To the Tune of June

I can't believe June is already over!! I can't believe 2012 is over halfway through! Why does time fly so quickly?!
We had quite the busy month. We have our routine every week & along with our usual things we've been busy with play time & movie dates with friends!

Watching Layla learn is such a neat experience. She questions everything & wants to know all that she can. I've learned so much looking at things through her eyes. Two of her favourite subjects to learn about are astronomy & anatomy (particularly the skeletal system) She's going to be a SCIENTIST!!!
We have this huge book about astronomy & it has these great photos and so much information. I have a basic understanding of astronomy so I read about what the pictures are with her, but watching her & Jer go through this book is something else, he understands it all so much better & explains things to her to help her understand what she's looking at. And you can see her just soaking it all in, it's just so fascinating to her & she can do this for HOURS!

As you may know, we are a very active family. Layla has a lot of cute little outfits, but because most days we are outside running around or at the gym or out doing something active we usually wear clothes designed for this. It's difficult to find work out clothes in Layla's size because kids don't really care what they're wearing when they're running around playing, and most girls actually want to wear their cute outfits and dresses no matter what activity they are doing (when I was little I was playing in the dirt & catching lizards, but I just had to wear the girliest dresses to do so!) Layla likes to be comfortable & to my excitement we found some Nike running shorts IN HER SIZE!! I was so thrilled! They had 3 different ones and Jer told me to only get 1 or 2, but since it's so rare to find these in her size I convinced him to get her all 3! 

Back in late April/early May (I can't remember) Layla collected some pine cones in the little forest at Heritage Park. She told me she had to make bird feeders with peanut butter & birdseeds. We've never done this before & I didn't even know how she knew that (best guess is that she saw it on T.V.) so we went out & bought some bird seed to make a pine cone bird feeder! Layla was thrilled & had so much fun making it!! We hung it up with blue yarn & left it in the little forest where we found the pine cone. Well this month we were walking through again & saw that the yarn was still hanging on the tree!! The pinecone was long gone, but Layla was just thrilled to see the blue yarn still hanging & was happy to know that the birds enjoyed her little pine cone treat.

Funny things Layla has said or done:

• Layla had her yearly check up this month & while we were sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor when Layla saw this sign. It's in every doctor's office & it is their system for assessing the pain a patient is feeling when they are sick or hurt. So we explained what it was to Layla & after studying it her conclusion was "those feelings don't have any hair."

• Layla was talking to herself one day & I had no clue what she was saying, so I asked her. She laughed & told me she was saying Spanish words!! She's been learning Spanish while watching Handy Manny & Dora the Explorer!
• "Is it Christmas yet?" "No." "Why is it taking so long for that snow cloud to come? Snow cloud is far away!"
• So I was watching a show (New Girl) that played ACDC's "you shook me all night long" & I look over to see Layla dancing her little butt off in the living room. She sees Jer & I watching her & says "This music makes my booty move!!" She likes to blame the music when we see her dancing, like she has no control over her actions & Gloria Estefan was right; the music really did get her!
• "Mommy, I farted on my foot. I think I need a bath."
• "Layla, how do you spell stop?" "Five." (She really does know how to spell stop, I don't know where this answer came from.)
• Layla laughs out loud at a random moment then turns to Jer & I and asks, "What's so funny?"
• She was running around with a mini gift bow on her shirt & exclaimed that she was "the fasterest" because of her bow!

Wearing daddy's hat. She thought she was pretty funny wearing this.

The base theater was playing 'Madagascar 3' one weekend, so we went with some friends of ours to the movie & went out for pizza before. Layla had so much fun with their 3-year old Jojo!

More gymnastics pictures!! One day at class her teacher let us know that the last 30 minutes of class was going to be free play, where she lets them run around doing the activities they want to do & that the parents were allowed to come in to take pictures! The kids had SO MUCH fun showing off to their parents & Layla was thrilled to show me all of the fun things she had been learning in gymnastics. It was really sweet of the teacher to include us in the class.

One day I was pretty much useless due to a running injury, so as I spent most of the day on the couch Layla had a movie on in her room & I made sure she was stocked up on art supplies so she could have fun. When Jer came home from work he went up the stairs & was surprised by something, so I went to check it out. Layla had drawn our little family and hung us up with stickers from one of her Avengers books! (Since she's not allowed to have tape without someone to help her.)

