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!

Lorelai Fourteen Months Old

Fourteen months old...oh, baby girl. Lorelai is one busy lady. And uncharacteristically ornery as of late. Seems to be teething pretty badly. Drool and snot have accompanied her gnawing on everything and biting down on Mommy (and she is still nursing...ouch!).

She had her first illness- the stomach flu- at the turn of the month. It was a 24 hour puking thing. No fever. For this, she was quite mellow. We did not even see it coming. She was tired and clingy, but not crabby. Since I was giving her slobbery kisses just hours before this erupted, a few days later, I myself was laid out with the pukey stomach bug thing, the same night as Ben. Kurt and possibly Abby escaped the whole thing. It seems Lorelai brought it into the house- I suspect she picked it up at a neighborhood play date two days prior where there were at least a dozen kids. Otherwise, it was Abby who brought it in the house and had much milder symptoms herself, if it all.

Lorelai is up to 19-20 pounds. She seems to be a bit pickier of an eater now. She does not like to sit in her booster seat often times. She seems happier without her tray, at the big table. She continues to make a big mess wherever she eats. Some days she LOOOVEs bananas, for instance, and the next day she refuses them. It is kind of unpredictable. Some meals she does not want to eat at all. Especially after she was ill and then when she was teething, she preferred just to nurse mostly. She has added cashews, almond butter, oranges and raisins to her diet. We have successfully avoided giving her anything with sugar yet.

Lorelai and Abby have begun to fight. Most conflicts are around blankets or other coveted items. Usually one doesn't realize they want the desired object until the other one has it.

Lorelai loves to climb. She also loves books and is not very gentle with them. She has wrecked some perfectly good books. She LOOOOVES her blanket. She loves dogs and cats and dolls. She does not love Santa.

Her naps are in transition. Some days she will have two naps, and other days she will just take one, at the middle of the day. This has not been very conducive to scheduling our day. Hopefully, she will move to one nap, at 1 PM, stretched out to two plus hours. Usually, the naps are 1-1.5 hrs. She will still cry sometimes before falling asleep. At night, she sleeps from 7:00/8:00 PM to 6:00/7:00 AM, usually still waking once around 5 AM to nurse.

Lorelai is so cute and will dance if you put some music on. She loves to be chased, cuddled and tickled. She loves to pick up our phone and put it to her ear. She gets into EVERYTHING. Everwhere she goes, she leaves a trail (a mess). She does like to pick up/put things away, when shown. I even witnessed her grab a rag from the kitchen like I would, and attempt to wipe up her mess of food on the floor after a meal. Other times, her version of clean up is to find the food pieces that fell to the floor and try to eat them before Mom has a chance to clean them up or swat it out of her hand.

Lorelai understands a lot. I have called out, "time to put on your shoes" and Lorelai will run to the closet and attempt to put on her own shoes. She can identify some body parts, including her nose. When I say, "How big is Lorelai" she loves to throw up her arms in the air for "so big!"

She says mama, dada, hi, teeth, moo (for cow), cheese, kitty, nana (for banana).

As per tradition, we celebrated the anniversary of Lorelai’s Baptism with her Godparents, Lisa and Scott, this past month. We lit her Baptism candle and enjoyed Pumpkin Lasagna. She sure is blessed with such attentive and involved Godparents!

Thirteen Month Old Lorelai

The months continue to fly by, and how our little girl is growing! She is now up to 18.5 pounds (home scale).

She had her first dental appointment (11/6). She has six teeth. She barely cried. Lorelai loves to brush her teeth. When we tell her it is time to brush her teeth, she immediately runs to the bathroom and points to her toothbrish and says "teeth!"

Lorelai has added a couple new words to her vocabulary (which was Mama, Dada, and Hi): teeth, cheese and (I think) more. She can understand a lot more than what she communicates and follows simple commands.

Lorelai has added red peppers, brussel sprouts, pumpkin seeds, coconut milk, pork, walnuts, quinoa and coconut oil to her diet. She accepts most all foods and eats independently. She drinks from a glass pretty well (though will spill). Her beverages have been limited to breastmilk, water and a little coconut milk.

