Last day at Layla's

It was hard to say "goodbye for now" to Layla. Liliana and I have made so many memories with her over the past nine months. We will miss her running to the door to greet us in the morning. We will miss dancing, laughing, trips to the park, and the beautiful chaos that accompanies spending the day with two toddlers.

I think that Liliana understood that this was the last day we would be nannying for Layla. When it was time to leave she cried (which she never does) and was begging for Katie to hold her more than usual and didn't want Katie to give her back to me. She cried for Layla and Katie as I loaded her in the car, but I smiled through my own tears and told her that we didn't have to say "goodbye", just "goodbye for now". Layla and the Tollack family have become such an important part of our lives. I know that we will continue our friendship for many years to come.

Got Milk?

Liliana is officially done nursing and I only have 3 bags of frozen milk left and I haven't been able to pump any milk to save for some time now. So, it is over. But it has been a great run and it was a gradual, natural weaning process.

When Liliana started really eating solids she was on a nursing schedule of 4 feedings a day. (I had to be pretty scheduled because I started watching Layla at that time and it made it easier for all of us.) When she was around 10 months old I started supplementing my milk supply with a formula bottle for her at night, so she was only nursing when she woke up and before her naps--3 times a day. Then, a couple months ago she went to one nap, so another feeding was naturally dropped and I was no longer able to pump. And, I figured that because her nap was right after lunch and I wanted to teach her to sleep without nursing right before, I dropped another feeding. So, she has only been nursing once a day for over a month. And, she has pretty much decided that she is over it. I am not making the amount of milk that her voracious appetite requires, so she hits my "bo-bos" and tells them "no" and asks for "nums" (food) and has finally stopped even trying. She is ready, and honestly, so am I.

I am a little sad that this phase in our lives is over. It's just another step to her becoming a big girl. As all moms know, it is a little hard to let go. I really enjoyed breast feeding. It was convenient and made me feel very close to Liliana. (I will forever be amazed at how my milk would come in seconds before I would hear her wake and cry in the middle of the night.) I will fondly remember holding her in our orange chair and nursing her. I will remember how she held on to me so tight, patted my chest and looked up at me with her big brown eyes. It felt very natural and I was proud of doing something that was so healthy for her and I. But, the timing feels right and the weaning process was also natural for us both. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Now, Liliana gets one formula bottle before she goes to bed. I am not quite ready to fight the battle of weaning her from that habit. She is falling asleep easily and sleeping great and I don't want to mess with it for now. Instead of giving her cow's milk (or soy or other alternatives) during the day we have decided to give her hemp milk. My friends and I did a lot of research and were impressed with the amount of omegas and the fact that it has almost as much vitamin D and calcium as milk without any of the health pitfalls that cow's milk contains. I usually make her an afternoon smoothie with it so that I can use the sugar free version and she loves it!

SD to SFO

Liliana and I flew back to the Bay Area again. We always have the best time there. We both get spoiled with a lot of love and delicious foods. Liliana gets to go on a ton of adventures (in one day we visited the park, petting zoo, library, cousin Schuyler's house, and local sushi restaurant). And, I get to relax by not touching a dish or a piece of laundry and kicking back with my good friends and family that I miss and love dearly. We can't wait for our next trip in May.

Playdate with Charlie Glaser, William Grosch, Rhys Williams, and Brendan Burke:







Feeding the animals at Tilden's "Little Farm":


Hanging out with cousin Schuyler:
Liliana's favorite food is Japanese. We couldn't hand her the food fast enough so she started eating it out of the bowl:

13 months old

This age is so much fun! I think that there is something new every day! Here's the latest since last month's update...

New words:

She has 55-60 words that she uses regularly, but she will repeat pretty much anything you tell her to. She's a little parrot.
ducky, Grammy, Poppa, Uncle, poo-poo, pee-pee, nose, bow, shoes (sshhzz), yeah-yeah, bye, milk, open (opey), hola, stuck, "B" (as in Aunty Brittany), more, kitchen (chin-chin), bubbles, nose, Oz (Bop), lemon, ball, toes, I love you (I Luv)
New Tricks:
She is standing up in the middle of the room without using anything to help her pull up and she has started taking some steps, she "winks" (squeezes both eyes together tightly and then opens them wide), quacks like a duck, neighs like a horse, points to herself when you ask, "who is Liliana?", she is officially a one-nap big girl.
New Cute Stuff:

-She blows kisses. Every morning after I buckle her into her car seat and get her cozy with her blankets and toys, I blow her a kiss and say, "I love you" before shutting the door and hopping in the driver's seat. Lately she has been beating me to it, which melts my heart. She blows kisses and says, "I luv" and then we are off to Layla's house.

-She has an obsession with her best buddy Layla. When we drive to their house in the morning she yells, "Layla" every time we stop at a stop light because she thinks we are at her house. When we get to the Tollack's the girls are always happy to see each other. Layla is a speedy little walker and leaves Liliana in the dust shouting, "Layla" at the top of her lungs all day trying her hardest to keep up. One day last week we went to Stroller Strides instead of the Tollack's in the morning. When I pulled Liliana out of her car seat she looked around, realized she wasn't at Layla's house, and started crying out for her friend. When we are at home she looks at her video monitor's receiver and calls Layla's name because when we are at the Tollack's during the day that is what we do to check on Layla when she is sleeping.

-She is a kissing bandit. She goes in for besos with complete strangers at the park and at the grocery store. If someone responds kindly to her "HI!" that she shouts all around town, she leans in with her mouth open wide for a smooch. I don't let her kiss strangers and that really bums her out. You should see the reactions we get when she does this. Hilarious.

-She is a good listener. She knows that certain things are off limits and points to them and shakes her head and says, "no, no". She also checks in about things that she thinks might be a "no, no." For example, she is not allowed to play with cords (obviously), so she will pick up things that have strings or an ipod USB cord and lift her eyebrows to me and ask, "no, no"?

-She knows the words for poo-poo and pee-pee and tells me before (and during) a poo-poo. This is wonderful for potty training purposes (I just ordered a potty chair), but has put us in some comical situations already due to Liliana's loud voice and social nature. Last week we went out to dinner at a relatively nice restaurant and Liliana stood up in her high chair and (after pushing and making her face turn red), yelled, "WOW! POO-POO!" Just a few days later in Jimbo's, Liliana asked a woman who was snacking on a bagel for a "bite" and then said loudly, "poo-poo." The woman could not stop laughing.

-She loves to talk on the phone and Skype. She has been handing me my cell phone and telling me who to call for a while now. If she asks for "Da-Da" and I tell her he is in a meeting, she will think about it for a minute and ask for someone else, like "Unca (Uncle Colin)." Then I put them on speaker phone and she laughs and kisses the phone and says, "hi". She also likes to crawl over to the computer and tap on it and tell me to call, "Maama" or "Bahmpa". And, as I'm sure you might have guessed, once they are on the screen a lot of kissing goes on.

Reading books in Layla's special chair that they fight over:
Look at all of that drool!! Maybe some molars coming in?

Watching "Bop":

"DUCKY! CACK, CACK"

Liliana LOVES animals and her new obsession is duckies, so we found a great park in San Marcos and took her one Sunday morning to feed the ducks. She had a lot of fun and shouted, "Hi Ducky! Cack, Cack (Quack, Quack)" and insisted on sharing their "nums (food)".