Layla is 2!

Dear Layla, Layla Bean, Lala, Beaner,

I can’t believe you are two! I have to remind myself daily that you are now older than Mason was when you were born. You are so big, yet still so little. So independent, yet so reliant. So loud, yet so shy. So frustrating, yet so lovable. In a sentence, you are a regular two year old.

Several of your tastes have become apparent this year. The first is shoes. You LOVE shoes. I might have something to do with that. I can’t stop buying shoes for you. They are just so adorable when they are so tiny and pink and sparkly. You love to wear Converse and tell everyone you are wearing “Boma’s (Grandma’s) Shoes”. You love to play in our closet trying on all of Daddy’s and my shoes. And you especially love your red sparkle Jessie boots.

You also love monkeys. You adopted a small red/brown/purple (our family disagrees on his color) monkey from your classroom named Manny. You br

ought him with you to the playground, snack, specials, and even Shabbat. He napped with you and even came home every weekend for a bath. And even though there is a big “F” on his tag stating he belongs in Room F, your teachers knew he belongs with you and let you take him when you moved to your new class. Now, Manny goes with you to school every day in your backpack. But besides Manny, we acquired many other monkeys. There is New Monkey and Mason’s Monkey. You love to read books with monkeys, especially Caps for Sale.

We sometimes call you Monkey, as in Monkey See, Monkey Do. You copy EVERYTHING Mason does. When he kept telling you not to copy because copying isn’t allowed, I told him that you just copy him because you love him so much. So now he’s okay with it. But it’s true. Anything he does, you do. Anywhere he goes, you go. The most rewarding thing about having the two of you so close together is being able to watch your relationship unfold. You really do love him, and he you. For the longest time you called him "May-mays" and then one day all of the sudden it became "Mason". That day you said his name about 100 times. I think you were so proud that you could finally say it right!

At your end of the year party at school your teachers passed out awards to the children. You got the “Mother Hen” award. And it’s true, you love to take care of others, clean up after them, and bring them an ice pop when they are hurt. You love all your baby dolls at home. You’ve been playing with a doll house for almost a year already – murmuring to yourself as you play, just like I used to. I love to watch you be a little mommy to these dolls.

A few months ago you decided that you were not going to sleep in the crib anymore. If we tried to put you in you would scream bloody murder “OUT! OUT!” So for a few nights you slept on a mattress on the floor. We had to put a baby gate at the door to your room to keep you from falling down the stairs (and from sneaking into Mason’s bed, which you did once). When you decide something, it is the law. No ifs, ands or buts.

Your strong-willed personality is all new territory for me and Daddy. Mason never went through the tantruming and daily battles that you put us through. But without this time, you wouldn’t be you. And our world wouldn't be so fun! I am sure that you will grow into a smart, strong, independent woman. But please, do it slowly – time is marching by too quickly already!

Talking to God

This morning as we turned onto Maitland Blvd. Mason noticed the clouds. They were very high up, and really just a sprinkling of white over a perfectly blue sky. Very unusual and very beautiful. We had this conversation:

Mason: Mommy! Look at the clouds!
Me: Oh yeah - they are beautiful this morning.

Mason: Who made them like that?

Me: Uh, God I guess?

Mason picks up his pretend phone, dials, and has a conversation with God.

Mason: God? I just wanted to tell you that the clouds look awesome today! Ok bye.

I swear, this kid cracks me up all the time.

The Elephant in the Room

A few months ago, one of the two beloved elephants at the Central Florida Zoo died. The story in the paper said that the fate of the other elephant was now in limbo because elephants need companionship and she shouldn't be left in the zoo alone.

Mason goes to the zoo a lot with Grandma and his favorite part is the elephant show. I didn't know how to tell him about Mary's death, so until last night I just didn't. And he didn't go to the zoo.

