard. They were lost, and didn't know what to do! Eventually they took up residence in a tree next door.
This is a picture of the bee swarm in the tree.
That evening, a mysterious 'bee-catcher' showed up and collected most of the bees and disappeared. Later the next day, the rest of the bees disappeared.
What the heck, we wondered?
Well, a little internet research and asking around led to an unexpected story about bees and, well, babies.
Our neighbors just had a baby, and with a new baby comes a loosening of all that was once controlled, including their pet bees. When a bee hive gets too large, a new queen bee is raised and the old queen splits off with about half the workers and finds a new location. As the bees look for a new location, they don't sting and pose no threat, but they swarm together with their queen in the center and can actually easily be 10,000 bees thick. In Seattle, when your pet bees get loose, you call a 'swarm-catcher', of which there are about 20 in the city, who don't get paid but come catch the bees and take them off somewhere that needs them. Bee-catchers perform their services with a general 'save-the-bees' mentality, and obviously, we should all appreciate them more now that we know who they are!
We definitely appreciate the swarm-catchers!!
But guess which one it was that got into our yard?
It was the BEES.
That's right, bees are like an adventurous dog that won't stay at home - sometimes they wander off and you have to go find them and bring them back!!
So, the Studly Hubby was at home on Friday innocently eating his lunch when he looked outside to find 10,000 bees swarming in the front yard. They were lost, and didn't know what to do! Eventually they took up residence in a tree next door.
This is a picture of the bee swarm in the tree.That evening, a mysterious 'bee-catcher' showed up and collected most of the bees and disappeared. Later the next day, the rest of the bees disappeared.
What the heck, we wondered?
Well, a little internet research and asking around led to an unexpected story about bees and, well, babies.
Our neighbors just had a baby, and with a new baby comes a loosening of all that was once controlled, including their pet bees. When a bee hive gets too large, a new queen bee is raised and the old queen splits off with about half the workers and finds a new location. As the bees look for a new location, they don't sting and pose no threat, but they swarm together with their queen in the center and can actually easily be 10,000 bees thick. In Seattle, when your pet bees get loose, you call a 'swarm-catcher', of which there are about 20 in the city, who don't get paid but come catch the bees and take them off somewhere that needs them. Bee-catchers perform their services with a general 'save-the-bees' mentality, and obviously, we should all appreciate them more now that we know who they are!
We definitely appreciate the swarm-catchers!!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Goats or chickens anyone?
There are a few things about Seattle that have taken some getting used to (from a Midwestern girl's perspective.
First, there is water everywhere. It rains all the time, we are surrounded by lakes, ocean inlets, canals, etc (every direction from our house will lead you to water within 5 miles, and in the north or south direction within about 10 blocks). Plus, it's super hilly here so you can SEE the water from everywhere too (and mountains!!). Where I come from, this sort of thing is very unusual.
Second, you can parallel park your car in any direction on the street. This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Back home, if you didn't park in the direction of traffic you would be heavily fined. Here, they don't want people jamming up traffic trying to do tight U-turns to park so they just let you park on the wrong side in the wrong direction, no problem. It looks to me like everyone in the city was drunk when they parked their car, all the time. So strange!
Third, you can walk out in traffic any time you want. The cars will stop for you in the crosswalk, out of the crosswalk, no matter what, even if you just look like you might be thinking about walking out in traffic. I suspect this stems from a combination of the threat of heavy fines to any car that violates a pedestrian's right-of-way and a culture of extremely polite drivers. I've gotten dangerously used to this, and I'm not sure it's a good thing.
Fourth, and most bizarre: you can keep chickens, goats and bees in your backyard anywhere in the city. This means that all three of these are right in our very neighborhood - and I often see them as I walk around the block (chickens mostly, as the others are less popular and less visible). Our neighborhood has a 'neighborhood walk' tomorrow to get people out to see the bees, chickens and goats that people keep around the neighborhood - how exciting! Layla and I will have to miss, though - we already have plans to go see milk carton races up at Green Lake.
I hope everyone is having a fun July!
First, there is water everywhere. It rains all the time, we are surrounded by lakes, ocean inlets, canals, etc (every direction from our house will lead you to water within 5 miles, and in the north or south direction within about 10 blocks). Plus, it's super hilly here so you can SEE the water from everywhere too (and mountains!!). Where I come from, this sort of thing is very unusual.
Second, you can parallel park your car in any direction on the street. This is one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Back home, if you didn't park in the direction of traffic you would be heavily fined. Here, they don't want people jamming up traffic trying to do tight U-turns to park so they just let you park on the wrong side in the wrong direction, no problem. It looks to me like everyone in the city was drunk when they parked their car, all the time. So strange!
Third, you can walk out in traffic any time you want. The cars will stop for you in the crosswalk, out of the crosswalk, no matter what, even if you just look like you might be thinking about walking out in traffic. I suspect this stems from a combination of the threat of heavy fines to any car that violates a pedestrian's right-of-way and a culture of extremely polite drivers. I've gotten dangerously used to this, and I'm not sure it's a good thing.
