Little Moments - Milayla

Hanging out with Milayla is such a special treat. This girl has so much kindness, joy, intelligence and determination all wrapped up in one itty bitty package. Her laugh and chatter are infectious. Here are just a few little details that we love and want to remember about Milayla as a little baby.

-arm stroking while cuddling: when she cuddles up she will rub your arm. Perhaps it's from all those times we have rubbed her back?

-dancing: Boy, does this girl love to dance. Her door jumper is rarely used for jumping as she is usually tapping her feet away to the music, performing the running man or twirling in circles.

-"walking": Holding on to Mommy and Daddy's fingers, Milayla has made huge progress in the first steps of walking. She even bravely tries to let go and stand on her own (she usually tumbles pretty quickly, though that does not deter her from trying again and again).

-tumbling and laughing hysterically like her big brother: Atticus is going through a phase where he likes to spin until he is so dizzy that he falls over (with dramatic emphasis), then he will giggle uncontrollably. Since Milayla can't spin she will just do the tumble part and will lay herself down from sitting position and start giggling about it. She is pretty convinced that it is the funniest thing ever which makes it pretty funny to those  that get to witness it.

-stroking hair while praying: Not just any hair though...Atticus' hair. It's sweet, but a little distracting during family prayer..

-page turning in books: There is a big smile that accompanies each turned page.

-"hello" smile: her hello-smile seems to take up a good portion of her face. It's beautiful! Such a lovely way to be greeted.

-"camera" smile: Milayla is pretty proud of her camera smile. It consists of her tucking her two little bottom teeth behind her top gums and spread her open mouth into a forced, sort-of smile. It is adorable!

And of course, here are a few photos from the iPhone archives of Milayla!

Valentine's Day

Two very lucky kids received some lovely red envelopes in the mail just in time for...Valentine's Day!

They were both so excited to get such special cards from Great Grandma & Grandpa Hochstein. Atticus very proudly showed off his mail to Mommy and Daddy before ripping into the envelope to see a lovely Valentine that he now displays on the window ledge and he shows it off every chance he gets.

Milayla really took the time to savor every little moment of opening that card. (she's sitting in the laundry basket because that's where she likes to hang out when laundry is being folded :). 

She looked at the envelope, studied it and smiled for pictures. 

When she opened it she smiled for more pictures...

then studied the little bow... 

and finally held up the card to show Mommy for a photo. Milayla even gave her best 'Camera Smile'. 

What a fun surprise! A big thank you to Great Grandma and Grandpa for the lovely thought; it sure put a smile on each of these little one's faces.

All Our Bags Are Packed...

We are off to Greece!

This trip came up on us rather suddenly, so the past couple weeks have been packed full of researching planning and booking. And we are all very excited.

This will be Milayla's first flight and the first flight that Atticus is old enough to really understand what an airplane is all about.

To prepare the kids we took them down to the library to find as many books as we could about airplanes and Greece.

We have had some seriously cold weather, so we really had to bundle the kids up and take the bus (since biking leaves them in the cold a bit too long, even with all the layers).

But all that time bundling up and taking the bus was well worth the effort to see Milayla's happy dance as we previewed the books in the igloo (wish we remembered to take photos of that one!). Or the immediate attachment that Atticus grew for this book...

 We spent a solid 3 days where all Atticus wanted to do was read about the airport and airplanes. He is certainly well versed on what to expect at the airport. After learning about airports and airplanes we read plenty of books about Greece, mostly about the historical sites that we will be visiting. As a result, the anticipation has been mounting.

On Saturday morning we brought the suit cases up from storage and lined them up to determine which sizes we would need to take with us.

Atticus is a man of action and busied himself by getting all of his clothing and packing it into the smallest suitcase as he verbally checked off the items (not too sure who's list he was going off of). Then the suitcase was zipped up and he wheeled it to the door, and to the kitchen, and to the living room and, and, and, as he told us all about the airplane that we are taking to Greece. He's excited. Very excited. It's cute.

And now, we're off!

Time together as a family, soaking up history and (hopefully) a little bit of relaxing. And just so you don't miss us too much, we have a couple blogs scheduled to post while we are gone. Isn't technology great?

Until next week!

Milayla - 9 Months

Another month and this little girl has a personality that is just bursting at the seams. This last month has been a month of movement! Milayla has begun crawling forward and thinks it is the greatest thing ever; she will smile and giggle as she makes her way across the floor. She is beginning to pull herself up by grabbing onto our hands then she will walk all over the apartment. She loves playing soccer with her big brother; using Mommy's fingers to stand up she will run after the ball and do her best to kick it back to Atticus. And she really can kick. 

Her favorite books right now are 'The Hungry Caterpillar' and an interactive word book. She is very interactive and enjoys chatting and smiling with the people who sit behind us at church. 