But then last night we were talking about a book he has with an elephant in it and in the book the elephant is afraid of a mouse. He said, "When I go to the elephant show at the zoo, the elephants there aren't afraid of mice!" And so I decided it was time to tell him.

This is how the conversation went:

Me: I'm not sure if they have the elephant show at the zoo anymore.

Mason: Why not?

Me: One of the elephants went away.

Mason: Where did it go?

Me: It just went away.

Mason: Why?

Me: It got very old and had to go away.

Mason: I've got to tell Grandma! (Sad faced, picked up his pretend phone, dials and puts phone to ear.)

Mason: Grandma - one of the elephants at the zoo is dead.

Me: I didn't say it was dead!

Mason: Grandma - sorry, he's not dead, he just went away.

Me: Well, actually he is dead.

I was in shock that he got "dead" from my saying "got old and went away". I was trying to be all euphamistic with the "went away" and he totally got it. These kids are way smarter than we give them credit for!

Maybe Mom Wasn't So Wrong After All

I recently wrote a post about how liberating it is to do laundry my way instead of my mom’s way. My mom was very specific about her laundry. Each family member’s laundry was done separately, darks were always separated from whites, and towels always separate from sheets which were never mixed with clothes. Even each color of towels was done separately. I started out doing our laundry this way, but pretty soon I realized I was doing about 15 small loads a week. So I started mixing colors of towels together. Then I started mixing the kids clothes with each other. And then the kids and ours. And now, laundry is pretty much a free for all. Whatever is closest to the washing machine when it is turned on is what gets washed in that cycle. And this was all working out well.

Until yesterday.

When I picked my daughter up from day care her teacher told me there was a “laundry surprise” for me in her lunchbox. My first thought (as a mom of a kid in diapers) was oh no – she pooped all over her pants. I asked if that was it and her teacher said no. My second thought was the tights I had put on under her jeans because it was so cold. Maybe they got in the way of diaper changes? No – that wasn’t it either.

What could it be?

A pair of MY underwear. My size XL, hair dye stained, Target-bought, faded, parachute (husband’s word) underwear. The static of Layla’s nap mat had held on to my underwear in the dryer on Sunday. Maybe doing separate laundry isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Hey, at least they were clean…..

Jack in the Box

These are videos that I think are HILARIOUS. Mason is trying to get Layla to be a Jack in the Box. And he yells at her for not listening to him. Then he tries showing her how to do it. Just watch, it's a pretty good laugh.

The One Where She Came Back to Blogging......

I haven't blogged in FOREVER. We've done a lot though. Of course, I didn't get pictures of everything. We spent a weekend at Disney with the Golds, we went to the corn maze, we spent a weekend in Atlanta with Rachel, we celebrated Halloween, Mason was a Shabbat Star, Layla got swine flu (definitely no pictures of that one), we went to the JCC Family Festival, Mason went to see If you Give a Cat a Cupcake, we went to the Playhouse Disney character breakfast at Hollywood Studios, we celebrated Thanksgiving at Grammy and Papa's big house, Cooper's first birthday party, and I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting. Whew! Anyway, here are pictures of what I do have, which isn't much.

During our character breakfast at the Polynesian Mickey came over to say hi to Layla. Layla wasn't so sure about the life sized mouse.

Mason, on the other hand, has always been very much into the characters. Here he is showing Pluto (his current favorite) that he is wearing a guitar shirt.

Mason and Marin posed together for a picture with Stitch.

While in Atlanta, we went to Stone Mountain. Aunt Rachel walked to the car with the kids after a delicious breakfast where the waiter thought Mason was 5. And Mason was so excited about it he told everyone he saw for the next three days.

Tayler posed with the kids on top of Stone Mountain. It was such a gorgeous and clear day we could see the whole city of Atlanta.

When Rachel had to go to work we spent the morning at the Atlanta Children's Museum. Mason and I had been there before but this was Layla's first visit. Mason did a crazy dance on the stage they have for performances.

Layla found a slide to go on so all was well with the world.

