There's a Baby In There :)

Lauren is 10 weeks, 5 days pregnant and they had their first prenatal appointment this morning. It only took about 20 minutes from start to finish, including getting weighed, sitting with the doctor and chatting in her office, getting Lauren's annual exam including breasts (which Lolli got jealous of, LOL),and finally, listening for a heartbeat with the Doppler. Dr. Soper has amazing intuition for finding heartbeats and they all heard "whoosh whoosh whoosh" as soon as she placed the doppler thingie on the lower right side of Lauren's tummy.

Lolli was laying across Lauren's chest during all of this (except the breast exam), which was fun, because it made her feel like she was part of it all. Zach's assignment was to record the heartbeat on a little sound recorder from Build-A-Bear and he did a great job! They're going to take it to Build-A-Bear tonight and stuff it in a bear for Lolli to keep, so she can always listen to her little brother or sister's heartbeat.

Lauren had an easy pregnancy the first time around, but this one has been 100 times easier than that one, so she was a little bit apprehensive that something might have happened to the baby. She'd had a few "dead baby" dreams and is glad now to have proof that there really is a tiny heart beating in there :) She feels much more connected to the pregnancy now, and is looking forward to meeting my new son or daughter next summer!

Look Who's Talking!

Lolli is really starting to talk a lot! Her favorite word is "DAD!" and she yells it a LOT. Sometimes randomly during the day and always when she sees Zach, or a picture of Zach, or when Zach walks out of the room or closes a door behind him. It's so funny! Her second favorite word is probably "DUCK!" which she exclaims with such excitement, it's hard not to laugh. She says it every time she sees a duck, a bird, a turkey... anything that has wings, ha. She also says "mom" "woof" (for dog) "moooo" (for cow) "HOT!" "out" (outside) "nana" (banana) "apple" "more" "and her newest "papaw" It's so much fun listening to her talk and she loves to use words! She'll walk into the kitchen just so she can point at the apples and bananas and say their names.

Lolli has also made up her very own sign for 'telephone.' Whenever a phone rings or she sees a picture of a telephone, she holds her hand up to her ear as if she were holding a phone to her ear. It's very funny and quite smart, really. She's also learned to shake her head no if she doesn't want to do something or doesn't want another bite. So far it hasn't been a problem but we'll see if she starts saying no to everything :)

Pregnancy Update

Lauren is 7w 1d and feeling pretty good! She's had some mild nausea but nothing that can't be cured by eating. Other than sleeping and peeing more, she hardly feels pregnant at all. It's a little nerve-wracking, as puking would be more reassuring that there's a healthy baby in there, BUT Lauren always assumes pregnancy is healthy until otherwise indicated! Only 30-35 weeks to go!

Asking to nurse :)

Lauren thought Lolli was close to weaning herself since she has never asked to nurse during the day and has been only nursing at night for quite some time. However, Lolli's been sick lately and after every nap and in the mornings she's been "asking" Lauren to breastfeed her. It took Lauren a minute to figure out what Lolli was wanting, when she pointed to the pillow and tried to pull it towards Lauren and spit her pacifier out. Then it dawned on Lauren - during the night, she always lays a pillow across her lap and lays Lolli on it to nurse her. Duh! Lolli was asking to nurse! Maybe this is just a fluke thing because Lolli doesn't feel well, or maybe she isn't ready to wean yet :)

Lolli's 12 Month Check up

Lolli weighs 21.4 pounds and is 29 1/2 inches long. She's pretty much average :) She had to get blood drawn for a standard-issue hemoglobin test and the results were just fine. Shewas not fond of her shots but had stopped crying by the time Zach and Lauren got her up to the front desk. What a brave girl! And she didn't pee on anyone this time, which was a nice change, HA!

Lolli's First Coat

Lolli got a coat, hat and gloves today at WalMart! Her coat is black with pink stitching on one side, and is reversible to pink fleece on the oher side. It zips up and has a hood. Her hat is black with hot pink and light pink stripes going around it. One pair of her gloves ae light pink and the other is black with stripes like her hat. Lolli loves to wear all over it and insists on wearing her coat ALL THE TIME!

Lolli's Baby

Zach and Lauren bought Lolli her very own baby doll today. She's bald with blue eyes and a soft pink body. She comes with a backpack carrier that doubles as a carseat, a bassinet, and several outfit changes. The outfits velcro to her body, so it's easy for little ones to dress the baby. Lolli loves her baby and she especially like to hold her and give her hugs. And then she throws her on the floor, LOL.

Lolli the Midnight Bat!

Lolli was a Midnight Bat for Halloween this year. She wore a black and purple dress, a bat ears headband, black tights, and her tennis shoes. She looked sooo cute! She went trick-or-treating at Gma Pucillo's, Gpa Swain's, Aunt Jodi's, and Gma Bowens. She got some good candy and also $5! And, most importantly, she had fun showing off her outfit!

Lolli the Midnight Bat!

Lolli was a Midnight Bat for Halloween this year. She wore a black and purple dress, a bat ears headband, black tights, and her tennis shoes. She looked sooo cute! She went trick-or-treating at Gma Pucillo's, Gpa Swain's, Aunt Jodi's, and Gma Bowens. She got some good candy and also $5! And, most importantly, she had fun showing off her outfit!

Blogging for 2 :)

Lauren woke up this morning (cd30) and STILL hasn't started her period, which was odd because she averages 26.5 days. Since she didn't have any pregnancy tests on hand, she peed in a cup (couldn't hold it, LOL), got Lolli in the car, and they headed to CVS to buy a test. Lauren has 0 symptoms of being pregnant, so she really didn't think she was. So she bought a 3-pack of tests, in an effort to be fiscally responsible and plan ahead for future months of peeing on sticks.

When they got back to the car, Lauren ripped open the test and stuck it in the pee for 20 seconds. Nothing. She called a friend to complain about being 3.5 days late and NOT pregnant. Grrr! But then she looked again and she saw a pretty little + sign Lauren screamed a couple of time (ha oops, sorry Lolli) because she was seriously SHOCKED. Even though she and Zach had been trying for quite a while, Lauren was pretty convinced she wasn't ovulating yet. Guess she must've been, though....

So, Lolli and Lauren went to BRU, bought the cliche Big Sister shirt, and went home to tell Zach. Lauren put the shirt on Lolli, handed her the pregnancy test, and told her to take it to Daddy. She did, and he was very excited!!! Moreso than Lauren, actually, but that's because she's still in shock.

So, barring any complications, BeBe is due July 8th, but Lauren plans to give birth on July 9th, because that's her half birthday Lolli will be 21 1/2 months old and of course she'll be a great big sister!!!

"P p p p"

Lolli is learning new "words" all the time! She now says a 'p' sound for "please" and says "Bah!" for ball. She knows that a dog says "woof" and a cow says "moooo." She just learned the sign for baby and does it whenever she hears the word spoken. She still says "dad" and "dada" and sometimes says "mama" or "meeeeeee" for food, but is starting to replace it with her "p p p p" for please. She still says dog and kitty cat but sometimes they sound alike. Dog is kind of like "gawg" and kitty cat is sort of "ka cot." She almost certainly says the word "duck" and most of the time she remembers tha a duck goes "quack quack." It'll be a while before her vocabulary is sufficient for acting out Shakespeare, but she's off to a great start :)

Ooof!

Lolli can now answer the question, "What does a dog say?" She responds with a quiet, high-pitched "ooof" which Lauren thinks is a spin off of "woof." It's very cute!

Today Lolli also learned how to climb up onto the couch, which is terrifying for Zach and Lauren. She likes to run from one end of the couch into the back (it's a sectional) and kind of bounce off of it. It's terribly dangerous but she's fallen off a couple of times already and so far, no ER visits. It's a good thing there's an soft ottoman in front of the couch and not a table!

Lolli *might* have said "mama" and meant it today! She walked up to Lauren, help up her arms to be picked up and said "mama." Lauren had no food or drink in her hands, so it appears that Lolli is finally getting things figured out haha!

Lolli's Makeover

Lolli and Lauren were bored today, so Lauren decided to give Lolli a makeover.

Lolli got to put on deodorant, green eye shadow, face powder, and sparkle lip gloss. Then Lauren put her hair in a ponytail on top of her head. Lolli thought she was so cool to be getting to use all of her mom's stuff.

The pony tail was kind of cute, but Lolli still has some cradle cap that shows when her hair's up. She's been using Head & Shoulders, so hopefully it'll clear up soon!

Weeee!

Lauren and Lolli went to Riley park today where they met up with Carrie and Zosia. Zo is about 4 months older than Lolli, so Lolli had fun watching her go down the slide. Finally Loli got brave enough to try it, and she loved it! She made Lauren set her at the top of the slide over and over and over. Lolli learned how to scoot herself forward until she started sliding. FUN! She even slid down a curvy slide without bumping her head or falling overboard. What a big girl!

Pee Pee In The Potty!!!

Lolli had 2 big milestones today in the potty training area.

This morning, Lolli woke up around 8:30 and she played in bed with Lauren and Zach for about 20 minutes, during which time she pooped. So Lauren changed her and they went out to the living room to play.

About 15 minutes later, Lolli walked from the living room to the bedroom, grabbed the container of baby wipes, and brought them out to Lauren. Lauren told her she wasn't going to change her diap;er right then because she'd just changed her 15 minutes earlier, after she'd pooped. Lolli kept insisting, and so finally Lauren checked her diaper. Turns out Lolli was right - she'd pooped!!! And she realized that she had pooped, and knew that Lauren would need the baby wipes to get her clean again. Sooooo smart!!!

And then later this evening, Lauren went into the Colts bathroom to pee. Lolli followed her and tried to get up on her own potty. So Lauren took her diaper off her and sat her on the potty. Sure enough, Lolli peed!

Of course Lolli is not likely to be nearing being potty trained, since she's barely a year old. But it's still great that she's showing some interest! Hooray, Lolli!!!

I'm Gonna Get You!

Lolli has a new favorite game! She loves to play it outside in the back yard. She stands and looks at Lauren or Zach until they start to chase her saying, "I'm gonna get you!" She then runs away, giggling and squealing. Upon being caught and tickled, she laughs and laughs and laughs. As soon as her feet touch the ground again, she takes off running away again. That girl loves being chased!

She's really starting to enjoy her play house now as well. She goes in and out of 25 times every time she's in the backyard. She really understand peek-a-boo now and will crouch down and then pop up in a window going "ahhhhhh" in a demon voice. Then she crouches down again and pops up in a different window. It's hilarious! Sometimes she'll hide behind the doorway and then pop out the side for aq change of pace. Lauren and Zach are amazed at how different toddler-hood is from baby-hood!

Lolli's Fiesta!

Will write later

Lolli's First Birthday!!!

Will write later

One Year Photo Shoot

Will write later

Standing herself back up!

Will write later!

Polar Nudist!

Lolli was having naked time tonight when she started banging on the back door like she wanted to go outside. So Lauren took her out back, and was surprised at how cold it was outside. Lauren, in capris and a t-shirt, was shivering and Lolli (NAKED) was loving it! She laughed every time the wind blew! She just kept walking in circles on the concrete patio and into the grass. She got soooo upset when Lauren finally made her come inside and warm up. Lolli's a polar nudist!

