The 5th-31st of July

In July we were in the full swing of summer! Each week was filled with lots of playtime, long walks, trips to local parks to swing and watch other kids play, visiting the brand new Walnut Creek library, visiting with family and friends, splashing in the kiddie pool in Gramma and Grandpa's backyard, and our Friday swim lessons. So much fun. :)

Comments that I frequently hear (besides how absolutely beautiful she is!) from friends and strangers are that she is so "serious" and really "taking everything in" particularly as she studies a new situation. I realize this is typical of most babies, but this particular anecdote shows that Lorelei is truly amazing when it comes to processing her observations. We met up with our friends Sam and Leah at the park in mid-July. Leah is just a couple of weeks older than Lorelei and she had learned how to pull herself up to standing already. Leah was so cute--she pulled up to standing on everything she could find--her mom, the stroller wheel, me, the wall, etc. Lorelei just watched and studied and watched some more. That night, at home, Lorelei pulled herself up to standing for the first time, using Steve for support. She was so proud of herself and just had the cutest little smile that seemed to say--"Look, I figured out how Leah was doing it!"

Here she is a few days later at 10 months old with that same cute little grin.

"Hmm... standing up takes lots of energy...perhaps I'll have a snack."

Here is Lorelei Anne at 10 months old! She is all dressed up for a friend's birthday party. I didn't even bother with the sign this time as she just likes to eat it up!

One of Lorelei's favorite pastimes is to lean over the arm of the rocking chair (she is normally doing this while seated on my lap during story time), open and close the dresser drawer a few times, then methodically take out every washcloth within reach and drop them on the floor.

Lorelei has a cute little spinner that has 4 small balls in it--orange, red, green, and purple. She is so funny--the orange ball is her favorite! She'll try to grab it first and she'll ignore the other balls until she manages to get it out of the spinner. If the orange ball is across the room and the other balls are nearby, she'll go crawling after the orange one.

"Look, Mommy, I have the orange ball!"

"It is my orange ball--see I'm holding it with both hands!"

"I love my orange ball so much that I can crawl across the floor with it in my hand by using my elbow to crawl." Lorelei carried her orange ball across the living room floor before sitting back up and waving her orange ball around some more. This is the only object she has ever carried anywhere with her.

This brings me to another big milestone from this month--just a few days after learning how to pull herself up, Lorelei figured out how go from lying down to sitting up. She is so much more independent now that she doesn't need to fuss and wait for someone to lift her up if she topples over or ventures somewhere on a crawl.

Her culinary adventures continue--some of the more exotic foods that she has eaten and enjoyed include Indian curry chicken, ground turkey with fajita seasoning, pad thai, and chow mein noodles. She is also a big fan of her fruits and veggies (including peas), but her absolute favorite foods are cheese and cheerios. She kicks her feet and squeals in delight if she thinks you are getting out either of those items. They are double the fun since she feeds them to herself. She is growing up so fast, I can hardly keep up with all of her changes.

"Mom, can I check my email, please?"