Frequently we put Miss Leyba to bed and then read for a while ourselves before turning in.

This is a common scene around here:

However, this is an even more typical sight:

Sometimes I even hear them snoring together! (Okay, breathing loudly! Thankfully they don’t snore!) That’s the sign that Mama needs to put away her book or get off the computer and come to bed.

My cuddly and cozy loves!

I’ve tried to style my daughter’s hair.

She lets me comb her hair every day now, a routine that was a long time coming. No more screaming or crying, she just sits and lets me comb it. Thank you, sweetie.

Man, those curls get so tangled!

She lets me cut her bangs every few weeks. She was so tired of her hair in her eyes. I usually have to plop her down on David’s lap so she’ll face me and sit still and then I try to cut them in about 30 seconds flat.

I think they are super cute even if they are a bit short right now (her hair grows so fast, I’m trying not to have to cut her hair so often).

Here she is trying to comb my hair while I take her picture. Note: she’s also saying “Cheese!”

I’ve tried using bows, ribbons, hair clips, hair ties. I want to braid it, put it in pigtails, and clip it up.

Today she let me play with it and, oh my, ADORABLE!

She looked in the mirror and smiled and posed and LOVED her hair accessories!

But it only lasted five minutes and then they were out.

Her curls of hair down long on her back.

And we headed out.

Come back to our house tomorrow for a repeat performance.

But no clapping or encouraging this behavior, you hear?!

Recently (frequently?!) heard around here…

“Just one!” Note the important finger placement:

Big announcements: “Daddy, you have brown eyes! Mommy has green eyes! I have blue eyes!”

She’s constantly singing: the alphabet song, “Puff the Magic Dragon,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Twinkle Twinkle,” and songs from Music Together (especially “She Sells Seashells”). This week she has been OBSESSED with “Honey, Honey” from “Mamma Mia.” (I’m thrilled that she inadvertently changes the words from “honey, honey, how I want you” to “honey, honey, how I wonder!”)

In the car, she likes informing me when the traffic light has changed (“Green light, Mom!”).

She also pipes up from the back seat, after a sharp turn, “Mom, you okay?”

She’s very encouraging with her friends and parents: “Come on, Dad!” “Try again.” “Good job.”

Occasionally she makes cute mistakes. I asked her to point her toes and instead she pointed at her toes:

And she’s all about the “I loves.”
“I love to read.”
“I love this shirt.”
“I love these pants.”
“I love this book.”
“I love to draw.”
“I love my friends.”

And, of course, our favorite:
“I love you.”

The other day she even turned to David and said, “Don’t worry, Daddy, I love you.”

Man, are we crazy about this little girl. She is so much fun.

Miss Leyba surprised us this morning when she woke up at 5 am (yes, you read that right!) and suddenly we had hours until our morning playdate. What better time to practice cutting with scissors and do some crafts together?

With several cups of (decaf) English Breakfast Tea for Mom, it made for a rather perfect morning.

Miss Leyba was born the week before my birthday in 2008; clearly, the best present I could ever have wished for.

I believe that this years present, my new camera lens, may take the #2 spot!

(And, yes, those are faded train stamps on her hands, left over from our music class. Not only do we sing, dance and visit with our friends, but the kids get stamps on their hands and feet at the end of every class! No wonder Miss Leyba LOVES Music Together: so many of her favorite things in one jam-packed, super fun hour!)

This past week I turned 30 years old. Alas, it was not the fun times I had hoped for when I discovered I had a 102 degree fever the night before and I had to cancel all our plans. I spent my birthday (and several days subsequently) sick in bed, but my birthday itself ended beautifully — with a 4 star gourmet meal prepared by David, my daughter singing the most beautiful “Happy Birthday” song EVER, and so many lovely messages from family and friends! THANK YOU!

So, here is my 30 year retrospective. Not quite a photo for every year, but some fun ones nevertheless.

I am excited about turning thirty though I did not always feel so. For the past few years I felt a strong sense of dread as I concluded my twenties. Then I had a revelation. I realized that the majority of my close friends are already in their thirties and forties and, well, they are fabulous. What the hell was I freaking out about?!

So, now I feel good about joining the ranks of awesome women.

I am thirty. And this decade is going to be the best yet.

Even if it got off to a rocky start… :)

Although you can’t tell it from the pictures (she’s only smiling in a handful of photos!), Miss Leyba loved having her three best gal pals over to celebrate her birthday! She was singing, dancing, jumping, running around, and giggling the whole time… you know, when I wasn’t busy taking pictures.

Enjoy!

It was a hit! I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect party for my daughter.

Happy birthday, love.