Road trip!

Zach had been in Ohio all week, so this morning Lauren and Lolli packed up an drove down to visit him! Lolli did pretty well on the trip down there but didn't nap much. They stopped for lunch in Harrison, OH and ate at O'Charleys. Lolli loved her rolls, chicken fingers, and mac n cheese!

After lunch Lauren and Lolli headed through Cincinnati and over into Kentucky. They went to the Newport Aquarium. Lauren didn't wanna mess with taking a stroller, so she carried Lolli in the Mei Tai all through the "fish" part of the aquarium, but held her hand and let her walk through most of the rest of the galaries. Lolli pointed at the fish and tried to touch all of them, but they were behind glass, of course. She also really really liked the alligators and otters.

There was an exhibit featuring Lorikeets (birds) so Lauren purchased a small cup of nectar to feed to them. She held Lolli in one arm and held the nectar in her other hand. Birds came down and drank from the cup of nectar. It was very cool and Lolli loved it - until she got pooped on! A bird hit Lolli right on the head and got Lauren's arms and chest. Ew!

At the cafe in the aquarium, Lauren and Lolli shared some Cookies N Cream Dippin' Dots, which of course Lolli LOVED! Finally, they purchased a copy of the picture that had been taken of the 2 of them in a set of giant shark jaws. Cool!

They headed back to the hotel and then Zach got back there from work. Woohoo! Lolli was refusing to nap, so they all three went swimming in the hotel pool. Lolli still loves to swim and is getting so good at jumping in (with mom or dad's help, of course!).

For dinner, they all drove down to Newport again and ate at Mitchell's Fish Market. Yum! Lolli loved walking around the plaza and thought she was so cool because she walked all over and climbed 3 flights of stairs (while Lauren and Zach held her hands).

Back at the hotel, Lolli crawled and played until 10, when Lauren fed her and then laid her in the pack n play. She went right to sleep, even though Lauren and Zach had the tv on. She's such a big girl!

Zach had to leave for work early this morning, so Lauren and Lolli packed up and left the hotel on their own shortly after they woke up. They stopped for a mommy-daughter breakfast at Panera bread and then spent an hour browsing at Ikea. Fun!

They finally got back hom around 1:30 on this afternoon. Lolli was very worn out and took a long, long nap!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Lolli has 2 laughs now: her actually giggley, can't help it laugh, and her HA HA HA laugh. The giggle laugh can be heard when she's being tickled or playing peek a boo. The other laugh is much more common! She does it when something is funny to her (like a dog scratching, or someone singing a song on tv) or when she hears the adult around her laughing. It's very cute and makes it seem like Lolli has such an adult sense of humor when she laughs at dirty jokes or sarcasm. Silly girl!

Lolli's First Parade!

No, she wasn't in the parade, but her Grandpa Great was! It was the New Palestine Lions Club Fall Festival (FISH FRY) Parade, and the class of 1958 marched in it to celebrate their 50th reunion. Lolli watched the parade with Lauren, Zach, Gma Great, Aunt Jodi and cousin Alix. Lolli was kind of somber, since she's still working on getting her molars, but she was kind of happy when Alix caught a sucker and gave it to Lolli! She never licked it, but she liked holding onto it.

When Gpa Great marched by holding the banner announcing the class of '58, he walked all the way over to the sidewalk to give Lolli and kiss and hand her some candy :)

Oh, and one of the elderly ladies that was sitting with Gma remarked upon seeing Lolli, "Oh, she looks just like the Swains!"

MOLARS!

Lolli has been drooling like a St. Bernard and her nose has been running lately, so Lauren and Zach figured it was due to her 7th and 8th teeth (bottom incisors) were poking through. However, tonight Lauren was hanging Lolli upside down and she got a good view of her MOLARS poking through her gums on the top! So now she has her 4 middle teeth on top, and then a one-tooth gap on each side (where her fangs will be) and then the beginnings of molars. What a big girl!

FFF Nursery

Zach's out of town, so Lauren went to the gym during the day. She dropped Lolli off at the nursery and went to work out. About 20-25 minutes later Lauren heard over the loudspeaker, "Lauren Pucillo, please report to the nursery." Lauren RAN up to the front of the gym where she found poor Lolli crying :( The nursery attendants said she did ok for about 10-15 minutes but then all of a sudden realized Lauren wasn't there anymore and freaked out.

Zach and Lauren are gonna make sure to drop Lolli at the nursery at least once a week until she gets the hang of it. Of course, it probably didn't help that she's teething like crazy with those molars, but it'll get better!

Wading Pool

Lauren and Zach took Lauren to the neighborhood pool this afternoon. The water was a bit chilly, but Lolli didn't mind! The water in the baby pool is only about 18 inches deep, which was just perfect for Lolli! She could walk around holding onto Zach's hand, or all by herself when she was in her Lolli pad.

She also had lots of fun chasing her beach ball around and jumping into the big pool with the help of Zach. She still remembers how to kick even though it'd been almost a month since she went swimming. She's a fish!!!

She went to sleep!

Lolli has been alive for 11 months, 5 days and around 8 hours… and she JUST went to sleep on her own for the first time :)

She started rubbing her eyes after breakfast, so Lauren changed her, took her into the bedroom, nursed her, and then laid down on the bed with her. Lolli kept wanting to play with Lauren, which was really frustrating to Lauren since she knew Lolli was tired.

So Lauren stuck her in her crib, gave her a kiss and walked out, totally expecting to hear agonizing screams blaring over the monitor. NOPE! Lolli whined for all of 7 seconds and it’s been quiet ever since!

So, for all of you new moms who are worried that cosleeping, night nursing, rocking baby to sleep, extended swaddling, etc, will lead to a baby who never goes to sleep on her own – Lolli is proof that it will eventually happen :)

ETA: Ok, it’s 1:31pm and she just did it AGAIN! I love it, but let's hope it’s not just a sign of getting sick or something, LOL!

Lolli's Busy Day

Lauren, Lolli and Molly went to an IndyMoms lunch date at Pizza Doughmain today. Aside from Zosia (14 months), Lolli and Molly were the only kids there, so the kid-less moms had fun holding them and playing with them.

After lunch, Carrie and Zosia came over to Lolli's house to play. Shortly after, Brooke and Ava (10 1/2 months) came over. All the girls had a blast playing with each other and all of Lolli's toys. Shortly after Carrie and Zo went home, Jen and Violet (11 1/2 months) came over for a little bit. While they were here Gpa Swain and Kim stopped by. Then Jen and Violet left. Then Katie and Will (7 months) showed up. Then Gpa Swain and Kim left. Then Molly got picked up. Finally Brooke, Ava, Katie and Will left around dinner time and it was just Lauren and Lolli again! Busy day!!! Lolli and Lauren are very lucky to have so many friends!

Ice Ice Baby

Lolli LOVES to eat ice! She tried it today for the first time and won't stop asking ("mama! mama!") for more. Zach and Lauren aren't sure if it's a teething thing or if she just likes the taste and chill, but it's funny to see her bed for it!

Tailgating

Lolli went tailgating for the first time today! She wore her Colts t shirt and her Colts beads, and even had a Colts coozie on her sippy cup! She, Lauren and Zach headed downtown around 3:30 where Lolli ate, played with Landon (3 years old) and gave out lots of kisses. The parking lot had some grass and shade trees so Lolli was able to crawl and cruise around without hurting her feet. She even got her picture taken with a fake Colts gorilla!

Molly

Lolli's about to get a new playmate!

Since Violet went to a new babysitter, Lauren looked online to see if anyone else needed part-time care on the SE side. She found an ad and responded.

Today Sarah, Matt, and their daughter Molly came over to meet Lauren, Zach and Lolli. It went very well and Molly starts on Tuesday! She's 6 1/2 months old, VERY happy, mostly breastfed, is kinda tiny (13 pounds) and is soooo adorable! All the adults seemed to get along really well, and Lolli is so excited to show off her toys and to teach Molly new things!

Lolli & Molly :) CUTE!

11 Months!

Today is Lolli's 11 month birthday! She's starting to eat more food and has cut out a session or 2 of breastfeeding. She still loves to drink water and eat most types of fruit and many veggies. She won't drink juice, except for one kind that's green and thick. She's still breastfeeding about every 4 hours during the night.

Lolli's still crawling to get from place to place but she's getting more and more brave with her "cruising." She can walk pretty well now while holding onto just one of an adult's hands. She's a pro at going up stairs and likes to try to climb over small obstacles.

She takes 1-3 naps a day, with the first usually coming aorund lunch time and then another before dinner. She goes to bed between 8 and 10 and wakes up around 8:30 pretty consistently.

She says "mama" when she wants food or drink. She loves to chase the pets around and lay her head on them to give them a "hug." She's also really great at giving out kisses!

Lauren is busy planning Lolli's birthday party while Lolli works on being able to walk independently by then :)

Scary Waitress!

Lauren and Lolli had lunch at Mozzi's today with Cindy, Ella, Carrie, Zosia, Amber, Landon and Mary. Lolli had fun crawling around and playing with Zo, but every time the waitress walked by, Lolli would make a horrible face and start to cry. It was kind of funny but at the same time it puzzled Lauren, since Lolli hasn't ever been afraid of anyone before. To be honest, the waitress did have a scary mustache, so you can't really blame Lolli for being grossed out ;)

Lolli's kitchen!

Lolli's new Step 2 Lifestyle Dream Kitchen came today! It has a microwave, stove, oven, fridge, sink, several cabinets and drawers, a phone, and lots of dishes. Zach got it for her with his work reward points. It's awesome and Lolli has really enjoyed helping Zach put it together! She can't wait to get to play with it!!!

Still sick :(

Poor Lolli is STILL sick! She has a very mucousy-sounding cough and her nose runs off and on all day long, sometime with clear snot and other times with thick yellow stuff. She's been a real trooper though, and last night she stayed in bed all night (as opposed to needing to be rocked for an hour or 2 during the night). Lauren finally caught it from Lolli, and it's awful! her whole body aches and her head is pounding and her throat is on fire. Lolli is really brave to keep her spirits up even though she's so sick! Hopefully it goes away soon :(

Whew - so far no pink eye!

Lolli's eyes were both crusty this morning, but they weren't pink or itchy-looking. She still got her eye drops today, just to be on the safe side. Her nose is still running but her eyes weren't as gooey today. She's still having a hard time sleeping and has been snoring since she's congested. It's cute, but sad.

She was well enough to go play at Gma and Gpa's this evening while Lauren and Zach went to the gym. She had lots of fun, although Gma said she wasn't her usual energetic self. She perked up around dinner-time though, and ate a pretty good meal. Hopefully she's on the mend!

Ahhh - possible pink-eye!

Lolli’s nose started running off and on a few days ago, but nothing major – Lauren thought it was just teething. Tonight she was having a really hard time sleeping, so Zach turned the light on to see if they could suck her boogers out. Poor Lolli - her nose and left eye both had yellow crusty stuff on them!

