11 Months and Meeting New Family

We had quite an adventure in "Our Little Adventure" this month as Gamma June, Gampa Vic, and I took Lola on a cross country trip to see our family in Maryland. We were very nervous, because although Lola has done well on our short little flights before, this was 5 HOURS on a plane! Going was a completely full flight so we weren't able to take on the car seat. Anyone who's been around Lola for any length of time knows she's a busy little bugger and doesn't like to be tied down for very long, nor does she like to be held for very long, so full flight was a little worrysome.
She slept for the first leg of the flight to Albuquerque, which was great, but then was up for almost the remaing four hours to Baltimore. But she did fine, we managed to keep her entertained between the three of us, and she flirted with the ladies in the seats behind us so that was good.
We were met in Baltimore but Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul. Thank goodness they have a van, but even so, it was a tight squeeze! Lola did well on that leg of the trip too, napped most of the way.
She was a definate trooper on this trip! It seemed just as she would go down for a nap, we'd get her up again just to strap her down in the carseat!
Lola seemed to remember Aunt Betty and Uncle Paul, even though she hadn't seem them since August. She loved meeting Sharon and Devin, and would have loved to get her fingers through Devin's ear holes, I'm sure!

Aunt Ester gave Lola the perfect Lola Bear, complete with a July 4th outfit and big flower on her head! We will treasure that Lola Bear for a long time  to come! Aunt Ester let us play with some of Cousin Aiden's toys, which was a life saver! Right when we got home, we found us a Leap Frog table on e-bay so Lola will have one at home to play with too.

The beach wasn't a great success. She wasn't too sure at first, but then quickly made up her mind that this was not a place she wanted to be! The waves made her cry and she tried with all her might to keep her feet off the sand. The boardwalk was a hit, and once the famous Ocean City Merry Go Round started running, she thought that was great!  Even though the day was hot, she seemed to love the sun on her face and the wind in her hair.

Though she didn't get to savor the sea food feast, she loved meeting Cousins Paul Raymond and Karin, Gamma's Cousin Fran and Dick, and other Uncle Paul. 

She is definately finding her voice and once she finds her words, she is going to have a lot to say! I understand that most babies learn to say, "No" before anything else. Lola is consistantly saying, "Uh-oh" and is usuing it appropriately.  Like when she drops her sippy cup from the high chair, she looks at mamma and says, "Uh-oh" and mamma picks it up. (Gravity is her favorite toy.) Rodney and I went for a walk earlier this week and every time she'd go ove a bump in the sidewalk, "Uh-oh". 

And we have vampire teeth. Her middle two bottom teeth came in, but on top, the vampire teeth are in. It's pretty funny looking! 

She went to her first swim party with her daddy and seemed to love it! We are ready to start enjoying our pool with her. Makes me nervous to be in there with her by myself. Years and YEARS of June telling me I can't swim by myself play in my head when ever the thought enters my mind!
We are in the process of planning her first birthday party. We are so looking forward to having our families come to celebrate with us. Amazing that it's already been a year. It was exactly a year ago today that we found out there was a pregnant girl in Colorado who liked our profile book and wanted to meet us.  What a change in our lives that phone call made. And we have loved every minute of it.

Here is the link to Lola's Birthday Party Invitation:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/QPTQGMUNORNHUQQNRVVQ/LolaTurnsOne

