Rodeo, Part I

On Go Texan Day, Leila's school had an adorable little preschool Rodeo. The kids dressed in western wear (boots allowed, but no guns please, said the note home.) They had a horseshoe toss, and rode pretend ponies, and listened to a campfire story. It was super cute. Patrick had the week off to work on the Rodeo BBQ committee so he was able to come.

A Day at the Beach

Another perk to living in Galveston County is that we are really, really close to the beach. Just a few minutes away, literally. We went to El Jardin Del Mar beach today... ever heard of it? Me neither. But it is a jewel and I want to go back, like, tomorrow.

This was Leila's first "real" experience at the beach. At first we wanted to wait until she could walk, because while she was crawling she put everything in her mouth. We went over the 4th of July to a beach off of the San Bernard River near Galveston Bay, but it was more like the mouth of a river than the sandy shores of the Gulf, and she certainly could not run like she did today.

We had a blast. She loved it all: the sand, the breeze, the waves lapping at her toes. She would have walked all the way in the ocean if we had let her--no fear there. She was sandy and her feet were soaking wet but she was in heaven. She squealed in glee every time the waves touched her. To top it all off, there were dogs there, which are one of her favorite things in the whole world.

The cherry on top of this perfect day was going out to eat for dinner, at none other than "Leila's Mexican Restaurant." She was treated like quite the princess there.

Cuteness Update

My Aunt Cailin has this brilliant list on her blog of things my super-adorable 3 yr-old twin cousins say. These girls are so cute, they got not 1, not 2, but 13 blog posts for their 3rd birthday!! Aunt Cailin shames me. Examples of hilarious quotes are "Please bless Barney, Baby Bop and the Wiggles," (Claire-During her nightly prayer) or "Tell that boy don't be cranky," (Carmel-Referring to her father when he denied candy.)

Little Leila has done some pretty hilarious stuff lately. Since now we live far, far away, I thought I'd share since we are the only ones that witness it.

"Neigh, Neigh" when she wants to 'ride' Shrek like a horse (which he tolerates for a little bit)
"Dog?" first thing she asks for in the morning, before Mama, Dada or baba (no offense taken, sweetie)
"Melmo?" every time we get in the car now that I have a portable DVD player - OR incessantly at toddler story time at the library, at which Elmo has not ever appeared
"Avewy?" asking for her best friend, strangely every time I put her on her changing table (I think this is because we practiced singing "Happy Birthday" for Avery's birthday party while I changed her diaper to distract her, sorry Avery for the association, lol) and also at her highchair
"Mimi?" "She's at home." "Belle?" (Mimi's dog) "She's sleeping at her house." "Du?" "He's at work" asking about her grandparents every day, multiple times.
"Nana?" "She's at home." "Po?" "He's at work. "Jay?" "He's at school." asking about her other grandparents and my brother every day, multiple times (She can't say "Josh," my other brother at home's name.)
"Big Boo?" Asking to watch 'Sesame Street' at home--apparently Elmo is reserved for the car now
"Amen?" While folding her hands to pray at the table. We pray before meals but now she wants to pray every time we get up and sit back down... "AMEN."
"Ewwwwie!" When asked how her diaper smells.

She knows where all of her favorite things are in each room and will make a distinct whine telling me exactly what she wants (the markers to color outside, her puzzle, her cup, etc.) I guess we need more sign language to fill in the gaps...

Leila's favorite things to do now (in no specific order) include: coloring with markers; watering the plants, playing tea party; watching Melmo; playing with Shrek; taking baths; eating, eating, and more eating; "helping" me cook; and reading books.

She does not like having her diaper changed, sitting in a grocery cart, going down the stairs, mice, or books without pictures.

She LOVES (in no particular order): her dada, her mama, her dog, her grandparents, her Elmo t-shirt, her "lovey," her stuffed animals, and her baby dolls. If she does not love something she will say "no" and push it away, lol.

Had her first toddler pre-terrible twos moment and refused to take off the cowboy boots..
Had her second toddler pre-terrible twos moment when she only wanted to wear this Elmo shirt

She loves to color and make a huge mess

Playing with her friend Luke, Luke & Leila haha

My friend Kelly brought her adorable son Luke over and they loved to play together! After he left, she kept asking for the baby.

We played princess for the first time and she loved it. I am so happy...

Once we finally got her Elmo slippers on and she wasn't scared of them anymore, she didn't want to take them off

Moody Gardens

Now that we live in Galveston County, we thought we might start taking advantage of our new locale. Last weekend we went to Moody Gardens Aquarium. We hoped Leila would be entertained by everything going on around her. The aquarium houses sharks, fish, penguins, and has displays you can go into and touch.

