Lorelai at 2 Years Old

Lorelai turned two! At a glance...

Height: 33.5 inches (37%)

Weight: 22.5 pounds (4%)

Size: mostly 18 months outfits

Favorite Foods: Grapes, bananas, Nuthins, walnuts, apples, berries, watermelon, raisins, beans, broccoli

Drinks: Mom's milk, occasional cow's milk, smoothies made with water or coconut milk, water

Likes: Babies, dolls, stuffed animals, nursing, books, swings, helping, putting the groceries away, pushing the grocery cart, "Look and Find" books, music, being sung to

Dislikes: Sitting in her booster seat, being told "no"

Personality: Affectionate, opinionated, fiesty, silly, cheerful

Accomplishments: counts to ten (skips "one"), sings ABCs,

Friends: Kate Johnson, Nate Kruepke, Becca, Caleb Lemm, Emma Ruethling

Sleep: in her crib, 8 PM to 7 AM (sometimes wakes around 5 or 6 AM but will go back to bed), one nap at 1 PM or 2 PM for 1.5-2 hours

Teeth: 16 baby teeth, no cavaties

Fears: Some Disney movies scare her, some older men (but getting better)

Health: she is gluten free, no known allergies, has never had an ear infection, barely had a cold, once had a virus (puked), had a fever once or twice in her life....very blessed!

Other: She has been away from her mom for the longest period (2 nights) for the first time 2 weeks ago.

Lorelai at 23 Months

Lorelai is really talking up a storm nowadays! Her most popular phrases are "Thank you Momma", "Show me" (when going through Look & Find Books), "Read the Book" and "No". Although she likes to say "no", she sure does not like to hear it....so we've been witness to many a tantrum lately. She settles down quick when the trantrum is not acknowledged.
I recall when Abby was about 22-23 months, she would say "pink" to describe every color I would point to. I also recall at that time I was concerned Abby could be color-blind, because Ben never did that and I did not know any better. Abby soon after learned to distinguish different colors. I bring this up because at this time, Lorelai answers "blue" to describe every color I point to.

Lorelai's favorite foods right now seem to be black beans, brown rice, broccoli, GF waffles, bell peppers, apples, beets, GF pizza, samples at GHM, GF pasta, raisins, melons and grapes. She does not seem wild about potatoes and is finicky about meats. She enjoys her smoothies but makes quite a mess (though so do her older siblings!).

Lorelai at 22 Months

We are fast approaching the 2 year mark- yikes! Where does the time go???

Lorelai's vocabulary has been expanding by leaps and bounds over the past few months. She still will refer to Abby as "Babby" and will offer the unsolicited, "Tank you Mommy" when I do something for her. She is insisting on doing so much herself and can get frustrated when, despite her efforts, she needs help. She loves to tell me "Poopy" and runs to the bathroom to go through the routine, but doesn't actually deposit #1 or #2 yet and we haven't pushed it. Lorelai weighs 21.5-22 pounds, depending on the day and measures roughly 33 inches tall. This past month, she has been particularly fond of sweet bell peppers, watermelon, and raisins. She spends most afternoons after naptime following the big kids around outside, particularly the girls- Abby and Kate (almost 7 yr old from next door). Lorelai plays well with them and they seem to enjoy directing her. Lorelai has not been consistently cooperative at church, as of late...and the few times I tried to leave her in the nursery did not go well. Although we do not normally watch TV, she loves watching movies with Ben and Abby (ie Toy Story). Lorelai's personality is cheerful, affectionate, feisty, enthusiastic, opinionated and friendly.

