Relaxing

We are relaxing in Puerto Rico but missing our little Bell. She is having a blast with her grandparents and probably not thinking about us nearly as much as we are thinking about her.

"Warming Up"

We've had a pretty brutal winter so far and we heard that it was going to "warm up" on Saturday.  So we took Lyla to the playground to take in some fresh air and sunshine instead of taking in the little germies she usually picks up in the ball pit at Playgarden.  But it was COLD.  The swings were cold and the metal slide was really cold.  Lyla was not having it at all... So back to our cocoon...maybe until the Spring.

Friday With Grandma

My mom came in Friday to hang out all day and then babysit Friday night.  Lyla and I dragged her all over Tribeca.  By the end of the day she was exhausted!  Thankfully, Lyla passed out in her arms around 7:30 and my mom had the whole night to watch HGTV :)

First we took her to Moomah for lunch and to check out the Funky Forest.





Lyla "making" a tree.


I don't know which she liked better -- the cool lights or all the big kids. She was obsessed with this little girl in the yellow skirt. And she got such a kick out of sitting in between the two big boys (until little Patrick accidentally fell on her...he was so sweet and felt so bad)



Taking a break from the show to find Grandma's nose


After Moomah, we went over to Playgarden. The place was pretty empty so Lyla got full use of all the fun stuff that the "big kids" usually hog.

Back in the ballpit.


It seems like everything was orange and Lyla and her sweater blended right in.


Walking over the little bridge.


Mom on the trampoline.


Me and the bell on the trampoline


We were all sufficiently pooped after this and headed home to watch Oprah and last night's Project Runway. What a Fun Friday :)

A Night on the Intrepid

On Friday night, we went to Mark's belated holiday party aboard the Intrepid. My mom came into the city to watch Lyla so we could go out. Lyla, however, only wanted to play in my closet while I was getting dressed. Here she is having a grand old time pulling down my clothes.


She tried to pull off each little ribbon on my favorite yellow J. Crew sweater.


Off we go to the party...


The Intrepid is HUGE. We didn't get to see a lot of it, but it looks like a really cool museum and they let you go everywhere on the ship. I was a little shocked they let a bunch of drunk people onto the flight deck.


There are some great old planes and bombers up there. My dad would have loved it.




And the view is pretty amazing too. Here is Ashley and Brennan.



And here is me and Mark. Whose shirt am I wearing, you ask? That belongs to Brennan. When I asked Mark for his sweater, he said "but it's freezing out." Brennan kindly offered me his shirt. What a gentleman :)

Pardon Our Appearance

We're trying to do a little remodeling on the blog and I'm not so tech-savvy, so bear with me while I play around and figure things out! 

Sick

So, we don't have much to report around here because Lyla has been sick, basically on and off since Christmas. She just can't shake these darn ear infections. She is on her third antibiotic and if this one doesn't clear everything up we will go see an ENT to see what we can do to help her. All in all though, she been in a pretty good mood. Sleeping great (lucky us), but not eating great and a little clingy. Even her "teachers", who think she is the happiest kid in the world, have noticed that she is just not herself. Not boogying with as much enthusiasm as usual. So we've just been laying low and trying to keep her happy. Yesterday was so beautiful in the city, we went for a nice long walk with a little shopping in between and ended with some playtime at Playgarden (her leopard shirt was a big hit :).


Lyla has taken a liking to napping on the couch. This is nap #3 of the day.


My arsenal of meds for her.


Sometimes keeping her happy when she's sick just means letting her do whatever she wants to do. Case in point -- emptying the kitchen cabinets wearing nothing but a diaper, but doing it with a big grin on her face.

Has Anyone Seen Lyla?

She's wearing striped leg warmers if you can't find her :)

Lyla loves the ballpit

Poor thing almost sunk to the bottom. But she thought it was hysterical!

Playgarden

Lyla had her first "sports" class at Playgarden today. I decided at the last minute to join her, but I was running late. By the time I got there, the class was almost over. I didn't want to interrupt so I just peaked in. What do I see? About 6 sweet, little well-behaved kids in a circle for song time and one Miss Lyla Grace in the middle of the circle furiously flapping her arms up and down to Old McDonald...

Welcome Baby Rowan

 
On Saturday we went to see our very brave friends Shannon and Kevin, who are now the parents of three little ones all under two! The twins, Elle and Frankie, are about a year and a half and new baby Rowan was born on Christmas Day. Shannon looks fantastic and Kevin is such a good daddy and husband. Lyla loved playing with the twins and all their toys and meeting baby "Ro Ro". He weighed almost exactly what Lyla weighed when she was born and I couldn't believe how tiny he was. It's amazing how much you forget in 10 months. 

The big sisters.
   

Little Ro Ro in the Baby Bjorn bouncer. So tiny!  

Congrats Kevin and Shannon!

New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve at Dina and Rich's house, where Rich cooked for everyone and everyone managed to stuff themselves silly because we had all eaten way to many appetizers before dinner. I think he thought it was a catering gig with the amount he cooked. Do you see the size of that pot?? He made yummy pasta with sausage and peas in a cream sauce. That's a good way to end the year, don't you think? My culinary task was to help Nicolas make the Santa cupcakes. A work in progress.  
"I think it needs one more marshmallow." Lyla was an official taste tester. She approved. We tried to get a group shot near the tree. Nicolas is nowhere to be found. Lyla crawled away in the blink of an eye. Where did everyone go? Playing under the table with her best bud Nicolas. Battle of the pacifiers. The boys watching football. Mark gave me an incredulous look when I said "Oh, there's football on New Year's Eve?" And later in the night, chatting about some light subjects. You know, religion, politics, terrorism. Fun party talk. A happy Nana. Nana and Rich having an intimate moment. Almost time! Can you tell this is past my bedtime? Chrissie woke up about 3 minutes to midnight. Happy New Year from two very tired parents. Oh how things change in a year! What a great 2009!