Lorelai was a cute duckling for Halloween this year, thanks to Aunt Lisa!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart: Lorelai at One Year

It is hard to believe we are here already. There were so many times over the past year I wished I could have hit "pause" and savored the moment a little longer, knowing full well how quickly and surely you'd change and grow and how fleeting it all is. I never knew how much I could love one little person sooo much, let alone three.

And here you are: one year.

Weight: 17 pounds, 13 oz. (about 5-10%)

Height: 29.25 inches (about 50-60%)

Head size: 45 cm (50%)

Teeth: 5

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Our cute little peanut.

You have been walking for a month now, first steps a little earlier than that. You are quite good at it. You love to climb...up and down the steps you go, loving every minute. You even climb our kid slide on the deck and slide down by yourself. And the slide at the park. Wow, you are a toddler!

You talk a lot. No one really knows what you are saying, for the most part. Your words are "Hi", "Mama" and "Dada", and have been for some time. You can communicate when you want something though, and you understand a lot more.

You like to go outside on the deck, open cupboards, look through the trash (even try to eat an old banana peel in there), put everything in your mouth (though not as much as you have before), and plop in your lab with a book (for a few seconds, and then you are off to get another and do it all over again). Favorite foods include banana, cheese, peas, watermelon, beans and yogurt.

You do not like diaper changes, being corralled, or when Mommy leaves.

This past month, you added egg whites, cod liver oil, pumpkin and soaked oats to your diet.

Sleepwise, you have slept through the night (to 5 AM), although not consistently. You take two naps, 1-2 hours at a time. You do not like going to bed before your siblings. Hearing their voices will surely make you less than happy about being put to bed. You have not become attached to any particular object, stuffed animal or blanket...as of yet. You have not used a sleep sack for a few months. You do not suck your thumb and haven't taken a pacifier since your early few months.

You are very much loved, sweet girl!

Eleven Month Old Lorelai

Lorelai is eleven months old already!!!

She has five teeth (three on top and two on the bottom).

In the past month, she took her first steps. She pops up and often will take a few steps to get to something and plop back down. She mostly still crawls though to get from here to there. I witnessed her take about 5 steps in a row at her best. She is very agile, sturdy, coordinated. She gets around easily and does not have a lot of accidents. She loves to climb. Especially up onto Abby's bed. She loves the stairs. She likes to climb onto the rocking horse, the rocking chair, ride on toys, etc. She follows us all everywhere.

She continues to exhibit stranger anxiety, especially around adult males she does not see too often.

Lorelai has put blocks together.

She is very opinionated. If she wants to be held, upset about a toy being taken away, forced to sit still for diaper changes, etc., she will voice her discontent. She is communicating when she wants something (ie. the cheese you are eating).

Most exciting is her new interest in books (reading, not eating them!)....finally we can sit through a book together without her grabbing to put it in her mouth. She communicates her favorites and bounces excitedly when she is read a book she is interested in. She will hand it to you and plop in your lap. She especially likes Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle and Good Night Moon.

Lorelai is falling asleep easily on her own. She takes two naps a day- 1-2 hours each, in her crib, with a blanket and her music. She does not need the sleep sack anymore but sometimes we use it. It does not look like she will be a thumb sucker. She sleeps about 10.5-11 hours a night, with a bedtime of about 7:30-8:00 PM (it is hard to get her to bed before Ben and Abby- she KNOWS when they are still up!!!). She will usually wake up once during this period (around 5 AM).

Lorelai is still nursing. This will be hard for me to give up.

On her 11 month birthday, she developed a little cold- possibly her first? She may have had a runny nose once before in her second month? It does not seem to bother her and no one else in our family has it, so we are not sure where she picked it up.

Speaking of picking things up- she still likes to pick up a lot of little things and put them in her mouth. We are constantly fishing in her mouth to find what she got faster than we could stop her. This is one small aspect I won't miss!

She is eating mostly finger foods. Here are her top picks:
1. Cheese
2. Carrots
3. Black Beans
4. Bananas
5. Avocado
6. Raspberries
7. Grapes

In the past month, she added bell peppers, cucumber, grapes, potatoes, eggplant, and cooked tomatoes. She has an obvious dislike to hard cooked egg yolks, but will eat pretty much anything else.

