How To Make Golf Less Boring, by Lyla

I'm going to assume there's some sort of significant golf event going on, since there've been a lot of lovely green lawns and low-talking announcers and carefully-timed soft claps coming from our TV as of late. Lyla will occasionally glance up to yell "get in the hole!" or inquire "what's his name?" when somebody interesting appears on the screen.

Yesterday Tiger Woods was being interviewed, and Lyla looked over at the TV and asked in her playful voice, "who's that funny guy?" I said, "you know who he is... what's his name?" She paused for a moment, then told me, "ummmmm... Lion!"

It's a very special person who can make me laugh that hard about something golf-related. And as for Tiger, he got off pretty easy, I think... many people would have come up with a less noble animal to substitute for his name, these days. Although my friend Niki suggested on Facebook that perhaps "Lyin" was what Lyla actually meant. ;)

Waiting, impatiently...

I am impatient. By nature. Which means it's not my fault... I just can't help myself. Lately, I've been fighting to suppress the most intolerable impatience ever... waiting to find out if this new little baby is a girl or a boy. And we've got two more lonnnnnng weeks to go. Sigh.

But the upside is: last pregnancy, I went into my 20 week ultrasound really hoping for a little girl, and I'll never forget catapulting myself upright on the table and clapping my hands with excitement in the exam room, giddy with joy. This time, I waver between thinking PINK (it's just so much fun being a girl mommy, and I'd really love for Lyla to have a sister) and envisioning BLUE (it'd be fun to experience something different). So assuming we see a happy, healthy baby on that ultrasound screen, regardless of "parts"... I'll be 100% genuinely thrilled either way.

I just can't wait for that "giddy on the table" moment!

The mind of a toddler...

Lyla loves to pretend. Some days she's a kitty-cat, sometimes a doggy (who will only answer to Neko, Connor's Boston Terrier's name), other times a butterfly. The other day she was a birdie. I said, "Oh hi, Birdie! What are you doing?" as she "flew" around the house, and she happily explained, "I'm birdie! I sit in a nest and eat some eggs!"

Hmmmm... didn't even touch that one. For now, I'm thinking we won't complicate her 22-month-old sensibilities by explaining that some eggs are for eating, while others actually grow into new birdies. She has plenty of time in the future to figure out the circle of life... in the meantime, she can happily imagine her little birdie friends just chillin' in their nests enjoying an omelet in the mornings. ;)

Wise Words from Lyla:

I was getting Lyla up from a nap the other day, but she wanted to stay in her crib so she could have her pacifier for a while longer (the pacis stay in there for naps and night-time). She politely handed one to me as a peace offering, and I said, "No pacis for Mommy. I'm a big girl!" She looked at me contemplatively for a moment, then removed her own paci from her mouth to tell me very seriously, "Big girls need pacis, too, Mama."

She's right. I took the paci. :)

Sun and Sand and Seashells, Oh My!

Since the beach may be my most favorite STLFT (something to look forward to), this seems like an appropriate place to start my blog. Lyla and I have been here for just over two glorious weeks, and I'm mostly just writing this post to avoid packing for home. We started out in Millsboro with Chadd's parents, where John and Gabie came to visit with their little ones, so the guys could play some golf. Then we headed down to Rehoboth for our traditional birthday beach trip. Which means I am, officially, 31 (gasp)! It's been a great visit, despite the neverending morning sickness keeping me from all my favorite restaurants. And having to substitute cranberry juice for wine at all our happy hours. And not really rocking the bikini quite like I used to. And having to pee every 35 seconds. That's not so festive.

But as Chadd noted, Lyla definitely inherited the "beach gene" from my mom, grandmother, and I, and nothing could make me happier. She is totally in her element playing in the sand and splashing in the waves and people-watching on the boardwalk, and naps like a champ afterward. Chadd and PopPop came down for long weekends, and Uncle MikeMike and his friend Connell were here for a visit, too. We even got to have some playdates with Lyla's BFF, Emma. All in all, it's been a pretty awesome start to my 31st year.