Beebop-a-Lula

Forrest recently got a new lens for his camera because I was complaining that my little Nikon P4 takes really crummy pictures in our Bat Cave. There’s just not enough light for my little camera and Lulu moves so quickly it’s difficult to get a photo that isn’t a complete blur.

It’s not very often that I use Forrest’s massive D70 (it’s massive compared to my pocket-sized camera) but I’ve been trying to get used to it. Most pictures I take are out of focus; or a tiny button on Lulu’s shirt will be in focus instead of her face!

Here are some of the better photos I recently took outdoors while we went for a walk one afternoon. I know it was in the afternoon because she has an orange clown mouth from her lunch.

Since we had an absurdly hot day in April, we headed for the beach! A friend of mine was going to Good Harbor beach in Gloucester, so when Lulu got up from her nap we packed up and headed out. I thought that today would be a good test to see if she actually liked the beach, since I am planning on spending many summer days there.

She loved it! She loved the wind coming off of the water, the sand (it was delicious) and I even dipped her little toes in the water. The water was still very cold and the first few little waves that came by she actually pulled her feet up so they wouldn’t get wet. But when she got used to it she was jumping up and down and squealing.

I see many, many beach days in our future!

weight: 18 lbs.
height: 29 1/4″

Today was Lulu’s 9 month check up. She has gained 2 1/2 pounds since her last visit, which puts her in the 31st percentile for weight and she has grown 2 1/4 inches, putting her in the 93rd percentile for height. She most certainly takes after her father, since her mother was a short and chubby baby.

Overall, she is a happy and healthy baby, which we already knew. And today, we got to cross a few more food items off of the “forbidden” list as well. The list is getting shorter and shorter.

Over the weekend one of her top teeth finally broke through. She typically has been handling the teething thing pretty well, but on Saturday she was overtired and her teeth must have been hurting her because she cried unconsolably for 45 minutes that morning until the Tylenol kicked in. The she slept for a few hours. It kind of screwed the day for us, but such is life. We more than made up for it yesterday.

Yesterday was the perfect day just to be outside. We went out to lunch at a local restaurant that has outdoor seating and enjoyed the afternoon. Lulu really must have liked being outside and warm. She sat in her little stroller for a really long time, playing with toys and eating Goldfish. We ate with little interruption and she got fidgety after the plates were cleared. Just all all-around great day.

Yesterday we headed up to New Hampshire to bring Forrest’s motorcycle to the Harley-Davidson dealership for service. While we were there we, of course, perused the showroom for a bit and picked out some overpriced HD outfits for Lulu.

We also went upstairs to look at all the bikes and the sales guys who sold us the Road King actually remembered us and were amused to meet Lulu, since I was pregnant this time last year when we bought the bike. They all thought she was gorgeous!

After leaving the dealership we popped down to the beach before we headed home. It was just warm enough for us to walk on the shore for a few minutes. I have a feeling the baby and I will be spending some quality time at this beach this summer!

The first 70 degree day of the season drove us outdoors to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air. We spent a good couple of hours on Salem Common, taking a long walk, swinging on the swings and sitting on a blanket in the sun. Well, Lulu sat on the blanket while I prevented her from putting fistfuls of grass in her mouth…

Swing! from Lulabean on Vimeo.

Easter is upon us and that can only mean one thing: Spring really is here. YAY!

Lulu got a few cards in the mail for the occasion and true to the nature of babies, they all immediately went into her mouth. Like a puppy, she left little teeth marks and gnawed on the corners until they got nice and soggy.

nom nom nom!

With one card I happened to look away for a second and the next thing I know she’s happily chewing on a corner. And of course when I tried to get my finger in her mouth to fish is out she clamped it shut as tightly as she could!

I had a difficult time finding a dress for her to wear on Easter day. But my mother solved that problem for me by getting five different dresses for me to choose from in every color of the pastel palette.  It was a toss-up between the green and the blue dress. I settled on the blue one. She looked sweet enough to eat.

who's THIS baby?

Now that Lulu is used to eating three squares a day, we’ve been cautiously adding more food to her repertoire. But every meal requires the presence of either Cheerios or Ritz crackers.

She especially loves grabbing a cracker in her fat little hand and taking a giant bite so that it basically explodes into little pieces. Then she holds a piece in each hand and happily nibbles away on them while I strategically try to spoon real food in her mouth before she can take another crumb-filled bite.

I’ve been trying to expose her to different finger foods; sliced carrots or canned green beans, diced peaches or pears, bananas, peas, bread, cottage cheese. I tried broccoli but that was a BIG no-go.

But no matter what bits of food are on her try she will always pick through to find the preferred bits of cracker. She doesn’t seem to like trying to pick up anything slippery or slimy, so I guess the grittiness of anything bread-like is easier for her to pick up and eat.

She’s also mastered drinking out of her sippy cup. I usually only give her water but once a day I’ll give her some juice in her water. For obvious reasons she gulps the juice down like an alcoholic chugging a fifth of peppermint schnapps! Delicious!

OK, so I seem to have a strange obsession with pulling Lulu’s shirt off and arranging it on her head as some sort of headdress, turban, scarf, babushka-type thing. Tonight the outcome makes her look like a tiny, happy Mother Teresa.

My camera’s card died over the weekend, so I’m posting a pic from a few weeks ago that is really cute.

sweet

And a fun little update: tonight we were playing before bedtime and Lulu was sort of upside down when I noticed that her top teeth are getting ready to pop through! Her top right is definitely ready to cut through and I’m sure the left one is not too far behind. I had noticed that she’s been tugging at her ear, her nose was a bit runny and she’s been coughing a lot this past week. Now I know why!

It’s not every day that you’re sitting outside of your house and the Easter Bunny comes strolling up the walk way. To say that Lulu was intrigued would be an understatement.

Lulu & the Bunny