Lyla Does Art Prize!

So today Lyla, Erik, my parents and I went to Art Prize in Grand Rapids. It's this awesome art contest that pretty much turns downtown into an art museum! Really anywhere can be a venue for an artist's work, and if you have a venue, then you can show something! You can walk around outside and look at tons of amazing work, and a lot of buildings are venues so you can check stuff out inside, too! Pretty awesome to have something like this nearby! Artists from around the world compete, but the best part about it is that many of the artists are local! It's great to learn of and support local artists! Anyway, I won't put too many pictures up ... it's only the second day, so I don't want to spoil it for anyone who is going.... But here are some of the things Lyla enjoyed :)

If you're curious, more info at artprize.org!

Here's Lyla at Art Prize last year..... it was freezing, but she didn't know, fast asleep in her Bundle Me... Only a month old! WOW!!!!! WHAT A LITTLE BABY!

And here she is this year!

The wooden bears in the background are the actual art prize entries, but Lyla was more interested in the fountain.

What could she be looking at? This was like a cool little table.....

.....but hey there is a little world inside there!!!!! Lyla thought this was really cool!

Giant Doggy!

Lyla liked his ball ... oh yea Lyla recognizes the word 'pelota' now.. spanish for ball!

A lot of the art is really just giant stuff, like this giant door and giant chair. Still cool. Lyla actually enjoyed it, but the picture I have of her smiling is out of focus. She also tried to climb it of course.

But nothing was cooler than the carousel in the museum!

Here's me... Photo courtesy of Erik!

Overdue Update: Life of a Toddler's Mama

So excuse for the lack of blog posts: busy toddler = busy mama!

Lyla is always on the move.. crawling everywhere, pulling up on anything she can, and walking all around the living room. She is a bit timid about walking on her own anywhere else... just recently, she started feeling confident enough to venture onto the hardwood floor on her own.. progress! Otherwise, we just have to take her by the hand when she needs to leave the living room...

It has been amazing to see what she learns to do every day! Yesterday, I asked her, "Lyla, dónde está tu nariz?" And she pointed to her nose! She has only done it a couple of times since though. She is able to feed herself with a spoon, although it is definitely a messy ordeal. The other day, we shared a yogurt snack and she fed both of us... we were both covered in yogurt, but it was fun, and good practice for her. Most impressively, she can bend over and stand up again without holding onto anything! She continues to be a little imitator, talking on the phone, using the remote and pointing it at the TV, sweeping, brushing her teeth, combing her hair, head banging (haha), etc etc. It's so funny!

We took away the bottles for good about a week ago. It wasn't as difficult as I thought. We did it gradually while Lyla got used to drinking milk and the sippy. At first she wouldn't drink any milk, but now she chugs it like a champ!

There is so much more to look forward to with our little Lyla Soo! We love you!