Hello from Lolaland

Matt has been on my case about updating the blog, so here goes...

Lola is six weeks away from turning one, and I am in disbelief. I'm not sure where the past year has gone, but I know it has been a fun and crazy ride. She has changed so much in the past couple of months, really becoming her own person with such a distinct personality. She isn't walking yet, but she's close. (I might be saying that for another six weeks - who knows.) She can stand for several seconds by herself, but she hasn't tried to walk on her own yet. She can crawl fast, so I think she figures it's just as easy to do that. We have a soft, square leather ottoman as our coffee table in the living room. It's probably about a foot and a half tall, and Lola can climb up on it, crawl across it, and climb down the other side. We have three steps from our kitchen down in to the dining room - she can easily go up them and has recently learned to turn around and go down them backwards. When she gets to the bottom she claps her hands.

She's also quite the little foodie. This week she's been eating quinoa spiced with a little cinnamon and nutmeg. We tried quinoa a couple of months ago, and it didn't go over too well. She pretty much gagged on it - I think the texture was too much for her back then. Now, the more texture the better. She's really sort of over all the purees and likes to eat chunkier foods, so now instead of pureeing her sweet potatoes I just mash them with a fork and leave them pretty chunky. I also steamed some carrots and diced them up and let her feed them to herself as a snack. She really likes to feed herself. She can easily do this with her hands, and she's also learning to hold the spoon, too. She has six teeth now, and she really tries to bite and 'chew' her food.

We're starting to venture in to table foods - aka whatever we're eating. I still prepare all her meals especially for her, but we've let her try a few things from our plate. For example, last Saturday we had whole-grain blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and we gave her some small pieces to feed herself. (She LOVED it.) Yesterday we boated up to Cookie's (a restaurant at another marina up the lake) for breakfast, and she ate a few bits of my toast. Then last night she sampled a little smoked chicken from Grandpa Tim's smoker. So far she likes just about everything she eats. I hope this continues. I've read that babies who are good eaters can still become picky toddlers. Eeeek.

Oh, and she's got rhythm. (Not from her daddy...) She loves music, and she likes to shake her hips, bop her head and clap. It's hilarious. I need to post video of this soon.

What's up with us? Well, hmm. Any free time I have (usually in the evenings after Lola goes to bed) has been spent reading the Hunger Games. It's a three-book series. I finished the first and just started the second. I'm hooked. Matt asked me if it was about girls with eating disorders. Not exactly. Click here for a synopsis. Sounds kinda strange, I know. It's a little bit bizarre, slightly disturbing, but it will suck you in.

Besides all that we're keeping busy at the dock, Matt is doing a little surveying, and we're all trying to stay cool. More soon!