Lauren was pretty sure Lolli just had a cold, but wasn't sure if crusty eye boogers can be normal with a cold? She called the doctor and left a message and emailed Jen to find out if Violet had had crusty eyes with her cold (that Lolli caught!).

Jen emailed back that Violet was diagnosed with pink eye on Monday - YIKES! Since Lauren watched Violet for about 6 hours on Friday, Lolli’s definitely been exposed :( Lolli’s eye doesn’t look pink (yet?) but there is more discharge coming out of it this morning. Poor girl!

*The doctor's office called her some prescription eye drops just in case she's developing pink eye. Hopefully they work!

Baby-sat at Jod's!

Lauren and Zach dropped Lolli off at Jodi's tonight while they went to the gym. Lolli had lots of fun playing with Lincoln and Charlie. Jodi took Lolli on a stroller ride and she enjoyed seeing new scenery. She ate a banana and didn't cry at all! Woohoo!

Lolli's 9 Month Check-up

Lolli had her 9 month well baby visit today, even though she's 10 1/2 months old ;) Everything is going great. She's 29 inches long (75th percentile), weighs 19 lbs, 6 oz (50th percentile), and her head is 18 inches (75th percentile). She's long and skinny with a big head - just like a lollipop ;)

Kissing Cousins

Lolli's favorite 3rd (or maybe 4th?) cousin Lucas came over tonight. Before he went upstairs to lay down, Lolli showered him with kisses - and he returned her affections! Is that even legal?!? (haha)

Taking the pony for a walk

Lolli loves to ride her Rock-N-Ride pony and now she's found a new way to play with "Roxy!" She pulls up next to the horse, grabs onto both of the handles, and pushes. She walks alongside Roxy as she pushes her around the room. Fun!

Lolli goes to the gym!

Zach and Lauren joined FFF tonight. After signing all the papers, they had their first session with the physical trainer. Which meant Lolli had to go to the nursery! She was in there for an hour and did ok until about 10 minutes before Lauren came to pick her up. The nursery lady said Lolli was fine, crawling around and playing with the other kids. Then she just started to whine and cry for no reason. :(

On the way home from FFF, Lolli fell asleep within minutes. So apparently her problem was not that she didn't like the nursery, but that she was sleepy. She's gonna give it another go on Saturday morning when Zach and Lauren go back for their 2nd work-out. Luckily, FFF is centrally located between 3 family members' homes, so back-up care is available if Lolli decides she hates the nursery.

Not planning on that being the case, though :)

One-handed walking

Lauren held just ONE of Lolli's hands today and Lolli took a couple of steps! She was really nervous though and kept trying to grab for Lauren's other hand with her free hand. She's got her balance, but she still prefers 2-handed walking for now. They'll keep working on it :)

Go, hippo, go!

Since Lolli learned to "walk" and "push" the giant air log at Gymboree in Texas, Lauren thought maybe it was time to try her push toy again, the Goggle & Go Hippo.

Lauren stood Lolli up behind the hippo and Lolli grabbed the handle. When she leaned her weight on it, it began to roll forward - and she walked with it! Now she loves to push her hippo all over the house! She hasn't learned to turn corners yet, but she's working on it ;)

Climbing Baby

Tonight after arriving home from the airport, Lolli discovered the stairs when she saw Zach go up them. So, with Lauren climbing right behind her as a safety net, Lolli gave it her best try. She quickly figured out how to climb up to the next step and soon she was all the way at the top of the stairs! Now Lauren and Zach need to install a permanent gate because Lolli sure loves those stairs!!!

A New Tooth!

Lolli woke up with a new tooth this morning! She is Bat Baby no more! Her front top middle left tooth has totally pushed its way through her little baby gums. She handled it pretty well. She's been fussier than normal in the car for a few days but other than that she showed no signs of teething, besides excessive drool. What a trooper! Lauren and Zach sure are glad teething doesn't interfere with her sleep (knock on wood)!

*Lolli's First Steps*

Lolli took her first 2 unassisted steps today!

Lauren was sitting in the chair near the couch and Lolli came over and pulled upon her legs. Then Lolli decided she wanted to move over to the couch, but couldn't quite reach it. So, instead of sitting down and crawling over, she tried to walk! She turned her body towards the couch, let me of Lauren's legs, took 2 steps (which actually got her far enough for her to get her hand on the couch) and then fell over :)

While today's efforts certainly wouldn't be considered "walking", she definitely took her first steps! WOW!!!

Lolli & The Watermelon Queen

Lauren and Lolli went Krogering today. They were prusing the organic produce when a woman dressed in a tiara and sash approached the cart and asked if Lolli could have a sticker. Lauren said yes, and Lolli was very proud to wear her watermelon sticker. The lady then asked if Lolli could have a sample of watermelon. Of course that thrilled Lolli - she loves all types of melon! She munched and slurped and chewed on the watermelon until her little chin was covered in yummy red juice.

Upon further inspection, Lauren discovered that the tiara-clad woman was the National Watermelon Queen, out promoting her fruit. She even had a photographer with her who asked if she could take pictures of Lolli eating the watermelon and also pictures of Lolli and the Queen. Lolli was very obliging and she drew quite a crowd of on-lookers! Maybe her picture will be used to promote watermelon somewhere, LOL!

"Standing" on her knees

Lolli was over at Gma Great's house today when she figured out how to "stand" on her knees without holding onto anything. Now her favorite thing to do is crawl around chasing a big ball. Every now and then she "stands" up on her knees and pushes the ball away, so she can drop back down to all 4s and chase it again. It's oh so entertaining for her, and fun for Zach and Lauren to watch, too!

Pacifier for Mommy

Lauren and Lolli were lazying around in bed this morning when Lolli took her pacifier out of her own mouth and popped it right in Lauren's mouth! Lauren gave it back to Lolli, and she did it again! Apparently Lolli thinks she's Lauren's mommy now!

10 month update

Lauren has been such a slacker about updating lately, so here's an eclectic post about all the new things Lolli can do!

She's crawling on her hands and knees, and has been since shortly before she turned 9 months old. She's pulling up on everything, from furniture to doors to walls to her jumperoo - seriously, everything! She started doing that a couple of weeks after she crawled. She's now working on perfecting her balance. She pulls up on something and then lets go, so she's standing all by herself. She did it for about 10 seconds yesterday, and about 30 seconds today, so she's really getting better at it quickly! She cruises all over the place, walking around and holding onto the furniture or walls. Lauren and Zach are optimistic that she'll walk around her first birthday, but only time will tell!

Lolli waves when she hears "hi" or "bye", she blows a kiss if someone blows her one. She lays her head down when she hears, "Awwww" and she gives a high five when someone asks for one. When she hears, "Lolli is sooooo big" she raises her hands over her head. Lauren and Zach usually take advantage of that great opportunity to tickler her armpits, so now she only raises her hand a little bit. She still plays peek-a-boo by holding a blankie over her face while someone says, "Where's Lolli?" She claps when she hears, "Yeaaaa!" and she just started repeating "La La La" when she hears it. She can shake her hear "no" and does so if she doesn't want something to happen.

She's around 28 inches tall and around 19 pounds, by Lauren's best estimate. She still wears most of her 6-9 month clothes but can wear 12 month stuff, too. She is in size 3 disposible diapers and her cloth prefolds and covers are mediums. She has her 2 bottom middle teeth and her top 2 fangs. She eats pretty much everything, with the exception of honey, peanut things and drinking milk. Lauren and Zach are pretty strict about limiting her sweets although she gets a bite of ice cream from time to time. No cake or other baked goods yet - she's waiting until her birthday! Her favorite foods are =cantoulope, raspberries, noodles, yogurt bites, peas, and pretty much anything else she can pick up herself. She's eating a lot more solid foods lately but is still nursing all night long. Lauren has a hard time getting her to nurse during the day when Lolli is busy exploring.

Lolli still sleeps in bed with Lauren and Zach. She sleeps in her boppy and cuddles with her little pink blankie. She takes a pacifier at night, in the car, and during the day if she is fussy and tired. She is starting to take naps in her crib because Lauren is worried she'll wake up and crawl off the bed someday. Lolli's favorite thing to do around the house is chase the cats (especially Bud) and pull their tails. She finally learned how to "pet gently" but she optentimes chooses to grab and pull anyway. She likes it when the cats whine and meow at her. Lolli loves to swim and play in the bathtub. She loves to dump the cat and dog food and water bowls if the gate is down and she can get to them. She still rides rear-facing in her Chicco infant car seat in the car.

Lolli's eyes are still blue and her hair is still white-blonde. It's getting longer all the time and now she sort of almost has bangs. Her crable cap is slowling going away. Lolli takes baths by herself or sometimes she takes showers with Lauren or Zach. She's pretty brave about putting her head under the shower water. And that's 10-month old Lolli in a nutshell!

Marion County Fair Baby Contest

Lolli entered the contest in the "Prettiest Baby Girl 6-9 Months" category. She and Lauren spent several hours in the days before the contest shopping all over Indy to find the perfect dress. They finally decided on a pink dress with spaghetti straps. The dress had a lace look to it, with eyelets and a few ruffles. It was very tight around Lolli's torso and floofed out quite a bit below the waist. It made her looks like a model ;)

So, on Saturday morning Lolli woke up waaaay to early (and btw, she stayed up waaaaay too late on Friday night) so Lauren and Zach were really worried. Lolli played for a little bit and then ate a banana and some raspberries for breakfast. Then she took a bath (raspberries are insanely messy!) and thankfully took a 30 minute nap. When she woke up it was time to head to the fairgrounds (a 3 minute drive).

When they got there, Lolli was excited to see that Gpa Swain, Kim, and Gma Swain were already there. The group staked their claim on several seats and Lolli changed into her pink dress. Then Gma and Gpa Great showed up, along with Great Aunt Jodi. Then Lolli's friends Ava and Will, who were also competing, showed up with their parents. Then the last of Lolli's fan section showed up, Gpa Pucillo, Aunt Kim, and Cousin Paige. Lolli had the most fans out of any baby there!

Lolli's category got to go first and she had 1 minute each in front of 4 sets of 2 judges. Did she smile? NOPE! Did she blow kisses? NOPE! Did she wave? NOPE! She just stared at the judges with her pretty big blue eyes, trying to take everything in. Lauren and Zach weren't really surprised, since Lolli is always a very busy baby and has no time for blankly smiling at people, LOL.

While everyone was eagerly awaiting the results, Lolli played with all of her relatives. Her favorite things were putting her feet in the creek with the help of Gpa Great, and eating some Pineapple Whip that Zach bought her. It was really hot outside so Lolli tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Finally the contest ended and it was time for the results. Did Lolli get 1st runner up? NOPE! Did Lolli win Grand Champion? NOPE! She got shut out :( So did Will and Ava, so that was just further affirmation that the judges must be blind ;) But Lolli had a lot of fun and got a green ribbon just for participating! She also got a stuffed panda. How exciting!

