Downward dog

And now it looks like this:

Balancing on the toybox

It’s only a short while until she has the balance to stand on her own.  We are terrified.

It’s been a while since I last blogged, so I thought I would show some photos of what has been going on in Orli’s life lately.  We hope you are all well and are enjoying the last of the cool weather (in the south), and the warming weather (in the north).

Orli still loves books.  Now she picks out the book that she wants to read and brings it over to us.

Reading with dad

My parents and sister were in town in February when Loyola softball played TAMUCC.  Orli loved the time with her grandma, grandpa & Aunt Missy.

Hanging with grandma and grandpa

Orli enjoys her after-school walks, as do we.  It’s a nice way to decompress after a long day.

Reading in the stroller

Erica and Taylor came into town after my family, and we did some shopping for produce at some of the fruit stands in town.

Shopping at the Fruit King with Aunt Erica

Shopping for Mexican devotional candles

My dad bought Orli this backpack during their visit.  She loves to ride around and be bounced up and down with our steps.

In the backpack at the beach

We took Orli, Erica and Taylor on a trip up to ANWR to see the Whooping Cranes (didn’t see any) and the alligators (saw many)…

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge with Taylor and Erica

Orli has become such a little stinker.  She gets into everything.  Including the grocery bags.

Unpacking the groceries

And she has become a food hound.  Here is a little insight into what it is like to try to eat your lunch next to Orli.  She always wants a piece of the action…

I want some fish taco!

I’ll do another post soon with some pictures from Orli’s birthday party in a couple of weeks.

We spent a week in MN for Xmas with my family.  It was an interesting trip because Orli had a fever and was on antibiotics that made her vomit.  You can imagine the situation.  Anyway, once we made it to MN all was well and Orli had a great time with her grandpa, grandma, aunts and uncles.

Fascinated with the snow globe

My dad made Orli her own highchair to use and it worked great!  Here’s another reminder of what a serious eater Orli is…

Eating in the highchair that grandpa made

Orli was spoiled in MN.  She got to read lots of books and play with lots of toys (and christmas ornaments when she pulled them down off the tree).

'Twas the night before christmas and all through the house...

Playing with Uncle Chris

Tired baby with grandma

She had long days, but it was ok because she slept great in MN.  Maybe it was the cold weather.

Besides all the family time, Orli also got to meet our good friends Carolyn and Dave for lunch at a new brew pub in Minneapolis.  We ate walleye (my favorite!) and Orli enjoyed a delicious meal of sweet peas.  Yum.

Meeting Carolyn & Dave

Chillin (literally) with Carolyn

Orli has grown out of her baby tub and is now rocking out in her new duck tub.  She likes it because she can sit on her own and be a little more independent.  We like it because when you squeeze the beak, it quacks.  Parent entertainment.

Rub a dub in the duck tub

Orli is a mover and a shaker these days.  We can barely get her to stay still long enough for a photo.  See exhibit A:

Whirling dervish

Orli’s little legs have been getting so strong. She can stand almost completely on her own.  All she needs us for is to balance in the standing position.  Little stinker.

I can stand on my own (almost)

Orli has been eating so much food lately.  She is a machine.  Today for dinner she had sweet potatoes, avocado and banana.  When the food is gone she is very upset, but then she gets a second wave of energy for the remainder of the evening and is a happy baby.

Full belly = happy monkey

The last wave of energy is usually accompanied by lots of mischief.  Tonight she was intent on grabbing the bowl of brussels sprouts off the table.  Like I said, little stinker.

Trying to grab the brussels sprouts

Oh, and did I mention…  on Monday, to welcome me back from Palau, Orli crawled toward Peanut.   I don’t know who was more terrified, him or us!

On the move

And last but not least – she finally has a tooth / teeth coming in!  She bit my finger tonight and at least one tooth has broken through her bottom gums.  It seems like at least one more is soon to follow.  She is growing too fast these days.

Sorry for the ridiculously long delay between posts.  I’ll try to keep the text to a minimum and the photos to a maximum. 

Here are a few photos from pre-Thanksgiving around the neighborhood. 

Bundled up for a cold walk

Playing with Scarlett

Bedtime!

Rocking on her dragon

We spent Thanksgiving in NYC with the Pollack extended family of friends.  The stories are too lengthy to recount, but the pictures tell the stories just as well…

Morning light with grandpa

Pre-bedtime cuddles with Aunt Erica

A box of mints is a cheap and entertaining toy

Getting the most out of the New York Times

Thanksgiving dinner - what a ham!

Aunt Erica & Uncle Taylor

Orli loves the pre-bedtime sandwich

Getting to know Jamie

Visiting Jamie & Lizzy; Orli took a lap-nap

Watching some Thanksgiving football with dad

Hanging out with beautiful Moriah and Eva Rose

New dad Aaron with 3.5 week old beauty Eva Rose

Sharing the spotlight with Jordan

Lunch with Josh & Nicole

Playtime with Angela

Warm, stylish and ready to take on the day

Playing with dad

Modeling her beautiful red dress from the Elliott family

So big!

