Shana, Tevan, Mom, Aunt Nancy and Aunt Donna came to Louisville today to begin preparing for tomorrow’s birthday celebration. We’re all very excited about the party.
Here, Shana is reading Lyla her birthday book from Nana in Lexington:
Lyla loves the new duck Nana sent as well:
Here, we’re working on the final touches of the slide show that Aunt Tevan has been working on for months for the big event:
Lyla and I explored Farmington House today just up the street from us before going to the airport to pick up Daddy today. She loved walking on the brick sidewalks – it’s a beautiful place with lots and lots of krinkle leaves:
We’re so happy to have Daddy home, and he’s really happy to be done with Boards.
Lyla’s favorite today: Playing with her “girls”, the Fisher Price people given to her by Aunt Tevan. She loves to watch them talk compliments of Mommy. When I make them say, “Hello..”, she picks them up and puts them to her ear like they’re a telephone.
It’s been a busy time in the Hottman Fam this week. Lance has been in Philadephia taking Oral Boards, and Lyla and I have been hard at work preparing for her very first birthday party on Saturday. She got to spend the afternoon with Aunt Ari (aka Aunt Cheese) and Rand today while I went to run errands. She had a great time, and after a long nap, we ventured out to Cherokee Park.
I’m amazed at the changes in Lyla over these last few days. I want to remember every one of them because she’s changing so rapidly. She’s really becoming a little girl – she seems to enjoy clothing changes followed by me crooning over and over about how cute she is.
She’s also really talking. I think she already has several words. Today, I was standing at the counter playing on my phone while holding her and she pointed to bananas on the counter and said, “Nanas!!”.
Here are some pics from the Park. She really enjoyed her time there today, especially the swing. She laughed the entire time I pushed her. As usual, she particularly enjoyed trying to catch up with the other kids – but she can’t quite do it…yet:
We had a very busy weekend with Aunt Martina, who helped us get so many things ready for the party. We miss her already, but we're looking forward to another visit to Urbana in January. We can't wait to see Zoe & Ellie!
Halloween weekend was a busy one for us. On Sunday, we were happy to host a Hottman family gathering at our house, and all the babies were in attendance. Lyla enjoyed catching up with cousins Isabella (the Cheerleader) and Blaire (the Bee):
And, most of all, it was just great for all of the cousins to check out each other’s costumes and to get this classic photo of the Ladybug, the Cheerleader and the Bee:
The girls sure are growing fast – look how far they've come! Wow!!
After the cousins left, we had dinner together and handed out candy to kids in the neighborhood.
Happy Halloween!
We had a great evening at Boo at the Zoo this year. Lyla the Ladybug was amazed when we first arrived – she kept looking around, smiling in wonder at all the kids around her. We were able to collect candy with our good friends Rand, Liam and Lily. Everything about the evening was absolutely perfect, especially being with our friends. It was one of the many times this year when I’ve experienced just as much amazement as Lyla – being a mommy and daddy is so much fun!
We are already looking forward to next year.
I’m going to have a hard time choosing pics for this post, so there might be more than a few:
Lyla’s favorite way to “ride” with Daddy:
Daddy said that Lyla walked right over to this hay maze and was intent on walking all the way through. People kept asking Lance how old she is because they all say she looks too little to walk.
Lyla loves Lily:
She is soooo beautiful:
We ended the night with a ride on the haunted carousel. I think Lyla was way too tired to enjoy it.
And, no night would be complete without pics with our favorite sea otter:
We had an interesting trip to San Francisco. Lyla’s first flying experience was a really good one, thanks to lots of good advice from Aunt Martina. She did so remarkably well that we were complimented by flight attendants and the people who sat next to us. She seemed to really enjoy seeing all of the other passengers, especially the kids sitting near us. We were grateful there were no ear issues, and she bounced right back from the three hour time change.
Here we are getting ready to leave Cincinnati for our five hour trek. We saw a whole new side if Lyla’s attachment to her pink Lyla Quinn “covie” – as soon as she saw it, she wanted it and would snuggle up to it. It was so cute!
We were able to catch up with several old friends from Columbus, which was definitely a highlight of the trip. We were so happy to see several of Lance’s residency friends, including Drew & Jen Johnson, who have a daughter, Kate, who is just 2 weeks older than Lyla. I was really happy to see Yvonne, another residency friend, and she was glad to get to meet Lyla:
Lyla and I were happy to explore the city (especially the Farmer’s Market) while Lance was in his conference, although our efforts to get out and about were hampered by the rain that started the day after we arrived. This was not a slight mist, mind you, it rained hard for two days in a row, which apparently is unusual for this time of year. So, in Hottman Family fashion, we “made it work” by buying a rain cover for Lyla’s stroller. She stayed snug and warm, although Lance & I were drenched, and I wasn’t entirely happy about it:
However, the annoyance I felt about the rain was NOTHING compared to what we dealt with at the Westfield Mall, just a few blocks from our hotel. We went there to get out of the rain and give Lyla her bottle:
After her bottle and after discovering that my iPhone had been destroyed by the rain (UGH!), we decided to go to the Family Lounge to change Lyla’s diaper. While there, someone decided to steal my wallet, which changed the face of the entire trip. It was NOT fun!
But, we again made it work and moved onward. We were able to get to the Wharf on our last full day, which proved to be one of Lyla’s favorite spots. She enjoyed Boudin bread, a San Fran favorite, and we had a great time exploring San Fran’s UP and DOWN sidewalks with the stroller. We made it the perfect day.
On the long walk back to the hotel, Lyla did this:
…while we did this: (And, trust me, there is no way a picture can depict how STEEP these sidewalks were)
All in all, it was a great trip. We’re very proud of our very adaptable traveller. She did a fantastic job!
We think that Lyla might really love Italian. She hasn’t refused many foods as of yet, but she seemed to particularly enjoy her spaghetti this evening:
Here, you can see her doing something she has come to love – “giving” her food (among other things) to Daddy & I. She seems to be greatly entertained by it.