Lorelai at 21 Months

Mom's fallen a bit behind these days! Lorelai is a tough cookie to keep up with! Her vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. I love how she will spontaneously say "tank you" and "pease" and "nigh nigh Daddy". She graciously obligues requests for kisses and hugs. Every day she seems less and less a baby and more and more like her older siblings. As she is the youngest, I feel reluctant to lose the "baby" in her. Well, she still loves to nurse...completely weaning her will be an interesting challenge, when the time comes. She still sleeps in her crib and has not made an attempt to fly the coup yet. This is surprising, because she is pretty adventurous, fearless, and limber. We are almost ready to take the gate down (at least from the bottom of the stairs), as she independently goes up and down, with no accidents. She is familiarizing herself with the potty. She tells us often she has to go "poopie" and wants her diaper off and plops onto the potty happily. She never actually goes but loves to sit there, get toilet paper, flush the toilet and wash her hands. She continues to eat well. She loves to eat the samples at Good Harvest Market. She understands most everything and has a definite opinion. "Should we go to the beach?" I ask. "Yeah! Yeah!" she will reply enthusiastically, waving both arms up in the air and jumping in excitement. She also gets very frustrated when we have difficulty understanding her and she cannot get her message across. Some of her food loves at 21 months include raisins, walnuts, cantaloupe, raspberries, yogurt, beets, GF crackers, broccoli and dried cranberries. She still doesn't like hard cooked egg yolks, but will eat them scrambled or the hard cooked whites. We took our first week-long family vacation together at this time and Lorelai did well. We stayed in a cabin (no AC) for a week in 90 degree weather, although it was not bad- we had box fans and the breeze from the lake and we swam most of the time. Lorelai was quite comfortable in the water. She also loved the sand. She took her first kayak ride and was practically face to face with some ducks. She slept in the pack n play. Lorelai sleeps about 11 hours at night and takes 1.5-2 hour nap. She is a cheerful gal and very social. She loves to follow around her brother and sister. She loves to give them hugs but is also quite fiesty and will try to hold her own in a fight already. She has developed a bit of a biting problem- I guess her best weapon with the older siblings when she is mad...so she has been getting time outs for discipline ("do not hit...hitting hurts."). Lorelai looooooves babies and her stuffed animals. She will play Mommy and pretend to feed or change the baby's diaper. She loves to be read to and snuggle in your lap. She loves to sing and dance. She loves the next door neighbors and when she can hear their voices before she even sees them, she yells, "Hi Kate! Hi Kate!" in excitement, hopping and waving her arms in the air. Kate, a 6 year old from next door, loves to play Lorelai's Mommy. And I love to BE Lorelai's Mommy!

Lorelai at 20 Months

Time has been flying by! Here is Lorelai at 20 Months old:

Lorelai is up to 21 pounds now! She has quite a personality too! She knows what she wants and what she doesn't and is in no way hestitant to make her needs known. Among Lorelai's words: "Night Night", "Cracker!", "Thank you", & "Please". She loves to wave at everyone coming and going and is eager to give kisses and hugs to those she sees regularly. She has started to assert herself more with others, including several attempted bites and swats at her mother and successful bites and swats at her sister. She throws temper tantrum and makes clear when she is frustrated. She makes clear when she wants to nurse. She will even, at times, tell me she is ready for bed (by pointing to her crib) before I have attempted to lay her down. She loves to help put the groceries away and becomes quite upset when I forget and put the grocery bags on the counter where she cannot reach. Some of her favorite foods right now are raisins, GF crackers, grapes, popcorn (yes, I know a choking hazard), and peas. She is still not a fan of hard cooked eggs but enjoys them scrambled. We have not fed her anything with gluten. She does not have a huge appetite, though she is less picky than a few months ago. Lorelai loves to follow her brother and sister around, as well as Kate and Sam from next door. Kate enjoys taking her under her wing and will pretend she is Lorelai's Mama and will take her around in the tractor to Lorelai's delight. Loreali tries her darndest to ride Abby's bike and scooter. She enjoys being outside as much as her siblings. Lorelai is a little Jeckyl and Hyde with water. Sometimes she is wild about playing in the water and other times will cry at the very anticipation of going in the water. As the third child, she does not get to bed as early as she should...we have a hard time getting her to bed by 8 PM as sometimes we are still playing outside. I am afraid that has contributed to more wakings and crabbiness so we are trying to be more disciplined to come in earlier and start the routine sooner. Lorelai takes one nap in the afternoon, for 1.5-2 hours typically. She loves the swings at the park and will go down the big slides by herself. She seems to like "girly" things. She is quite fond of her dolls and stuffed animals and although she is not attached to one particular blanket or doll/animal, she does insist on a blankie at bedtime and hugs a stuffed animal or doll as she falls asleep. So precious!

