Vacation!

We went to visit Nonny and Granddaddy in the US for our spring break (May vacation as they call it here). We stayed for two weeks and if I would have to select a picture to sum up my vacation, this would be it. Why? Well, just because most of my time was spent in or around the pool with my children (and some beer :-)). Tobias for one is like a fish. He literally wanted to be in the pool every minute. So, I had to be around to supervise or play or swim or jump or dive or blow up floats or throw balls or... well anything you can do in a pool with him...

Lorelei had a lot of first-times during our vacation:
- First time flying
- First time (semi-) solid food (rice cereal)
- First time in the pool
- First time wearing a bathing suit
- First time being at Nonny and Granddaddy's house
- First time seeing Granddaddy and uncle Mark
- ...

And, I am sure she had a great time. There was definitely no lack of attention! As a matter of fact the smallest hint of a cry would result in being picked up, which must be great when you're a baby. She was also spoiled to death. She got lots of toys, clothes and whatever else! She's lucky having a Nonny like that!

Other highlights of the vacation were that her beautiful smile turned into an audible giggle. That is so cute. As I am writing this it has gotten even better and more frequent. She also increased her vocabulary from just 'eeeehhh' to 'eeeeehhh', 'aaaahhhh', 'ooooohhhh' :-). An just recently she has added a two-syllable word to that: 'bbbvvvvv-aaaahhhh'. So, before we know it she will be speaking in full sentences :-).

We also bought her sunglasses and they look sooooo cute on her.....

One of the reasons we went to visit the US was to see family. Over time they have become increasingly scarce but we did visit the ones remaining. That was good too, and another first time for Lorelei.

All in all it was a very good and relaxing vacation, for all of us (although I have to say, that jet-lag is killing! Especially with two asynchronous children...).

For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn

When You're Smiling (Part II)

That smile, my goodness, that smile! You just gotta love it, right? I took this one today, on my daddy day. It is really hard to capture it properly and that's why this picture is not entirely in focus, but it works for me.

What I forgot to tell with my previous "When You're Smiling" post is that I found a version of the song on YouTube and I have been listening to that a lot! Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNK61Kb5bhU.


For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn

Sleeping Beauty

As you can see, I just can't get enough of my little girl. I took this picture when I had just fed her and was sitting with her on my lap. She started to fall asleep and all I did was just sit and stare....

I just love my little Sleeping Beauty!


For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn

Sitting (Well, Trying Anyway....)

I admit: this picture is 100% posed.... Lisa got this really nice rocking chair from her colleagues as a present for the birth of Lorelei. We put it in her room so when we feed her at night we can use it. Well, Tobias likes the chair a lot, and so does Lorelei (I think...). Also, Lorelei is getting stronger and stronger and does not need a whole lot of help anymore sitting up. Admitted, we still have to hold her, but just ever so slightly.

As you can see here, supported by pillows she can sit really well :-). She kind of has to get used to the rocking, but I think she liked it... In any case, it makes for a nice picture (or is that just because Lorelei is in it?)


For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn

Sweet Brother

What a sweet brother Lorelei has.... However posed this picture seems, this was a quite spontaneous pose. Luckily I had the camera close at hand to capture it. I had just dressed Lorelei and Lisa had just dressed Tobias (I think). Lorelei and I were just hanging out on out bed. I had put her head on a pillow and she was smiling at me. Then Tobias joined the crew and this was the results....

How cute! And, what a sweet brother!


For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn

When You're Smiling...

Lorelei is starting to smile more and more, also when she is awake. She has been smiling but that was mainly when she was somewhere on her way to dreamland.... Now she is smiling at things, like her favorite rattle, but also at us. That is just so wonderful to see.

Recently I have caught myself singing, whisling and humming that classic "When You're Smiling" over and over again. I don't know if she is smiling because of that or if I am singing it because she is smiling. Either way, both Tobias and Lorelei seem to like the song. It makes Lorelei smile :-). And Tobias likes to dance to it...

Like I said she has been smiling for a while, but smiling, like yawning or sneezing and other super-cute facial expressions, is so hard to catch on camera. So, it took a wile before I caught her. Well, as you can see in this picture... I succeeded!

For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn

Lots of Attention!

We had a family reunion this past weekend. It was a reunion of my mom's side of the family. My mom is one of seven and therefore there was quite a large group of people. The total would have been about 48, but unfortunately some were not able to make it... We ended up having 39 people to the party! A lot of those people were children. Lorelei was not the youngest, because my cousin Liesbeth had a baby boy, Micha, on december 3rd! So, there were two babies. Then there was Tobias, then there was Jurgen (Liesbeth's oldest boy, exactly one year older than Tobias). The rest was about 7 and up.

Everytime we are around children with Lorelei I am surprised by how interested they are in Lorelei (or other babies for that matter). Apparently there is something about babies..... This time was not any different in that respect. As you can see in this picture Lorelei had lots and lots of attention. And this is not just a lucky shot.... these children were sitting around Lorelei like this for maybe an hour or more! And as you can see, Lorelei enjoyed it thoroughly. She was held, passed around, cuddled, kissed and so on and she didn't cry or anything....

Lovely picture, right?


For news on Lorelei's brother Tobias visit: Tobias Quinn