up and down.

We've had an "up and down" past few days, and not just because we've been singing "The Wheels on the Bus." Lorelei rolled over from front to back, and then from back to front (unfortunately, no one was in the room for that one, and she hasn't repeated it). She has discovered that her feet are fun to play with, which is pretty amusing to watch. And we've had some fun outings -- long walks, going to see the homecoming pep fest up at school, and having some good chats.

At the same time, she's been sleeping poorly at night, we had to quit swaddling her cold turkey due to the rolling so she's been pretty upset whenever she gets put in her crib, and she had to get her 4-month vaccines today, which is never fun. (Lorelei clocked in at 15 1/2 pounds, 25 1/4 inches, and a head circumference of almost 16 inches, which puts her around the 75th %ile for the first two and below the 25th %ile for the third, for those of you keeping track -- but she makes up for her small head with those pinchable cheeks!)

Also "up," at least according to Lorelei's dad, is that she watched the Packers defeat the Bears yesterday. Here are some photos of the two cheeseheads celebrating their victory:

4 month photo shoot.

(Lorelei has just recently discovered her feet and is enjoying looking at the slippers made for her by cousin Adria)

big day.

Today, Lorelei is four months old. Here's how she decided to celebrate!

lorelei the live version (part 3)

Here are some videos from the past month.

Lorelei learning how to splash in the bathtub:



Lorelei starting to be able to use her hands more effectively -- she really doesn't have this down yet, but this made us hopeful:



Lorelei in a particularly talkative mood (she's still not really babbling but some days she talks more than others):

one year ago.

Dear Lorelei,

One year ago yesterday, I found out that I was pregnant with you. You were so tiny then -- not even as big as a poppyseed, really.

(image)

One year ago today, your dad and I went out for coffee and pie and I gave him the good news (I needed some time to make sure I was right!). I handed him a pregnancy test under the table (which he thought was a USB drive -- will we even still have those by the time you are old enough to read this?) and he was so surprised. We were unbelievably excited -- and we still are! Even though we had gotten used to it being "just the two of us" after 5 years of marriage and 10 years together total...

...we are so happy that "baby makes three" and that you have made our pair into a wonderful family.

with love, your mom

sugar and spice and everything nice.

...that's what my little girl is made of!

(image)

I know I complain about Lorelei -- a lot. And stress about whether or not things are going well for her and if I'm doing the right things. But I had more confirmation today that everything is going great!

Today was a big day. First of all, Lorelei took yet another long morning nap -- I think she's finally starting to get into that pattern, which I thought would never happen since she's been napping for 45 minutes at a time since about week 8. Then, once she woke up, we went to Crunchy Moms!

Crunchy Moms of DeKalb is a mom/baby group that meets on Monday mornings. It's composed of all kinds of people, but tends to be frequented by moms who breastfeed, cloth diaper, and are generally on the all-natural, "granola" side of the road. I've been wanting to go, but Lorelei can only handle being awake for about an hour at a time, which makes leaving the house to do anything rather challenging. But I went to a "moms only" event last Friday and the people seemed so nice that I decided to give it a go.

It went great! We met at the children's section in Barnes and Noble -- there were kids everywhere! I saw a few of the moms I had already met and said hello, and then I noticed two moms with little babies sitting right in the middle at a table. It turns out that one of them had a 3 1/2 month baby and the other one was 4 1/2 months, so Lorelei fit right in the middle (she was the biggest of them all, of course). And right away I noticed...those babies were TIRED! They were fussing, crying, whining, sucking on their fists, and yawning away. Lorelei, on the other hand, was very perky and alert, looking at everything and taking it all in and not saying a peep!

We stayed for about half an hour. Once I saw Lorelei yawn, I said goodbye, stopped by the coffeeshop to get a pumpkin spice latte (my fall obsession), and we headed for home. Once we got back, she went down without a fuss.

The moral of this story? Even though it's a pain in the butt and I have to work really hard to get it to work, I am really glad that I've been making sure Lorelei is a well-rested baby. She's so much more fun to be around, but even more so, it seems like it makes her able to learn and grow and enjoy her world.

what do you do when you can't play with a baby?

Take lots of pictures! (Still too sick for snuggles -- which is difficult when she's this cute.)

home sick.

I'm unbelievably sick. Jason is being a fantastic husband and father and working from home today. I think Lorelei enjoys getting to see him in action:

best uncle ever.

(with apologies to Gary)

I had a dentist's appointment this morning and Jason couldn't stay home due to a meeting. I get charged $50 for cancelling an appointment too many times and this was my 3rd reschedule, so I was desperate.

Ross to the rescue! He braved 2 1/2 hours of Chicago morning traffic to come babysit his little niece. What a guy! It seemed like they had fun together even though Lorelei was a little nervous to wake up and find this tall blonde guy greeting her rather than her parents...

Thanks for taking such good care of her, Ross!

visitors from MN.

What a busy day! After recuperating from Kite Fest, Lorelei got to meet two new people: Great-Auntie Cathy and cousin Bret.

They were very impressed with how alert and strong Lorelei was -- and what a good sense of humor she has!

I was really happy to see them, too, because Cathy has been such an awesome resource for me during these early days of motherhood -- especially with breastfeeding and all the struggles I had early on. So glad that they were able to squeeze us in on their drive to Chicago (Adria, we have to get you out here soon!).

(Note to B and C: if any of your pictures turned out, I'd love digital copies so I could post a few more here!)

kite fest and new friends.

Today is Kite Fest, an annual event held on the open green space (owned by NIU) that starts at the end of our street. It was a beautiful day for it, so we took Lorelei down to see the kites and crowds. While we were there, we met up with a colleague of Jason's, Steve, and his family -- he has an almost-3-year-old son and a daughter who is just a month older than Lorelei. Once again, Lorelei proved that she is a baby force to be reckoned with:

Steve's son ran around and had lots of fun learning to fly a kite while we chatted and got to know each other. We kept saying that it's hard to imagine Lorelei will ever be old enough to actually participate in Kite Fest -- what will she look like as a toddler?

mom and baby love.

(Jason is still learning how to hold a camera steady to take a picture, so apologies for the blurriness.)

sitting pretty.

Jason bought Lorelei a new chair. She really enjoys sitting in it and having a new vantage point with which to view her world. Mom really enjoys putting her in it because, at somewhere over 15 pounds, Lorelei is starting to be a little bit of a backbreaker, and until she can sit unassisted, Mom'll take all the help she can get!

crybaby.

Lorelei was still reeling from the effects of sleep deprivation last Sunday night when we had some surprise guests: Ross and Meredith! Sara whipped up a delicious quinoa salad, Jason grilled mushroom caps, and R + M supplied a wonderful pecan stout pie from the Norske Nook they picked up on the way back from a northern Wisconsin wedding. Despite all this goodness, Lorelei cried during most of her awake time, but our visitors took it in stride.

houseguests.

Just after we returned from MN, we were lucky enough to have some houseguests: the Hannas!

Grandpa Sam unfortunately could only stay for a short time, but Grandma Sara stayed for a few days and we had all kinds of fun! Lorelei really enjoyed walks in the stroller, sitting out on the front stoop, singing songs, going on an adventure to Hy-Vee (especially the part where she got some new toys!), and all of the snuggles.

We also experimented to see what Lorelei would look like if she inherited Grandma Sara's hair.

Looking forward to having them visit again soon!