After the contest, Lauren, Lolli and Zach walked around the fair for a little bit. Zach played a game where he had to break beer bottles by throwing baseballs at them. He broke one, so Lolli got a big stuffed turtle! She was very impressed by her Daddy's game-playing! On the way back to the car, they stopped by the pony rides and Lolli rode a little horse named Hank. She really liked it and loked super cute riding around in her pink dress! She was not at all upset to not have won the contest, she just enjoyed getting to try!

Pulling up!

Lolli crawled herself over to the couch today, and pulled herself right up onto her feet! She didn't seem to hesitate at all, just up she went! Lauren was pretty amazed, although Lolli didn't seem overly impressed with herself. She even took a few steps while holding onto the couch, which means she started pulling up and cruising all at once! She's growing up fast!!!

Lolli's First Fourth of July

Lolli's bedtime is before dark, so she didn't get to go see any fireworks this year. Instead, she, Lauren, and Zach went to Greg and Yvette's to hang out with Aaron, Annie, Bryan and Ashley. Lolli had fun watching everyone play volleyball and going swimming in the pool. She went to sleep in her pack n play and slept until it was time to leave, even though the neighbors were shooting off fireworks!

A day with cousin Paige!

Paige came over this morning to spend the day with the Pucillos. She and Lauren played while Zach and Lolli slept in. When Lolli finally got up, she and Paige had a lot of fun plahying with all of Lolli's toys. Paige was very good about sharing with Lolli and showibng her how things work. Lolli was in awe of her big cousin and loved having somoene to look up to!

For lunch, they all went to Eli Lily downtown and had lunch with Great Aunt Jodi. Paige had fun walking around and playing in the cool spining chairs. She and Lolli shared a turkey sandwich for lunch and Paige also had an apple and some chocolate milk. After that, they headed to the Children's Museum for some fun! Paige ran around with Zach while Lauren played with Lolli. Finally, Paige wanted to ride the carousel, so Zach took her. She got to ride a jumping horse, even though she was techinically too young (uncle Zach is so sneaky!).

Both girls slept all the way home!

Lolli's head dent and first prescription

Zach was carrying Lolli into the bedroom today to change her diaper. He had Lolli over his shoulder and right as he was entering the bedroom, she turned her head. Lauren was in the other room and heard "WHACK!" Lolli started screaming and Zach ran her back out to the living room. Lauren took her and examined her head. There was a HUGE dent in her forehead from where it hit the door frame. She tried to calm Lolli down while Zach called the doctor. The nurse said it would be ok and that as long as Lolli acted normal (she had stopped crying, whew!) then there was no need to go to the hospital.

Loli recovered quite nicely and even went over to Gpa's to play. Her dent turned into a bump which turned into a purple spot and then disappeared. Crisis averted!

However, Lolli's developed a case of thrush. Dr. Roscoe called her in a presciription for Nystatin. Lolli hates it because it's a liquid and she doesn't like the taste, but hopefully it'll clear up her poor little mouth before Lauren catches it!

Lolli's First Vacation!

Zach, Lauren and Lolli left on Monday and headed to Cincinnati. They stopped at Burger King in Shelbyville and Lolli wore her BK crown and a bib that said "Future Whopper Eater." It was hilarious! From there they went to the Cincinnati Museum Center to go to the Children's Museum. First they decided to go to the Bodies the Exhibition exhibit. It was very cool but Lolli was way too hyper and loud for everyone to really enjoy themselves. The Chidlren's Museum was kind of neat, but the kids there were so wild and unruly that Lauren was afriad to set Lolli down. It was more of a play place than a museum - very different than the Indy one!

After the museums, they headed to the hotel in West Chester. They used Zach's Priority Club points to stay at a Staybridge Suites for free. Their room had a microwave, oven, stove, sink and fridge! Also, the bedroom was a separate room from the living room. Nice! They unpacked and head down the road to Ikea for dinner. Zach and Lauren had Swedish meatballs while Lolli ate mac n cheese and bread. She loved Ikea because they had lots of fun things for her to look at, AND the cart could move from side to side, not just back n forth. lauren and Zach were impressed, too. They ended up buying Lolli a wooden table and 2 chairs for only $20! After Ikea everyone went swimming in the hotel pool. Lolli loved it! Bedtime was a little rough because the room only had a queen sized bed. Lauren, Zach and Lolli all fit nicely int heir king bed at home but this was a different story! Zach ended up sleeping on the pull out couch bed in the living room.

On Tuesday they got up and headed to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was pretty hot outside and the parking situation was very ghetto, but the zoo itself was nice. Lolli was pretty grumpy because she got some sunscreen in her eyes, but she managed to last longer than they thoght she would. She liked riding the Zoo train and especially the carousel! She got to go on a jumper horse (well, ostrich) which was pretty cool. The zoo was so big that they didn't even get to see all of it, but that's ok.

After the zoo it was time for more swimming and then dinner at Bravo. Lolli had grilled chicken, fettucini noodles, and bread. Yum! They had the front office bring a crib for Lolli and she slept in it for most of the night.

Wednesday they got up, went to breakfast, went swimming, and then headed home. They stopped at Ikea again on their way out of town, just for fun. Lolli's first vacation was a successful one and it didn't even mess up her sleep or eating patterns! Woohoo!

Lolli's Poop Problem :(

Lolli hates pooping turds. And since she's drinking less milk and eating more solids, her poops are often more solid than tey are liquid. She screams when she poops :( It got so bad tonight that Lauren and Zach tried a glycerin suppository. It didn't work, but since Lolli refuses to drink juice, there wasn't much they could do except cut her off of solids for a while. Hopefully she'll be back to regular soon!

Daddy surprises Lolli!

At the doctor's office. Will write later

Baby Playdate

Will write later

Lolli's Old Man Face

Lauren and Lolli were walking back from their nightly trip to the neighborhood swing when Lolli started making a weird noise. Once they got home and Lauren was changing Lolli into her nighttime diaper and pajamas, Lauren saw what the noise was. Lolli was sucking her lips into her mouth and making an "old man" face, since she doesn't have many teeth. Lauren tried to get a picture but Lolli wouldn't cooperate. It was hilarious, though!

*CRAWLING*

Lauren and Lolli went to the breastfeeding support group at St. Vincent's Hospital today with Kara and Khloe to give moral support. All the new moms were nursing their babies, but Lolli apparently felt that she was too old for that, so she was sitting on the floor and playing. A nearby mom laid her baby on the floor to change his diaper. Lolli turned herself towards the crying newborn, got up on her hands and knees, and CRAWLED to get the baby! She only took about 2 or 3 "knee steps", but it was definitely crawling! She might have gone further, but Lauren cut her off in order to protect the infant, LOL.

After weeks and weeks of rocking on her hands and knees, it's great to see Lolli finally take off :)

Can you give me a kiss?

Lolli knows how to give a kiss! A wet, sloppy, open-mouthed kiss, but a kiss! Lauren says, "Can you give me a kiss?" and Lolli open her mouth and presses it to Lauren's cheek. How cute!

When Babies Attack!

Lauren, Lolli and Violet were sitting on the floor playing today. Lolli and Violet were facing each other but out of reach of each other. Then Lolli decided she would turn around and go get a toy. No sooner had she gotten on her hands and knees facing away from Violet, then Violet reached out, grabbed Lolli's foot, brought it to her mouth and bit it HARD! Lauren had never seen Violet move that fast, EVER.

Lolli started screaming like she'd never screamed before. Lauren swooped her up, checked really fast to make sure Violet's teeth hadn't broken the skin (they didn't, thankfully) and then went to work getting Lolli to calm down. Zach had been working upstairs so he came running down when he heard Lolli screaming and Lauren shouting, "Oh my GOD!" It took a good 5 minutes for Lolli to stop crying. It was so sad.

Now Lauren has a lot of guilt for Lolli getting bitten, but Zach has been reassuring her that kids bite and there was nothing Lauren could have done to prevent it. Hopefully Violet realized that Lolli doesn't taste very good and doesn't do it again :(

Swimming in the big pool!

Today was Father's Day, so Zach got up early to go golfing. Lauren and Lolli got ready to go swimming at Aunt Rhonda's, and Gma and Gpa picked them up around 11:30. Lolli didn't want to sleep on the 90 minute drive, because she was sitting in the middle row of the van which wasn't bumpy, and she was too busy looking at Gma and Jodi. Finally after lots of crankiness from Lolli, Gpa pulled the can over and Lolli moved to the back seat, where she quickly went to sleep.

Lolli had so much fun at the swimming pool! She loved driving her inflatable car around the water and looked so cute in it! She also enjoyed floating around in her "Lolli-pad". She wasn't fond of wearing her hat, so Lauren had to keep putting sunscreen on her head. One of Lolli's favorite things about the swimming pool was "walking" on the steps. The first step allowed the water to cover her ankles, but the second step provided waist-high water and she loved it!

Lauren and Lolli ate a picnic on a towel and then Lolli went inside for a while to try eat. Finally Zach got there and he and Lolli went swimming. After a long day of fun, Lolli was ready to go home. She slept the ENTIRE ride home, 90 minutes straight! All that swimming really wears a girl out!

Lolli's First Swim Class

Since last week's swim class was cancelled due to lightning, this morning was Lolli's first time to swim! Zach, Lauren and Lolli arrived at Indy Island and Zach waited in the lobby while Lauren took Lolli to get her swimsuit on. She looked oh-so-cute in her yellow bikini, but Lauren and Zach both agreed it was too revealing for public, so she had to put a one-piece on over her yellow bottoms (swim diaper). She looked so cute!

When it was time for class to start, Zach held Lolli's hands while she walked down a ramp and into the water. She didn't hesistate at all and didn't even mind that the water was chilly (according to Zach). After the water got about knee-high on her, Lolli sat down in it and started to splash. It took Zach a minute of coaxing to get her up and walking again, but she got the hang of it.

Eventually the water got too deep for Lolli to walk, so Zach helped her "swim" on her tummy. She loved it! She wasn't too sure about swimming on her back, though, although she didn't cry at all! The class lasted 30 minutes and Lolli loved having Zach splash with her, lift her up and down in the water, and help her swim. By the end of class, Lolli's lips were purple from the chilly water! With Zach's help, she walked herself up the ramp and right into the towel Lauren was holding out for her. One lesson down, 6 to go!

Family CM Trip & Recognized again!

Lauren, Lolli, Violet, Gramnda Pucillo, Aunt Kim, and Cousin Paige all went to the Children's Museum today. It was a fun trip, but kind of tiring for Lauren because Violet cried if anyone other than Lauren held her, and we all know that Lolli is a mama's girl, too. Lolli and Violet had a lot of fun playing in the babyscape area. And then another mom asked Lauren is that was Lolli - she'd recognized them from IndyMoms! Lolli is such a local celebrity ;)

Lolli and Violet sat at a baby-sized table while Paige served them plastic food. The girls all enjoyed the Curious George exhibit as well. Lolli and Violet were ready to leave sooner than Paige, so Kim and Gma stayed to play with her. It was a fun day!