This past month, she went to Madison for a day, to Green Meadows Petting Farm for the first time, and back to Foxbrook Park beach, among other adventures. She travels well.

I'll have to take her measurements tomorrow- she's a little peanut! (UPDATE: 17-17.5 lbs)

Ten Month Old Lorelai

At ten months, Lorelai weighed about 17.5 pounds and measured 27.5 inches tall. She had three teeth (two lower and one upper tooth). The first two teeth came in rather uneventfully, the third tooth was more disruptive. She still wore mostly 6-9 month clothing, when she wore clothes at all. No new words this past month. She continues to be very happy.... laughing and clapping a lot. She also started to point. Lorelai stands up without support in the middle of the floor easily and often. She seems very coordinated. She easily gets around and climbs up on things. Recently she has taken to climbing on the trampoline and jumping on it like the older kids! She also can be found climbing onto the kid's picnic table, up on the couch when Ben or Abby has pulled a cushion off onto the floor, and, of course, on the stairs. We finally have the gate up on the bottom of the stairs.

Her favorite toys are ride on toys or walker/push toys. She also enjoys the wooden blocks...she uses them as teethers.

Lorelai clearly notices "strangers"... she is visibly upset in the presence of unfamiliar people, especially males. Lorelai is super excited when Daddy gets home and becomes upset if he does not come to greet her immediately!

Lorelai LOVES following Ben and Abby and attempts to get involved with whatever toys they are playing with. Lorelai's dislikes are sitting still and having her diaper changed (again, she wants to keep on moving!). Lorelai is a busy gal these days!

Lorelai is eating three meals a day consistently. New food introduced over the past month include black beans, cheese, cantaloupe, tahini, kiwi, garbanzo beans, blueberries, raspberries, cinnamon, lentils, flax seed, and spinach. She enjoys feeding herself. The cheese, black beans, kiwi, raspberries, banana, avocado, and chicken pieces make great finger foods for her at this age. She still takes in about 12 oz of pumped milk in my absence and nurses about 4 or 5 times in a 24 hour period when I am home. I will sure miss nursing her once she has weaned.

Lorelai continues to one super healthy little girl. We are thankful.

Sleepwise, she has slept through the night for a period consistently, but then her teeth pain seemed to disrupt the streak. She retires around 8 PM with Ben and Abby (she does not want to miss anything if she knows they are awake!) and wakes around 7 AM. She takes a nap about 9 AM and then again at 1 or 2 PM- each time for about 1-2 hours.

This past month we went to Green Bay and Madison. Lorelai was a good traveler- slept easily through the majority of our travel time.

We thank the good Lord for our beautiful blessings: Lorelai, Abigail and Benjamin!

Nine Month Old Lorelai

Lorelai is pictured here in the same outfit Abby's 9 month photo was taken in. Lorelai weighs almost 17 pounds & has two teeth now (bottom center). She mostly wears 6-9 month clothes. She laughs a lot, claps a lot, waves and says three words: "Mama", "Dada" & "Hi!" She is a proficient crawler, pulls to a stand, cruises along furniture, and can climb up stairs. She can stand alone for a few seconds at a time. She still has to put everything in her mouth. This past month she has exhibited stranger anxiety.

She is eating three meals of solids per day for the most part. She added broccoli, chicken, watermelon, beets, cauliflower, applesauce, beef, and onions to her diet in the ninth month. The meats are carefully chosen to be from grass-fed, antiobiotic-free, hormone-free, pasture raised, cage free chickens and cows (all I need are images from Food Inc. to remind me it is worth the added cost!). Since we are delaying grains until after Lorelai turns one, we introduced meats now to ensure she is getting enough iron. Lorelai got to sample the delicious goodness of organic strawberries as well this month when we ventured to Jen Ehr Farms on Father's Day to pick strawberries. Lorelai is still nursing and taking pumped milk in my absence. Her intake of Mommy's Milk has decreased as solids have increased. She takes about 12 oz of pumped milk in my absence on workdays. She nurses about five times a day when I am home.

We have not discovered any allergies as of yet, thankfully. She may be sensitive to egg yolks, or maybe was not ready for them yet, as she seemed to spit up a little more when she got them...so I am treading lightly with egg yolks.

