the better-late-than-never holiday re-cap!

We're half way into January...time to look back on Christmas and New Year's!:) Better late than never, right?
Christmas for our family was held at Alex's parents' home in Orange County. We got a much needed break, spending 3 nights away at their house. We attended church in LA at Bel Air and drove down afterward. Laurel didn't sleep very well while away, everything was a little too unfamiliar. She's spent many afternoons, but not nights, at their house. She wouldn't sleep in their crib, or the pack n play we brought. So...she ended up in our bed...and we didn't sleep:). She's a mover at night! She's always in her crib at our house, so we don't really witness the rolling and kicking and flinging about of the blanket:).
Christmas day was full of family and gifts. Everyone from the Velez family was over, including our 2 nieces. The house was filled with lots of conversation, laughter and little kid squeals - lovely!:) Our niece, Amber, turned 2 on the 26th and we spent that afternoon at an indoor play gym. On the 27th, we braved Disneyland - on a holiday break and a weekend day! It was swamped, but we had such a great time with Rob, Cyndy and the girls, that it really didn't matter! I've always been a fan of Disney, and Alex has enjoyed it in support of me...but he's really taken a new shine to it now that he can see the joy it brings to Laurel. She had a ball!

We returned home that night and Alex had the next week off. My dad came into town and only after a couple of days, we all got sick! On the 30th, I woke up flu-ish, but took in a lot of dayquil so that we could go to Pasadena to see the Rose Parade floats under construction. The lines were long, but it was really interesting to see how everything was put together - some petal by petal. Laurel's favorite was of course the Sesame Street float with Elmo! I succumbed to the flu that night and felt poorly for a few days after. My dad came down with it right after I started to perk up. Alex has an afternoon of ill feelings, but seemed to pass over it quickly. Laurel was a champ and carried on with her play, not getting sick at all.

New Year's Eve and Day were very chill, just hanging at home...mostly because of the sick. My dad stayed a bit longer because he was ill and we were able to have some nice dinners, rent some movies, and went up for a day to Huntington Gardens. Now we've returned to regular life - Alex back to work, calligraphy and Copper Willow for me. Copper Willow has brought in some excitement since the New Year. We sent out new catalogs and have been getting a steady flow of orders from brand new clients. We've had a couple of wedding invitation inquiries and soon, our new products will be sold at the New York and Seattle gift shows at the end of the month. Leora also had her baby last week, on the 7th. Delaney Reese was born 8 lbs, 4 oz, 19 in. So I've been running some things back and forth to and from her house to help out and to bring her the Copper Willow items that she needs.

Laurel continues to grow and progress in her learnings. She has a lot of new toys from Christmas, one being a little Elmo pull-out sofa that she loves to sit on. She enjoys pushing her little grocery cart and her baby stroller. No baby though, she prefers to sit in it herself:). She also got a set of big legos from Aunt Megan and she just loves them! They're played with constantly all day. I'm pretty sure Laurel has gone through a growth spurt. When Megan got back from Maryland (for the holidays), she said Laurel felt heavier and her hair was longer. I know her feet are bigger, we had to move into a size 5 from a 4 this week! Her hair is longer, but she refuses to leave a barrett or hair tie in her hair...I see a hair cut coming to help keep the hair out of her face. Laurel continues to go to gymboree every week and moved into the next age group, 16-22 months. Just last week, she finally learned a motor skill that she skipped and has avoided - crawling! It's kind of a strange half-crawl, but she started crawling through some play tubes that we have at home and at the gym. Laurel's comprehension is quite complete right now. I told her to get me some socks today and she marched off to her room and started pulling socks out of the bin in her closet. She loves to brush her teeth with her new elmo tooth brush and will run off to the bathroom when I tell her it's time to brush her teeth. So she understands a lot. She still says very little, but we'll get there:). "Uh-oh" is still her most predictable word, besides "Mo" for Elmo. Oh and "no, no", of course. She's learning her animal sounds and knows "Mmmm00" for cow, "Grrr" for Lion (she refused "roar"!), her version of a bark for dog, "Ba" for sheep", a quacking noise for duck, and we're working on horse. I think I mentioned before that she likes to shop and likes jewelry, but now she's enjoying putting necklaces on and carrying a purse:).

starting to make some chatter

So Laurel is finally starting to make a little chatter! With a little encouragement, she can be taught:). This video shows a few of her common and most reliable words. "Done!" when she's finished in her high chair. "Da da" is very clear in this video too. Megan taught her to say "Me!" in response to "who's pretty?" She now says it as a reply to any question starting with "who". Also on the tape is a little noise she makes in lieu of words. When asked a question, she make a little noise of affirmation. Not on the tape - she says "pretty" about jewelry. I'll have to try and catch it sometime. She's such a girly girl. Lovely necklaces. She is easily entertained in a dept. store jewelry section:). And she says "pretty" completely on her own with no prompting when she sees a pearl necklace. Loves pearls the best:).