Lolli Goes To A Shower

One of Lauren's IM friends was having a baby shower tonight. Since Zach was out of town, Lolli went with Lauren to the shower. She wore her yellow polka dot dress and looked very pretty! She was pretty wel-behaved during the games and gift-opening. She liked to stand at the ottoman and bounce. She snacked on a carrot and played in Will's bouncy car. Fun!

Lolli's looooong nap!

Lolli woke up around 8:15 this morning. She was pretty grumpy by 10ish, so Lauren laid her down for a nap. She slept for *3* hours straight! Whoa! That's definitely a record for her!

Lolli slept in her crib!

For a variety of reasons, Zach and Lauren have decided to try to get Lolli to sleep in her own room. So last night Lauren slept on a futon mattress on Lolli's floor while Lolli snoozed in the crib. She did great! What a big girl!

Bye Bye!

Lolli can wave! Just this week she started waving Bye Bye and now she's waving Hi, too! It's the cutest thing to see. It's awesome that she's starting to associate words with movements. Hopefully soon she'll be picking up some of her baby sign language and be able to communicate her needs to Zach and Lauren.

Vampire Baby!

Lolli was very fussy last night and this morning. She's been really digging the teething rings and ice nets. So Lauren tipped her upside down this morning, which makes Lolli laugh. This gave Lauren a good view of a bran new tooth poking through Lolli's gums, her 3rd tooth so far! It's her left fang tooth - she's going to look like a vampire baby! "I vant to suck your milk!" hahaha

There She Is!

Lolli loves playing peek-a-boo. Until recently, that involved Zach or Lauren putting a blankie on Lolli's head, and her pulling it off. NOW, though, Lolli grabs ahold of the blanket all by herself, raises her arms up so the blanket covers her face, waits a few seconds, and them drops her arms really quickly. It's so much fun for Zach and Lauren because Lolli is actually playing with them now! She's growing up soooo fast, and it's so fun!

Sit down, Stand up!

Lolli discovered a new favorite activity today. She loves to sit in her blue chair, lean forward and grab ahold of her pushtoy hippo, and pull herself to standing. She thinks she is HOT STUFF! It's really cute to watch. She has to be closely attended during this, though, because if the hippo starts to roll forward, Lolli falls on her face, Ha! She's really working those leg muscles!

Mom & Dad's Anniversary

Today is Lauren and Zach's 2nd anniversary. They headed out around 6pm with Lolli. They went to Kohls, where Lolli was very well-behaved and happy. From there they stopped by BW3s where Lolli sat happily in her high chair and munched on celery and mushrooms - yum! After that it was on to The Room Place. Lolli played on the bed with Lauren while Zach bought a new bedroom suite - woohoo! Finally they stopped by Sally's on the way home, but Lolli just stayed in the car.

All in all, Lolli was very well-behaved, and it was a great anniversary gift to Zach and Lauren!

Sitting Up Asleep!

Since Lolli no longer requires a swing or swaddler to go to sleep, Lauren has been laying down with her on the bed until Lolli passes out. Today she refused to lay down, so Lauren just laid there while Lolli sat up. Eventually Lolli fell asleep sitting up and fell onto the pillow. It was very cute!

Lolli's Big Day

Lolli and Lauren went to a preview class at Gymboree. There were 4 other babies in the class and only one of them was crawling, which made Lauren feel better. The class was so much fun! They played with bubbles, balls, and a giant parachute. The moms held the babies and "swung" them to help the babies kick a big ball and "play soccer." The moms laid on their backs and let the babies go "surfing" on their shins. All the moms helped their babies practice crawling and walking on the big foam gym. Lolli liked the ramp and alligator bridge the best. Then they sang some songs and played a few more games. Whew! That was an action-packed 45 minutes!

From there, Lauren drove downtown while Lolli napped in the back. They went to the zoo and met up with Darcey and Katie just in time for the elephant show. Lolli liked watching the elephants do tricks but was more entertained by trying to grab the sunglasses off of Lauren's head. After the show, Lauren and Lolli actually got to pet an elephant! Very cool!

After the zoo, Lauren and Lolli stopped by Katie's neighborhood to check out the baby swings. They weren't as safe as the one Granny P has, but Lolli liked it ok. Lauren was nervous to push her very high though, but Lolli didn't seem to mind. Once they got back home, Lolli laid down on the bed and took a 90 minute nap! She was exhausted!

This evening Zach, Lauren and Lolli went for a walk and played at the playground across the street. Their baby swing was even less secure, but again, Lolli seemed to enjoy it. She even went swinging on the big swing on Zach's lap and then Lauren's lap. She loved that and squealed a lot!

Terror at the car wash

Lolli got really scared at the car wash today - before she even entered the tunnel!

The Mike's Carwash employee took Lauren's ticket, marked the windshield, and then used his chalk thingie to make a cute smiley face on Lolli's window. Well, apparently the sight of a man right outside her car window, coupled with the noise from him writing, spooked her because she started screaming! She cried hysterically for about 3 minutes before finally calming down just in time for Lauren to steer the car into the tunnel. Lolli did fune during the car wash, because Lauren held her hand the whole way. What a silly girl!

Lolli's Big Meal!

Lolli woke up at 7:45 this morning and ate both boobs around 8:30. Then around 10:30 she did something that surprised and impressed both Zach and Lauren: she ate an ENTIRE thing of baby food! All 3.5 ounces of banana-applesauce went into her mouth and down into her tummy! Woohoo!

Lauren hopes this is a sign of things to come. Lolli eating more solids during the day should *hopefully* lead to Lolli breastfeeding less during the night. She's currently eating every 3 hours around the clock, except for 1 or 2 longer stretches during the DAY (she's backwards on that one, huh?). She sleeps great at night except for waking up every 3 hours like clockwork and eating for 10 minutes (which is a long nursing session for her).

Also, Lauren can start making some baby food now that it seems like Lolli will actually eat it. Woot!

Big Girl Napping!

Lolli woke up around 7:45 this morning. She stayed up until 11:30 or so and then she slept for *90* minutes! She stayed up again until 2:30 or so and then slept until after 4! She stayed up ater that until 8:30 when she went down for the night. Hooray!!! She's been taking one long nap almost every day, so hopefully she's moving towards making a "schedule" for herself!

Lolli's Dream House

Zach, Lauren and Lolli went for breakfast at Bob Evans this morning. Lolli had her own plate of silver dollar pancakes (no butter, no syrup). She was a very good girl and all the other diners loved watching her! After that, they all went to Granny P's to wake up Uncle Alex. Lolli got in bed with him and woke him up. But when he rolled over to sit up, it scared Lolli and she started to cry :(

From there they went to a garage sale in the same neighborhood. It was a good find - Lolli got 2 books, a Lolli-sized chair, and a furry rocking horse that sings! All for $7.50! Excellent! Then they went to Toys R Us and WalMart to price swingsets. From there it was on to Gpa Swain's to show off the horse, Roxie. Lolli had fun playing with Gpa's crutch. Then they all went to Gma and Gpa Great's house to show off Roxie again. Lolli had fun walking around with Gpa and eating a cookie (organic wheat teething biscuit).

Finally it was time to go home. However, on the way home, they drove past something that made Lauren stop the car and turn right around! A playhouse for sale! Upon further inspection they learned that the house was $50. It is white and pink with a blue roof. It has a flower box in front along with a mailbox. Inside there's a table and 2 chairs, along with a babydoll high chair built into the table. There's also a sink, stove, and cabinets. Wow! Zach and Lauren paid for it and Gma and Gpa Great brought it over later on. Lauren cleaned it up and now Lolli loves to go out back and play in her house!

Backwards Crawling

Poor Lolli is still only going backwards. She gets up on her hands and knees, but her legs must be weaker than her arms, because her knees slide backward. She gets very frustrated because when she's laying on her tummy and something is out of her reach, she goes up on all 4's to try to reach it. But instead of moving forward, she gets further away from the desired object.

This morning she did a whole circle around the living room going backwards. It's funny that she's able to move, but I think she'll be happier once she figures out how to go forward.

Lolli's Big Morning

Lauren and Lolli woke up around 8:15 this morning. Lolli got a new diaper, and then played in her rocker while Lauren showered. Then it was time for breakfast. Lolli never really eats her breakfast, but Lauren keeps offering it. Today was no different, so Lauren ended up eating Lolli's organic baby nutrigrain bar herself. Yum!

After that, Lolli got dressed and they headed to Kroger. Lolli was a *very* happy shopper and rode in the the cart 95% of the time (which is unusual for her)! She talked to a few strangers and got lots of comments, as usual. She's an attention-seeker, that's for sure.

After Kroger, Lolli played in her walker while Lauren put the groceries away and filled up the cat food. Then Lolli played in her pack n play on the driveway while Lauren changed the cat litters and mowed 1/3 of the yard. Whew! The busy morning wore Lolli out and she was ready to nap!

Lolli's 6 Month Shots

Even though Lolli is 6 months old, she just got her shots today. She couldn't get them last week at her 6 month appointment, because she was getting over a cold. The doctor said she was fine to get the shots as long as she didn't have a fever, but Lauren wasn't gonna take any chances with her baby!

Lolli was very brave today! She drank all of her Rotovirus and didn't even spit out a drop, which really impressed the nurse. Lolli didn't do quite as well with the shots, because she had to lay down. As soon as Lauren layed her back on that crinkly white paper, Lolli started crying. Lauren wasn're sure if it was because she knew the shots were coming, or just because Lolli prefers to be standing or sitting and hates laying down.

The shots were over and done with in about 30 seconds. Lolli was screaming her little head off until Lauren picked her up. The second Lauren had her in her arms, Lolli stopped crying. Whew! However, by that time Violet had started crying and she didn't stop for several minutes. Luckily Lolli was happy to let the nurse hold her while Lauren took care of Violet.

Rehearsal day

Lolli and Lauren picked up Gma Cathy this afternoon and headed to Greenfield to sit with Annie while she got her nails and toes done. Lolli stayed with Uncle Aaron at his apartment but got scared, so she hung out with Lauren and Cathy after that. Lauren ran into Peebles and found a dress for Lolli to wear to the wedding - yellow with lots of polka dots and a big pink bow. Lovely!

Then Lauren dropped Cathy and Lolli off at Gma Greats. Lolli stayed there until Lauren and Zach picked her up later after the wedding rehersal. Lolli went to the rehearsal dinner but didn't stay awake for long. She was less than thrilled when she got woken up a few hours later to go home, but she did ok. It was a big day for her (and everyone else)!

Photo Shoot w/ Gma Cathy!

Lolli's Gma Cathy came over this morning and she, Lauren and Lolli went to Target. They all bought coordinating shorts and headed to the mall. They went to Portrait Innovations and got their pictures taken. Lolli did pretty well considering she was tired! The pictures turned out very well. The most memorable part of the day was Lolli trying to slide out of her stroller - she's getting to be pretty wiggly!

Mid-air fart!!!

Zach was holding Lolli high above his head and wooshing her around for fun this evening. Lolli and he were both laughing when an unexpected sound interrupted. "Pfffft!" Lolli tooted in mid-air! Zach laughed so hard that he almost dropped her. Lolli found it to be pretty funny, too. She must have gotten her sense of humor from her great grandpa!