Milayla is very eagerly attempting to build with Duplo but has not quite yet mastered the interlocking technique, though she is an expert at demolition. 

The photos for this month weren't planned to be Milayla's 9 month photos (so she is actually only 8.5 months and these are being posted before she turns 9 months...small technicalities she will surely forgive us for) but she looked so cute in these impromptu shots! They are from an afternoon that she did not feel like napping (which is pretty standard around here) however Atticus did feel like napping. That meant Milayla got some one-on-one time with Mommy which is a bit more rare than it should be and always lovely. Her toy of choice to play with was the abacus. So while she tinkered away and honed her hand-eye-coordination Mommy snapped some photos.

I turned the heat up nice and high so that I could get some pictures with her cute little bare legs and toes.

She had so much fun making silly faces and smiles for the camera.

When she got tired of playing with the abacus she furrowed her brow and went off crawling. 

Normal Day

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.  Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.  One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."  ~Mary Jean Iron

The weather here has turned even colder, so we are making the best of it with fun activities inside, enjoying each other's company. I love bringing out the camera to snap photos of simple little things we do every day. The pictures allow me to see details that I may have otherwise missed or will soon forget with the passing of time. These little ones won't be little forever. They will grow and change and the pictures help to capture the journey.

In pictures we get to see Milayla's love of photos. And Atticus' love of food. 

We can remember Milayla's look of determination when she sees something she wants.

 We can see the growing love between these two kids and remind them about it when they are a little older and arguing about who knows what.

We can remember how excited little Milayla was about moving... 

and how much she liked to chew on her dresses.

We can remember those chubby little cheeks and how no matter how many times we kiss them we just cannot get enough.

We get to see Atticus making silly faces that are constantly changing and evolving. His repertoire is becoming quite substantial.

And see Atticus basking in happiness as he dances in a blur.

And we can remember the way that Milayla looks at us when she cuddles in close.

 And we can see glimpses of that old soul that is housed in Atticus as he studies a puzzle that he has memorized.

These normal, every day moments are the building blocks of life, and we sure do try to soak them up as much as we can.

Little Moments - Atticus

Atticus is two. He has his tantrum throwing moments. But he has even more moments where he is doing something that we try to permanently etch on our minds and hearts so that we never forget them. He really is learning something new every day. And each day he shows us just a little bit more of that unique personality that is all his own. There is certainly never a dull moment. Here are just a few things that he is up to lately...

-praying with daddy: He loves having Daddy help him with his bedtime prayers. Hearing those simple little prayers sure tugs on the heart strings

-letters in hymn book: During Sacrament meeting at church he loves looking through the hymn book and "reading" out the letters to us. Very cute. But sometimes his excitement about identifying the letters is a tad too loud..

-singing at bedtime: After Daddy helps him with prayer, he calls  for Mommy to sing a bedtime song. There have only been a handful of times when he has not requested 'Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam'.

-books at bedtime: Really, it is books at anytime. There is no keeping this boy from his books. He loves reading them, sharing them with his little sister and having them read to him. Getting him out the door when he has set his heart on reading a book is a near impossible task.

-finding objects from books around the home: This is somewhat connected to the previous one. While reading books, he will pick out objects and then collect everything else we have in the apartment that is associated. For example, the giraffe on the train in 'The Little Engine That Could' will prompt him to get several other books that have giraffes, his toy giraffe, Milayla's stuffed giraffe and a few items that are the color of a giraffe (for good measure). And it's not just animals that he will do this with; cars, trains, people (using his duplo people or pictures he drew), food, colors, shapes...everything. At least we know that he understands grouping!

-putting fingers together to make a 'star': this is a big nighttime routine item that he does with Mommy. While singing songs he will match up each of his fingertips with Mommy's fingertips to make a "star".

-marching, dancing: This boy loves to move! He has quite the little hip wiggle. And when he gets moving, the laughter flows uncontrollably. It is so much fun for all of us.

-pillow fluffing: Now an expert bed-maker, Atticus is extremely particular about how his pillow is fluffed. He sits on the floor with the pillow on his lap and gives the pillow one big pound from either side with both hands. Then the pillow is flipped over and the process is repeated on the other side.

-singing: What began as a constant high-pitched tone has become more subdued and varied. Atticus is eager to sing and is so excited when we finish a song that he will cheer. Just last week he let out a triumphant "YAY!!!!" after we sang the closing song in Sacrament Meeting at church. It really was a cheer about singing and not that the meeting was over...interestingly timed though.

Oh, there are so many other things that happen on a daily basis but it is getting harder and harder to keep track of them all. Bottom line - we are crazy about this kid. 

Siblings

Watching these two develop their sibling relationship is so much fun.