A Fourteen-Point-Five-Month-Old

What a long break from blogging! Certainly the longest break since I started writing at Suite Apple Pie in August 2007. This little baby has turned into a toddler and there's even less free time now.

Lots more play and less napping time during the day; Lyla took two naps for the last time on November 1st, and the one nap is mostly 90 minutes or less (although we've had some longer ones lately). She's still a really early riser, between 5:00am and 6:00am, and mostly closer to 5. Bedtime is still 7pm and it's easy and pleasant for which I am SO grateful after the months of horrible crying. I go to bed at 9pm to try and get 8 hours. She has been waking again once a night for a while and for the most part I haven't fought it. I even bring her into our bed to fall asleep again in the 4 o'clock hour. This is a no-no in some circles but it has worked for us, getting both of us back to sleep quicker.

Lyla really likes to eat. Favorite meals include oatmeal for breakfast, pb&j for lunch, and pasta with cheese for dinner. Likes: cutie clementines, bananas, plain yogurt, pumpkin, pancakes, peanut butter, egg whites, pasta, quinoa, CHEESE, ice cream, chocolate, peas, pureed soups. Dislikes: egg yolks, avocado, apples (raw and cooked).

We don't have a walker yet, although it seems like she's getting really close. Lots of standing practice, it seems like she's standing more than sitting sometimes. She's a really fast crawler, and can get around just fine like that. She does LOVE to look at books and be read to; we spend just as much time reading books as we do playing with toys.

Our mornings begin much as they have all along. She nurses upon waking and than plays in the living room while I work out. We make and have breakfast, and then I put on Sprout (a channel for toddlers that shows Caillou, Sesame Street, and Kipper) while I clean up and then shower. We run errands or do activities before her lunch at 10:30 and she goes down for her nap around 11:15am. In the afternoon we do more playing or outside activities. Dinner is at 5:30, bath at 6:10, bedtime at 7pm. Despite the onset of toddler tantrums, my days are more pleasant and enjoyable now.

All the most recent pictures are on my iPhone, I need to download them and post some very soon.