Lorelai at 19 Months

This sweet girl is 19 months and counting already! Still weighing in about 20 pounds. Her hair is so light, curly and growing. She has been very healthy. I have not counted her teeth recently, but she looks like she has most of them (her gums were busy the last few months!). While her vocabulary has not expanded a whole lot in the last few months, she clearly understands us and can get her point across. The words she uses most frequently are dada (for both dog and dada), mama, more, water, and yeah. She sleeps from 8 PM to 7 AM or so, usually waking for a quick nibble at around 5 AM. Her pickiness has subsided and is back to accepting most foods. She seems to love broccoli, carrots, butter, chili, cheese, GF crackers, dried fruit, watermelon, grapes and canteloupe especially lately. Surprisingly not fond of strawberries and will suck the grape tomatoes but not eat the skins. She loves to play outside and go to the park, follow the bigger kids around, and ride in the wagon. Kate Johnson from next door has taken to Lorelai and likes pretending she is her baby and will take good care of her when the kiddos are running around and playing together. Lorelai seems to have a special affinity for Grandpa Burie. This past month, Lorelai's Mommy took for granted that Lorelai could easily climb in and out of things, including her car seat. She took a tumble one day when I had unbuckled her and was getting ready to take groceries in and ended up with a black eye (still healing in the picture above, left). Lorelai loves books, cuddling in my lap to read and nurse, she loves dolls and stuffed animals, blankies, helping to put the groceries away and climbing everything. She was not wild about the waterpark when we took a trip to the Wilderness this past month for Spring Break in WI Dells- mostly because of the noise I think. She is not wild about baths either at this time. She does not like sitting in her booster most days for her meals. She is feisty and opinionated at this age. She is also very affectionate and gives nice hugs and kisses.

Lorelai at 18 Months

Lorelai is 18 months old already! We had her well check with Dr. Biebel today. She weighed a mere 19 pounds (Less than 1 %- not on the charts). She was 31.5 inches tall (44.2%) and her head circumference was 47 cm (63.3%). She has ten teeth. She was not getting any shots, however, she screamed bloody murder upon entering the doctor's office. I calmed her down by nursing under a blanket after the nurse left the room and before Dr. Biebel came in. She was fine until she heard Dr. Biebel's voice enter the room- she paused for a moment under the blanket to listen and then abruptly started wailing again. He spent most of the appointment on the the opposite side of the room under the very close watchful eye of Lorelai. He asked about her diet and suggested we consider more fat in her diet since she had fallen off the charts weight-wise (%-wise). Besides breastmilk, she eats meat, yogurt, cheese, coconut oil, olive oil (on her veggies), butter (she will even eat a pad of organic butter alone- not on anything!), avocados, nut butters....so I think we have the fat covered. But rather than debate nutrition with the doctor, I listened and nodded.






Well, not only is Lorelai currently afraid of the doctor's office, she is also afraid of many other things at the current moment...likely just the stage/her age. On impulse, without appointment, I took her to Portrait Innovations last Thursday for her 18 month appointment since Abby was in preschool for a few hours and it was dreary outside. Both Ben and Abby had 18 month photos taken and I was not about to treat Lorelai any differently. It was not a good idea to make the drive to Brookfield Square without an appointment. They were booked. I should have known better with Easter coming up. We took a chance and drove to Target on Moorland, waited 45 more minutes until the Photo department opened and begged the Photographer to slip us in. She saw my desperation and kindly took pitty on us. Lorelai was perfectly happy up until the moment she was to have her photo snapped. Then the tears and fears immediately surfaced and she clutched to me for dear life. The poor woman taking the picture managed to get her to smile once while still clutching to me so the beautiful backdrop is my shoulder...oh well.