We had a pretty uneventful week last week.  We did make it to the Corpus Christi Greek Festival on Saturday.  We had some delicious food (spanakopita, pastitsio, dolmades) and Greek beer.  This weekend is the Jewish food festival and we hope to go enjoy some cabbage rolls and matzah ball soup (yum!).  We went last year and the food was delish.

Orli has been getting so much better at sitting on her own.  She still crashes over unexpectedly, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.

Sitting on the bed makes for a soft landing

Future softball player...

Orli has a baseball (although I call it a softball) rattle that she has started to really favor.  Is this an indication that Orli is a future softball player…?  It remains to be seen.

Bathtime continues to be a highlight of the day.  Lately, Orli’s favorite bathtime trick has been to literally put the entire rubber ducky’s head in her mouth.  It’s hilarious.  Here’s a little sneak peek.

Someone rescue that duck!

I will be leaving next week for a conference on Monday-Wednesday.  It will be my first time without Orli and I am completely distraught about it.  Please send me lots of love and strong thoughts!  I know it will be worse for me than it will be for her, but that doesn’t make me feel much better…

We have been so excited for Orli’s first Halloween.  We dressed her as a dinosaur – a triceratops to be specific.  She was adorable.

Rrrrroar

The business end of the costume

Orli’s school had a Halloween parade on Friday morning and we tagged along as the papparazzi. 

Orli and Oliver in the Halloween parade

Sleepy dinosaur

Orli’s aunt Missy sent an adorable post-parade outfit. 

My first Halloween

Can we go home now?

Aunt Missy and Uncle Mike also sent some hockey gear to get little O ready to support the reigning Stanley-cup champs this season.

Go Hawks!

We also took Orli to a pumpkin patch last week.  We had fun taking lots of photos and picking out a pumpkin (we got a cool striped orange and white variety like in this picture.  Orli seemed content to chew on her giraffe and hang out in our arms.

Visit to the pumpkin patch

Orli had the luxury of participating in her first daddy-driveway-haircut experience.  Yes, I am Jeff’s highly talented hair stylist…

At the driveway hair salon

Grandpa Michael came for a visit this weekend and had a great time playing with Miss O. 

Playing with grandpa

We discovered this weekend that Orli loves to play with the bread bag on the kitchen counter.  Who knew that baby toys could be so simple?

Orli makes us a sandwich

Orli continues to master sitting up unassisted.  She can look around now without losing her balance, but she still falls backwards every once in a while.

Superstar

We went out for pizza with a bunch of friends last weekend.  It is always fun for the adults and the little ones to get together. 

Orli tells Oliver how it's going to be

Baby-sharing... Orli cuddles with Sally...

...and I cuddled Scarlett

I hope you all had a great Halloween.  We had more trick-or-treaters this year than any other year since we’ve been in Corpus Christi.

Boo

Big events in the past few weeks:

1. Grandma Lynda came to visit!  Orli had such a  great time hanging with her Grandma.  She even showed us her newest trick – sitting up unassisted.  Ok, she needs a little assistance still but she can sit unsupported for short periods of time without crashing over.  Quite an accomplishment for the little monkey.

Looking at the world from a whole new perspective

Getting more confident

Checking out a new book with Grandma

2. Orli is eating food  (and she is VERY good at it) (and we need some practice at feeding her)!  So far, Orli has enjoyed the flavor delights of sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas and peas.  Today it was carrots and she enjoyed them just the same as all the rest.  It appears that she likes food just as much as her parents. The only snafu was with peas, which made her shudder on the first bite.  After that, she loved them.  Minor speed bump in the road of eating.

Mmmm sweet potatoes

... sweet potatoes take 2

... next comes avocado, yum!

delicious bananas

peas were scary at first, but now I find them tasty

3.  Orli got a new excersaucer.  Well, actually it is new to her, but we bought it at a rummage sale.  It was in good condition and she loves it.  I think she likes being upright and looking around rather than laying on her back all the time.   She is getting pretty good at manipulating the toys.  In fact, she has even figured out how to twist a couple of them out of their bases so that she doesn’t need to stretch to chew on them.  Smart baby.

Peanut keeping an eye on Orli

4.  We had a great evening with the Samus and with parents to be the Aebys.

Courtney & Oliver, me & Orli, and beautiful mommy-to-be Krystal

Delicious dessert made by Chef (and daddy-to be) Chris

5. Lots of time at home enjoying Orli as she grows up faster than we can even keep track of.

Sunday lunch with dad

Sunday lunch with dad (top view)

...followed by some Sunday football watching

Cooler weather = warmer clothes

Orli meets Paul & Maura

Getting to know Maura

I was able to take a run on Saturday morning on the island with my friend Karen.  In the meantime, Jeff fed Orli a bottle, which he enjoys, but is a rare occurrence.

