home again, home again, jiggity jig.

We're back in DeKalb and ringing in the new year by unpacking many, many boxes and suitcases. Can't wait to share our holiday photos with you -- especially the ones from my NEW DSLR CAMERA (Jason got it for me for Christmas -- isn't he dreamy?). I already took 500 pictures in two days while I've been learning the ropes. Expect to be inundated!

Here's one cute Lorelei picture to tide you over until the new posts arrive. Happy 2012, everybody!

happy holidays.

We're enjoying the holiday season in MN and taking lots of pictures, but we don't have the ability to post them from here. Expect some fun new posts in the new year -- and for now, our favorite pictures from our family photo shoot this fall!

For more, visit our amazing photographer's website!

standing tall.

Don't worry, you haven't missed anything big -- Lorelei's not pulling up yet. But she can (and has for a while!) completely support her own body weight so long as there's something to balance on, like this activity table we got her for Christmas/Hanukkah. Since we're traveling and don't really have room in the car for lots of toys, we let her open it early :) Love those sturdy little legs and little baby potbelly! Can't believe she's going to be 7 months one week from today...

swimming lessons.

We're all about the videos this week! Jason got to come to swimming lessons today because he's on his winter break. His comments: Lorelei seemed totally unfazed by the water, she seems to be the instructor's favorite baby, and she looked good in her new swimming suit (light blue with a little yellow skirt). She even got to be in a demonstration for the rest of the class!



Jason filmed this through the window in the observing room at the pool, so there's no sound -- apologies for the cheesy FlipCamera tune. In case you're having trouble picking us out, I'm wearing a brown suit that ties around the neck and my hair is in a bun.

mirror, mirror on the wall...

Who is the prettiest baby of them all -- Lorelei, or doppelganger Lorelei, the mirror baby? They both seem to want to know each other better!

BFFs.

Two weeks ago, we had dinner with some friends of ours who also have a baby (and a toddler). You might remember them from this post last summer! Anyway, now that the babies are old enough to interact, getting them together was a RIOT. We forgot our camera, but luckily they took some pictures for us!

Lorelei and Natalie couldn't get enough of each other -- they held hands, licked each other's heads, and tried to grab each other's eyes all evening. Jack, Natalie's big brother, thought it was all pretty funny.

Natalie's mom Jen says this one is of the babies in "cobra pose." (Lorelei is already mastering "downward dog" as she tries to learn how to crawl -- guess we better start going to mommy-and-me yoga soon!)

Can't wait to get these new best buds together again!

camera dump.

Lots of pictures from the past week or two that I haven't known what to do with -- so just dumping them here for your viewing pleasure. :)

cousins.

We took Lorelei on her biggest outing to date today -- we drove 45 minutes to have brunch at the Egg Harbor Cafe in Naperville with Jason's cousin Rachel, her husband Ron, and their almost-3-year-old Ezra!

Rachel was great with Lorelei, holding her so her mom and dad could actually eat at the same time.

And Ezra was great too -- he thought it was pretty funny when Lorelei tried to grab his face (which is what she does to people she likes, so it was a compliment!)

Dare we venture all the way into Chicago soon? Let's not get ahead of ourselves...

food, glorious food.

Lorelei had her first encounter with solid food on Sunday! She is now officially an avocado baby.

She did not seem to know what to think about it. Or her parents hovering over her with cameras and acting all wacky. Mostly she just squished it in her fingers, though she tried putting it in her mouth a little bit and then making a pretty funny face.

We took video of the whole thing, but it is 22 minutes long (yikes) so I still need to edit it. Check back for an update on this post soon -- but we wanted to at least share some photos with you!

It's a little sad to think that our little peanut is no longer an exclusively breastfed baby -- she's growing up so fast.  But we're excited for all the new things, too -- Jason even said he wanted me to take a video of her eating every day so he doesn't miss it :) Can you imagine our 15 year old daughter documenting a grilled cheese sandwich at lunch so her father can enjoy the footage later?

Update: here's the video! I wanted to play Bob Wills' "Roly Poly" in the background but I can't make it work, so just sing along. :)

Lorelei in action.

Here's a compilation video of some of Lorelei's recent antics from our trip to Salt Lake: crazy noises and faces, a little game we call "baby attack," stealing things from you, and throwing stuff on the floor (not sure that's really on purpose at this point, but it's still kinda cute at this stage).

notes from a 6 month old.

On Thanksgiving, Lorelei turned 6 months old! Today at her appointment she weighed 18 pounds 3 ounces, was just shy of 27 inches, and has a head circumference of 16 1/4 inches. That makes her between the 75th-90th percentile in height and weight and in the 10th for her head (again). Our little peahead is growing by leaps and bounds. Here's what she wants you to know about her:

I like to grab things. Anything and everything. You'd better be careful about your Starbucks coffee! Also, your face is the best toy in the world so get ready for me to put my fingers in your mouth and nose.