While Lorelai loves dogs, she also is apparently quite afraid of them. At least right now.



Lorelai's words...she likes to use "more" a lot, along with Mama and Dada. I have not been so good and tracking her new words lately.






Lorelai is quite opinionated. She is also a Mama's girl. She loves to help put away the groceries. She loves babies and dolls. She seems to love "girly" things like fancy shoes, coats, hats and necklaces. She still loves to nurse.





Lorelai can be very picky about what she eats. One day she wants cheese, for examples, the next day she won't touch it.





Lorelai loves Abby's bike. We recently decided to purchase a trike with a handle that allows an adult to push when needed- she loves it. She loves the park and being outside in general. Unfortunately, the weather has not been so nice....but we try to play outside every day for at least some time.





Lorelai continues to love books of all kinds.





Her hair is growing longer- it is quite fair and naturally curly! Cute as a button!

Lorelai loves her baby dolls. Abby was not much into dolls....until now. Suddenly she likes them now too. Conflict ensues. Kurt discovered today that Lorelai decided to give Abby's baby dollie a bath.... in the toilet.

Lorelai at 17 Months

Sweet Lor-e-lai.... this happy, energetic, opinionated, silly, smart, loveable child is still holding steady at 19-20 pounds and roughly 31 inches tall. Her blonde hairs are growing a bit longer and curly in back. She looooves to go outside. Lorelai and I have enjoyed sledding down the hill from our house to the park and playing on the equipment and swining on the swings while we still have this abundance of snow. The snow has slowly been melting and should be gone as the week moves along and warms up to nearly 60 degrees! We are ready! This evening, Kurt took Ben and Abby to the bike shop to replace one of Abby's tires and Lorelai was in tears witnessing her siblings go outside and she could not go with! Lorelai loves to go for rides in the wagon, sit upon Abby's bike and try to pedal, push the toy lawn mower and generally hobble around outside in her winter gear. Indoors, Abby loves to dance and climb EVERYTHING. She is highly entertained when one of her siblings offers her food or tries to feed her. This evening, Kurt and I found Abby and Lorelai up on the loveseat snuggled next to each other, each reading their own book. Healthwise, Lorelai thankfully has been well. Through the entire winter, she maybe had one runny nose cold and a stomach bug that she recovered from in about 24 hours (back in December), and that's it. Lorelai LOVES to nurse. She does not typically have a huge appetite. Soometimes she is picky, but not consistently about the same things. Her favorites as of late are nut butter, kale/berry/banana smoothies, and cheese. Still no gluten and limited dairy (to yogurt and hard cheeses). She has eight teeth. Lorelai has been much more complaint and more easily hkept occupied without getting restless through church service. It has probably been at least a month since we have had to spend time behind the doors to the sanctuary due to her noise level or restlessness. Lorelai likes to draw, make a mess and generally get involved in everyone's (particularly Ben and Abby) business. She has made a few calls before I have stopped her (by calling numbers in the caller ID or redial). Lorelai generally sleeps through the night 10 hours, will sleep another hour or two after I feed her and takes one nap a day. We occasionally give her two naps when our schedule necessitates it- since I need to pick up Abby at 11:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays from preschool and Lorelai seems to most desire her nap around 11 AM, I will either try and hold her off, or lay her down early (around 10 AM) and wake her to pick Abby up...in which case she may require a snooze around 2:30 or 3 PM as well. She is very affectionate, giving unsolicited hugs and kisses....such sweet kisses!! Lorelai's vocabulary is lingering around 20 words yet, but her word recognition is sailing along (she understands what words mean...ie, when looking at a scene in a book- Where is the lamp? Where is the rhino? Etc.) She loves books. She has done a number on them....