She really liked the penguins because they are just her size. Everything else only kept her attention for a few minutes. She would have rather climbed up onto the benches and ran down the ramps. Good thing her admission was free, lol. I am looking forward to the Rainforest Pyramid reopening in the summer.

Leila fits right in with the penguins. She is the same size as a Gentoo.

The pengiun exhibit was really entertaining. They were so cute and walk very much like a toddler

She loved touching the starfish and tried to pick it up, yuck

17 months and so big

One thing about being a toddler... they have a mind of their own. Leila is certainly her own person. She is very determined and wants to do things on her own and figure things out. But she is very sweet and also likes to be held by mommy... "Up!" I cook a lot with her on my hip. The way I see it this won't last so I am taking advantage of it. I should note she is still very small so she is easy to carry around!

According to "What to Expect, the Toddler Years" her vocabulary at 18 mos should be 50+ words. I think she hit 50+ words by 16 mos (she is now 17 mos). Some are basic, "mama, dada, dog, cat, banana, apple," and some more complex, "please, thank-you, Big Bird, peekaboo." She is still signing and we are really thankful for these strides in communication since it makes all of our lives easier.

Some days her curiosity pushes me to the limit. One morning, after climbing into a kitchen chair and then climbing up her bookshelf, I asked her exasperatedly, "Are you a monkey?" And she looked at me in all seriousness and said, "No."

Reading the Sunday Comics (we like Peanuts & Family Circle)

Spinning on her new toy... she warmed up to her Christmas presents, eventually

#1 Toddler toy... the Cozy Coupe, Princess edition. No, seriously, the license plate reads "Princess." This was a gift from my parents, and she didn't even let Patrick finish putting it together before she climbed in.

Here is Leila with my parents and her Cousin Sara right before Christmas

Leila and her best friend Avery playing at our new house

Our friends Cannon and Kylie came over to play at the new house. Thank you Jill and Jennifer for driving out here! It was really fun but Kylie did not want her picture taken.

Ryan and his mom Sarah came to play too and both kids loved this singing Snoopy toy. We are open for playdates, and take note, Sarah said the drive is not too bad :)

M&M Ranch, New Year's Eve

We spent this New Year's at the McKinney's ranch. It was a bit disasterous in that the rocky hill country is not exactly ideal for toddlers learning to walk. The house itself was not ideal either, as it is filled with guns, knives, and ammunition. Hmm.

I must say Leila's Mimi and Dude did as much as they possibly could to help me. One morning Leila was not in her bed and after my heart dropped to the floor I thought to look in their room, and there she was, snuggled in bed watching Fox News with her grandparents. I wish I had a picture it was so darn cute. She was perfectly content too, so I am thrilled we have reached the point to where she is comfortable enough with both sets of her grandparents to stay with them and not need mommy and daddy.

She really loved the ranch, and the weather was cold but not uncomfortably so. The first day she fell and scraped her forehead (blood.) The second day she fell and cut the side of her face open near her eye (lots of blood.) Later that day she fell on the porch and busted her lip (more blood), at which point Patrick banned her from going outside again. She healed very quickly, thankfully.

Check out her adorable hunting clothes... Camo skirt? Check. Pink cowboy boots? Check. Fake fur trim on coat, check...

Note the Hello Kittie band-aid by her eye...

This monkey shirt is her favorite. Her camo hat was a gift from our friends Drew & Julie and says "Future Hunting Princess" in pink. Did you know they make pink guns for girls?

Sharing a sweet moment with her Mimi

Our little family, Shrek didn't want to pose, too much going on to slow him down!

Leila's 2nd Christmas, belated

Leila got really sick the night of the 23rd with a high fever. She was ill on Christmas Eve and her fever spiked on Christmas Day. Needless to say, it was not the super-exciting 2nd Christmas we were hoping for. We had picked out Elmo slippers and found a tickle-me-Elmo for this Elmo-obsessed tot and she wanted nothing to do with them. She said NO NO and pushed them away. The pictures below tell the whole story.

Sad...

Sadder...

Saddest.....

Our little princess was so sick she did not even want a kiss from mommy and daddy...

But seeing her aunts and uncles and Nana and Pops perked her up for a little bit and she managed a smile. Her adorable outfit didn't hurt either. Also, my brother Jimmy is newly engaged and his sweet fiancee Courtney was with us for the first time, so Leila tried to be happy for their sake.

Sadly, lunch at my parent's house wore her out so much she did not last 15 minutes at Mimi and Dude McKinney's. Leila slept for 14 hours straight Christmas night.

Our sweet girl looked so cute on Christmas Eve, fever and all. Below is a picture of us from last Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve 2008