To Georgia!

We've recently returned from a relaxing visit to my aunt and uncle's home in Georgia. This is something I hope to do annually if we can. Living in a city, I really want my children to know life in a less urban setting. It's very fortunate that we have familiy in a nice rural setting about an hour outside of Savannah. I really love their company and know Laurel and the baby will really enjoy knowing them as they grow up. Laurel was last there just before she turned one and though she didn't remember it, she warmed up quickly!

We went for a week with mom. Laurel was a great traveler as usual. She watches videos on the little player, does stickers, colors, etc. She fell asleep at one point on the way there, so that makes life a little easier. And after 2 years old, we have to buy her a seat, so I didn't try to cram her onto my already crowded lap. The trip back was just as easy and we were delayed on our flight out, so she fell asleep then too because it had gotten so late.

The trip highlight for Laurel was easily the pool. She's a water baby for sure! There were plenty of floaties for Laurel to hang on to and jump into - she liked to jump off the side of the pool into one of the disk shaped floats. She made some great progress in the pool, even blowing little bubbles at the surface. Just near the pool, some birds had made a nest and the babies had hatched, so when we were outside, we'd peek in and see the little mouths gaping open:).

We of course ate lots of great food, Aunt Peggy is a great chef. Laurel helped on occasion and even had her own little apron made for her! On one comic instance, she helped make a really nice peach/blueberry pie. We were taking pictures of her with the "masterpiece" and she lost her balance and everything fell onto the floor! We also made some very creatively decorated sugar cookies:). The peaches in the pie were from a peach-picking we did shortly after arriving. We picked a ton! Laurel was a pro at the picking and later instructed me on how to do it right "mommy, you have to twist and pull!" Got it:). We ate those peaches all day everyday for the rest of the week!

Laurel also had some great time with animals. We visited a farm with goats, chickens and sheep. Later in the week, we went to a friend's who train horses and Laurel came out of her shell and road one! She didn't want to get off! I was so shocked that she was so bold, usually she's so shy to new things. Laurel also enjoyed some time with the cats. Occasionally she got out of control and over excited with them, but they were very chill and patient with her squealing. She also liked to watch the hummingbirds and other birds that frequented their feeders.

Overall, Laurel stayed on about pacific/mountain time:). So we stayed up later and woke up later. I went to bed with her though, so I got nice long nights of sleep. Laurel enjoyed the snuggle time, she's such a cuddler! Laurel enjoyed some down time in the evenings. coloring and doing puzzles. Aunt Peggy set us up with lots of kiddie things so Laurel was very well entertained. Plus she loves to wrestle and Uncle Don was a good sport to humor her on a nightly basis. So, it was a great visit and went by too quickly, as good times do! Hopefully we'll go again soon.

Moving on from toddler school...

Lately Laurel has been disenchanted with her toddler school. She's been going Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:45. Overall, it's been a fantastic experience for her. I am so grateful for the amount of progress she has made as a result of the school. At 18 months she was terrified of being separated from us and cried and was so clingy and dependent. You'd think that would be ideal and as much as we love her, we knew she needed to grow as a little person. I'm sure I posted about it back then, but the transition to leaving her alone was rough. She cried and was so sad. It was a long process for me to leave her alone. But she made friends, became social, learned to follow instruction, sit and listen, etc. Even now, I find her doing something out of a school habit, like tucking her socks into her shoes when she takes them all off. I've caught her reading and book and turning it around to show her "class" at home:). Some of her favorite songs to sing are from that school.
Anyway, lately she hasn't wanted to go and has gotten upset. With preschool approaching in the fall, we decided it would be a good time for her to have some summer fun and a break from school before starting up with bigger kids in the fall. She is also aging out as younger kids are coming into the class, she may be a little bored.
The last few times I took her to the school were sad for me. I didn't like to see her unhappy again and also I was recognizing that she was getting older and isn't a baby anymore. The early years have gone by so fast for her! I think I'm going to be that kind of mom that cries at each stage of life:).
These are some pictures of her last day of school, which was a field trip to the beach - turned out to be a chilly day, but she still had a blast!

Laurel sings

Sometime in May Laurel made a huge language leap. She'd been speaking in phrases just fine but now the sentences are flowing and she babbles and holds up full on conversations. It's so much fun! She used to say something and I would comment. Or I would ask a question and she might make a comment. Now we go back and forth and she has opinions and questions. Laurel is also developing personality with her comments. She can be stern and ordering or excited, mischievous, sad or just plain happy. She will even declare that she's so happy or that she's sad. Occasionally she will be mad and even fold her arms on her chest:). When she's ordering she will point at you and reprimand. It's hard to keep a straight face! She can never hide her excitement over doing something she wants to do and even giggles with glee. I always used to look forward to when we would hear a lot of chatter, well sometimes the chatter doesn't stop. She has tons to say from the back seat of the car and always interrupts her bedtime books to make comments.