Lorelai at 16 Months

Lorelai, sweet little Lorelai....developing quite a spunky personality these days! Love the little whispy curls she is sporting as well! This little peanut is still holding at 19-20 pounds. She eats well- can be picky at times, but what she is choosy about will vary...one day she is refusing avocado and the next she will gobble it up. She is very smart. She understands so much and loves leafing through books and can identify most all animals, body parts, household items, etc. on a page. She is finally sleeping through the night without waking (most nights). She recently has begun throwing temper tantrums when she does not get her way. She loves when Ben picks her up or Abby hugs her- she adores their attention and loves to imitate them. She is getting less upset when I leave for work in the morning, but still quite vocal about her delight when I return! She loves to do what she knows we do not want her to do- ie eat off the floor, hang out in the bathroom I cannot clean fast enough, go in the office and call people on the phone (yes, she has called the last caller back several times...), climb on the kitchen chairs (from which she has fallen more than once...). She likes to be up at the counter when I am making dinner- she is very vocal if she's not involved! She sleeps 12 hours at night and naps for about 1.5 hour at mid-day. She still only has six teeth. Lorelai is very affectionate. She loves nursing, giving hugs and submiting to requests for kisses. She loves Elmo (and it is cute to hear her say "Elmo"), her books, babies, the phone, animals, etc. She loves songs and will start to dance when the music is turned on. She loves when you sing to her, especially Puff the Magic Dragon", ABC song, etc. She does not watch TV (we do not have it on).

Ben turns 6!

Wow, my firstborn is already six years old! Time does fly...

We celebrated the little guy's birth on Saturday. While I had initially suggested his birthday party be held at a bowling alley (since I thought that would be fun AND not a whole lot of work), Ben was not wild about the idea. Granted, we have never taken him bowling before and my Internet research suggested that 6 year olds were an appropriate age for bowling parties but the ideal age was more like 8 year olds. The Lego theme was greeted with much enthusiasm, however, as this boy is crazy into Legos right now. And thus the party was held at our house...

The Lego themed invites went out to Eli Pantzlaff, Ethan Sackrison, Mikey Mundschau, Jack & Jessie Lemm, Kate & Sam Johnson, Tristan Harris and, of course, Abby! Ben came up with this list and it was perfect. Mikey was in Florida, but everyone else was able to attend. We planned for a 2 hour party, from 1 PM to 3 PM in the afternoon.

Ben was soooo excited for his party. Uncle Scott and Aunt Lisa came to help. Aunt Lisa said to Ben, "I've never been to a Lego birthday party before." Ben replied happily, "well, then, you're in luck!" Many thanks to Uncle Scott for helping Kurt blow up over two dozen red, blue and yellow balloons! Ben loved their gift- a Spy kit with great gadgets as Ben and Abby like to play detective- cool idea!

We served air popped popcorn, cake and homemade ice cream. Ben wanted a Lego cake of course. It needed to be gluten free for Abby to partake. And I requested no artificial food colors. Poor Kurt. But he was up to the task. He used the juice of frozen thawed blueberries and rasberries for red and blue coloring (which ended up looking more purple and pink, but oh well!) Kurt did it again, what a guy!

Our first game was for each child to guess how many Lego pieces were in the jar. We had guesses from 25 to 1000. Ethan was closest with his guess of 205 (there were 350). He won a mini Lego set. Thanks to Kurt for counting all of them!

Our next activity was a Creativity challenge. Each child had about 15 minutes to build whatever there little hearts desired (we offered suggestions, ie. make something surrounding their favorite activity) with the three buckets of Legos at the table and then share what they made. Kurt had designed and printed awards that we handed out to each child. Abby wanted to make a Princess book. Ben built an airplane. I was very thankful to Katie for helping and filling in the Awards to present to each kid!

On to the Pin the Lego Peg on the Brick game. Each child was blindfolded and assigned a peg of an 8 peg Lego. They were to place their missing peg as close to the designated space for their name as possible (while blindfolded). Ben was the spinner and the judge of this game since there were 8 children besides himself. Sam Johnson was closest and won the prize.

Then we played 2 rounds of Hot Lego (the Lego version of Hot Potato). Kate handled the music portion. The Lego was passed and one by one children were eliminated from the circle. Ben won the first round and all the kids celebrated and hugged him. I loved that. Sam won round 2.