Lorelai has been a healthy little peanut. She barely has had a cold in her nine months of life. We are really really fortunate.

Lorelai seems to have turned a corner with her night-time sleeping. She has slept through the night (8 PM to 6:30 AM for her best) without her usual 1 AM or 3 AM waking more consistently recently. She naps twice a day, usually for 1-2 hours at a time. Often her morning nap is taken on the go. I can usually lay her down drowsy, but still awake, and she will not fuss. She usually sleeps in a sleeveless sleepsack and drifts off with a lullaby music CD in her room. She hasn't used a pacifier in months and does not suck her thumb. Her bedtime and naptimes have not been all that consistent since our schedules are often dictated by whatever activities Ben and Abby are occupied with and Lorelai has been pretty flexible and adaptable with this. We are very lucky!

Ben and Abby sure enjoy her. Although not encouraged, Ben will be caught picking Lorelai up and carrying her to another location. He's not just trying to keep her out of his toys- he does not want her to get anything she could choke on! Lorelai will laugh on cue when Ben and Abby dance for her, make silly faces, or just smile at her. She loves them to pieces. And we all sure love her!

Eight Month Old Lorelai

Lorelai hit the eight month mark this past week. She weighed in at the pediatrician's office the week before (since we were there for Ben & Abby's annual check ups) at 15 lbs, 13.5 oz. She is long, though we did not take measurements. Still a little peanut!

Development-wise, she is a more proficient crawler. She pulls up to a stand. She has even stood alone for a few seconds before falling. She claps a lot. She continues to try and explore everything with her mouth.

Her appetite has grown. She added carrots, peaches, mango, zucchini, plain whole milk yogurt, pears, parsnips, apricots, asparagus to her diet in her eighth month. Yogurt and carrots seem to stand out as favorites (besides Mommy's Milk). She seems to prefer to feed herself with her fingers than be spoon fed. She nurses about 5-6 times in a 24 hr period. She continues to take about 14-15 oz of pumped milk during the workday in my absence. Still no visible tooth!

Her sleep patterns are pretty consistent. She typically takes two naps a day and sleeps about 11-12 hours at night, with bedtime anywhere between 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM (inconsistent due to our other activities with the kids, Wednesday night softball, etc.). She adjusts/adapts fine. She is a content little baby. Very easy going. Very happy!

She loves to follow her siblings around and adores their attention- offering many squeels of delight and giggles in response to their attention. She is willing to play in her pack n play outside while I supervise Ben and Abby playing with our neighbors. Lorelai is such fun!

Seven Month Old Lorelai

Another month has flown by. Our little sweetie pie is now crawling!!! It is amazing to witness the progression. She was sitting well and then began to lunge forward to reach a desired object. And then she was up on all fours. Next, she mastered her coordination to move forward on all fours. She finds her way back to the seated position periodically.

Lorelai has gone from smiling 24/7 to having this determined look in her face 24/7. She is so busy. She won't sit still!!! Lorelai is definitely keeping us on our toes!

According to our home scale, Lorelai weighs about 15.5 pounds. She weighed the same one month ago, according to my last post; however, at her recent pediatrician appointment (at 6.5 months), she weighed 14 pounds, 8.5 ounces...so we might be off a bit.
Lorelai has tasted hard cooked egg yolk, sweet potatoes, bananas, avocado, green peas, butter, green beans and squash in her seventh month. Egg yolks do not agree with her. She does not eat very much so far, about 1-2 Tablespoons per day between 1-2 meals. She nurses 5-6 times per day. She takes about 15 oz of pumped milk between two bottles on the days I work.

Lorelai usually takes 2 naps per day, from 1-3 hours at a time. She has fallen into a much better rhythm in her sleep patterns. She goes to bed around 7 PM and rises at 6 PM, with 1-2 wakings per night most nights.

I can feel the bottom of some teeth- up top and center; however, still no visible tooth!

Ben and Abby can make her laugh and squeel with joy so easily. Lorelai loves to be tickled and snuggled and sung to. She appears to mimic us when we clap. On a few occasions, I thought she repeated "mama" and maybe even "dada" tonight. She is really fun and sweet!