And then she found the John Deere tractor and she was even happier!

We went to the park near Rachel's house in Peachtree Hills twice while we were there. We had been to this park before when we visited last year, but this time Layla was actually big enough to play.

Layla LOVES the swing. Any time you go to a park she immediately runs for the swing and never wants to get out.

Here Layla is doing the sign for again when I tried to take her out of the swing.

Laundry Liberation

Are there things that you do in your daily routine that you don't really know why you do them except that is how your mom did them?

Growing up we all had our own laundry day. My mom would do my laundry (with whites and darks separated) one day, Rachel's another day, and hers and my dad's a third day. So there was always at least six loads of laundry a week besides towels and sheets. Those were done separately. There was a whole towel system too but I won't go into that now.

So this is how I did laundry. But then when Mason was born he didn't really have two full loads a week. So I did the darks and lights together. And since I do my laundry in cold water, nothing happened. So I starting doing our darks and lights together.

Then, after Layla was born, I would sometimes do Mason's and Layla's together. All mixed up. Even with towels and sheets together with the clothes. (Mom - I know you are dying a slow death right now reading this!)

And just recently, I started doing all of our laundry together. Basically, whatever makes it into the washer gets washed together. I still keep Tayler's and my towels separate - but who knows? that could change at any moment.

I bet if I hadn't told you on this blog no one would be the wiser, right? I feel so free I want to sing!

Of course, there's nothing wrong with doing it separately (mom!). This is just what works for me.

Ocean Wonders

When I was pregnant with Mason I asked many moms what was the one thing they couldn't live without when their baby was born. Several women raved about the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium. There are several different versions of this classic floating around - but the one in this picture is the one that we got for Mason.

Mason moved into his own room at four weeks old and immediately started his love affair with the Ocean Wonders. Way before he could turn over or sit up he started turning himself around in the crib every night so he could hit the Ocean Wonders on with his foot. Every single morning he would be facing the wrong way in the crib. Ocean Wonders was the first thing that Mason attached himself to - even before his blanky.

And now we are stuck. When I was a kid my parents used to joke about me leaving for college with my blanky. Well, I did. And then I got married with it and had kids with it.

Yesterday at nap time, Tayler took the Ocean Wonders out of Mason's bed and hid it in his room. While we were eating dinner Mason mentioned "You forgot to put the Ocean Wonders back in my bed." So it definitely hadn't gone unnoticed. But then we got upstairs and the Ocean Wonders was in his bed. He had found it and put it back in it's spot!

And then last night after I came downstairs from putting him to bed I heard him screaming "Mommy! Daddy!" So I ran back upstairs to see what was wrong. The Ocean Wonders wouldn't turn on. Seriously?

Does anyone have any ideas of how to wean him off of this toy? Layla is already over hers and she's two years behind him!

Super Long Post Full of Randomness

First of all, thanks to Martin and Yvonne, we just got back from our first ever family vacation where it was just the four of us. We had a blast playing at the beach, burying each other, building sand castles, swimming, collecting sea shells, seeing Uncle Parker. Of course, I ended up with over 200 sand flea bites - but that's another story. We had four days where the only decision that had to be made was whether to go to the beach or the pool. It was awesome. (Don't worry - we filled the holes when we were done.) (My mom says Layla looks like she is wating for a Pina Colada.)

I might get accused of embarrassing my son here, but this is a story too funny to not tell. A few weeks ago Mason's teacher called to tell me that he had been peeing a lot and he had told her that his penis hurt. I made a doctor's appointment and picked him up early to take him to have it checked out. When we got to the doctor I walked into the urgent/sick door. Mason asked why we had to go in that side instead of the well door. I said that because we had made the appointment today, that is where we needed to go. As we walked into the waiting room he announced, "I'm not sick. We're just here because my penis hurts." I about died. As each person walked in, he would announce again that "We are here because my penis hurts." I tried to quiet him as the people around us stifled their laughs and I turned red as a beet. When the nurse finally called us back she led us to a room. Mason announced, "We are in Room 3. Last time we were in Room 4. Is Room 3 the Penis Room?" The nurse laughed. She then asked Mason, "You're here because your peepee hurts?" To which he replied, "No, my peepee doesn't hurt. My PENIS hurts." Because, of course, peepee is the yellow stream that comes out. I guess this is what I get for wanting my kids to know the real names of the private parts.....

