Our Blue-Eyed Brunette

She reached the 11 month mark last week, and this month, like all the other months before it, I was like, really, already?! Yes, already it was here.

She just so happened to have a doctor's appointment on her 11 month birthday (so she could get her H1N1 booster shot) and Dr. G reported that she is now a whopping 20 pounds, although based on the size of my biceps (which are the only muscles that get a workout), I could have told you that.

In the past month, Lola has become quite adept at pulling herself up. She attempts to rock climb her dresser every morning and confidently holds onto furniture/our legs/Archie with one hand and waves with the other.

Her current favorite food is shredded mozzarella. When she sees us take it out of the refrigerator she starts wildly waving her arms and shrieking like Brad Pitt just walked into our kitchen. Not that she'll ever think Brad Pitt is hot. She'll probably always think of him as some old guy. But, yes, my kid goes bonkers over some mozzarella.

This month she also tried feta cheese, banana pancakes, pineapple, cottage cheese, marinara sauce, apple butter, lemon, cilantro, and black beans.

She is starting to piece together language too. She says mama, dada, nana (banana) and occasionally something that sounds like doggie. She also recognizes photos of babies and dogs and will point to them when you ask, "Lola, where is the baby/doggie?"

She also LOVES to give kisses. Wet, open mouth kisses. And, she goes straight for the face. Nose, eye, cheek, lips, they are all targets of hers. The next time you see her, I dare you to ask for one. You won't be disappointed.

8 Months

Oh, the eight month bean.



As noted in a previous post, we spent her eight month-iversary riding airplanes. She was kind to me.

While I have much to write about our trip to the Great Tundra, I feel a nagging internal obligation to hammer out all of Lola's accomplishments since last month. (My maternal guilt is driven by the fact that I often note these sorts of things in the blog first and then when I am blankly staring at her baby book, I rush back to the internet and copy down what I previously wrote online.)

So let's see, what has she been up to...

She babbles like crazy. First it was Mama, then Baba, now Dada.

She has increased her food circle to include peaches, oatmeal, falafel, and these things called "puffs" (more about those later.)

She waves to us.

She would much rather stand than sit.

She is incredibly active, which I find impressive since she isn't crawling. She rolls, stretches and somehow can inch her way around the entire house without crawling. Case in point, she refused to stay on her blanket during our layover at LAX. (Don't worry, I washed her hands before she put them in her mouth.)

She has begun to actively pet the dogs, or should I write, she pinches the dogs.

And, YES, put this in the baby book, her very first TOOTH popped through on October 7, her 8 month birthday. It is a bottom tooth and cute and pearly white.

Seven Months of Sulking

Earlier this month, Lola had an appointment with Dr. G. Her seven month stats:

Length 28 inches (95th percentile)
Weight 17 lb, 8 oz (55th percentile)



We are slowly making progress with the solid foods. We've attempted (in this order):

rice cereal
avocado
sweet potatoes
peas
avocado (again)
plain yogurt
tofu
banana

Right now her favorite meal is plain yogurt. Every thing else we gave her was rejected. -- Including banana! Weird, huh? The only other person that I know that loves plain yogurt is Amy. Clearly, Lola was meant to be Amy's goddaughter.



In regard to other milestones, Lola seems to be recognizing a few of the ASL signs that we are using with her. She understands "milk" and "more." When we use these two signs, she opens her mouth and given the context, lunges toward either the milk or the spoon.



She is also increasing mobile. She rolls all over the place, and somehow, she can spin on her belly. It's incredible how quickly she can reach a destination without being able to crawl.

In other words, Lola is doing good.

But, I bet you are wondering about our other baby, who really isn't a baby at all, but is instead more like a pouty teenager.

He's still tolerating her, and us.

Granted, Archie has always been of the melancholy sort. When he was a puppy, one vet wanted us to put him on anti-depressants. We opted not to, claiming that he would be OK without them.

Sometimes though, I wish we did.

But no, really, he is doing OK. Josh and I have increased our visits to the local dog park (which he LOVES) and I'm also trying to take him out on more walks.

Plus, I do think he is growing fonder of Lola. He enjoys sitting beneath her high chair and eating all the tofu/banana/peas she flings on the floor. He also runs up to her when we walk in the door and acts as though he is excited to see her. These are all things that give me hope that he is slowly adjusting to his new life.

In meanwhile, I think he's annoyed by the camera.

"Mooooom, leave me alone." (Insert teenage angst.)