10 Months and Crawling

We are in trouble now. Lola is mobile...and not just the roll and pivot she had perfected at the time of my previous post! She is crawling, and in my opinion, breaking some speed records and possibly breaking the space-time continuum! As we will blink and she'll be across the room. She has even mastered the stair climb as you can see in the video I posted. 
She has been sick for the first time as well. Sick Lola is not happy Lola. I had to sleep with her a couple of nights to keep her elevated, keep the pacifier in her mouth, and keep her from crying. She is still snotty, but seems to feel better. This week, our good sleeper (the baby who would just go down when it is bedtime) has fought going down for naps and for bedtime (a couple of nights) and we can't decide if it's the illness, or if she's learned to throw a temper tantrum. The babysitter said she screamed and kicked for 45 minutes during nap time. I think the babysitter learned that Lola is gifted in the area of stamina. I'm hoping we don't have to live through the "cry it out" camp of bedtime training, 'cause I think she might just be able to cry all night long!
Both of her bottom teeth have poked through, so no more sucking on momma's finger...she thinks biting down is funny! Lola enjoys getting those teeth brushed. She thinks it's funny, but the finger brush is the same color as the "snot sucker" so it takes her a minute to believe I'm not going for her nose.  Going for the nose brings on the crocodile tears and the dramatic wailing. We might have an actress on our hands!
The finger food is fun. We've done some chicken, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash. Clean up is a treat and I usually have to hose her down when we are done.  Bogey is a little sad that we don't let him in the kitchen as he can see the doggie buffet that is on the floor after meal time.
Lola started with the sitter earlier this month. There are 3 other children who are a couple of years older than her and they LOVE her. She is only going half-day,  two days a week. When I drop her, the two little twin boys that are there squeel with delight and say, "LOLA!" when I walk in.  I picked her up yesterday and the sitter was doing flash cards with them. Lola was sitting right there with the other three, fascinated by what was going on, and glued to watching the flash cards. She was excited to see me, when she finally noticed I was watching, and scooted over to my feet and reached up to me. Makes a momma's heart sing, that does!

Auntie Cu and Baby Kate came to visit too. We aren't sure if BFF Kate actually likes Lola. Any time Kate would pick up a toy, Lola would take it from her. We are working on sharing.  And I think Lola was somewhat loud and busy for Kate, who seems to be quite a processor and thinker...and Lola was a little in her face for comfort! But it was sweet to see them together again.
I'm spending my first weekend away from Lola this weekend. I'm hoping she and Rodney survive. They are going to a swim party on Saturday, and I'm sorry I'll miss that, I bet she loves it.
So that's it for now. I'm sure there will be lots more new stuff soon! I'm amazed at the new stuff in the past few week...such an amazing thing these babys!

Big Week and Many Firsts

So Gamma and Gampa came for a visit last week, and what a great week, in terms of Lola watching, for them to be here!  It seems like the growing comes in little eventful bursts.
The beginning of our new firsts was the morning she learned how to sit up from a laying down position. She also learned to get to her belly from a sitting position by leaning forward on her knees. She got her first tooth, we are very excited about that! She says, "mamamamama..." and in response to seeing ME. Which I absolutely love. She says, "Hi",  and "Heeyyyy".  I'm not convinced that she is ever going to crawl. She zooms all over our living room via roll and pivot with great efficiency, so I just don't see her ever having the motivation to crawl, but who knows!  She has started pulling herself up, or rather grabbing on stuff higher than her head and holding on, but I see where she is headed with that...I can almost see the wheels turing in her head as she analyzes the spot she is in. I'd like to peek in that little mind and know what's happening in there!
What a treat it is to see her light up with a big smile and wave. Course she is waving to her own face, but she gets it! ONCE, when Gamma and Gampa were here, she said, "bye bye."
Lola has become a dancer. If you know me at all, you know I like to sing. I'm constantly making up little snippets for her and singing them to her. I don't sing well, but she isn't quite old enough to have figured that out yet. So, when I start to sing, or do a little,  "doodle oodle doo," she starts bobbing her head in time to the music. I'm hoping someday soon to catch this little act on video and post it.  But sometimes, Lola doesn't perform on cue.
Again, if you know me, you know that my entertainment preferences are not much more sophisticated than a teenager. My latest kick is "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." (Don't judge!) There is this whole path that brought me here...starting with the TV show, "Bones", but I won't get into that now. Anyway, several weeks ago, I Netflixed the whole series and have been watching it here and there. I find the theme song quite annoying and try to hit the mute button whenever it comes on. Well the other day, Lola was playing on the floor and I was putzing around the living room, nowhere near the remote when the theme song came on. Her head shot up, she looked at the TV with the biggest grin ever, and started doing her dance for the duration of the credits. For what ever reason, that song gets her little head moving to the beat. It's a hoot!
It's just so amazing all the things she has learned to do over the past week or so. Seriously, how incredible it is that we can just see her shooting up and learning new things all the time.  She is such a happy baby and we just feel so blessed to be part of her life.