And lastly in news in the Gold house, Chyna has been prescribed Prozac. Human Prozac. A few weeks ago we came home on a Friday night after a thunderstorm. She had broken out of her cage, made her paws bleed, and tracked the blood throughout the house. Including in our bed. Tayler called the vet who called in the Prozac to Publix. He also mentioned that if a member of the family is on anxiety medicine it is very common for the dog to need it too. So this dog that I don't even consider mine is now on Prozac and it can be attributed to the fact that I am also on medication. How's that for irony? Ha.

Let's Eat! Review

I recently got the urge to purchase meals from the meal prep place Let's Eat! I thought it might be the perfect solution for us. Normally, we are very limited in our weeknight meals. We all arrive home around 6:05 and we like to be eating dinner by 6:30. That includes walking into the house, playing with the kids while we prep dinner, etc. So most nights we have tacos or ravioli or spaghetti or some other pasta and meat dish or something else similarly easy.

Let's Eat! was going to give us more variety in our routine. I chose the option where you pay a little more money and they prepare the food for you. All I had to do was pick it up, it was already prepped and packaged with the cooking instructions on the outside of the package.

The first night we chose to have a mushroom and chicken pasta. It took less than 5 minutes to prepare, including setting the table. Tayler, Layla and I all loved it. Mason wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. And he is usually a very good eater.

The second night we had shrimp with pineapple and a curry sauce. We paired it with roasted corn and peppers. The shrimp took a long time to cook - almost 45 minutes. This was mostly our fault though because we didn't put it in the fridge to thaw the day before. Tayler absolutely LOVED the shrimp and took the leftovers for lunch the next day. I was ambivalent, it was a little spicy for me. Neither kid would touch it. The veggies were AWESOME. Again, neither kid touched them.

Tonight we tried our third meal. It was chicken cakes. Tayler made them in about five minutes; before the rest of us even got home. We paired it with the green beans almondine. We all loved the chicken cakes. We make something similar with tuna. Layla and I loved the green beans. The boys aren't into green beans. Only major complaint today - the servings weren't big enough. Tayler and I were both hungry afterwards. We did split all the meals so they are three servings instead of six, but we still each had one serving and the kids shared one. It still wasn't enough for us.

I am hoping the next several meals go better than these have - because if not? I will not be visiting Let's Eat! again.

Slumber Party

For weeks Mason has begged me to sleep with him. So Friday morning we planned that night to be slumber party. Actually, it was more of a bribe. The poor kid has to drink a laxative every morning. And to get him to drink it on Friday I promised I would sleep with him.

So around 8 pm we got into bed together. We read a million books. We talked. We took a trip downstairs to pee (for some reason Mason wouldn't let me pee in his bathroom).

Then we got back in bed. And two REALLY cute things happened.

1) I was asking about all the new teachers he sees on a regular basis. There are four 4's classes and they combine together at the end of the day so he has 8 new teachers that he deals with. After I asked about all of them he asked me, "And how is Martin doing?" It was adorable.

2) I was laying facing away from him trying to fall asleep. He says to me, "Turn around so I can see your beautiful face!" Where does he come up with this stuff? I melted.

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep because I had no idea what time it was. I went downstairs and found out it was 1 am. I stayed down there watching tv until 4. I guess that's what happens when you go to bed at 8 pm. Then at 4 I snuck back into bed with Mason and slept until he woke me up at 8.