6 months

It's true. Today, our little Lola Jane reached the six month mark. I have no monthly stats to report because we don't have a doctor's appointment this month, so instead, I think I will list of of my own milestones because let's admit it, this is also my six month mommy mark:

1. I can sleep in three hour increments at night and in the morning be a functioning lawyer,
2. I can read (and reply to) emails while, at the same time, breastfeeding Lola.
3. I finally figured out how to fold and unfold the stroller,
4. I can rinse poopy diapers without gagging,
5. I can give Lola a bath, all my self,
6. I blog about something other than law school,
7. I can send the look of death to total strangers who ask, "How old is he?"
8. I am capable of killing spiders, in order to protect my little babe,
9. I can describe, in great detail, the different types of cloth diapers that exist,

and, the most impressive milestone?

10. I can, at the same time, breastfeed and clip baby finger nails.

SHA-BAM.

Now, back to the bean.

Taking photos of Lola this month was a bit more difficult for two reasons: (1) Gizmo believes she gets to take part of these photo shoots,

and (2) Lola can't sit still. She takes great joy in barrell-rolling her little body around our house.

I am thinking that very soon, Lola is going to be doing more than just rolling...

5 months

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe she is already five months old.

Her newest accomplishment is sitting. UP. By herself. Not too bad for a baby without a bumbo. Granted, she can only sit for about 30 seconds at a time before she slowly face plants into the carpet, but still I'm amazed that someone who couldn't even hold her own head up in February, is now sitting unassisted in July. It's incredible. Really.



Today, Josh took Lola in for her 5 month appointment with Dr. G. Most babes don't visit their pediatrician at the 5 month mark, but since Josh and I are spacing out her vaccines a bit (don't worry, she is getting all of her vaccines, just not all at the same time) she gets a few extra trips to see Dr. G and the pokies.

The highlight of her visit was learning her height and weight stats. Last night, Josh and I made our predictions. At four months, Lola's stats were:
Weight 13.0 lb (50% percentile)
Height 25 and 1/2 inches (70% percentile)
Head Circumference 15 inches (40% percentile)

My predictions were:
Weight 13 lb 10 oz
Height 25 inches (apparently, I had forgotten that she was 25 and 1/2 in at her 4 month appt)
Head Circumference 16 inches

Josh's predictions were:
Weight 14 lb 4 oz
Height 26 inches
Head Circumference 16 inches

And, her 5 month stats?
Weight 14 lb, 10 oz (50%)
Height 27 and 1/4 inches (100+%)
Head Circumference 16 and 1/8 inches (20-25%)

Upon measuring Lola, Dr. G jokingly asked if we were stretching her out at home. Curious to see if I was as tall as Lola at her age, I looked at the growth chart my mom tracked for me when I was a baby. At 3 months, I was 25 inches, about the same as Lola at 4 months. But, then I didn't hit 27 inches until six months.

I wonder if she'll be the tallest girl in sixth grade?

Tomorrow, Lola and I are flying down to the OC to visit Lola's tallest aunt. Coincidence, I think not.

Lola's 3 month photos

Here are the photos that I mentioned earlier. (I took these yesterday morning).

I had to include a self-portrait too...

One month!

We made it! Lola is one month old and we are celebrating by driving out to Berkeley today to visit Amy, Adam, and Curtis. YAY for outings!

One Month Stats

Even though she's only 3.5 weeks old, here's her one-month stats:

21.5 inches

8 lb, 8 oz

According to her doctor, these numbers put her at the 50th percentile. At birth she was below the 50th percentile, but I can't tell you exactly where she was...maybe 20th? Numbers don't matter to me. All I care about is knowing that she is healthy and growing like she should. And apparently she is growing like a weed. Not that I'm surprised because this baby eats and eats and eats.

Here she is, all three and a half weeks of her. This isn't the greatest photo, mostly because it was taken on Josh's cell phone and because she has a ticked off look on her face (she knew I was just about to change her diaper).

But, I find this photo pretty amusing. I love this sleeper because of all the cassette tapes on it. The tapes have titles like, "My Mommy Rocks," "Up All Night Rockin'" and "The Crib Mix." But as Josh pointed out to me, this sleeper is also awesome because when Lola grows up and looks back at this photo she'll probably know what a cassette tape is, but she'll have never experienced a cassette tape - much like my generation never experienced the eight track. Who knows, maybe even CDs will be extinct by the time she hits her teen years.

And I'm also pretty sure she'll laugh about the cabbage patch kids changing pad too. :)