Beautiful Baby Lailai

I tried to find several pictures to include in this post that accompanied the title appropriately. This picture, taken by Megan when she visited last week, is the only current one that I felt did it justice. I adore this picture of her!

Solitary Play

Lorelai created a new game for herself the other night. She took a ring from a toy and would put it in the heel of my Birkenstock. Since she had my shoe propped up on her leg, the ring would just slide down and come out at the bottom of the makeshift "slide." After a while she would put the ring in and shake my shoe until the ring came out. It was great to see how creative she was in finding her own entertainment, even though we were right there watching her, available for playtime. Guess that's one of the great things about having an only child-they don't always have a built-in playmate around so they make up their own solitary games.

Lorelai's New Game

Here is the above mentioned game in action. Gotta love her ingenuity!

Daddy's Famous Grilled Cheese

Dan makes the most fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches. Lorelai got her first taste of one on Friday night for dinner. Although one of the shots gives the illusion that she didn't like it due to the candid expression captured, she enjoyed it so much that she even ended up with some of it stuck to her nose for a bit. (Of course, I had to take a picture of her that way before removing it.) Although I love all of the pictures in this post, the last two pictures are my favorites! *Although in the last one it looks like she's showing me "see food," I actually just caught her right as she had put the sandwich into her mouth and took her hands away.*

Double Exposure

A good friend of mine, Megan, and her daughter, Anna, came over last night to hang out. While Lorelai and I waited for our much-anticipated company to arrive, I tried to get some pictures of her in her perfectly coordinated outfit. (You can see how well that venture went in the following post below.) Anyway, while I was trying to take said pictures Lorelai was much more interested in getting her hands on a picture frame from a nearby table. Here is the picture that resulted after her mission was accomplished.

Completely Coordinated

Lorelai received an adorable hand-me-down outfit with frogs on it. It's a 6-12 months outfit so she hasn't been able to wear it until now. Although these pictures don't do it justice I wanted to try and show it off anyway. Even the socks are a perfect match! Going in for the aforementioned picture frame.

Through the Looking Glass

On Saturday my mom took Lorelai and me to the mall. My mom and I got our nails done, but due to the fumes in the salon we decided that we would trade off with Lorelai and stroll her around the mall while the other got beautified. So that she wouldn't be confined to the stroller the whole time, I let her out upstairs so that she could look down at all of the people without too many opportunities to get into mischief. She seemed to enjoy looking down on everyone through the glass, but she did try to crawl away a few times. That's my girl! Always getting into something. :)

Checking out the empty space between the wooden sill and the glass.
Testing the sturdiness of the glass.
A woman who worked in the salon was taking a break right next to us and she was talking to Lorelai here.
Going in for another angle.

Standing tall.

New Moniker

Well, Lorelai bit another poor unsuspecting bystander last Friday at day care. Two bite reports in one week. Good grief! Over the weekend we tried several different recommended remedies and it appears as though the behavior has been curbed. Let's hope it stays that way! Anyway, when I went to pick our precious girl up yesterday from day care the owner told me that they had a new name for her - "The Piranha." She hasn't bitten anyone since last week, but I guess it only takes a bite or two to get a new moniker. :)

Rough and Tumble

Last week my parents came over to watch Lorelai so that Dan could go play tennis and I could go to my trainer. Before we left for our respective activities Dan and Lorelai had some fun playing around. Although she may look unhappy in some of the pictures, she is actually smiling. It's just a little hard to read her expressions since they are action shots.

Family Portraits

Two weeks ago we arrived at church a little early, so of course I took the opportunity to take some family portraits.

I LOVE this picture of Lorelai. Just ignore me hiding in the background. I was just trying to make sure she didn't fall out of the truck. :)
Two out of three looking at the camera isn't bad.
Now she's looking. Again, just ignore me.
Dan picked this outfit out especially for her. I think he did a great job!
Happy daddy, teething baby.

Sleeping Soundly

Lorelai typically sleeps on her stomach with her bum in the air. Tonight I let her "cry it out" and when I went in to check on her after she fell asleep I found her in a very relaxed state. It appears as though going to sleep by herself wasn't too stressful.

Pantry Prowling

Katie loves to snoop around in the pantry anytime she gets the chance. When she was brand new she was able to comfortably hide inside this Coke Zero box. As she has gotten older and bigger she has had to upgrade to an Igloo cooler. Still seems pretty content, though.

Family Dinner

In order for Lorelai to be promoted to the next room at day care she has to be off of bottles completely, eating strictly table food, and walking. We are working on achieving all of these milestones. Usually Dan and I eat dinner after Lorelai has been fed, bathed, and put to bed. Tonight we decided to eat dinner as a family. It was pasta with tomato sauce. While I have heard that some kids tend to not like tomatoes due to their acidity, these pictures are proof that Lorelai didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least.

Inevitable

Well, Lorelai got her first bite report from school today. She has gotten a few accident reports in the past, and each time her teachers tell me that I have to sign one of these reports my mind automatically jumps to a bite report. As luck would have it, today was the day. :( She chews/bites on everything so it's no surprise that this would happen eventually. Not sure how we're going to curb the behavior, but I will keep you all updated. When I was younger I was a biter and my Aunt Evelyn eventually just bit me back and I stopped. Please feel free to comment with any suggestions or experiences you have had in this area. They will all be greatly appreciated.

There's Always Room for Jell-O

A few weeks ago Lorelai and I went to dinner with my parents at Golden Corral. We decided to give her several choices of foods to see which she liked best. She really seemed to like strawberries and Jell-O. Although she ate quite a bit of Jell-O for dessert, we did start out with healthier options like the strawberries.

Our very social daughter had to know what was going on at the next table.
Bring on the dessert!

Toward the end of the meal, my mom would put the Jell-O on a spoon and Lorelai would try to feed herself. Mainly she just liked gnawing on the spoon.

Laughing at Granddaddy.
Tried to get a shot of how messy the highchair was. Trust me, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Her outfit was such a mess that we had to strip her down to her diaper before we even left the restaurant. Grandmother wanted a picture with her favorite (and only) granddaughter, but she was being a bit uncooperative-probably due to all the sugar she had! :)

Being a bit more compliant with Granddaddy.
A nice shot of the leg that was predominantly in the Jell-O.