All in all, it was a fun night and I promised Mason that we would do it again "sometime".

Mason is 3!

Dear Mason, Dude, Goldilocks, Shnookums,

You are three years old today. Three! Where did the time go? It feels like just yesterday when we spent that tender moment together in the hospital – our first moment alone – early in the morning before anyone arrived for the day. You probably don’t remember, but it is etched in my mind. You were doing a weird Elvis impersonation thing with your mouth, which I thought was totally cool because I do that too. A few hours later I realized that it just meant you were hungry!

You have done so much this year. You learned to incorporate your sister into your life, you started playing drums, you learned to swim, you started recognizing letters and numbers, you potty trained, and I could go on and on and on.

You know EVERYTHING. You usually tell me intricate parts of your day when I pick you up at school. Or sometimes we have days, like yesterday, where I ask you questions and you say “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” This also can make you a bit of a tattle tale. There are no secrets with you! Like when you wanted to hold your blankey at breakfast and I said no, you told me that Daddy let you at First Watch. And when I wouldn’t let you brush your own teeth, you told me that Grammy does.

You ask questions that I didn’t expect to hear for years. One day I was driving you to school (which Daddy usually does) and you asked me “Why does Joshua (a boy in your class) have two mommies and I only have one mommy and one daddy?” I responded, “Well, God decided that Daddy and I should love each other and have you and Layla, and God also decided that Joshua’s mommies should love each other and have Joshua.” To which you responded, “Who is God?” Really Mason? All this before my morning coffee? When you want to know about sex – go ask Daddy!

You still love music most of all and we spend a lot of time playing band in our house. We have drums that you got for hanukah, a piano that Layla got for her birthday, a real guitar, and many more instruments. We could probably have a full orchestra. You like to use the hearth in the kitchen as your stage and carry your microphone in there. One day you were moving all your instruments into the garage and when I asked what you were doing you said, “I’m taking my show on the road!”

This year we went to visit Aunt Rachel alone – just you and me. We had a great time in Atlanta going to the children’s museum and (your favorite) Stone Mountain. But then the flight home was a disaster because it snowed. We waited in the airport for four hours and we were on the plane for another 10 hours. You were SO good. You behaved better than most of the adults on the plane. I wanted to lose my shit a few times, but you kept me together!

In your room is a collage that Grammy made you of pictures of me at Disney World when I was a kid. One day you were looking at the collage and asked me, “When did I take this picture with Tigger?” I looked at the picture and I had to do a double take. It looks EXACTLY like you. We could be twins, right down to our stupid cowlick on our forehead.

One of our favorite times of the day together is right before bed. We put the pillows up on your bed and we read two or three or five books together. You change favorites often and go through phases. Sometimes you are totally into Diary of a Fly, and then you won’t want to read it for weeks. We just recently went through a On Top of Spaghetti phase. Some of your favorite books are the Child Craft series that Grammy has been bringing you one at a time. We love to read the poems and stories and sing the songs. Although some of it is outdated. You love to point out the old fashioned washing machine in the song book! One of the poems that we read often is one that Grammy read to me all the time when I was young because it was her favorite poem as a kid. It goes:

“The World is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as Kings.”

I hope that you never get sick of me reading to you and that you read this poem to your kids when you are a Daddy. I have so many dreams for you, Mason, but most of all I want you to be happy as a King.

Love forever and always,
Mommy

First Day

Mason holds up the famous "1" finger for the first day of school - a Gold Family tradition. (We tried to get Layla to hold her finger up too - maybe next year!)

1st Day Breakfast - Pancakes and Fruit

Randoms

Layla's First Pigtails

Layla's First Birthday

July 4th at Charlotte's House

Mason and Jonathan Rocking Out

Mason's Favorite Outfit

Welcome to Toddlerhood!

Look at that face to the right ----->

Could you ever imagine that this sweet, almost angelic looking face could be the same face that had her first temper tantrum this week?