Lolli goes for a walk!

Zach took Lolli's walker outside and put it in the side street. Then he popped Lolli inside. She took off! She can really make that walker move now! Whenever Lauren's in the kitchen doing dishes or cooking, Lolli goes in her walker and cruises around on the fake wood floor. She loves yanking the dish towel off the oven handle and trying to get the trash bag out of the can. It's hilarious to see her zooming around!

Strong Arms

Lolli can hold herself up now (momentarily)! If Lauren sets her down on her hands and knees, it's a few seconds before her knees give out. She will stay up on her arms for a few more seconds, and then lower her chest back down. A couple of time she has pushed herself up onto her arms all by herself - it's very impressive!

Lolli loves animals

Lolli squeals and giggles whenever a cat or dog comes around her. She loves to pet them! Lauren and Zach are working with her on petting with an open hand instead of grabbing a handful of skin or full and yanking. She's getting better at it. Today Zach helped Lolli go for Otis rides around the house. She cracked up every time Otis would take off. Otis seemed to get a kick out of it, too. Fun!

Spinning baby!

Lolli spun herself in a complete circle this morning while she was doing tummy time. There were toys all around her and she eventually managed to get each one of them! It's pretty funny watching her curve her little body into a right angle while she's making her turns.

Mini- Marathon

Zach ran the mini-marathon today, so of course Lolli went downtown with Lauren to watch! She wore a green shirt that said, "My dad's the man!" and had a picture of Zach running in last year's mini-marathon. She and Lauren parked in an IUPUI parking garage. They even had to sneak into IUPUI's lecture hall to use the bathroom because Lauren couldn't figure out how to pee in a portapotty without leaving Lolli outside by herself.

Lauren & Lolli camped out around 1/4 mile from the finish line and waited for Zach to go by. Finally they saw him!!! Zach ran over and high-fived Lolli, who got very excited to see her daddy running with all the other people!

After the race, Lolli and Lauren found Zach and cousin Joel sitting under the big P. Lolli gave her dad a big hug and then got bored with that and tried to eat some grass :)

Organic Baby NutriGrain Bar

Lauren bought Lolli some organic little fruit n grain bars (like a Nutrigrain bar), since Lolli likes to feed herself (and often refuses baby food). Lolli loves them! The only downside would be that it makes a big sticky mess. But Lauren thinks it's important for Lolli to be allowed to feed herself, since she has the desire to do so. For the first try, Lauren tore the bar into bite-sized pieces for Lolli. By the third day, Lauren was handing Lolli the whole bar and Lolli was taking her own bites! What a big girl!!!

Marchin' for Babies!

Zach, Lauren & Lolli walked 3.53 miles downtown today to save babies! The March for Babies, a fundraiser for the March of Dimes, raises money to help give every baby a healthy start. Lauren & Lolli (in utero) walked last year with Annie. This year they walked with another IndyMom, her husband and son.

Lolli woke up at 7:15 this morning and refused a morning nap! She *finally* fell asleep in the stroller near the end of the walk, around 2:15. Whew!

Baby Steps

Lolli loves to go walking! Zach or Lauren hold her hands and slowly but surely she "walks" forward to wherever she wants to go. She is still quite wobbly, of course, and is nowhere near ready to walk without having her hands held. But it still is very cute, and impressive!

Piggyback Ride!

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Otis went for a walk this evening. Lauren usually wears Lolli in the Mei Tai when they go out walking, or else Lolli rides in the stroller. Tonight, though, Lauren finally talked Zach into wearing Lolli in the Mei Tai on his back.

Lolli loved it, and Zach did, too! They went for a pretty long walk (long enough to wear out Otis!) and Lolli was perfectly content the whole time. Towards the end of their walk, a kid (around 6 or 7 years old) rode by on his bike and asked, "What's that on your back?"

Zach replied, "It's my daughter - she's a baby."

The kid stared in awe as he rode by several more times. Finally he asked, "Is that magic?"

:) Too cute! This little boy was totally fascinated with babywearing!! He's gonna grow up to be a great dad someday...

Brush 'em, brush 'em, brush 'em!

Lolli has had her teeth for several weeks now, and it just dawned on Lauren that she should be brushing them (duh). So Lauren bought Lolli a little toothbrush and some flouride-free infant toothpaste that is safe to be swallowed. This morning was the first time they tried it out. Lauren thought it would be a good idea to let Lolli brush her own teeth (HA!) so it was quite messy. Since she cannot even be sure that Lolli did in fact brush her 2 little teeth, Lauren is going to be doing the brushing from now on!

Picnic in the Park

After storytime today, Lauren and Lolli went to the park with Darcey, Hailey, Katie & Will. Lolli played on a blanket on the ground playing with some puffs while the grown-ups ate their lunches. Will & Hailey just chilled out in their infant seats. Lolli wore a dress today, and it looked oh-so-cute with her Zoo sunhat.

After the picnic, Lauren & Lolli visited Gma Bowen at Jodi's and then her house. Lolli flirted with the cable man a little bit at Jodi's, and said hello to Alix. At Gma's, Lolli picnic'd again in the front yard and this time she ate applesauce - yum!

Round 2 at the Zoo!

Zach, Lauren & Lolli went to the Zoo this afternoon. Lolli loved riding the train around the back part of the zoo. But her *favorite* part was when she got to pet a goat! She did very well and did not pull its hair at all. The goat is probably used to being abused anyway, since it gets petted by kids everyday.

Lolli rode around the zoo in Lauren's new Mei Tai sling. She seemed to really enjoy it, and Lauren & Zach enjoyed not having to worry about a stroller. They also visited the butterfly garden, which no one was very impressed with.

Lolli's first discipline :(

Lolli has recently started to pinch Lauren's skin in between her fingers while she's eating. A couple of time she's actually given lauren bruises or made her bleed a little bit. The worst ones are when she grabs Lauren's nipple and digs her fingernails in - ahhhh!

Tonight Lolli wouldn't quit pinching, so Zach came and took her away from Lauren. After a minute or 2 she was allowed to go back and finish eating. When she soon started scratching again, Zach took her away again. She got one more chance to eat without pinching Lauren, and she finally got those fingers under control.

Lolli goes to church

Lolli went to church for the first time this morning! She, Zach and Lauren went to Lakeview Church at 465 and Rockville Road. Lolli really liked the rocking music. She smiled and laughed and danced along with the song. However she started to get sleepy during the slower songs. She lasted throught the songs, opening prayer, and tithing before she started to get pretty loud and they had to leave.

Lakeview is a good church to take Lolli to because the music is fun and loud. She loves to rock out!

Finally!

Lolli's night-eating had become more and more frequent over the past 2 months. Monday night she woke up *4* times to eat! Lauren was starting to get agitated AND sleep-deprived. What happened to the nights when Lolli slept 6 hours in a row?!?

Well for the past 2 nights Lolli has only woken up twice, at 1 and at 5. This is MUCH easier for Lauren to handle and she's really hoping Lolli keeps up with this schedule. Waking every 4 hours is so much better than every 2!

Scaredy Baby

Lolli got scared today! She actually screamed in fear; it was horrible.

Lauren, Zach and Lolli were over at Gma and Gpa Pucillo's for dinner. After dinner, Lolli was sitting on Gma's lap when Morgan (the dog) was walking around the living room. Morgan wasn't doing anything agressive or even paying attention to Lolli, but Lolli FREAKED OUT!

Zach and Lauren took turns holding her while the other petted Morgan to show Lolli that it was ok. She did fine after that. Poor baby!

Group Fun at the CM

Will type later

Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

Will type later

Gma Cathy comes to town

Lauren and Lolli went to the airport this afternoon to pick up Gma Cathy. Lolli rode around in Lolli's pouch at the airport. Lots of people stared and smiled and a few even commented about Lolli's big blue eyes!

After Gma got off the plane, Lolli showed her all kinds of new stuff - how she sits, stands, and has teeth! Gma was very impressed with how grown up Lolli is ;)

A-shopping we will go

Lauren, Lolli and Violet went to the mall today to find something for Lauren to wear for the playdate and shower coming up this weekend. Lauren bought a jean skirt for herself and ALSO one for Lolli! Soooooo cute!

After that the girls visited Gma Bowen at her house for a while. Then they swung by Gma Swain's on the way home. Whew! It was a busy day and the girls were very worn out from all the running aorund!

No More Toothless Wonder!

Lolli was chewing on Lauren's finger today when she felt something hard and kind of sharp. Lauren peeked inside Lolli's mouth - there's a tooth peeking through those baby gums! It's the bottom, left-middle tooth. It still has a long way to go before it'll be "in" but it's definitely broken through the gums! Woohoo - gooooo Lolli!

Baby Storytime

Lauren and Lolli met up with Katie & Will and Darcey & Hailey today for Baby Storytime at the Lawrence Library. Lolli and Lauren made it there a few minutes early but ended up being late because, of course, Lolli pooped all over herself. Lauren had to change her in the backseat of the car and Lolli tried sooooo hard to spread the poop everywhere!

Anyway, once they finally got back inside, Lolli loved storytime! Everyone sang songs and clapped and read books. Lolli got to show off her sitting up skills for the other babies, who were very impressed!

Squirt!

Lolli was too distracted to eat this morning, so Lauren pumped some milk into a bottle. She gave the bottle to Zach and asked him to feed Lolli. Little did she know Zach would turn the bottle into a SuperSoaker and invent a new method of feeding babies...

He was holding the bottle in front of Lolli's mouth and pressing on the bottle nipple. It sent a jetstream of milk into the back of Lolli's throat. And she was actually swallowing it. Of course, every time Lolli moved, the stream of milk would hit her in the face, ear, or chest. Now her shirt is soaked... but at least she ate!

POOP!!!

Lolli is a pooping machine! She pooped 4 or 5 times on Wednesday, 5 more times on Thursday, 5 or 6 times on Friday, and today she's on pace for 5 times!

Her poop was green on Thursday and Friday, but now it's back to yellow. Weird. Whatever caused her fever and misery must have been in her colon...

Lolli's first SICK doctor's visit :(

Lolli started acting weird Wednesday night. She didn't sleep well at all. She took a ridiculous amount of naps on Thursday, which Lauren hoped was just due to her sleeplessness the night before. Then Lolli started to whine and cry and developed a fever. Again she and Lauren spent a sleepless night in bed.

This morning Lolli had a fever of 100.7 and was still very whiny and glassy-eyed. Lauren called the doctor and made an appointment for 11.

Lauren and Lolli picked Zach up from the airport (hooray!) and then they all went to the doctor's office. Lolli seemed to enjoy watching the colorful fish swim around the aquarium but it was still obvious she felt miserable.

The doctor examined Lolli's ears and throat. He listened to her lungs and felt her gums. He found nothing wrong with her. He advised Lauren and Zach to keep Lolli "doped up" on Tylenol and Motrin this weekend and to call back on Monday if her fever hasn't broken.

