what happens when you get to play with your food...

oatmeal.

 blueberry pancakes.

faces of the bug

long beach aquarium

Today we went to the long beach aquarium with our friends Sarah, Adam, Anne and Austin. I wasn't sure Laila would be at all interested but I was pleasantly surprised at the interest she took in the fish and other creatures. At first she was very nervous/unsure about the displays...I think she thought she was going to fall into the water or something. But, she quickly figured out she was safe and started to become quite interested. There was a whole outdoor section with shallow water where the kids could actually stick their hands in and pet little sharks and rays. Laila wasn't quite big enough to reach down and touch them but she did stick her hands in the water and splash a little bit. Overall we had a really fun time!

she's a monkey

dolly cart & stair climbing

There's no getting around it - our little bug is a girl on the go. She has mastered crawling and can bust down the hallway in the blink of an eye (which means I can never take my eyes off of her again!), and she is easily pulling herself up on everything. At first, it took so much effort for her and she would need a ledge or something to really grab onto. Now she can pull up to standing on anything - a wall, our legs, her toys, etc. She loves to be standing and walk around holding our hands.

During a spontaneous Saturday trip to Walmart last weekend we ended up buying her a cute little doll stroller for her to push around. It is taking her some time to figure out how it works, but for now she's generally more interested in pulling out whatever dolly we put in the stroller.

She has also been very interested in climbing the stairs. I tried to avoid it for a while, but Collin decided we might as well let her do it and try to teach her how to get down properly. It's fun trying to impart wisdom on your 9 month old.

9 months

Playground

We have taken Laila to the playground twice now and she really likes it! The faster we push her on the swing the more she seems to enjoy herself. She liked to crawl to us at each end of the little tunnel and then look at Daddy through the holes. Eating grass was a highlight as well! 

Mother's Day Weekend in San Francisco

A few weeks ago, I suggested to Collin that we fly up to San Francisco for Mother's Day weekend. It was a place I had never been and had really wanted to visit! JetBlue fares were pretty reasonable for the one hour flight, and thanks to our Starwood points we are always able to stay in hotels for free!

We arrived on Saturday morning and as soon as we got to the hotel, we had a little impromptu photo shoot with Laila on the big white bed. She was having a ball crawling all over and burying herself under all the pillows!

Dada even got in on the fun!

We then headed down to the Palo Alto area to visit with our friends Matt and Christen. They have a little boy named Derek who is about two months older than Laila! It was so great to see them and catch up! It had been way too long since we had last gotten together. The kids got along well and it was fun that they could finally meet!

After we got to their house and played for a bit, we headed off to lunch and then to walk around the Stanford campus. Matt works there and Laila's Uncle Kyle and Grandy both went to Stanford so we're hoping Laila will go there too!

The next day we did all the touristy San Francisco stuff - Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, rode the cable cars, saw the Golden Gate bridge, etc. It was a lot of fun to go somewhere new, but man is it EXHAUSTING toting a 9 month old around a city all day! We had a fabulous day and were all asleep before the sun went down.

The evening was ended with bath time for Laila and another photo shoot because the first one was just too much fun.

We ended our trip on Monday by parting ways at the airport. Collin headed to Washington DC for a business meeting and Laila and I headed back to HB.  We got the whole row to ourselves on the airplane so of course we had to take more photos. Laila made friends with the woman in the aisle across from us, so she crawled back and forth for a large part of the flight. 

Overall we had a great trip and look forward to going back and exploring things we didn't get the chance to see this time around! It was a great first Mother's Day!

Best of the last few weeks...

Buddies - they are SO GOOD at sharing!

This is what happened this morning...

Chloe enjoying a leisurely chew.

Laila gets interested in the bone.

Laila knocks bone out of Chloe's paws.

Laila decides to see what is so yummy about this bone.

They share bone. So sweet.

Laila lovingly gives bone back to Chloe.