The past few weeks I have realized that my baby! is growing! up! and she isn't! a baby! anymore! Sniff. Sniff.

It started with her birthday. I now have to say she is one when someone asks. She's officially not an infant.

Then she began walking everywhere. Crawling is SO last year. I mean, come on mom, the big kids all walk, you and Daddy walk, Mason walks.

And then we had the first official temper tantrum. We've had a few instances where Layla wants something and whines about it. (Usually it is food related.) But this time was supreme. She found a snack trap with soggy, sandy goldfish left over from the beach the day before. It was in the bottom of the beach bag that was on the kitchen floor. When she found it she took off running to eat them in private - so she wouldn't have to share with her brother. I took away the snack trap and put it on the counter by the sink to be washed. She stood up and tried with all her might to get it from the counter. So I put it in the sink and told her NO. She had just had dinner! And then it happened.

She sat on the floor and started screaming and laid her head down face first on the tile and beat her fists on the floor. And continued screaming all the way upstairs and through her entire bath.

Just for the record, I didn't give in and give her the goldfish. But when Tayler got home and I told him the story his response was "I'll be honest - I would have let her have the goldfish."

Something I'll Never Forget (Rachel Too Probably)

I was recently having the discussion of when are your kids old enough to be left alone at home. In the paper there has been a story in the headlines of a couple who came from Michigan to Disney World and left their 2 year old and 4 year old in the hotel room while they went to the pool for several hours. Crazy, right? But did you know that the law says you can't leave children home alone until they are 14? I think that's crazy in the other extreme.

When I was in third/fourth grade I would get home a few minutes before my mom in the afternoon. I would let myself into the house, pour a bowl of cereal and then she would be home. No big deal. I was a responsible kid. But apparently, that is illegal!

I babysat for other peoples kids WAY before I turned 14. By the time I was 14 I was pretty much over babysitting.

Of course, then there was the time I poured the coke over Rachel's head. Yes, you read that right. I want to say I was about 12, so she was 8. My parents were out, don't know where. Jackie was over. We were set up with snacks in the living room to watch the television premiere of Home Alone. Something happened (no idea what) and we started fighting. It got ugly and I poured a 2 liter of Diet Coke over her head, drowning the couch and the tv and the carpet in the process. She locked me in my room and I had to crawl through a window to get out. Jackie went home and got her mom to come over and moderate.

I think that after that it was a LONG time before we were left alone again. Kind of ironic that we were watching Home Alone, right?

Arriving at Disney

What does the sight of the Walt Disney World sign mean to you?

As a kid we went to Disney a lot. But then, a lot was maybe twice a year. We lived a 4 hour drive away. Passing under this sign would evoke cheers of "we're here!" in me and my sister. Tayler has a similar memory - except his family would drive through the night from New York to reach the gates.

When I moved to Orlando I realized that my kids would probably never have that same feeling when they saw the Disney sign. It would be so common for them that it wouldn't make them feel the magic that is Disney. The purple signs on property wouldn't seem so special.

But now, since I have been working at Disney for nearly two years and go there at least three times a week, I barely even notice the sign as I pass through. I am totally desensitized.

Until yesterday, when I was pulling off I-4 there was a bit of a traffic delay. Three cars were pulled over on the side of the road and all the occupants were milling around in the grass. I assumed there had been an accident, until I looked closer. They were posing and taking pictures in front of the Disney sign. They were feeling the magic that I once felt when we arrived at Disney.

I think next time we go to Disney with the kids, we may just pull over and take some pictures. I want my kids to have that special feeling about Disney that I always had as a kid!

Layla - One Year

Dear Layla, Layla Bean, The Bean, Beeshul,

Before you were born I knew what to expect from a newborn.  At least physically.  We had gone through it just two years before with Mason. But I had no idea what it would be like to have YOU.

