Winter break, here we come!

Can you tell life got a little busy when I went back to work? I can't believe the school year is basically half over, but I'm looking forward to starting our 2 week winter break at the end of next week! Todd and I are lucky to share the same vacation this year. Last year, I was back at school right after the first of the year so I'm looking forward to having the extra week to relax with our family instead of being caught up in Christmas prep. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime though, or no one would get any gifts!

So I'll try to give the highlights we've experienced in the last 4 months:

Lorelei LOVES her high chair and started eating solids. 

Then, Lorelei had a horrible allergic reaction. Her joints became very swollen, and her little spots progressed into large target lesions which can signal a dangerous reaction. She didn't seem to feel too terrible and never had any respiratory issues (thank God!), but we ended up at the dr. twice and then the ER where she was given a dose of steroids and a prescription for 2 more days worth to help her body combat the allergen. I hope we never have to do that again, and I hope none of you ever have to experience an infant on steroids. She was so unhappy and fussy. She would just scream. And not a crying wail that signaled she was in pain, just an angry yell. When I spoke with the doctor about her temperament at our follow-up, she said Lorelei was experiencing baby roid-rage. She did calm back down when the round of meds was finished, but for those 3 days when she was so unhappy, I felt like that "David after Dentist" video... "Is this gonna be forever?!?!" We never pinpointed what caused the reaction, but I have a feeling it was my milk consumption. I've since given up milk, and we've slowly reintroduced some cereal, fruits, and vegetables without any trouble. The doctor recommended we wait to do any allergy testing because 80% of children grow out of any allergies by the time they're five, and testing can also give a false-positive, so we'll continue to be cautious. 

My gardening slowed down a lot once school was back in session, but I did get to harvest one watermelon that the Asian beetles didn't devour. It was a white-flesh melon; sweet, but tiny and very seedy, and I think I learned that I prefer a huge, genetically modified, seedless watermelon from the store. At least they're only in season for a couple months or we would have to take out a loan to support my watermelon habit. 

Before the time change, Lorelei and I were going on a 2 to 3 mile run each evening after work. I miss that time so much. She loves to be outside, watching the geese fly above us and she listens to the birds and insects when we get to the trail in the park. Our last run was a couple weeks ago when I got home a little early and the temperature was almost 70. I'm not comfortable taking her out with me though when it's already very dark when we get home and I don't think it's fair to put her in the jumper or the pack-n-play right when we get home so I can do Jillian, so squeezing in a run or workout will have to wait until winter break. 

I've done some sewing on the weekends when Lorelei takes her big nap in the morning. I've completed a couple dresses and some small knitting projects. I have so many cute things pinned but most of them will have to wait until winter or spring break, or summer for that matter.

Lorelei was a ballerina for Halloween, mostly because it was a good excuse to put her in a tutu, and I wanted to make one. She was adorable! She wasn't bothered by her giant tutu at all!

We took 6 month portraits on the first freezing day of fall. It was much more stressful than I'd anticipated. Poor Lorelei, who was a little wobbly when sitting on her own at that point, took a face-dive into the leaves about 5 minutes into the session. She came up with a muddy face and she hates having her face wiped. She never really recovered and was not willing to smile unless Todd danced behind the photographer, (which he did for the good of the cause despite the fact we were at the Arboretum during their fall festival and there were people everywhere. Such a good daddy!) Our photographer, Caitlin, of Hazelton Photography is a genius. We only took pictures for about an hour. She took around 70 shots, and we got some amazing pictures. She's also very good at using photoshop, because you can't even tell that Lorelei's nose was bright red and literally flowing the entire time. (Actually, you get a glimpse of her very sour face in one of the family shots, but she's not crying so we'll take it!) These are some of our favorites: 

We've decorated for the holidays and Lorelei visited Santa without a single tear. One of my favorite things about being her mom is how she is teaching me all about her little personality. I honestly expected her to lose it when she sat on Santa's lap, but she just looked at his face and really checked out his beard. (I think Santa was also expecting the worst, he was so happy she didn't cry! It was really cute. Poor Santa making all those little ones sad!) 

Lorelei is very close to walking. She wants help walking all over the house and at Granny's house. She can say, "Mommy" and "Daddy". She tries very hard to say, "Fletcher" and "Greta" and she says, "dog". She does love the dogs! She started waving last week and I got this video of her asking for "more".  (It's kind of long, but you get the idea in the first 20 seconds or so). 

Finally, here is our funny ham, and the answer to the video below is, YES, SHE WAS!

If I don't get back on here soon, Merry Christmas!! 

Bittersweet

Sadly, I will be going back to work next week. :( The last 5 months off with Lorelei have been the most special in my life and I feel lucky to have had so much time off to spend with her. Todd's also had the last 3 weeks off, so we've enjoyed some extra-special time together as a family this summer. We've filled it with lots of trips to the lake house, swimming, and playing with Lorelei at home, watching her grow and learn literally before our eyes. It's been nice to finally get outside more over the last 2 weeks as the temperature is no longer scalding, and she is happy to run a couple miles with me in the jogging stroller.

Todd started a new job this week that's much closer to home and working with a slightly different population of students that he is very excited about. I will be going back to the primary school in my district this year to teach kindergarten resource. I'm thrilled to be back with my old friends and with the little ones, but I made some great friends at the junior high last year and my kids were so much fun, so it's generally a bittersweet time for me. I've been doing my best to soak up every moment with Lorelei and prepped 3 weeks worth of frozen meals so I won't have to worry about dinner and can maximize my time with her in the evenings as I make my transition back to work.