Since we live in base housing we are forced to listen to the fighter jets that fly ALL FREAKING DAY. & if you know me, you know how much I hate them. They are SO LOUD, sometimes they fly really low over the neighbourhood so our old, brick house shakes & I swear, I can feel my brain rattling against my skull. So the other night it was a little after 8 & they were flying non-stop in our area. Jer wanted to go outside to watch them so he took Layla out with him. Instead of getting ready for bed (since sleeping while those jerks are flying around is impossible) we all went outside & while Jer watched the planes we also played a bit of footie. Layla loves kicking the ball around with us!

When we took Layla in for her check up she had to get the last round of vaccinations (other than the flu vaccine, she's done until she's 11!) So she had to get 4 vaccines & was NOT happy about it. We tried to explain to her that they help her stay healthy, but she doesn't understand why they have to give her booboos. We were warned that one of the vaccines was going to really sting & would probably bother her for a day or so afterwards. So Layla hung out on the couch with Jer's iPad & some cartoons for a day. The next day she was pretty sore & was still limping a lot. It was hard to force her to walk when she was in so much pain, but she really needed to move around to get her blood flowing so her leg wouldn't hurt longer. I was worried she wouldn't be able to do gymnastics the day after that, and I warned her teacher she might not be able to do everything, but her teacher let me know that after being cautious in the beginning she was having so much fun that she forgot all about her booboos!

One day before ballet the youth center was conducting a fire drill, so instead of joining the students out in the rain we sat in the car waiting for the all clear! Layla had so much fun sitting in the front of the car. There are so many buttons and things to looks at and play with that she doesn't ever really get a good look at while sitting in the backseat. She had a lot of playing with everything & seeing what they did.

June was another active month for us. Layla loves going to the park or out in the back yard to kick the soccer ball around. Her gymnastics & ballet classes are really the highlight of the week (aside from playing with her friends!) She looks forward to her classes & is always sad when it's time to go home.

I love having a daughter. When friends find out that they're pregnant with a girl I always exclaim that girls are so much more fun! I know that this it just a matter of opinion & if I had a son I'd have just as much fun with him as I do with Layla. I only say this because Layla and I have so much fun doing girly things together. She LOVES having her finger and toe nails painted. We recently found these nail paint PENS so we can actually draw little designs. We now paint our toes and fingers about twice a week & Layla loves having polka dots, smiley faces, stripes, flowers, and anything else she can think of painted on her little tootsies.

The weather has been very, well, English! It changes so often throughout the day! One minute it's pouring rain, then the next the sun is out and it's blue skies as far as you can see! The sun is up so long here during the summer, so we'll have a few hours of sunlight in the morning, then a few hours of rain, then the sun pops out again, rain again, then the sun pops out again later that night just as it's finally setting. Layla and I have been taking advantage of the weather, whatever it is. If it's sunny, we're outside playing and soaking up some vitamin D. If it's rainy, we're outside splashing in the puddles!

A friend of ours received some bad news & was feeling sad one day, so Layla and I decided to cheer her up a bit with some smiley toes!! Layla laughed and wiggled the entire time I was trying to draw these on her toes, it tickled her!

This was after Layla's first ballet class. We're not allowed to sit in the room to watch the class, so afterwards I went in with Layla and asked her to show me what she has learned. She ran around the room so fast that most of my pictures didn't turn out well, but I got a few that I just love!! My beautiful ballerina.

