memorable moments

first haircut... august 2012, just before her 2nd birthday!

first day of 2 year old preschool.... september 4th.  spangdahlem part-day enrichment program, ms. chancey & ms. bree... some tears upon departure (her, not me), but ever since she asks to go daily.  she has such a great time there.

second birthday party.... pirates and mermaids with jackson ulibarri, her best bud, born 2 days after her.

first day of gymnastics... september 19th.  she adores this class.

full potty-trained at 27 months!  she was beyond ready, we did it in a weekend... a couple of accidents the first day and then none the rest of the weekend, to include nighttime.

found out in november that she is going to be a big sis!  she came to the december appt. and watched the ultrasound machine intently, then looked back at my belly really confused, asked to see the baby.... we told her it's in my belly and she asked, "i feed it a bottle?" :)  when asked if it is going to be a boy or girl, she says, "not a boy or girl, just a baby".  every time.

the littlest is due june 28th.  :)

conversation in car

lela and i were riding in the car and i swear we've NEVER discussed race, but this is what she said:

l: "i love people."

me: "that's good, lela.  i love people too."

l: "daddy loves people too. all people. BROWN people too."

me: in shock.... "yes, all people, we love all people, brown people too."

l: "yeah, purple people too.  love everybody."

almost 2!

i can't possibly remember all the new changes (or at least remember them in one sitting to write this...), but every day brings new words, phrases, and ideas that lela can comprehend.  we can have regular conversations with her and she enjoys being involved in all decision-making that goes on around here.  :)  she has started doing this eyebrow wave that is beyond hilarious and when i get a clip of it, i'll share. she'll start a part-day enrichment program on september 4th (thanks to her mom that waited 3 1/2 hours in line for her to get into the program!... so embarrassing for me, but so necessary for her) where she will attend twice weekly for 3 hours each time.  it's a really small program and difficult to get into, so we're overjoyed that it all worked out.

lela and i went to brussels with "auntie m" and endured 100 degree temps to see the flower carpet in the grand place.  it was such a scorcher that many of the flowers were dying, but gorgeous and a sight to be seen, nonetheless.

our brussels apartment...

lela finally jumped out of her bedroom crib the other night... brant and i were so scared that we were screwed from here on out and had to move her into a real bed, but she hasn't done it since and we keep all gates shut so she doesn't end up downstairs eating cookies.

she started an all-girls hostel in her play area.  she has doilies laid out as beds and puts her dolls on them with fabric scraps for pillows and blankets.  she uses large buttons that serve as their suitcases.  she hugs and kisses each one to put them to bed and when she leans down to do it, she flattens all the others in a full-fledged body slam.  here is the hostel:

thinking about making progress on this one of these days... (update: first successful pee was today!  august 24!  woot woot, lela!!)

spanish flamenco dress from auntie m!!

lela has a fascination for diggers, tractors, and dump trucks.  mostly diggers... she talks about them all the time and could watch them for hours.

she is really polite - never misses a please, thank you, you're welcome, or bless you.  

we've decided that she is most apt to be a social worker since she is always worried about other people, animals, her babies, etc.

lastly, she got her first haircut last night!  almost 2 and got her first haircut... about time, right?  she now has a little bob with curls.  she loved sitting in the car chair they had... so much so that she didn't even realize the woman was cutting her hair!

nightly repertoire

lela has been getting really, shall we say, "inventive" with her reasons to not go to bed.  here is our dialogue tonight:

me:  "night, night lela... bedtime!"
lela:  "water, please."
me: "no lela, it's bedtime now."
lela:  "milk, please."
me: "no lela, it's time to go to bed."
lela: "more tofu, please."
me (after bursting with laughter): "lela, bedtime."
lela: "cheyenne here?" (our babysitter)
me: "you need cheyenne to go to bed?"
lela: shakes head... and at the same time realizes cheyenne is indeed, NOT here... "go wash hands, please?"
me: "lela."
lela: "hiiiiiii!"
lela: "one more book."
me: sigh, laugh, leave  :)

two minus two

two years minus two months... almost there little lela lu.  :)

what is new...