Laurel also started singing her songs independently. Sometimes when we sang she would sing along but now she will burst into song all by herself. Abcs, itsy bitsy spider, slippery fish, twinkle twinkle, 3 little monkeys, etc. Three little monkeys is especially amusing because she sings it with such gusto! I will have to get some of her other songs on video. And she doesn't like to be interrupted. She has to finish her song if she's started it. Much like the disney cds in the car. We don't get out of the car until the song has finished.

Saying good bye to the baby potty!

Laurel is officially doing her poops in the potty! A big milestone for her because she was so apprehensive and scared of it for so long. She's been great with the pee for a while, even perching herself up on the big toilet without a potty seat on top. Much like getting started on the pee, it just took a good push. We told her she had to make all of her poops in the potty before she could go swimming. And ta da! Every now and then she asks for a diaper but we tell her no and she accepts it and goes in the toilet. At first it seemed like she really held onto it and waited as long as possible before reluctantly doing her #2 in the potty. But now she will sit and sometimes it just pops out and she's surprised and pleased with herself. She loves to run out to whomever will listen and say that she has peed and pooped:). She of course gets tons of praise, so who can blame her?

baby girl!

Here's a picture of Laurel at our 20 week ultrasound:). She came along for the big news that she's going to have a sister! I didn't think I'd care either way, but I was so excited to find out we're having another girl. Laurel and she will be so lucky to have each other. The news is still just 85% confirmed by the doctor, so we'll have another look at our 22 week detailed ultrasound. But for now, we're on cloud 9!:)
Laurel decided to try out the "stirrups"!

Memorial Weekend in San Francisco

Over Memorial weekend, the three of us drove up to San Francisco for a quick visit to our old stomping grounds. We drove up late Friday night and checked in at about 1 am. We all shared the king bed together, nice and cozy:). Laurel has had quite a spring for little colds and was snotty and cranky on the drive up. Though we were constantly blowing her nose, she seemed in pretty good spirits. The weekend was very busy for tourism, so we stayed out of the city and decided to take some public transportation. Saturday we took BART into the city and then rode a trolley car over the middle of the city down to the Fisherman's Wharf area. Normally an area I really liked visiting, it was so crowded and not very easy to navigate. We did make it over to the sea lions and grabbed some ice cream on the pier. Shopped a little and ate at Ghirardelli Square. We rode the F train around to the BART station again and made our way back out to the hotel. I picked the hotel in favor of a pool since Laurel is really enjoying water right now. She calls the hotel a "hotel-o". Not sure why:). The pool temperature was too cool for our liking but we endured it and got out when Laurel's teeth were chattering, even if she was upset to be getting out.
On Sunday we decided to drive in and visit Golden Gate Park. We walked around Stow Lake and saw lots of turtles and ducks. Laurel really wanted to ride the paddle boats, but once again it was a crowded day. We walked over to the newly renovated Science museum in the park. It was closed before Alex and I moved to LA but has been refurbished and was a lot of fun to navigate. Laurel really enjoyed the butterflies in the rainforest and the fish and creatures in the downstairs aquarium. We capped our day with a visit to Japantown and ate at our favorite Japanese restaurant. Oh and more swimming in the cold pool:).
Monday, we had the intentions of getting up and running into the city for brunch and to check out the Golden Gate Bridge, but our fog-free luck ran out and the city was socked in. So we headed home early. All in all, a fun weekend and Laurel was a trooper with her sniffles.

Laurel's time without Mommy

Laurel spent this past week without Mommy, while I was in NYC for the stationery show. The show went pretty well this year compared to the past year, a pick up in the very down economy, hopefully. It was a nice time for Leora and me to just take care of ourselves and enjoy the city a bit. We ate some good food, did a little shopping and even took in an off Broadway show. The trip went by quickly.
Leaving Laurel this year was harder than last. Last year she didn't seem to notice or care that I was gone. She was very upset to see me leaving at the airport and it made me get sad and teary as I was walking away. I hear she recovered fairly quickly and enjoyed her time with Grandma the rest of the week. She stayed with my mom during the week days and Alex picked her up in the evening to come home. Over the weekend, she went down to Orange County to visit Alex's parents and to play with the cousins. Time with Amber and Sierra is always in demand and Laurel just loves them like crazy. She had some fun party time with them and took naps with Amber.

I was very excited to see her when I got back...needless to say:).