Their next assignment was to build the tallest Lego tower. They had ten minutes and then we brought them to the table to see whose was tallest. Tristan won and Kate came in second. This was a fun game.

Next we sang Happy Birthday to Ben and had the Lego cake and ice cream. This was the first time we tried Namaste's gluten free Vanilla cake. Kurt and I concluded that the chocolate version of the GF cake line was hands down better and in the future, we will stick with that!

I had printed out some free Lego coloring sheets from the official Lego website, which some of the kids colored after they were done with cake. They had fun with the balloons and got pretty wild so Kurt decided to reign them in with one of our backup games (spoon races) in the remaining time. He assigned two teams and they needed to carry Legos on a spoon across the living room and drop in the bucket and then the next teammate went and so on. If any Legos were dropped off the spoon, they needed to start over.

All in all, everyone seemed to have a great time. Most importantly, Ben said he did! His friends generously gave him gifts- three Lego sets, Science book, Star Wars Lego watch, and cars. Ben thanked his friends for coming to his party when they left and gave them each a Lego 3 in 1 mini set we purchased for each child as a parting gift/party favor. The prizes we gave out for games were a handful of Lego bricks I put together in individual celephane bags. Aunt Sandy's boyfriend Tom had generously gave us his boy's (now in their teens) very large bin of Legos which I used for the party games and prizes.

We did not hold a family party this year for Ben. Grandpa and Grandma Burie made a point to bring Ben a gift on his birthday, as well as Grandma Krist. Grandma Krist wanted to help out with Lorelai at Ben's party, but unfortunately, Lorelai ran a fever the night before and we did not want to risk getting Grandma Krist sick with her already compromised immune system undergoing chemo treatments. Aunt Sandy, Grandma Zipfel and others remembered Ben on his birthday. The weekend before, Barb came to visit and surprised Ben with a birthday present (Lego set) that thrilled Ben so much, he wrote about it in his Special K log/journal for school.

Ben got an extra treat on his birthday: a night out at the Bucks game with Daddy and his friends Kate and Sam Johnson from next door. The Johnsons had invited them to this event with their church. Ben had a great time with Kate and Sam (he did not care much about the actual basketball game) and got home around 10:30 PM (a very late night for him!). He woke up the next day with a fever and slept most of the day (minus Sunday School).

Let's see, from 5 years old to 6 years old, how has Ben changed? He grew about 2 inches and 4 pounds. He changed schools, from Christ the Life preschool three days a week (3 hours at a time) to Summit View Elementary five days a week in all-day Kindergarten. In general, he no longer naps. His is pretty self sufficient. He can make his own snacks (ie. ants on a log). He takes the bus. His reading and writing skills have advanced. He now wears glasses. He rides a bike without training wheels. He ties his own shoes. He can follow directions to build Lego sets. His shoe size is 1 in boys. His friends are largely the group of children he invited to his birthday party. From school, he mostly talks about classmates Tristan Harris, Anniken, Mahit Krishnan, and Gavin Byrne as his friends. Tristan and Mahit both live in our neighborhood.

And what has remained the same? His clothes size has not changed much- still wears mostly 5/6T clothes. He continues to be imaginative, a rule follower, good listener, and curious. He eats well- almost all fruits and vegetables- not a picky eater. He is a pretty mellow fellow as other parents have observed. At home, he can get frustrated when things do not happen as expected sometimes or a project he is making does not turn out as planned (a bit of a perfectionist). Ben is an articulate six year old, a good communicator.

On his sixth birthday, Ben had all 20 baby teeth. Two days later, he lost his first tooth (from bottom middle)! He expressed concern about his tooth falling out at school- fear he would lose it. I offered to pull it out which was met with anxiety...however, after further pondering, Ben requested I do it. I barely touched his tooth and it fell right out into my hand! Ben was happy!

Ben's current interests include building Legos (hence the party theme), art projects, creating things, costumes, pictures, etc. He enjoys biking in the summer, imagination play where he builds things, uses a hammer, scissors, glue, etc. He enjoys books but it is not the first thing on his list as it is for Abby. He enjoys listening to music CDs. In school, his favorite activities include...

