Ditch Day!

Today was the perfect day to ditch work and give into my spring fever.  We went to the zoo!  It was the first time Johnny had been to the Denver zoo in the daytime (in all 11 years of knowing me and I NEVER took him, slacker!) and the first time we had been with Myla during the day there too.  It was a perfect day, the sun was shining, some of the animals were out, and the place was packed.  We had a lot of fun.  We were tired when we left and we didn't even get to the monkeys, but we got to see Myla's favorites and explore the new rainforest building and see fish. 

Ah, the giraffes.  Always a crowd pleaser.

See that speck by the polar bear's knee?  That's our Myla!

The other day, Myla crawled into bed with her daddy after she had just woken up.  She called it "daddy's bed."  And when I asked where mommy slept, she said "outside."  So funny, that kid!  But really, how can you be pretend mad with a face like this -

Yep, still lovin' on the ducks.  Oh to be two!

Brrrrr!

If I've said it once, I'll say it again - you gotta love Colorado.  Right now, as Myla is doing everything in her little power to stay awake, 7-14 inches of snow are falling outside.  Or 5-10, depending on who you listen to.  I'm not holding my breath that we'll get that much, but its kind of crazy when you think about it.  Three days into spring and we've already gotten more snow than probably all winter. 

So, Myla.  Being two.  Fighting sleep with everything she can find - reading, talking, singing, crying.  She's become quite the pro.  Johnny got some blinds to put on her windows, thinking that the sun staying up later was affecting her somehow.  But tonight its pretty dark and she's doing it again.  I know her parents are cool, but she's never wanted to stay up with them before.  Wake up, sure, but not stay up.  This is new territory.

Myla has developed a strong attachment to her rubber ducks the past few days.  Takes at least four of them with her where ever she goes.  Of course, her hands are really only big enough to carry two, so we end up with three or so in our pockets.  Luckily they are small - baby ducks, as she calls them.  They have been sleeping in the sink of her play kitchen she got for Christmas.  But, as all babies do, these ducks sometimes get into trouble and are put in time out.  She says, "you stay there, one minute."  Oops.  Well, I guess we know she's listening to us...

What's this?

Myla's favorite question is "what's this?" She'll point to something she sees when we walk the dog and ask, or she'll find something and hold it up and ask. Sometimes, we answer her four or five times until she's got it. She loves to try out the word that we tell her - tonight it was styrofoam - until she says it to her satisfaction. She is also very good at recognizing letters. We'll be driving down the street and she'll see the "H" sign for hospital and she'll say "there's an H." Most of the time, if she sees a word, she'll say "look! ABCs!" Tonight, she let me read to her the whole Stinky Cheese Man book.  I don't think she got most of the humor in the stories, but Johnny laughed at them.  She liked to look at the pictures and she wanted me to read it again.

The other night, Myla did not want to sit still. She wanted to go anywhere, and so we took a drive around some neighborhoods to see what we could see. While we were out, we stopped at Dairy Queen to share a blizzard. Myla had more fun getting the ice cream on the spoon and feeding me than she did eating it herself. After every bite, she would say "chocolate good stuff." I would have to agree. It was very fun, and very messy, and very much a memory that I will want to hold close as she grows.  It makes me wonder - again - how early you start remembering things.  I hope that we are giving her lots of good memories to hold close to her heart too.

Growing so fast

Our dear little Myla, in all her two-ish-ness, has decided that her parents are lazy slugs.  She is constantly saying, "come on mommy" and "you comin' daddy?" or she'll try and pull us up from where ever we are to go to another room or to see another toy.  Just yesterday, I was stopped in the middle of the road waiting for Johnny to follow (don't worry, it was a residential area) and Myla says "come on mommy, let's go" and when I started moving again, she said "there you go!  yeah mommy!" and gave me a round of applause.  I guess if she knows I'm always going to be in her corner, she's going to always be in mine too.

We had a wonderful play date on Saturday with Myla's friend Sasha and her mommy.  It was fun to see two little people running around and playing together.  I know that's all Myla does all week, but I'm at work and don't get to see it, so it was neat for me.  And having an adult to talk to while Johnny was sleeping was also a very nice thing.  Then we got to go to Uncle Scott's house and play on the stairs, which is a rarity for Myla since we don't have any.  She's pretty good at those stair things.  Scary for mom and dad - don't need any tumbles down even carpeted stairs - but she's really getting the hang of it.

And for those that were curious, yes, Tiny the Fish is still swimming and getting fed daily.  One of the highlights of Myla's day is giving Tiny a shake of food and watching him eat it.  Its amazing how much joy something so simple can bring.  And we don't mind a few extra minutes of holding the whirlwind that is called Myla.