It's amazing how much Lorelei is learning through exploration and play. (Vygotsky was right!) Sophie the giraffe is a favorite. Here are a few shots of some play time on the quilt her great aunt made for her. The adorable outfit is also a gift from Auntie and Laura who spoil her rotten!

Check out that push-up! She's going to be on the move soon!

Bath time is different now!

Remember that cute picture of Lorelei gazing out the kitchen window from the bath tub, all snuggled up under a warm, wet towel, deep in thought, looking calm and serene?

Those days are GONE! Lorelei is a wild woman in the tub now, or the pool, or the lake, or the sink at the lake house in this case. Such a water baby!

Angel Baby

4 Months

Lorelei is 4 months old and is a very busy girl. She loves jumping in her jump-a-roo and is getting very strong! She loves to sit up with some help or in the Bumbo, and really enjoys standing while holding our hands so she can think about how awesome walking will be when she's a little bigger. She is 14 pounds and still in the 97th percentile for length; she's grown 4 inches in 4 months! We think she's starting to get some teeth as she's gnawing on everything and has a steady stream of drool spilling from her mouth all day, but there's nothing to see or feel in there yet. Lorelei is great at blowing raspberries, which helps spread that drool around, and now she reaches for and grabs everything to really make sure we have an adequate layer of slime on all surfaces. She is also starting to belly laugh, especially when Daddy sings silly songs. Occasionally she will randomly laugh just looking at our faces, which makes us self-conscious.

Lorelei is now sleeping in her own room but we bring her into our bed when she wakes up around 3 or 4am. She snuggles up and goes back to sleep for a couple hours, but squeals and screams and kicks, (poor Greta has gotten clobbered a few times) to let us know she is AWAKE around 5 or 6am. One of my favorite things about waking up with her each morning is the way she coos and carries on, and then takes a break to look up at my face to see if my eyes are open. She giggles and gets the biggest grin on her face when I finally come-to and make eye-contact.  Hard not to smile with that kind of greeting each morning!

Here's our sweet baby:

Laughing at Daddy

Gimme that!

Long Overdue

This post should have been written a couple months ago, but we've been enjoying a very busy summer! Luckily, we've taken lots of pictures, so I'll just post the highlights and spare you my long-winded writing.

At the Illinois River in Havana in June. We went there with our neighbors Tom and Ashley. It was Lorelei's first weekend away from home and was a fantastic way to kick off the summer!

LOVES the jumper. This was the first time we put her in to play. Her legs were a little short still, so we used an old album. This was about a month ago, and now her little tippy toes can touch the ground!

She's never done this for us, but she zonked out IN the jumper when Grandma was babysitting one morning. It's hard work being a baby!

 

Backyard before.

Back yard after. Our new patio was installed in the middle of June. We are so excited to finally have some usable outdoor space!

Todd's parents gave us some patio furniture that was headed for the garbage because some of their friends were downsizing, so I made new covers for the cushions that gave the entire set a much-needed makeover. It took a while, but I finally finished all 6 cushions and we are enjoying dining al-fresco in the evenings when it's not 100 degrees! 

Lorelei made her first trip up to the lake house in June as well. Uncle Brad, Aunt Amy, and Zachary came too. Lots of fun, except the weather was a little stinky. She did roll from her back to her belly, and then from her belly to her back that weekend!

I love this picture of my little lady. Hard to believe how much she has changed in a just a couple months! 

Lorelei was NOT interested in having her picture taken this day. It was one of those blistering hot days, and even though we had the AC pumping, everyone was a little crabby. She refused to smile, and finally scrunched down in the chair and decided she was done! 

She LOVES Grandma and Grandpa's pool! We spent several of those triple-digit days floating around to keep cool. Check out those chins!  

Lorelei prefers playing on her belly now and rolls immediately when we put her down. She gets a little mad when things she wants are out of reach and doesn't hesitate to let us know! :-)

When we cant make it to Grandma & Grandpa's pool, we have a little plastic pool that works well in the backyard. She is definitely a water baby! 

Garden update: Lots of things are doing well! While not a full peck, I'm looking forward to harvesting my single purple pepper! We are going to have tomatoes and bell peppers coming out of ears in a few weeks, and the cucumbers are coming in fast, but are still very prickly. I have only one zucchini, I'm worried the other plants weren't pollinated because I had lots of flowers, but nothing more has grown. The leaf lettuce is doing great, but only one Swiss chard plant came up and no spinach ever germinated.  The chives and carrots are coming along slowly, will be great in a month or so. 

THIS IS SO EXCITING!!! My first little watermelon. This guy is now about the size of a squash ball and I have 4 more on the same plant! I hope they turn out to taste as good as I'm hoping so all of this anticipation isn't for dud melons! 

We visited Great Grandma again and she got some smiles from Lorelei. I think Lorelei isn't as happy as usual when we make that trip because she doesn't especially enjoy riding in the car. 

I remember when my grandma used to rub my back and play with my hair. It really does feel that good! :)

Loving on Great Auntie

Fletch and Greta enjoying the yard. Our grass is so dry and dead now, poor Greta really dislikes going out to go to the bathroom because it pokes her belly. It's hard being a wiener.