In other Laurel news, I am winning Laurel over to the Mickey Mouse fan club! I've been a loooong time disney fan. She watches a show in the morning on the disney channel that has mickey mouse and friends. Whenever I take her to the mall for her gymboree class we visit the Disney Store. Now she looks forward to it and calls him "ki-ki". She races to the back of the store where the stuffed Mickeys are and grabs one and gives him hugs and kisses:). It's very sweet.

We are making small steps in calming down the mega-mommy/daddy attatchment. She hit her height of clingyness about a month ago and we've been struggling it since. Sometimes she just has to be picked up and held. And sometimes I just don't have free hands. Cue temper tantrum - a big one. We're working on waiting for her to calm down and then I pick her up. Or I offer her just a finger to hold onto so we're connected, but I still can't pick her up. Mostly she's a happy child, sweet and energetic. But every now and then, she gets upset and there's no turning back. I do think her gymboree classes are helping her to get used to being around other kids and walking away from me to play with others. Today I took her to the class and I stood chatting with another mom while she walked off and played by herself. Watching her grown and emerge as a little person just had me bursting! 6 months ago, when we first started gymboree, she wouldn't leave my lap. Slowly, with time, she's become so comfortable and really loves it there.

Laurel had her 15 month appt last week. She is officially 20 pounds! A marker that most kids hit at age 12 months:). She's in the 10th percentile for weight. She's now 31 inches tall, almost a foot longer than at birth. 75th percentile for height. She's still very healthy, but low on iron, so we started a supplement that she gets in her dinner every night. Laurel also got 4 injections - poor baby. So many vaccines are done in stages, it takes several shots to complete the rounds.

I realized I forgot to mention our Thanksgiving events! My mom came out for Thanksgiving and we took a much needed trip away to San Diego. We had a lot of fun together at a couple of different parks. For T-day dinner, we went to George's in La Jolla. We had a gorgeous view at sunset next to the full glass wall. The meal was delicious and best of all - no clean up! Friday, we went to Sea World. Laurel's highlite - Sesame Street Bay of Play. She continues her Elmo obsession and loved seeing all of the Sesame Street characters. She saw someone in the elmo costume and was so giddy! Saturday we went to the wild animal park and the home.

family photos

Time again for family pics! We took some photos in the park recently for our holiday card. Here's a couple of shots. Laurel had a rough morning, but chippered up in time to run amuck in the grass.
(I haven't uploaded a video in a while because I can't find my little point and shoot camera that I usual capture quick videos with...will try to get my video camera videos online.)

history!

Yes, this is a family blog:)...but our little family witnessed a historic event last night that will impact us all! So I had to take a minute to write about the election of Barack Obama!

We are so proud to be Americans today after electing an African American president last night. Alex and I both support him 100% and now we are waiting with great anticipation for his move into office in January. What a huge step our nation has taken! We are so moved by Obama's election, I am so excited for our future. And we can of course think of no one else but Laurel and what this means for her future. Oh the possibilities! I feel so honored to be around to witness this event and will never forget where I was on November 4th, 2008.

On the flip side of the coin, we are still fighting against prop 8 in California as the ban was passed last night. With one great step against discrimination, there is one huge set back.

But as Obama says, Yes we can!

the littlest mermaid

Laurel dressed up as a tiny mermaid for halloween this year. Auntie Megan made it for her, with a little help from Grandma O. when she was here. Laurel looked so cute! She helped answer the door for a few trick-or-treaters and then we went up the street to a friend's, Brigitta. Her daughter, Lauren, just loves Laurel. Ryder also came by with Ryan and they 3 little ones went to the neighbor's to have an official trick-or-treat moment. Otherwise, we didn't want the candy!

Earlier in the day, I took Laurel to the park in her daytime Halloween outfit. She just loves the swings and will softly say "vweee!" while she swings. We also strolled around the park so that I could take photos of her.

A little Laurel update:
Laurel seems to be putting on weight and growing! She feels a lot heavier and is just eating and eating! She loves cheese, graham crackers, grapes and peas...yes, peas. Her elmo obsession keeps getting stronger and stronger. She understands that the remote turns the program on and she will pick it up and point it at the tv. When nothing happens she will bring it to me and impatiently shove it into my hands. Laurel loves balloons too. They give them out to the kids in Trader Joe's, so whenever we go, she just jumps out of her skin over them and isn't satisfied with just one...no, she wants them all! She loves shoes and jewelry, always drawn to beads and gems in the store. She carries our shoes around and tries to put them on. She will hand you everything, right now she likes to share:)...we'll see how long that lasts:). She has a little tea set and knows how to "stir" her tea with her tiny spoon.
She's not talking much, still. I do get worried about that. She seemed to collect a few words about a month or more ago. Then for some reason, she stopped saying them and almost regressed. She now calls everything Da-da, including me, much to my joy. She only just started saying "da" for "done" when she doesn't want to be in her high chair eating anymore. Alex thinks she said "pretty" tonight, but we'll see if that happens again.