Poor Lolli :(

Lunch date with *little* babies

Lauren and Lolli went to Paradise bakery in Caslteton to meet up with some IndyMoms friends and their babies. Will is 10 weeks old and Hailey is 9 weeks old. Lolli was the 'big girl' at this playdate! She sat in a high chair for the first time AND ate some sweet potatoes in the restaurant. The little babies slept almost the entire time, but Lauren had fun chatting with their moms, Katie and Darcey. Lolli, Will & Hailey are going to be great friends!

Splish Splash

Lolli LOVES taking a Big Girl bath! Since she can sit up now, she gets to take baths in the real bath tub with Lauren. Lolli loves it because she can splash with her hands and grab for all of her floating bath toys. She also likes it when Lauren holds her on her tummy in the water and she can 'swim.'

Bathing Lolli this way is much easier on Lauren's back, so she loves it, too!

Happy Half Birthday, Lolli!

Lolli is 6 months old today! She gets to share her half birthday with Easter, which is cool, since Lolli shared her birthday with the first day of Autumn!

Here's an update of Lolli's life as a 6-month old!

She can eat food now! So far she has tried cereal, banana, avacado, sweet potato, carrot, and squash. She seems to like carrots the best. Breastmilk is still her primary source of nutrition and will remain that way until after her first birthday. Oh, she has also had part of a sucker (see the '6-month photo shoot' post...).

Lolli STILL sleeps swaddled at home. During the day she naps swaddled in the swing or unswaddled in the carseat during car rides. At night she sleeps swaddled in Zach & Lauren's bed. She sleeps in the boppy, usually on her side. Sometimes she gets an arm out of the swaddle and sleeps through it but occasionally she has to be reswaddled during the night. Lolli still takes between 3 and 5 naps a day. 4 or 5 is the magic number. If she only takes 3, she has a very hard time getting to sleep for the night.

Lolli can roll over but doesn't do it much. She can sit up all by herself now! She gets very frustrated with tummy time because she wants to be crawling but just can't figure it out. Everything Lolli can grab goes right into her mouth. She's very fast, too. And has a death grip when she doesn't want to let go of something!

Lolli has a totally different disposition than she did 3 months ago! She is now generally a very happy baby. She is very active and very observant. She has a hard time breastfeeding if anything is going on around her because she has to unlatch and look around.

Lolli's eyes are still a gorgeous blue! They are very dark blue around the outside with a lighter blue in the middle. Her hair is now white-blonde, no more dark hair! The once-bald spot on the back of her head is now covered with peach fuzz. The hair on the crown of her head is growing in much thicker now. The hair on the front of her head is getting longer every day! Zach likes to mess up her hair now.

Lolli is learning new things each day. Lauren and Zach are so lucky to have her! Lolli gets attention from strangers everywhere she goes, usually about her big blue eyes. Lolli's favorite game is peek-a-boo and she also loves "I'm gonna get you!" She loves to pull on the pets' fur. She also loves to eat her toes (yum!). She has a baby doll that says, "I LOVE YOU" and it makes Lolli smile every time!

It's been an amazing 6 months...

Lolli's first Easter

Lolli had a great first Easter! She got up and put on her Easter dress and played with her Easter basket on the living room floor. Then she put on jeans and her fuzzy pink sweater to wear for the day. She, Lauren & Zach went to lunch at Carmen's. Lolli had fun sitting on the floor and playing with Jessi and Joey. Lolli sat in her booster chair at the table with all the grownups for lunch. Lauren and Zach fed her sweet potatos - yum! She also had chewed up pieces of banana and carrot from Lauren's plate. After lunch Lolli went hunting Easter eggs and managed to pick one up all by herself and put it in her basket!

Next stop was Gma Bowen's. Lolli snoozed on the way there was apparently the trip wasn't quite long enough. She was pretty grumpy, especially when Lauren made her change into her bunny outfit.

Finally Zach, Lauren & Lolli headed home to get Zach all packed up for his trip to Los Angeles. Lolli sat in the suitcase to protests Zach's departure, but he had to go anyway. Overall, Lolli had a wonderful first Easter!

6 month photo shoot!!!

Wow! Lolli is almost 6 months old! Lauren really wanted to get Lolli's 6 month pictures taken in a baby-sized bath tub, but JC Penney was the only place that offers that. And you have to wait a week or two to get your pictures from there. Lauren is NOT that patient. So she and Zach headed to Hobby Lobby and Michaels in search of inspiration for cute props. While walking around the store, Zach had a brilliant idea. Lollipops!

So the trio headed to the mall where they bought several lollipops from the Sweet Factory. They popped in at the Picture People to see if they had an opening - they did! So Lauren fed Lolli and dressed her in one of Paige's dresses that Kim had given for Lolli to wear this summer. The photo shoot began!

Lolli sat up all by herself in her brightly colored dress!!! She was in no mood to smile, but she did do a very good job of not falling over. Zach stood close by just in case she started to wobble. After she got tired of sitting she got on her tummy for a a couple shots. Then it was outfit change time.

For the next round of photos, Lolli wore just her diaper. She sat in the boppy with 3 boas around her: light pink, regular pink, and hot pink. She kept trying to eat the boas , as is only normal for Lolli! Next Lauren spread several multicolored lollipops are her and gave her one to hold in her hand. Into her mouth it went... oops, Lolli was eating a lolli pop!

There was definitely no getting Lolli to smile now - she was too busy licking and sucking and slobbering on that lollipop! Eventually Lauren decided enough was enough and took away Lolli's sucker (what a mean mom). Then Lolli laid on her back with lollipops spread around her head. Lauren gave her a big pink Lolipop to munch on. Of course Lolli tried to stick the whole thing in her mouth (it didn't fit). Finally Lauren took the lollipop away and Zach waved a blanket over Lolli's face to get her to grin. Finally - a smile!

The pictures turned out very cute!!! A great capture of the 6-month old Lolli!

Carrot-eating update...

Lolli's poop is orange :)

Little bunny Lolli

Lolli likes carrots! Per the ped's recommendation, Lauren decided to start Lolli on solids in the order of a stop light (veggies only): Red (orange), Yellow, Green. And since Lolli will be 6 months on Sunday, she can pretty much start solids officially now. So Lauren bought her the orange veggies: carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash. They started with the carrots because they were the closest to red. Lolli really seems to like them! Next week she'll get to try a new veggie, and so on and so on until she's tried them all! Then it'll be time for fruit! Yum yum!

Water, water everywhere

Lauren & Lolli went to Greenfield to meet Zach for lunch at Applebees today. Zach arrived first and ordered drinks and an appetizer. Then Lauren & Lolli got there. Lauren put Lolli's carseat in the booth and got Lolli out. Lolli was standing on lauren's lap while Lauren reached into the carseat to grab the pacifiers. And then suddenly...

SPLASH! In the 1/2 that Lauren had her head turned, Lolli smacked Lauren's full cup of ice water over and it spilled all over Lauren's lap! Lolli was pretty amused by the incident but Lauren was... NOT! Thankfully the waiter was very nice about it. And Lauren learned that she cannot lok away from Lolli for even 1/2 a second when there is things within her little arms' reach!

***SITTING UP***

Lolli can sit!!! All by herself!!! She's been working on it for a couple days and could stay up for a few seconds. Today she finally mastered it and can say up as long as she wants! Of course, being that Lolli is quite a hyper baby, she easily gets bored with sitting and reaches for something - boink! She falls down.

Lauren & Zach are sooooooo proud! Especially since Lolli's 6-month birthday is coming up - what a fun trick to show off to the family!

Lolli's in the newpaper

Lauren submitted Lolli's photo into the Beautiful Baby contest in the Eastside Herald. Lolli is baby # 17. The picture Laure sent in is the one they showed on Regis - Lolli snoozing in the Boppy. There are a LOT of cute babies in there, and there's no online voting. Lauren & Zach don't expect her to win since they aren't campaigning for votes, but they know she's the cutest baby in the WORLD, anyway!

Kiss Me I'm Cute

Today was Lolli's first St. Patrick's day! She celebrated by wearing a green t-shirt that says, "Kiss Me I'm Cute" and drinking green beer (haha).

Children's Museum again

Zach, Lauren & Lolli headed to the Children's Museum again today. Since there was a line for PlayScape last time, they went there first. There's a special area inside called BabyScape that is just for babies like Lolli! She rode on a rocking horse, balanced on a bar like a ballerina, played with lots of fun toys and sat in a bull-dozer! She had lots of fun and loved learning new things!

Lolli went down the Yule slide, which is making a special appearance for Spring Break. It's a big slide that goes from level 2 down to level 1. Zach and Lolli went down it together while Lauren stood at the bottom to take a picture. Except she was too slow and didnt get one :( Lolli liked the slide pretty well.

Lolli also rode the carousel! Lauren took her on it while Zach took pictures. Lauren chose a giraffe for Lolli to ride. Lolli got pretty impatient waiting for the carousel to start going, but then she enjoyed looking up at the stars on the ceiling going round and round. Until she leaned forward too fast and bumped her head on the pole. OUCH! From then on Lolli just cried until the ride was over :(

Swaddling update

Lolli slept pretty much unswaddled again on Tuesday & Wednesday nights. She gave it a try on Thursday but there was too much face-smacking going on for anyone to get any sleep, so Lauren swaddled her back up. Maybe Lolli was just too excited since Zach got home from being out of town.

Smack that!

Lolli has turned into quite the smacker! It started with her smacking Lauren's chest while she was eating, and expanded into Lolli smacking everything all the time. It's kind of cute because when someone is holding her, she smacks their back as if to say, "Good job!"

Lolli also found her ears in the past week! She likes to rub the top of her head and then let her hand fall down to her ear. She tuggs at it and rubs it for a while before smacking it :)

She slept with 1 arm out!

Woohoo! Lolli got an arm out of her swaddle this morning at 6:10am. She cried a little bit and woke Lauren up, but Lauren just held her exposed hand and Lolli went back into a restless sleep. She woke Lauren up again at 6:40 so Lauren fed her (she hadn't eastin since 2 so it was about that time anyway). Lolli zonked out after eating, like normal. So Lauren crossed her fingers and put Lolli back on her boppy. Lolli slept until 8am! She kind of woke up crying, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to wake up or not, but the arm was a-waving. She seemed kind of scared, but she got through it. It doesn't seem as though Lolli got good sleep while her arm was exposed, because she was grumpy and extra-sleepy for her morning nap. But it's a start!!!

Lolli goes to a birthday party!

Estella Ann Mae Evitt turns 1 year old on Monday! Today was her birthday party. Lolli wore her pink fuzzy shirt with her jeans and looked oh-so-cute. She watched everyone eating cake with such a look of envy in her big blue eyes! Ella is over 6 months older than Lolli, but they are almost the same height. Ella can cruise though, and of course Lolli isn't that accomplished yet! Ella wore a pink birthday tutu that inspired Lauren to come up with a similar outfit for Lolli when September rolls around!

