Laila and her bouncer

6 months old!

Little Laila became 6 months old this month - the speediest 6 months in my life that's for sure as I now find myself staring down the second half of her first year, knowing how much more active she will be, crawling and cruising are around the corner as is watching everything that she will try to put in her mouth and contemplating how to celebrate her 1st birthday.

How quickly we got here and how much of a baby she still is to me as we are still in the nascent stages it seems of figuring it all out. Sleeping - not quite yet sleeping through the night although we've made a lot of progress, naps more or less happen at the same time 3 times a day and eating - well we've
tried! But Laila is not really interested in anything we have offered so far, pursing her lips, turning her head and if we persist breaking down in tears! ummmmmmm this was not like our first experience. Eventually she will learn to eat, right?

But my little lady keeps me company all day and tolerates having her schedule interrupted as we drop off and pick up her big sister who she adores above all others - turning her head to look for her if she hears her and becoming all smiles when she approaches. So fun to watch.



I imagine the grabbing- for- whatever-toy-my- older- sister- has phase will be right around the corner too - and oh how much fun that will be!

Happy New Year

We had a wonderful holiday at home this year - Maya was really into it and in good spirits and much more able to handle all the overstimulation of a huge pile of presents to tear into. She even helped open her sister's gifts. We spent Christmas Eve at Tata and Abuela's house where Santa came early and then hosted the Arnabal group for lunch on Christmas day for present opening #2. We took her to see the Rockettes and both girls to the tree at Rockefeller, where we ran into the SantaCon crew (thousands of folks dressed as Santa and Elves).

Brian took the week off and we did a lot - including our first attempt at ice skating (she tolerated it, made it around the ring twice), a trip to the NYBG to see the Train Show (really cool!), a trip to Delaware to visit with Roshni and crew in their new home and an outing to the Please Touch museum in Philadelphia. The week ended with a trip to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. She's discovered shows and has demonstrated she can handle the 3 hours so we plan to take her to see a lot more. 

Please Touch museum in Philly.

Laila is doing great at 5 1/2 months and sitting up now. Eating is not particularly her cup of tea but she's staring at us while we eat so hopefully she'll catch on in the next month.

Picture of the girls in their new dresses New Year's Day.

New Year's Eve we watched Kathy Griffith beat up Anderson Cooper for a while and fell asleep around 11:30pm - so close! But alas sleep is better, and we hosted friends for New Years Day brunch. The weather in NY has been great - few days of bitter cold followed by 50 degree weather that allows us time in the playground.