pumpkin patch

Last weekend, we went up to Moorpark (hour away) and visited Underwood Family Farms for some fall fun. The farm has lots of do with kids and families and we had a lovely afternoon! Grandma O. was in town and we went with Megan as well. The farm had some great barbeque and pie for lunch. We also took Laurel into the little petting zoo pen, watched an animal show, took a tractor pull ride, got frustrated in a corn maze, and of course picked out a pint sized pumpkin for our pumpkin! Laurel loved the tractor pull. We sat at the very front of the wagon and she was able to stand on the bench and hold onto the front wood panels. She got such a kick out of it! She was kind of neutral about the animals, more interested in observing them than petting them. The farm also had several large haystacks for climbing and she loved going up and down...she has a love for steps.:)

fall 2008

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post. yikes. Time got away from me again! And lots to report!
The beginning of September started off nicely with a trip to San Diego. Laurel and I drove down the first friday of the month and met up with my childhood friend, Katy, for her mom's wedding in La Jolla. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, but it really always is gorgeous in San Diego! Leora came down on the train with Ryder and we met up with Katy and her husband, John, for dinner in Little Italy. It was really nice to relax and chat. The kids were their usual handful, but it was a really nice evening catching up with them. Saturday morning, Ryan and Alex drove down to meet us and we spent the afternoon/evening with Jason and Jennifer. We attended their wedding in New Orleans in May. It was our first time seeing their new apartment. They had a barbeque with lots of yummy food! Sunday, after checking out of our hotel, we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo. And yes, it's just as amazing as you've probably heard. Easily the best I've ever been to. I've been there before, but not in a while, plus it's nice to revisit with a toddler and experience everything "new".
Laurel was very flexible on the trip and we got to experience napping in a stroller (with much resistance from her) and even a day without a nap at all...which I do not recommend! She was getting more and more confident on her feet and would toddle around on occasion. She has very little fear, of course never having experienced the consequences. We went down to the waterfront in San Diego to see the tall ships and she would charge right up to the edge of the dock and probably would've kept going if we didn't pull her back. She wants to explore every nook now that she can move at her own will.
The rest of the month was filled with studio time, gymboree classes, some time at church and a few weekend outtings. Alex and I bought a membership to Huntington Gardens. Wonderful botanical gardens. Laurel loved the koi fish in the pond in the sculpture garden. We've been to the beach and the promenade a handful of times, giving Laurel as much time on her feet as we can. She likes to walk, then gets excited or anxious and turns to be picked up. Then she squirms to be put down and we do the whole thing over again:).
Laurel has been taking a little gym class at Gymboree at the mall. She loves the little shaker toys that they have and enjoys playing with the rubber balls and running around in the open space. Once she becomes accustomed to a place, she feels more secure about walking on her own and will just take off. She loves to walk around and grab clothes in a department store. It's so funny how fascinated she is with the fabric and how she will "hug" a bunch of jeans hanging from a rack. She is definitely a girl and LOVES jewelry. She likes how bangles and pearls sounds when hey jingle together and she likes to study the little crystals and jewels on necklaces and earrings. She's very patient and gently, poking and prodding at everything very meticulously. We can almost see the wheels turning as she takes in the little details. Even today, she was walking around, holding my keys and held them against her leg, all the while, looking down, watching how the keys would jingle as she took a step.
I've been attending a mommy group at Church for the past month. It's been really nice to share time and conversation with other moms. Megan has watched Laurel while I go to the group, but once I did bring her along and stayed with her in the Nursery while she played. I'm hoping she will get used to the nursery at some point! I've also started teaching 3rd grade sunday school and our bell choir has started up again.
Let's see, other Laurel tid bits: She's not talking much yet. I'm waiting for her to grasp on to words and doesn't seem to be in any rush. She has her own "language" and loves to babble and make all kinds of noise and "words". We do believe she knows a lot of words and understands a lot of what we are saying, but doesn't repeat anything. Laurel is continuing to expand her solid food tastes. She will pretty much eat anything off of our plates now. Even if she shows a distaste in the beginning, she will eat it if encouraged and will eventually like it. She is still skinny and petite. She needs the length of the 12 month clothes, but the waste band on all of the 12 month pants are way too large. Laurel love to read! We have a book shelf in the front room that has her books on the bottom shelf. She will walk up and sit herself down and pull out the books, page through them, talk to herself as she "reads". It's very sweet. I've gotten it on video and will try to get it up online. She will also bring books to us to read to her. Laurel will bring anything to us actually, sometimes just to show it to us. :)
Alex's game was just announced as well! Check it out! http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/7-studios-teams-with-numark-quincy-jones-for-scratch-game