Biking with Mommy

For my birthday this year, I asked for a bike trailer from Mom so Lola and I could go for rides on Rosie (my cruiser). We got her a little helmet, which she isn't thrilled about putting on, but seems to forget it's on her noggin by the time she's buckled in. We took a few laps around the block this afternoon and before I realized it, she was passed out. So we cut the trip short and came home so she could finish her nap in her crib.

The coolest thing is the trailer can fit two babies and converts to a jogging stroller. Though you won't catch me jogging with it anywhere. Roller blading, yes. Jogging, no. 

"Does anyone know how I can get this thing off my head?"
Keeping hydrated is important.

And we're off...

Do you like my after-bath hair do?

Happy Birthday TiTi!

We Love You!

J, K & L

Ribfest

A few years ago, John & I attended Naperville's annual Ribfest. We decided to head back today since he had the day off of work, and well, we LOVE us some good BBQ! It was a beautiful day out with (thankfully) a nice breeze and some clouds to keep us cool. John indulge in some brisket and a rib sandwich while I stuck with my staple of pulled pork. I got one of those fantastic roasted ears of sweet corn smothered in butter, too. God Bless Summer food! Lola enjoyed some too, getting her first taste of baked beans. 

She was wondering why Daddy got the yummy food and she had to settle for her stroller handlebar. So that's when we gave her some beans!The had a great petting zoo where Lola got to see real goats, calves and ducks...And even got to pet a baby calf!My brother is in the midst of restoring his second vintage Vespea. I love these little Italian imports so of course I had to pose with one and enter my name in the raffle in hopes of winning one. Lola loved getting out of the stroller, crawling/walking around and of course, picking up and trying to eat GRASS!
In mid-stride. She can take about 3 or 4 steps before she falls."Look, Mommy...Grass!"Lola & her Sippy.After a very fun afternoon, we were ready to hit the road. See you next year Ribfest!

First Steps

So, I just posted how Lola seemed like she wanted to take a few steps. Of course, after I post her 11 month update, she goes ahead and takes those first steps!

John had just walked in the door and sat down in the arm chair. She took 3 steps towards Daddy. He turned her around and then she took 3 steps towards me!

Amazing! Both of our hearts leaped in our chests and we had to contain our excitement for fear of frightening her. :)

11 Months!

Baby girl is 11 months old today and there are some new things going on in her world.

First and foremost, Lola is off the bottle and takes all her milk and water from a sippy cup. A week ago, I gave her a sippy in the morning instead of her bottle. She didn't protest, so I continued throughout the day offering her the sippy and she consistently took it. A week later, she doesn't even seem to notice the bottle is gone. 

She gets stronger and stronger by the day. She's starting to stand up on her own for longer lengths of time and she's beginning to lean forward like she's getting ready to take steps. Now she just has to figure out that she needs to pick up her feet! We wouldn't be shocked in the slightest if she was wobbling along at her 1st birthday party.

Finger food is a world of fun for Lola these days. Her favorites are peas and Cheerios, but this week I added steamed diced apples and roasted sliced turkey and she seems to thoroughly enjoy those, too. No doubt Grandma will be adding even more new foods to her daily menu when we go down to visit in just 2 weeks!

It seems like Lola has only had her bottom two teeth (which John refers to as her "Chiclets") for forever now. But at the moment, she's cutting five, YES FIVE, teeth at once. One on the bottom next to her Chicklits and her top front 4. She seems a tad more fussy than normal, but still totally managable. We continue to pop the Hylands teething tablets which she loves (thanks Christine!).

She's really into "reading" these days, especially her Eric Carle books, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "Polar Bear, Polar Bear". We've been working on color recognition and I'm hoping she'll be able to identify her colors soon. Her vocabulary continues to grow. No real words yet, but we're hearing new sounds daily. She points towards things and "talks", so we know she's dying to get her point across! She was signing "more" last week, but now this week is on strike. Little stinker!

Napping and bedtime are now (99.9% of the time) a joy! She knows when she is tired and no longer tries to fight it. We lay her in her crib and she knows it's time to go "nigh-nigh". She sleeps through the night great, but still wakes up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed between 5-6:00 am every morning. I keep telling her at that hour of the morning, when I could really use another hour, that she's lucky she's so damn cute!

When we watch her, we're amazed she's the same baby we brought home from the hospital! She continues to surprise and delight us at every moment. In our eyes, she is perfect.

Millennium Park

Last week, Lola and Mommy met up with Tracy & Parker at Millennium Park for a fun-filled day. We traveled via train again and Lola is proving to be a great traveler. I've learned the key is to catch an express rather than a local!

On the way over to the park, we popped into the Art Institute's Garden. I couldn't resist snapping a picture of her here, seeing as how it's where we took our engagement pictures. A really neat space. 
We met up with our friends at the bean and then headed over to the Chase Promenade to catch the 10:00 am Wiggleworms performance. The kiddos had a blast boppin' around to the music. After the concert, the babies were ready for milk and naps, so while they drifted off to sleep in their strollers, Tracy & I enjoyed a relaxing walk over to Buckingham Fountain.
Parker: "What do you say Lola, should we get this party started?"Some random little girl decided she wanted to check out Lola's stroller...I can't get enough of Parker's sweet smile!
Who likes Lola's Elvis lip?


After we met up with Chris for lunch at Roly Poly (YUM-O!!!), we decided to head back to the park and let the babies cool off in the Crown Fountain. Lola absolutely-positively LOVED this part of the day. She's such a fish!


We ended the day lounging in the grass on the Pritzker lawn. It was one of the best summer days I can ever remember. Tracy is one of my dearest friends and the more we get our babies together, it's obvious they're fond of each other, too. 

The "Sweet" Life

We gave Lola a "sweet" treat last weekend in an attempt to snap the perfect picture for her 1st Birthday party invitation. I literally snapped for just two short minutes and we ended up with priceless pictures--and a priceless memory! She LOVED licking that candy, it was so fun to watch her. But her drool started to make the color run (see pics below) and it started to drip all over the white peter-pan collar! Photo shoot ended, baby stripped, stain stick applied and dress quickly washed. 

We chose this for her invite picture. We couldn't resist the look of those eyes! But above all, I love her little hands wrapped around the stick. 

This was the original of the above pic.
And a few more of her sweetness.


This was before she started licking. It's almost like she's asking us: "Really?!"

Happy Father's Day!

Watching John with Lola these last 11 months has been nothing short of amazing. I knew he'd be an incredible father, but he's even better than I imagined. He loves her more than anything in the world and would do anything for her. She's the luckiest girl in the world to have him as her Daddy. But if you ask him, he'd say he was the lucky one.

Enjoy this little montage of Father & Daughter. When she was just a baby-baby, he'd rock her and sing her this song...

(After you hit Play, press the red HQ button in the bottom to watch high quality)

Fun In The Sun

Mommy & Lola (finally!) got a chance to hit the pool a few times this week. Today was the most BEAUTIFUL day of the year so far, so all three of us walked up to the pool this morning and had a blast splashing around together. Lola LOVES the water and I'm pretty sure she'll be a little fish like her Mommy always was as a little girl. 

She loved getting thrown up in the air by Daddy--and how beautiful is that sky?! Like a painting!

It's a Zero Depth pool, so she can sit and splash...

...and crawl around!

The best thing-- she's so worn out from the water, she falls asleep on the walk home!