A rare moment

We ate lunch at the Pawleys Island Tavern (PIT) on Saturday morning and Orli got to meet baby Elizabeth, Pat & Kaarin, and Amy.   For those of you who came to our wedding, this was the location of our rehearsal dinner.  It hasn’t changed a bit.

Meeting Elizabeth, Pat, and Amy

Jeff made an early exit to North Carolina on Saturday afternoon with Pat & Kaarin to make the most of hurricane Igor surf.  Here are some photos our friend Tara took (and yes, Jeff is on both of these waves; big wave=teeny person):

Yay Igor

We're not in Texas anymore...

Meanwhile, I stayed behind for one more night with our Georgetown friends.

Waking up with Erik, Camden and a cup of joe

Even without our playmat and arsenal of toys, Karen found plenty of ways to entertain Orli.

Everything is a toy...

Orli and I made our way up to North Carolina on Sunday to join Jeff and our other friends.

Hello Uncle Pat

Last time we saw Charlie he was 9 months old.  How time flies!

Charlie, all grown up

This past week Orli has mastered her newest trick – toe-chewing.  Her flexibility  is astounding.

Chewing on toes, mmmmmm...

Orli got to spend lots of time in the water.  Good thing she has multiple swimsuits.  She seemed to love it and became an expert splasher in no time.

Super-O!

Modeling a fashionable one piece swimsuit

First we tried putting Orli in this little floating device.

Baby floaty thing

That only lasted a short time though.  She much preferred to hang out in Jeff’s arms.  Yes, even though she looks like she is in the witness protection program, that is Orli.  I couldn’t get the hat tied on correctly because as you notice, it is difficult to find her neck.

Splash splash

I was able to sneak away for a little time on the stand up paddleboard in the marsh.  I loved it.  I saw lots of great birds and fish while paddling through the tidal creeks.

Away I go

Before heading back down to South Carolina for the next weekend, we first met up with our ex-neighbors who have now been relocated to Camp Lejeune.  They actually moved on the first day of our vacation and we already miss them terribly…

Bailey family

Back in SC we had a great couple of nights again with our SC friends including a cookout at Erik & Karen’s.

Grilling out on the porch

Yum.

Orli was asleep by this time… adults only.  Speaking of, she was a great sleeper on this trip.  She had some rough nights, but we dragged her everywhere and she managed to sleep in car seats, strollers, and even on our laps when it was necessary.

We were very sad to leave the Carolinas at the end of the weekend but we had a GREAT trip.

Early cowgirl training

We had a late flight back home and Orli was great.  We bundled her up for the chilly plane ride and she was a champ.

In the airport, heading home

In the jumper

Becoming a pro

Orli has a little cold this week.  She is congested and has been a little tired.  Over the weekend she was very wiped out and just wasn’t herself.  We were surprised when she crashed out asleep in the swing in the middle of the afternoon.  Very un-Orli.  It was cute though.  We snapped a photo and then transported her to the crib for a proper nap.

Asleep in the swing

I am still able to pick up Orli from daycare around 3:30, so I have been enjoying my afternoons with her.  On Fridays, Jeff often can come home early and we both get some bonus time with her.

Playing with her baby cellphone (thanks grandma...)

Petting Peanut

I have slowly but surely been getting back into running.  Unfortunately 2 miles feels like 10.  Orli has been a good sport about hanging out in the jogging stroller while I get in a quick jog.

Hanging out with a sweaty me post-run

We keep putting Orli on her blanket on the floor to encourage some progression to her rolling, but she is still holding firm to the one side-one way method.  In the meantime she plays with her toys and giggles at Jeff and I.  Quite the confidence booster for our comedy routine.

Playing on the blanket

More soon… still no tooth!

Smiley baby

On Friday afternoon, Orli had her second round of shots.  Jeff and I were dreading it, but she did really well.  She took a bit of a nap afterwards and then was a happy girl when she woke up.  She was still a bit worn out from all the excitement, so we had a quiet evening.  Jeff and I also were suffering from a nasty case of food poisoning, so we were just as happy to take it easy.

Taking it easy

On Saturday morning, Orli and I went to watch Jeff kayak in the “Paddle for Parkinson’s” event on Padre Island.  He was the first finisher!  Yay Jeff!

Speed demon in the paper

This also gave us a chance to get Orli used to her new shades.  She actually seems to like them.

Cool cat

On Saturday afternoon we all went over to Courtney and Jesse’s house for some pool time with Oliver.  Orli actually didn’t hang in the pool for very long.  She preferred being wrapped warmly in the towel on my lap.  I didn’t mind.

Pool party

Oliver also spent some time practicing his future surf moves on Jeff’s hand plane.  It makes a perfect little bodyboard for an 8 month old.

Oliver practices his surfing moves

We enjoyed the 3-day weekend, but the weather was fairly nasty on Monday.  As a result we spent a lot of family time in the house.  Jack enjoyed all the attention he got from the 3 of us on our lazy Monday.

Family time