May 2012

What a busy month we've had!! We have finally found our rhythm and are on a better schedule. Mondays are our "rest" days. We usually go out and do fun things during the weekend, so I let Layla sleep in on Mondays (until about 8:30) before we start our day. Sunday's are my long run days, so we try not to do anything too active so my muscles can heal, but if the weather permits I usually take Layla to the park or we run errands. Tuesday is exercise day! We hit the gym together, and while I work out Layla usually gets all the other kids in the play area running around with her. Sometimes we go to the park or meet Jer for lunch as well. Wednesdays are our busiest days, Layla has gymnastics in the morning so we get up early to take Jer to work, then head to her class. Afterwards we have lunch (sometimes at home, or we go meet Jer) then we go to the gym. Layla runs around while I exercise. Thursdays are our cleaning day! We try to keep the house neat throughout the week, but we live here so it's never perfect. This is our day to deep clean & get ALL the laundry done. Layla is such a big helper with her chores! The past week she actually wanted to help me with the vacuuming! Fridays are a relatively easy day, if Jer is able to he will bring me the car during his lunch hour so Layla and I can go out. We have lunch, go to the park, or head to the gym. During the week we aim for 3 very active days, whether at the gym or at the park! Saturday's & Sundays we try to go out and do something fun together. The past 2 months we have had some pretty busy weekends, so when Sunday night rolls around we're all exhausted & ready to sleep!

My gym buddy!

Oh, LAYLA STARTED GYMNASTICS THIS MONTH!! Finally! After being on a waiting list, and then the first 4 weeks getting cancelled, she finally started! The first class was just 3 students, I think they felt bad for canceling on us each week. She was nervous and didn't know what the expect. When I woke her up that morning she did not want to go because she "don't know how to play gymnastics!" Also, we were surprised by the fact that parents aren't allowed to sit and watch the class, we have to wait out in a special area where we can watch on a teeny-tiny T.V. screen! It's kind of lame, but I have come to enjoy that hour. I get some embroidery or crocheting done! The second week & since then she's been very excited to go to gymnastics! Also, her class has slowly grown each week & it's finally a full class of 6 students! The other day as soon as class was over the other moms and I headed in to take some pics of the kids, since we aren't allowed in during class!

Layla with her teacher

Balance beam!

She was so proud to show off her moves!

For mother's day we actually woke up around 5 am to head out because Jer had a 12 mile race (a muddy race, with 25 obstacles throughout!) So we spent most of the morning/afternoon on a really pretty estate that was hosting the event. Layla and I hiked the course so we could see Jer at a few of the obstacles, so by the time we got home we stuffed food in our faces & showered. That evening we went to the base theatre to see Avengers Assemble! Which was an awesome movie! Layla loved it, she loves superheroes! Though, she fell asleep about halfway through. If we hadn't been up so early and had such a busy/active day, I'm sure she would have made it through the entire movie. I also got a really sweet card from her!

Jer helped her spell this out

A blue dog named Stella & an airplane that looks like a uterus!

One weekend we decided to make a little day trip into Cambridge. We take the bus into the city centre (because driving and finding parking would be hell!) & then walk around some shops. I love the Cath Kidston store & this trip we found a decent book store! So we spent some time in there. The weather has finally started to warm up. We had a few sunny days, but it was still a bit chilly with the breeze. This past week it has just been HOT HOT HOT!!

making wishes in the sunshine

Funny things Layla has said & done:

• "Mommy! I hurt myself!" "Are you okay sweetie?" "I think soda will make me feel better!" (I think she just wanted some root beer!)
• I had just gotten home from an early morning trip to the gym (sometimes I go before Layla and Jer wake up so I can have the car back in time for Jer to go to work) & she was still sleeping, but she sat up & said "I want Pongo like that girl" then she stared blankly at me for a good minute or so (definitely still in a dream world) and then said "Pongo & Purdy only had one puppy in our kitchen." So then we watch 101 Dalmations and cuddled!
• Layla is a sneaky little one! "Mommy, can I sit on your lap?" "Not right now, I'm trying to finish these Emails." Then a minute later I realize she's sitting in my lap and we're singing songs from the movie 'Tangled' together! I still have no idea how that happened!! She's sneaky, sneaky!
• Every night at bedtime this past week, as soon as we're finished reading, she asks "Mommy, can I wake up early with my eyes open?" 
• I got a phone call from the youth centre, Layla will be starting ballet classes next week! I told her the exciting news & she started crying. She's scared because she doesn't know how to do ballet! So I explained what she would be doing, how it's not much different from her gymnastics class, she'll just be dancing more. Then we danced around the living room to 'Once Upon a Dream' from Sleeping Beauty.

Beautiful girl.

She has been obsessed with the framed picture of her & I at a friend's wedding. She found it in the entertainment stand in the living room the other day & as soon as she learned that was her as a baby, she's just been obsessed with it! She has it in her room now & sometimes I catch her just staring at it!