Fourth, and most bizarre: you can keep chickens, goats and bees in your backyard anywhere in the city. This means that all three of these are right in our very neighborhood - and I often see them as I walk around the block (chickens mostly, as the others are less popular and less visible). Our neighborhood has a 'neighborhood walk' tomorrow to get people out to see the bees, chickens and goats that people keep around the neighborhood - how exciting! Layla and I will have to miss, though - we already have plans to go see milk carton races up at Green Lake.
I hope everyone is having a fun July!
Summer in Seattle
Everyone says summer here starts on July 5, and that is SOOOOO true. It will be cool and in the '60s until about mid-July, then you get about a month of sort-of warm weather, and then fall is here in September. A lot of people get upset about this. I am not one of them.
But, we do try to get out and enjoy the summer weather when it's here.
Last weekend we went over to a friend's house who has a fabulous back yard (rare in Seattle) complete with an above-ground heated pool (exceptionally rare in Seattle) - and a toddler's fantasy land of toys and animals. Layla almost exploded with excitement when she got there. She played with the slide and playhouse in the backyard, the dog ('Thor'), the rabbit, and their two little girls that were happy to entertain her all afternoon. But the pool was a little scary I think - she much preferred to run around the deck screaming something that sounded a lot like 'HEY YOU GUYS!!' over and over. We finally coaxed her in by letting her ride their blow-up seal around while her daddy held her tight (her feet were the only part of her that actually got wet) and when she was done she wanted right back out again. Maybe next time...
But, we do try to get out and enjoy the summer weather when it's here.
Last weekend we went over to a friend's house who has a fabulous back yard (rare in Seattle) complete with an above-ground heated pool (exceptionally rare in Seattle) - and a toddler's fantasy land of toys and animals. Layla almost exploded with excitement when she got there. She played with the slide and playhouse in the backyard, the dog ('Thor'), the rabbit, and their two little girls that were happy to entertain her all afternoon. But the pool was a little scary I think - she much preferred to run around the deck screaming something that sounded a lot like 'HEY YOU GUYS!!' over and over. We finally coaxed her in by letting her ride their blow-up seal around while her daddy held her tight (her feet were the only part of her that actually got wet) and when she was done she wanted right back out again. Maybe next time...
Friday, July 01, 2011
The flying diaper change
We have really been around the block with Layla's diaper changes. Before she could roll over, she was a sweet little girl who would coo at you happily while you changed her diaper. Then she learned how to roll over and the fanstasy came to a screeching halt. Soon she would take off down the table and across the dresser at light speed towards the 5-foot drop off beyond. After a few close calls we decided to move her to the floor where she was at first a little better (something new!) and then even worse especially once she could walk because she would tear off through the house buck naked while you chased her down with the diaper.
This is dangerous on many levels.
Apparently the daycare has had some trouble too, so it makes me feel better that even trained professionals are finding Layla's diaper changes quite difficult.
We discovered about a month ago that some of her diaper disposition some bad rashes and she really seems to appreciate it when we make an extra effort to wipe her fanny very delicately (I am ashamed to admit we even bought a wipes warmer in the hope that this would help - it didn't, but it makes the wipes more accessible when you're in a rush so we kept it). Unfortunately anything delicate is impossible when her fanny is covered in poo and she's aiming for a quick escape across the living room.
So, we had to start doing all the diaper changes in her bedroom with the door closed, with a towel on the floor and a second parent nearby. It did the trick although both of us were exhausted after, sometimes we had to do almost a full load of laundry and on one occasion I had to go get my ear plugs from all the screaming. A diaper change in public almost landed us all a spot on the evening news.
But, I'm happy to report that she has gotten a tiny bit better in the past few weeks. Perhaps she is becoming wiser as she gets on in months and she is starting to better understand the business of the diaper change. Whatever it is, hopefully it is here to stay and we can breathe a little easier at the thought of all the diaper changing we have to do over the long 3-day weekend.
This is dangerous on many levels.Apparently the daycare has had some trouble too, so it makes me feel better that even trained professionals are finding Layla's diaper changes quite difficult.
We discovered about a month ago that some of her diaper disposition some bad rashes and she really seems to appreciate it when we make an extra effort to wipe her fanny very delicately (I am ashamed to admit we even bought a wipes warmer in the hope that this would help - it didn't, but it makes the wipes more accessible when you're in a rush so we kept it). Unfortunately anything delicate is impossible when her fanny is covered in poo and she's aiming for a quick escape across the living room.
So, we had to start doing all the diaper changes in her bedroom with the door closed, with a towel on the floor and a second parent nearby. It did the trick although both of us were exhausted after, sometimes we had to do almost a full load of laundry and on one occasion I had to go get my ear plugs from all the screaming. A diaper change in public almost landed us all a spot on the evening news.
But, I'm happy to report that she has gotten a tiny bit better in the past few weeks. Perhaps she is becoming wiser as she gets on in months and she is starting to better understand the business of the diaper change. Whatever it is, hopefully it is here to stay and we can breathe a little easier at the thought of all the diaper changing we have to do over the long 3-day weekend.
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