Lolli meets the Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunnies finally came out today! Zach, Lauren & Lolli headed off to the mall bright and early to be first in line for the big rabbit. They arrived around 10:15 and there was NO line. Woohoo! So Lolli hopped up on Bunny's lap and refused to smile, ha. She seemed a teeny big scared of the bunny at first, but she never fully freaked out. The picture is still adorable, though, because Lolli wore her St. Patrick's Day t-shirt that says, "Kiss Me I'm Cute!"

Lolli's Lunch Date with Lauren

Lauren & Lolli were going nuts from Zach being out of town all week and Violet having been over for 3 days. So today they ventured out of the house and headed to lunch. They dined at Johnny Carino's. Lolli was pretty happy throughout the meal. Lauren was happy to be out and about, and enjoying some good food. YUM! Lolli started to get bored while waiting for the waiter to bring the check, so Lauren took Lolli's shoes and socks off and blew on her toes which made Lolli giggle. It was a wonderful mommy-daughter lunch date!

The Children's Museum!

Zach, Lauren & Lolli went to the Children's Museum for the first time today. They took a stroller but Lolli mostly rode in Lauren's pouch sling or was carried by Zach. She got mad in the stroller because she couldn't see everything.

Lolli explored a train, looked at fishies swimming in an aquarium, played with the water in a mini-river, sat in a chair just her size in a miniature house, had a tea party with Zach with tiny cups, and posed with a polar bear, a mastedon, a race car, and more! Lolli wanted to ride the carousel but the line was too long. Maybe next time! Which might be soon, because Zach & Lauren bought a membership. Now Lauren & Lolli can go all the time! Zach is very excited about the haunted house they do every fall :)

Little bunny fu-fu's!

Kim & Lauren took Paige & Lolli to the Picture People today to get some pictures taken as a present for Grandma Pucillo. The girls had matching bunny suits and coordinating Easter dresses and jackets. Paige's dress was yellow and Lolli's was pink. Too cute!
The girls first posed in their bunny suits. Paige didn't like having the hood up, so she got a little cranky. She didn't want to put her arm around Lolli or even lay next to her. Lolli was doing alright, until she tried to reach for a fake chick while she was on her tummy and ended up bonking her head on the ground. That really started the waterworks from her! She had a red mark for a minute or so but recovered nicely.
Paige loved wearing her dress and looked so pretty in it! She found a flower and had fun playing and posing with it. Lolli looked adorable and grown-up in her dress. She laid in the boppy and smiled for the camera. The photographer was able to get some good pictures of each girl, but again Paige didn't want to be in any pictures with Lolli.
In the end, Lauren & Kim were pretty happy with the pictures, all things considered. They bought coordinating poses of the girls to stick in the same frame, since there weren't any great ones of them together.
They'll try again in another few months...

Lolli shopped 'til she dropped

Lauren and Lolli went to BRU and the mall today to find things for Paige & Lolli to wear for their photo shoot tomorrow. Lolli was an excellent shopper and helped Lauren find the perfect outfits! Matching bunny suits and coordinating Easter dresses with jackets. Lauren & Lolli also ate lunch in the food court which Lolli loves because there are a lot of other babies to look at. Lolli also enjoyed riding around the mall in her new double stroller. Lauren bought it so that she and Lolli can go places with Violet, too. It's great for all trips to the mall, even if it's just Lauren & Lolli, because Lauren can put *tons* of stuff in the second seat!

Lolli's a cover model!

The IndyMoms.com magazine with Lauren & Lolli on the cover came out today! Lolli looks a little silly on the front, but it kind of looks like she's looking at Otis, who weaseled his way into the picture. There is a *gorgeous* picture of Lolli inside the magazine along with some information Lauren posted on IndyMoms.com about donating breastmilk. Now that Lolli is a celebrity, Lauren and Zach are taking extra care to make sure she doens't get a big head ;)

Diet Coke Break

Oops! Lauren & Lolli went for a mother-daughter dinner date at Qdoba this evening. Lauren brought her diet coke home with her. She was holding Lolli while they were getting ready to watch Lost & Lolli spit out her pacifier and reached for Lauren's drink. Lauren didn't think that babies could drink out of straws because her friend's 11-month old still doesn't. Well, apparently they CAN! Lolli stuck that straw in her mouth and sluuuuurp - Diet Coke right into the baby's mouth! Lauren learned her lesson - no more straws for Lolli unless there's breastmilk on the other end of it!

Lolli Walk(er)ed!

Lolli was playing in her walker in the kitched today while Lauren loaded the dishwasher. Lolli was getting pretty tired of being stuck in the walker and started arching her back, trying to escape. While the walker is escape-proof, she did manage to move herself backwards in it! This was the first time she'd made the walker move on her own - woohoo! in the past, the walker only moved when Zach attached bungee cords to it and pulled her around the house like a race-car driver.

Lolli's first shower

Lolli was in desperate need of a bath and Zach's out of town. Lauren decided it would be easier to set Lolli's tub inside the real tub instead of in the sink. As an added benefit, the gallons of water that Lolli splashed out went into the tub instead of all over the kitchen ;) The best part was that once Lolli was all soaped up, Lauren turned on the shower and rinsed her under it. This was MUCH easier than trying to rinse her under the kitchen faucet, although it was a little bit scarier since wet babies are slippery and Lolli was about 4 feet from the ground. Lauren held on tight though, and Lolli seemed to tolerate the shower pretty well. And now she smells sweet like a baby should :)

Where is the poop?!?

Since Lolli started wearing her cloth diapers on Saturday morning, she has refused to poop! She usually goes 1-3 times a day, but now that Zach and Lauren are anxiously waiting to see if the cloth diapers really prevent blow-outs, Lolli is holding out. The cloth diapers are passing the pee test though :)

Cloth Diapering

Lolli's bum is about to become much happier! Zach and Lauren had the people from ToastyBaby.com come out today to show them all different types of cloth diapers. Lauren and Zach ordered 20 prefolds and 5 covers, along with a mini-shower that attaches to the toilet to rinse off poopy diapers. The diapers should arrive by next weekend, and then Lolli's bottom will be swaddled in soft fleece and cotton instead of yucky paper and chemicals!

Lolli's First Valentine's Day

Lolli had a big day today! She was still all congested this morning, so Lauren steamed up the bathroom and fed her in there a couple time. After the second feeding, Lauren decided that they were going to go nuts if they stayed in the house for one more day, so they packed up and headed to Target. There they met Jen & Violet and went for lunch at the Chinese place. Lolli was a very good girl and loved cruising Target in lauren's new Peanut Shell pouch sling! When they got home from the outing, Lolli ate on the couch in the living room with NO steam, so she must be getting better!

This evening Zach, Lauren & Lolli all went to the mall to walk around for fun. Lauren wore Lolli in the Peanut Shell again, and she got lots of smiles from passers-by. Zach & Lauren had a nice romantic Valentine's Day dinner in the mall food court. They got food from another Chinese place and the cashier thought Lolli was so cute in her sling that she gave her a free fortune cookie! Lolli did look super cute in her Valentine's shirt. It was red with short sleeves and said, "I'm with Cupid." Ha!

Lolli's on Regis & Kelly Live!

Several months ago Lauren submitted Lolli's photo to Regis & Kelly's Beautiful Baby search. This is the week they announce the finalists and then winner. After Lauren submitted Lolli she realized the rules stated that the babies must be 6 months old, so Lauren knew Lolli wasn't eligible to win. However, all week long they have been showing random pics of beautiful babies during the show. Today upon returning from a commercial break in the middle of a Colin Farrell interview, Lolli's picture was shown! it was the picture of her wearing just a diaper and snoozing on her boppy from when she was only a few weeks old. It said, "Lorelai Pucillo Indianapolis, IN" How exciting
Lauren called her mom in Texas who took a picture of it when it came on there an hour later. So now Lolli will have proof that she was a star!!!

Lolli's first cold

Lolli started coughing on Friday morning. Saturday she developed a full-blown cold and today was miserable! Poor Lolli is a little snot-faced, stuffed-up, coughing mess. Lauren and Zach are doing everything they can to keep her comfortable including running a humidifier, sucking out her nose, putting saline drops on her nostrils, and keeping her angle (not laying flat on her back). Zach thinks today was the worst day and Lauren sure hopes he's right! It's so sad to see little Lolli feeling so bad and not understanding that it will go away soon.

*Cough Cough*

Lolli's been coughing for a few weeks now, because she thinks it's "cool." However, this morning her cute fake coughs turned into longer coughing spells. Lauren and Zach are just getting over the worst colds they've ever had, and it looks like Lolli wasn't lucky enough to avoid catching it. So far her nose isn't stuffy though, and her mood is just as happy (alternated with fussy) as always!

Lolli Wants to Party All the Time! (Eddie Murphy...)

Lolli is trying to make it impossible for Lauren to recover from this hellacious cold she's suffering by NOT letting Lauren sleep! The past 2 nights, Lolli has decided to wake up, as in WIDE AWAKE, at horrific hours and refuse to go back to sleep. So, since Zach has been taking NyQuil (and of course Lauren has to stay wake-up-able to feed Lolli, so she doesn't get any, boooo) it's Lauren who hauls her sleepy self out to the living room to play with Lolli. Tuesday night it lasted from 2:30-5am! Last night it lasted from 4:30-6. Apparently Lolli is quite the nighttime party animal!

A Week Day with Daddy!

Zach and Lauren were both incredibly sick today, so Zach called and cancelled his client so he could stay home. Lolli loved having both mommy and daddy home! Zach was also a big help to Lauren, since he can take cold medicine and she can't (it can dry up milk). Zach and Lauren have been trying not to breathe on Lolli and washing their hands a lot, so they're still hoping she won't get sick.

Sleepyhead!

Zach stayed overnight in IL last night, so Lauren & Lolli were going to have a fun girls night in. However, Lolli conked out at 4pm! Lauren was really worried that she would wake up for the day at midnight or something, but she slept until 8:30am (except for waking to eat). What a sleepyhead!

Lolli's First Super Bowl

Zach, Lauren & Lolli went to the Bowens to watch the Super Bowl. Everyone was rooting for the Giants (or really, rooting AGAINST the Patriots). Lolli only took one nap from 4-10, but thankfully she stayed in a pretty good mood. She didn't even get scared when everyone stood up and started cheering in the last few minutes of the game. Lolli's a true football fan already :)

Early bird

Last night Lauren graciously told Zach that she would get up with Lolli this morning so he could sleep in. Well, Lauren certainly wasn't expecting Lolli to get up at 6:45AM!!! She stayed up until 9:30 last night - aren't babies supposed to sleep for 12 hours straight? Wishful thinking, huh.

No More Tummy Time!

Lauren and Zach laid Lolli down on her tummy in the middle of the living room and then laid down facing her. Before Zach and Lauren could get comfy, Lolli rolled over to her back. So Lauren put her back on her tummy and once again - immediately over to her back! Apparently Lolli is done with tummy time ;)

Lolli Pics - January 2008

Tummy time twins (lol)

Same outfit!

Having a very serious conversation...

Such a strong neck!

Lolli got a new gym!


Lolli found her toes!

Naked!

This is the funniest picture of Lolli

Such a pretty smile!

Laughing at their secret baby jokes