• "ooooh my goshhhhh" and "what da heck!"  
• went to daycare a few times and did great... enjoys the extended time with kids of a similar age (however she returned with a sickness and crabby due to less of a nap than normal!)
• dances in her car seat and asks to dance nightly to music (and we both have to join her)
• loves being "nudey cutie" and will ask to strip down
• conquered jumping in the pool from the side and swimming in her life jacket solo!
• still insists on "wrestle mania" nightly and now "dance mania" too
• abc song and counting to 10 daily... pretends to count up to 30, but only throws in a few more numbers
• favorites songs are "twinkle twinkle", "someone's in the kitchen with dinah", "rockabye baby", "torah", "doggie in window", "rain rain go away", and most of all... "wheels on the bus"
• really, really witty little toddler
• ready to start potty training

a 21 monther

too much to write... she's just changing daily, i can't keep up with all the newness!  here's a snippet:

• loves, LOVES, LOVES chasing pigeons in all public spaces
• instead of saying just "no" now, she says "no way jose", but it sounds like "no way hoseeeee"
• when asked "what did you dream about last night?" she thinks, and shakes her head while responding, "milk!"  
• tried to reach for the clock on top of the DOM cathedral in trier... saying "touch clock?"
• always wants to hold hands and walk with other kids
• loves hide and seek, always cheats and hides in the same spot, counts, "8, 9, 10!"
• finally got her first toe painting... anne did just the big toes red and then lela and i just redid all of them hot pink
• after crying/whining hysterically and watching for my reaction, she got distracted, stopped, and said, "lela crying."  i said "yes, you are.  why?"  she thinks for a second... and responds, "WHY not?"  i just die with laughter... and she joins in.

at trier amphitheater:

chasing pigeons in trier:

with a flemish friend in brugge:

the little lady flourishes... 20 months

• loves wrestling on our bed and asks for "wrestle mania!"
• "ta" new buzzword (using different voices) that makes her roar with laughter
• likes saying hello in different voices, mostly a really deep man voice
• i say "lela, we're going grocery shopping!" and she looks at me quizzically and says "toy shopping??"
• ask her "where do you live?" she answers, "orenhofen."  too cute.
• out of car, walks to sidewalk, turns left... "baby goats?  chickens?" starts walking in the direction of them
• squeals with delight at touching the goats' mouths and noses
• sings "ABC" song
• sorts letters by color
• collects all "I's" and "O's" and puts them together
• says "P. U.!" when smelling anything and when smelling feet, she says they smell like "pickles" or "cheesy"
• looking at comforter on our bed... thinks.... pointing to it says, "snowsuit on?"
• talking about what we'll do the next morning, i tell her we will go see the goats and pet their noses... she thinks... says, "hair?  nose too?  boogers?"  :)  yup, we'll pet the boogers too.
• still loves wheels on the bus song and does all the motions
• started opening doors!  no!!!
• on that note, snuck away from me and ended up at the TOP of the circular stairs - ScARy
• can draw straight lines and will write letters (that look really close to the real thing!) and say what they are...  V, L, N, M, W, O  
• drew an airplane and made the fast "swoosh" noise... said "show mama, daddy"

the airplane:

19 months old

snippets of lela memories from the past month or so...

• more of an independent player
• increase in comprehension and phrase making (little sentences)
• likes collecting stones, branches
• "NO NO" spasms for no reason
• eats fully on own... however we don't always let her since we don't want to clean it up 
• goes down the slide solo and can do steps solo
• spins in circles until toppling over
• explains where things "hurt" and then immediately says "all better" (thanks nana!) or requires a kiss on the spot
• adds -ing and -s to words
• shakes head "no" with a firm attitude 
• shrugs shoulders
• says "no problem", "don't worry"
• coming into her room to get her after a nap she says "here's big mama"
• walks around in our shoes
• flosses in her car seat with strings she finds and says "daddy" since brant always flosses with her... she was doing this two different times and laughing at herself
• practices running across the house or outside and huffs while she is doing it
• bites bread into the shape of letters and says "M" and then turns it over "W"... the following morning did the same thing, but for "A"
• says "love you"
• knows her colors
• says "uh oh spaghettios" but sounds like "uh oh ohios" (true wolverine!)
• at the easter egg hunt that we got her all psyched for (and then forgot her boots so she couldn't walk around anyway since it was ice cold and the grass was sopping wet) she got exactly one egg.  thank you to all the parents who let their kids pick up 100 easter eggs to add to their overflowing baskets...  now i know why there are fights at youth soccer games.

