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).