March for Babies

On Saturday, my mom, my sister, my aunt, Myla and I all put on our walking shoes and did the 2010 March for Babies. It was cold, it threatened to rain (and maybe did sprinkle a little bit) but it was all worth it. Myla was awesome and stayed snuggled in her stroller for most of the walk, but didn't fail to collect some goodies from the sponsors along the way. With a little help from Mam-Mam and A2.

We were told that the family teams from the Denver walk raised $1 million. That was a new record they said. We felt proud to be part of it too. I told my sister at the beginning of the walk that something was wrong with me because I was getting all emotional. But it was more than just walking - it was doing it for Myla. And at the end, our little miracle walked across the finish line. Fitting I thought.

Thank you to all that sponsored our little family team and that have done so much for us in the two and a half years since we started this little blog and this little family. Thank you for loving our Myla. And thank you for all you do for little babies everywhere in your own little ways!

Myla, Mommy and Mam-Mam after the crossing the finish line.

Planting time

Myla loves to be outside doing anything. Every time we go outside to go to the car, she has to go see the daffodils. Or we have a ceramic cat by the front tree that she has to say hi to. And if we can't stay out front, we have to go out back. She's helped her dad transplant some grass, play in the mud and throw the ball for Haley dog. She comes in with dirty hands and dirtier shoes, but man does she sleep well at night.

Yesterday after I got off work, we went and had a picnic at Myla's favorite park. She did really well actually eating before she couldn't take it anymore and had to go swing. (That's what she said too - "I need to swing!" Well, if you NEED to, that's a whole lot different.) It was good practice for the summer when we have family dinners outside. And she had fun watching the other kids too - even if they were crazy boys playing chase that she had no interest in joining. She just kind of looked at them and got out of the way. As long as they didn't get in the way of her sliding, it was cool.

Discharged!

Another one bites the dust... Myla's check-in with the speech therapist could not have gone better. She was a little shy and didn't talk as much as, say, the ride home from her Nonni's house, but what she did say was enough to make the therapist say this - and I quote - "Adjusted or unadjusted, her language skills are precocious." She also suggested we seriously check out highly gifted and talented programs in the local schools. (And not to worry about the "L" sound, you don't have to have that until you're 7.) Yeah, Myla rocks.

And so we say goodbye to the early intervention program and a jovial "Hello!" to spring and 70 degree days!

An open letter

Dear Mr. Woodpecker,

Please leave our furnace pipe alone.  We don't like waking up to your banging on something that is obviously not wood.  Its metal. And its loud.  And it wakes up the little one way to early after she's had a hard night getting the sleep she needs.  We would appreciate it if you would go back to whatever grove of trees you came from.  I hear there is some nice ones on the canal.

Thank you.

Dear Stephanie,

I'm sorry I laughed when you posted your experience about a woodpecker on your furnace pipe.  I promise never to do it again.

Easter Recap

We had a great Easter this year.  The sun was shining, Johnny was able to get enough sleep so that he could enjoy it, and Myla was a blast!  She loved getting dressed up in her Easter dress that Mam-mam made (and I think she couldn't have looked cuter!) and wearing her new fancy shoes.  She loved looking for eggs and seeing what was inside them (so much so that today, while we were trying to keep others from getting sick with the cold that she has and hiding at my parents house, she wanted to go looking for more) and snacking on the goodies.  She loved playing with her cousins and watching them so much that she almost didn't eat dinner.  It was an all-around great day.

So yes, Myla caught a cold.  I'll never understand how she can do that when we aren't sick.  But she does, and I'm sure we'll get nailed later.  She's not letting it stop her though.  She still runs around and is really into going outside as much as possible.  In fact, it was her - shall we say - negotiating style that forced her dad into getting a new "tool" to clean up after the dog.  We found this great, big, bumble-bee bubble wand for a dollar that she is having a blast with.  The Easter bunny brought her a little trike that once she learns how to work will have her on her way down the street in no time.  Bubble trailing behind her if she had her way.

We have one more check in with the speech therapist this week.  Kind of a last time out before they pass her on to the school district when she turns three.  (Holy cow - three this year!?)  I'm a little concerned that she isn't really saying the "L" sound, but not so much that I'm going to take her to a class or something.  Its a hard one.  And I'm sure that's what the ST will say too.  But its always fun to have these therapists come over and be amazed.  We like to show off for them.

Show your colors

Tonight, after a long day of helping Uncle Scott paint, we showed Myla how to color eggs for Easter.  (I'm ashamed to say that this was my first time hard-boiling eggs.  And I was too embarrased to call my mom and ask how, so I looked it up on the internet.  Gotta love modern technology!)  She got right into the swing of things and didn't bother with the "dunker" but used her little fingers to do it.  Now stained every color under the rainbow.  She loved to put them in the color, pull them out, dunk them again in perhaps a different color and out again.  John tried to show her how to let them sit in the color and it would be more vibrant and dark, but she was having too much fun doing it her way to really care.

She tried to put the little stickers from the package on the eggs, but either the eggs were too cold or her hands too warm and wet, I don't know.  But they didn't stick.  No worries, who needs stickers anyway! In the end, we now have nine multi-colored, many dyed eggs ready for the Easter Bunny. 

And now for a Myla-ism.  Today, in the grocery store, Myla told me she LOVES oranges.  New to me, but okay, we got a couple.  She promptly took them out of the bag and told me again how much she loved oranges, and licked one.  Yuck!