Layla has become such a morning person now! She's usually very happy to wake up & get the day started! We have breakfast & turn cartoons on & she asks me "Mommy, what we doin' today?"

Kid loves her superheroes! Batman is her favourite, but she loves The Avengers too! She did NOT want her picture taken, but I had to get her in that Captain America shirt! I think she looks like her aunt Wendi in these 2 pictures =)

Last week I was also FINALLY able to get in touch with a local school, and she is officially on the waiting list! So far it looks like she will be starting sometime this summer. I'm so very excited for her to start and make new friends, as well as learn new things! The school is in between our house and Jer's work, it's not the closest to us, but it's the most convenient. The others are a bit out of the way.  They also have an organic garden as well as some farm animals (llamas & geese) so she will be learning some really fun things outdoors! She loves flowers & trees & other plants, so it will be so fun for her to learn how they are grown & how she can nurture them! So fun!!

She also had her second ever haircut this month! It's been getting so long & unruly, so instead of just a trim (her first haircut in January we only took off about an inch!) so we had the lady cut off 3 whole inches this time!! It's still long compared to other girls her age, but it seems so short to me!! I'm really glad we went in though, because her hair is much healthier now & so much easier to manage!

Layla has started calling herself a "big helper!" she loves helping me with chores on Thursdays and throughout the week she is great about making sure her dirty clothes are in the hamper, she cleans up all of her bath toys at the end of bath time, and keeps her room picked up! She also loves helping me in the kitchen. Sometimes we'll bake things just because she wants to help me make something! She loves being a part of the process of mixing all of the ingredients & then being able to enjoy the treats she's helped me make! She also has a few aprons that she loves to wear to be just like mommy!

A Fine Day at the Park

Summer is upon us here in the UK. Mr. Sun came up this week with a vengeance, with the intention of making us sweaty and tan. So we have been busy making sure we spend plenty of time outside! Everyday we make sure to go to one of the parks on base. The closest within walking distance is about 2.5 miles away, and we've walked there the past two days. Since today is Saturday, Jer joined us!

She really enjoyed playing on the see-saw with her daddy!

Layla loves the little merry-go-round. She loves to be pushed super fast & then she likes to sit on the edge & get pushed "slowly fast" as she calls it. Basically, slow enough to drag her feet along the ground.  She also loves pushing other kids around, if there are no other kids she'll push Jer & I!! She is super strong!

I can't believe another month is over! Next week I'll be posting another update on everything we've been up to this month!!

Princess Day!

Every Friday they have Princess Time on Disney Junior here in the UK, so Layla decided she wanted to dress the part today. Usually they have a little cartoon of one of the princesses, but today they showed footage of Rapunzel being crowned as the newest Disney Princess at Kensington Palace. Layla decided she wanted to wear a dress too, and lucky for her, her Uncle Matty and Aunt Deedee sent her Rapunzel's wedding dress & shoes to her for her birthday! So I got her all dressed up and we watched the princess ceremony. It was fun to watch because ALL the princesses were there too!

Another fun thing to do while wearing a princess dress is help mommy make laundry detergent!!

I've blogged about homemade laundry detergent before over on my other blog, but I've decided to update the detergent to a new one my friend posted. Before I made a liquid soap that worked well enough, but I didn't really like it (& neither did Jeremy.)

So I tried a new recipe and I love it!!
Layla and I decided to make a batch of it today. Well, I decided to make a batch & Layla wanted to help!

Goofball

She just doesn't know how to sit still for a picture. Half of my pictures of her are a little out of focus because she can't be still long enough to take one. We were in the park just outside Buckingham Palace and I tried to snap a picture, but she thought it would be a good idea to jump in the air as I snapped. Luckily I captured her as she landed.

An exciting month!

After celebrating Easter & Layla's 4th birthday we had a pretty exciting month of colouring Disney characters, jumping in rain puddles, and Layla learning to do more chores.

Before now she's only ever helped me out with little tasks, but never really had specific tasks assigned to her. She'd throw the lint and dryer sheets away for me while I fold laundry, she'd help sort socks, help me with little things in the kitchen, or "help" clean her room (put a toy away, get another one out while I cleaned the rest of the room!)

