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!