First of all, you are beautiful.  From the first day everyone knew it.  Grammy overheard two people looking at you in the nursery and commenting that you must be a c-section baby because you were so beautiful.  Everyone comments on your eyelashes.  They go on forever.  You will never need mascara Bean!  (Not that I wear it anyway.)

You are daring - you did every physical activity early.  Rolling, crawling, taking your first steps.  While Mason was the most cautious of babies - you take risks every chance you have.  You love to jump into the pool, explore electrical outlets, and just tonight jumped off my lap to the floor.  I think this might be a normal characteristic of a second child because you have to try to keep up with your big brother.

From the time you were about two weeks old you went with me every afternoon to pick your brother up from school.  The kids in his class would gather round to see you, but Mason was very protective at first and didn't let any of the other kids get near you.  Now that he knows you can hold your own, when I wheel you into his classroom at the end of the day he lets the others come over to say hello to you.  No matter what the kids in his class are doing, certain ones will come to visit with you every day.  You are like a star in that classroom.

You only want to play with your brother's toys.  Your favorite right now is the Handy Manny truck with the tools.  But pretty much, anything that is his, you are happy with.  And vice versa - he loves to carry around your purses and pink dolls.

You are a blankie person - just like me and Mason.  It is amazing to watch both of your through the rearview mirror with your blankies to your faces.  

Smiles don't come too easily from you - except when tickling.  It takes a lot to earn your smiles, but that just makes them so much more special.  

You are a choker - another trait your brother and you both got from me.  It wasn't until you were about 10 months old that you could eat even Cheerios without choking.  I'm sorry - but you can really blame Papa for this.

Lookswise - you are your father.  We pull out baby pictures of him from time to time to see what he looked at when he was your age.  It is unbelievable how much you two look alike, minus the hair color - yours is a little more brown.  By the way, where did that brown hair come from?  For the first month I was waiting for it to turn blonde like Mason's did.

I think the best part about being your mommy is seeing the way your eyes light up when your brother walks in the room.  Your adoration for him is more than I could ever have hoped for.  Of course, I also love when I come to pick you up at the end of the day and you run over to me and ask to be picked up by holding your hands up to me.

Language - I think you are starting to use some words, although they might only be recognizable to me.  You say Mama, Dada, Hello (eh-do), Mason (i-ma), Chyna (yna), and I'm pretty sure that this morning you said "What's this?" when I was changing your diaper.  But language is not so important - you can always get your point across with a point and some talking in your own language.  We all know just what you want most of the time.

You spent more time in the infant seat, bouncy seat, swing and play mat than Mason had to because we had to tend to both of you at the same time.  This has made you patient (most of the time - there was that time in the car with Grammy when you wouldn't stop screaming).  I sometimes feel like we are letting you down because we always do what Mason wants to do - he's vocal about his needs and wants.  It can feel like you are just along for the ride.  I hope this is just normal for second kids and that we aren't letting you down somehow.

Layla - the last year has brought so much happiness to me and Daddy - we can't imagine a world without you in it.

PTBC

PTBC = Potty Training Boot Camp. That is what we are calling it. Mason was dropped off to stay with Grandma and Pops on Sunday evening. When he woke up Monday morning it was no more diaper, only underwear (or naked tushies) in this house.

We get hourly reports and we get visitation tonight. He has been doing GREAT. Only one accident so far in two days. Lots of M&Ms and stickers and ring pops.

Now we just have to translate it to working when clothed......

Going to Grammy's

One Friday evening Grammy and Papa were over playing before bedtime.  Grammy made the suggestion to Mason, "Maybe you should just come spend the night at my house."  Without skipping a beat Mason started running up the stairs screaming, "I've gotta get my suitcase!"  I love that he loves being with his grandparents so much.  Most kids his age favor their parents but he absolutely loves spending time with both sets of his grandparents.  Just recently we were going to bed one night and he said, "I love Grandma.  I need to call her and tell her."  So we got the phone so he could call her.  It was so sweet.