Now that she is 4 Layla gets a couple of tasks a day. She is learning to clean her room on her own, but with her attention span it's been a bit difficult. I have to stand in the doorway and give directions the whole way through. She helps put her own laundry away (mainly pajamas & pants because those are the only drawers she can reach!) Layla puts her dirty clothes into her hamper every day. Every night before bed time she takes all the toys she's brought down into the living room back up to her bedroom & puts them where they go. She also still does the little tasks she's been doing since she was little. Layla LOVES helping in the kitchen! She also likes hanging on to my back while I vacuum, what a work out!!

Her sense of humour has grown as she has. Layla is the funniest person I know, always coming up with silly jokes or saying the funniest things.

Funny things Layla has done or said:

• The other morning I went in to wake her up. She was sleeping on her stomach and a bit of her lower back was exposed so I tickled it. She squirmed and said "Mommy, don't kiss me butt...Lips." Then went right back to snoring. 
• She's been obsessed with the movie Mulan for at least a month now. We watch it almost everyday, and I've downloaded the songs from the movie. Layla enjoys singing "Be a Man" & "Reflection" (she calls that the sad Mulan song) at the top of her lungs! 
• One night before bed she told me that I'm a genius & it made me want to buy her a pony. Or some candy.
• I told her to bring her empty cup downstairs and put it in the kitchen. She saluted me from her nose and said "yes mommy!" I have no idea where she got that from!
• She handed me some lint out from in between her toes, handed it to me, then proudly stated that she took it out of her "booty crack"
• I've had to say "Layla, put your panties back on!!!!" too many times to count. Luckily all of these instances have occurred at home.

One weekend a Mayfair Bazaar rolled into town for 3 days. There were a few rides and games, but mostly craft & antique booths. I of course enjoyed myself, Layla & Jer were bored while I was shopping, but we ended up going all 3 days and Layla loved playing on the bouncy castles the Air Force Sergeant's Association had set up in one of the hangars. They had a bouncy house & a bouncy slide. She had fun running around with all of the other little kids.

I signed her up for Gymnastics in March, but classes weren't supposed to start until April. Each week the class was cancelled due to lack of students. We're keeping our fingers crossed for class to start tomorrow. The lady at the youth center was a bit cryptic about it, she seemed optimistic that the class would be starting, but said it would be cancelled if there weren't enough people. If they didn't have enough people yesterday, I don't know how they plan on getting more kids to sign up between yesterday and tomorrow? Keep your fingers crossed!

Layla's been learning a little bit of writing. We don't work on it every day, but we have lessons every week. She sits with her workbook & works on one letter at a time. She's more interested in learning to write words and names, she's especially great at writing her own name! The other day she was colouring with Jer & he taught her to write mine and his names!

My friend, Alex, flew in from Italy for a little weekend visit. She's in Italy doing a semester abroad and it was her last few weeks before heading home to the states. So she popped up for the weekend & we thoroughly enjoyed her company! Layla especially! She had someone new to play with! 

We spent all day Friday in London. We took the train in and spent most of the day touring the Tower of London! It was pretty cool! Layla's favourite part of the Tower was all the pigeons in the court-yard. 

We travelled around the city using the Underground system, Layla loved riding trains around in the dark! We walked to Buckingham Palace & walked through the little park across the street. Her favourite part of the entire trip was meeting two random dogs that were running from their owner straight to her stroller! They came right over and gave her kisses and ran around her. Layla LOVES doggies and was delighted to have them paying attention to her!

It was quite a busy month, but we also had a few lazy days with not much to do, but listen to the rain beat down on the house & try to get creative finding new things to entertain ourselves.

The sun made a rare appearance for most of the day yesterday, but the weather changes so often! When Jer got home we decided to take advantage of Mr. Sunshine and head to the park on base. We were there maybe 2 minutes before the wind blew some clouds our way. It got a little chilly, but we wanted Layla to get some energy out &  it wasn't raining so we stayed to play. Layla's favourite thing to do was push Jer & I on the little spinny thing. She's so strong! She'd get us going to fast, then jump on with us!

We've had quite a fun month. Layla is growing into such a funny, intelligent little lady. I still can't believe my baby is 4 years old!

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