On the other hand, he is not overly enthused to watch sports of any kind. He is not drawn to the TV when Daddy is watching football and hasn't been overly enamored with hockey or basketball though Daddy has recently taken him to a hockey game (with Mikey and Ethan) and a basketball game (with Kate and Sam).

Ben is a sweet, caring son who is a great role model for his younger siblings who certainly enjoy immitating him! We love you Ben!

Abby Turns Four!

This sweet princess is four years old already! She looks like a little lady in her Fancy Nancy costume. Her birthday was on Saturday. We planned a family party for that night. Ben's birthday party planning was also in the works, with a Lego theme. With all the talk about a theme, Abby requested a theme for her party. "Fancy Nancy" it was. Fancy Nancy is a character in a book series for girls. Fancy Nancy loves to dress very fancy and use big fancy words for seemingly ordinary things. We requested Abby's guests (mostly adults) to come dressed fancy to Abby's party and most did so enthusiastically! Where else could you wear that glittery party dress or the tiara from your wedding day? It was fabulous fun! Kurt had a great idea to purchse carnations for everyone to wear. The carnations ended up being great play fun for the children instead - it was a nice touch. Ben and Abby were invited to a birthday party the same day for our neighbor friend, Michael Mundschau, at Pump It Up in Brookfield, which was in the morning...so there was no shortage of fun. After Mikey's party, the kids and I stopped at the dollar store so Abby could pick the balloons for her party. Abby had requested a horse for her cake, so Kurt was busy working on that at home with Lorelai. It was one of Kurt's finest! Besides looking fabulous, it was super yummy and, of course, gluten free! The Mundschaus were kind to loan us their disco ball so we could break out the tunes and the kids could have a dance party. I had produced a 13 question quiz/trivia game All About Abby for the adults to take. Great Grandma Zipfel won the very fancy prize of a scented candle (found earlier in the day in our basement). We served fresh fruit, raw cut veggies, fresh popped popcorn and organic tortilla chips for hord'ourves (thanks to Aunt Sandy and Grandma Krist) and very "fancy" crockpot beef chili and rice noodles for the meal. Although gifts were not necessary, Abby was thrilled with loads of new books, some cute new clothes, some movies, a stuffed Panda, nail stickers, and money. Grandma Krist also painted a lamp for Abby's room that was so adorable and Kurt and I gave Abby a butterfly shaped mirror for her wall and a bean bag chair to match her room. It was a really fun night!

(I cannot seem to get the Horse picture flipped to horizontal)

From 3 yrs old to 4 yrs old, how much Abby has grown and changed once again! She gained 2.5 inches and about 4 pounds. She went from size 3T to 4T clothes. She started preschool and Sunday School. She was diagnosed with celiac disease and she became gluten-free. She has developed friendships beyond her best bud (her brother)...most notably, Kate and Sam Johnson from next door. She also likes to hang out with Ben's friends, particularly Mikey, Ethan and Eli. Abby periodically plays with Aubrey Harris and Prathu B. as well as a few other neighborhood friends as well.

Some things remain the same...much like last year, Abby continues to twirl her hair and suck her thumb. Ben is still her best friend. She still loves to read her books. I would still describe Abby as sweet, opinionated, strong willed, and animated. And, again, a complete joy!!!

Here is the quiz we issued at her birthday party:

1. Her middle name is _________.

2. She most recently told us her aspirations include becoming
a. An Astronaut
b. A Farmer
c. A Princess
d. A person who sells gluten free pie