"knock knock, it's wolf, can i come in?"

whistle while you work

doing her best "toddlers and tiaras" impersonation

please leave my food outside the door

celebrating 18 months and 32 hot ones... to paris!

in celebration of my 32nd birthday and lela's 18 wild months of life, we headed to the city of lights... brant and i ran the half marathon and lela spent some time hanging out with her buddy, camden, who was also in for the weekend.  :)  despite no quality sleep (lela equates sleeping in a foreign crib to being dipped in hot acid) and lazy training, we did fine... and our bodies survived!  the french fry stands at the finish were the best!  we ate our piping hot plate of fries so fast, i'm surprised we didn't choke.  deliciousness.

we attempted a night on the town, but received yet another parental defeat when lela (after screaming for an extended amount of time) hopped out of her crib and came walking into the living room where we were all hanging out (waiting for her to go to sleep so we could got out to a nice dinner... our friend tommy's parents so graciously volunteered to watch the babes)!  it was crazy!!!  we heard her crying getting closer and all of a sudden she was standing in the living room, after having walked from her secluded crib area, down the hall to where we were... too bad.  we ended up going home, putting her to sleep (she fell asleep in my arms) and getting take-out sushi.  it ended up being a sweet night after all... but still a bummer we couldn't hit the town.  comes with the territory though.... :)

lela is now...

• responding when we ask her "how are you?" with a quiet "good" under her breath... then "happy" and tilts her head smiling
• tapping on doors and saying "knock knock" and "beep.  beep.  beep." when she closes them
• saying 2-3 word phrases, started with "hi mama"
• saying her name a lot, sounds like "weeeewa"
• saying "tractor" every time she hears one go by outside
• saying "outside", but sounds like "haji"
• coughing into her sleeve
• pointing to something (mostly her eye) and saying "eye hurt" and then requiring a kiss on it to make it better, then smiling  :)
• in the tub while putting her toys back in the bucket, i hear her quietly counting... "4, 5, 6... then 1, 2, 4, 8, 9"
• feeding everything else while she is eating to include her cup, a paper, her sleeve, and people that aren't even in the room... to include all her grandparents
• saying many adjectives in the correct contexts - heavy, tired, sleepy, big, tiny...
• saying "oopsie-daisy", but it sounds like "oh daisy"

18 month check-up:

weight: 25.9 lbs. (75th percentile)

length: 33.5 in. (94th percentile)

head circumference: 19 in. (87th percentile)

17 months, elmo, and her abc's

• we started making fun of how lela says "no" (she sounds like an old southern woman that smokes a couple packs a day)... "neeeeeeeeeeeooow" and now she says it all the time and busts out laughing 
• sleeping so well - 12 hours at night and one 2-3 hour nap starting at about noon
• 10 teeth to include two sets of molars...  being that lela was a fire-breathing dragon in her newborn months, we were SURE that she'd be a disaster when teething... but after the first two that came out in the states, we haven't even known when the others came in!  can't believe it.... like they say in parenting,  "you'll pay the piper at some point".  we paid early on and she is just a sweet doll now - strong mind (i will go into hibernation during her teen years) but pure sweetness now.
• says "oh boy" all the time and now when she sees a boy, she says it too... it's really funny because i'll point out a girl to her and she'll say "girl", but then i point out a boy and she'll think for a minute and then say, "ooooooooh booooooooy".  hilarious.
• thrives off of all interaction.  reading, cooking, sorting blocks, legos, sorting cups and tops, displaying her dolls, and most recently repeating her abc's.  she has a new magnetic board with abc magnets and LOVES reciting them.  
• asks to go running.  (starting to feel guilty when she asks and i don't feel like it... "no, we're just going to walk to the playground today".)
• and i never thought i'd have to say this, but she loves elmo.  can find his face anywhere and just loves listening to him talk.  
• loves scarves on her head and waist, hats, belts, and her shooooooooes.
• says "hhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee" in a high pitched voice like you'd say after reuniting with someone you haven't seen in ten years - she must have gotten it from brant and i, always excited to see her.
• brant got her saying please and thank you for things... which sounds more like "peeze" and "tank you".
• still obsessed with pirates.
• LOVES the moon and points it out day and night and can find it when you would least expect it - anywhere!!
• coloring, play dough, dancing, playing with other kids, swinging, animal hats and noises, pirate hats and noises, reading a lot, and laughing... an active age it is.  it is THE BEST EVER!