I practice pushing up and rocking on my hands and knees in my crib when I think no one is watching. But I'm just starting to let my parents see it, too -- there's a video below my mom took on the sly.

I love to practice standing on people's legs and to bounce up and down to music (or even just to my own rhythm).

If I can hold onto it, it's going in my mouth -- fair warning.

I think it's very funny when people blow raspberries at me (especially when mom does it on my tummy) and I will grin like mad back at you. If I'm really tired, I might blow some in your direction too!

I'm still working on the whole laughing thing (it's hard not to cough!), but I'm becoming a master squealer.

I recognize the songs my parents sing to me and smile when the song starts, especially the pie song, "This Is the Way the Ladies Ride," "The Noble Duke of York," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."

Eating my feet is still one of my favorite pasttimes. I can even get both big toes in my mouth at once!

The television is endlessly fascinating. Grandpa Sam says that I look like an owl the way I turn my head all the way around so I can watch the Packers even when my parents are holding me to face in the other direction.

I'm still not sure what I think about swimming lessons -- but I kick as hard as I can when I'm in the water (and practice in the bathtub at home, too).

When I go out, everyone thinks that I am a very calm and quiet baby. I guess I am kind of quiet (I don't babble yet) but I'm only calm because there is so much to look at. If you could see me at home, you might change your mind!

I haven't started solid foods yet, but it's coming up pretty soon -- my parents promise to post lots of pictures of my first messy eating experience!

lots of love and xoxo (I'm getting pretty good at giving kisses!), Lorelei

thanksgiving fun.

We had so much fun traveling to Utah for Thanksgiving again this year! Lorelei had the best time meeting Auntie Bridget and Uncle Gary for the first time (she also met Fozzie, but doesn't seem to notice things that aren't humans at the moment...) and getting to play with Grandpa Sam and Grandma Sara. It was a very happy 6-month birthday celebration!

We hope to share some videos with you from our trip soon (Lorelei is up to lots of new tricks!) but here are some pictures for now.

 reading the paper with Grandpa Sam

showing off her turkey butt 

 mmm, pie.

 grabbing at anything -- including the wine bottle

playing "raspberry girls" with Grandma Sara

looking at the ducks at the Liberty Park aviary

hey guys, what's over there? 

up close and personal with a tinamou 

two Hanna women showing off their famous facial expression

gobble gobble.

We're leaving bright and early tomorrow to head to Salt Lake City for Thanksgiving (just like we have the past few years), so I'll post our Thanksgiving pictures a little bit early. Enjoy your Turkey Day (or Tofurkey Day) and all the family and love and football and napping that may occur!

I can't take it anymore.

The suspense is killing me -- I HAVE to share one of our family portraits with you! We spent a beautiful fall morning a week or so ago having these done and are thrilled with the results. You'll be seeing more of them on our holiday cards and here on the blog soon, but for now here's a little preview:

laughing, coughing, same thing.

Lorelei is just starting to learn to laugh! She is not very good at it yet and often sends herself into coughing fits instead. Apologies in advance for the quality of this video -- she won't smile or laugh when she sees a camera at the moment so filming had to be done on the sly (off to the side).

guest post.

Lorelei asked if she could write a guest post today. We decided to let her give it a try. Here's what she came up with:

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update: finally getting around to uploading the picture that was supposed to accompany this post!

one fish two fish.

We started swimming lessons today! It was a little hectic and upsetting before we got to the pool -- bad nap schedule, refusing to nurse, both mom and baby crying -- but we calmed down when we got there and had a good time. I talked another mom into taking our picture -- a little on the blurry side, but oh well.

Lorelei wasn't sure what she thought of having water poured over her head, which was the first part of our class, but otherwise she seemed to have a good time. We were supposed to blow bubbles at our babies and have them watch us, but she was not interested in what I was doing at all and stared at our swimming instructor Jeremy the whole time. (He adored her so it wasn't a problem -- he finally caved and came over to pinch her cheeks which I think he had been talking himself out of doing since class began. And he kept making little comments about how she should be a good floater -- if Lorelei could have understood him I think she would have been less inclined to gaze at him so intently!) During the part where we had our babies on their backs and were pushing them around in the water, she stuck her legs waaaaaay up in the air and kicked and kicked! I think her favorite part was at the end when we just got to play around -- by that point she had totally relaxed and was enjoying it. Once we got to the locker room, she nursed like she hadn't eaten in a week.

She's been conked out in her crib for an hour now -- mom needs a nap too. Looking forward to next week!

p.s. Click here to learn more about the Iddy Biddy Pool School where we take lessons!

why I get out of bed in the morning.