3. Her favorite princess is
a. Belle
b. Cinderella
c. Snow White
d. Sleeping Beauty

4. Which fruit does Abby not like?
a. banana
b. blueberries
c. oranges
d. grapes

5. How many inches has Abby grown since her last birthday?
a. 0.5 inch
b. 1.5 inches
c. 2.5 inches
d. 3.5 inches

6. What is Abby’s favorite color? _____________

7. What was one of Abby’s first words, after “hi”, “mama” and “dada” (hint: her brother taught her this word)?

8. If she could choose to have a pet, which would she want:
a. a dog
b. a cat
c. a fish
d. a bunny

9. Least favorite place to go:
a. The doctor
b. The dentist
c. The hair salon
d. The grocery store

10. Who is Abby’s teacher? ______________

11. Abby shares her birthday, January 8th, with which famous person?
a. Elvis Presley
b. George Washington
c. Madonna
d. Oprah Winfrey

12. The name Abigail is Hebrew and means
a. Child of the God’s
b. Polite, courteous
c. Father’s joy
d. Graceful lily

13. What did Abby ask for from Santa this year?
a. Princess dress
b. Dolls
c. Barbie
d. “Whatever Ben wants”

Answers: 1. Joy, 2. d, 3. a, 4. c, 5. c, 6. yellow, 7. "Mine", 8. a, 9. either a or c acceptable, 10. Mr. Boris, 11. a, 12. c, 13. d

Fifteen Month Old Lorelai

I just weighed and measured our pumpkin tonight.... at fifteen months, she is a lightweight at 19 pounds (3 %). Her height is 30 inches (30 %). I am hoping I just incorrectly weighed Lorelai last month, since she weighed 19-20 pounds then. We do feed her. Really. She has been a bit of a stinker about sitting in her booster seat. She much prefers to be running around. We offer her tons of healthy foods- meats, cheese, yogurt, veggies, veggies, veggies, fruit, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, ground nuts or nut butter, a small amount of gluten free grains, beans, lentils, and eggs. She has become more particular recently...easily gravitating towards fruits, beans, and cheese. This past month, she even tried a few sweets- one made with honey (almond flour muffin) and one made with maple syrup (chocolate fondue)... she was pretty pleased. She seemed to react (red skin around her face) when we gave her cod liver oil this past month (I had previously tried giving it to her months earlier at one point but backed off because it appeared to cause a reaction, but I was not real sure, so tried again recently)...so she won't be having CLO again anytime soon. New foods this past month included lemon, goat meat, and olive oil. She still nurses...enthusiastically. I anticipate when we do wean her that it will not only be hard on me but also for her.

Health-wise, she either has a cold or is teething or both. Her shirt is usually wet with drool and snot. She is boogery but happy. She has been sleeping well.

Her loves include clapping, throwing her arms up in the air for “So Big”, the telephone, dancing, climbing anything, obliging kiss requests, tickles, nursing, being chased, making a mess, flipping though books, dolls, babies, animals, pictures of animals or babies, and cheese. As of late, she does not like the bathtub, most male adults (with the exception of Daddy, Grandpa Burie, and our next door neighbor, Steve…. She has also warmed up to Uncle Scott!), Santas, going to bed when her brother and sister are still up, and when Mom and Dad leave (though she is getting better).

Lorelai’s vocabulary continues to expand. She says hot, no, nose, kitty, Grandma, more, rrroar (for lion) and most recently Santa in addition to mama, dada, hi, teeth, moo (for cow), cheese, kitty, nana (for banana).

Abby was in my lap and Lorelai came up and took a swat at her. I looked at Lorelai and said, “where did you learn that from?” She then pointed very clearly to Abby.

Lorelai understands much more than she says. When I was in the kitchen, I told Ben I needed to call Grandma Burie to see what we should bring for their overnighter. Lorelai heard this and starts running into the office (where the phone is). When lunch was ready, I called out, “who is hungry?” Lorelai starts running for the bathroom (to wash her hands). She can identify her body parts: eyes, nose, and belly consistently.

Lorelai loves to follow and imitate her big brother and sister. Tonight, Ben and Abby were putting blankets over their heads and pretending to be ghosts and Lorelai was making every effort to do the same. Too cute.

She usually only takes one nap a day now (once in a while she’ll take two…). We are happy when it lasts two hours, but sometimes it is a bit shorter. She sleeps about 11 hours at night.

She freely gives the sweetest hugs and kisses!