Race Report: Stan's Donut 5K

John, Natalie, and I ran the Stan's Donut 5K back on August 12th. It was a first-time event and they did a fantastic job! My mom visited that weekend so she stayed home with Ada and the three of us headed out around 7am to walk to the Montrose Harbor start. It took us about a half hour to walk there. I intended to make it in time for the Oiselle Volee team photo but missed it. Oops! I saw everyone after the race though.

I didn't have any time goals for this one and decided just to run with Natalie once she decided to join us. John ran ahead of us. The mini donuts on the course were amazing (and I was going slow enough to enjoy them)! I felt good the entire race.

Start corrals were self selected by pace which was nice. The route wasn't too crowded though it was a little tricky to merge on and off the main Lakefront Trail. It was fun to see one of my Oiselle Volee teammates and her kids on the course.

We got nice tech t-shirts, medals, and full-size donuts after finishing the race (there was cold-brew coffee too but I'm not a coffee drinker). Overall, it was a great Saturday morning!

Distance: 5K 
Time: 32:15
Cost: $39.66
Pros: Close to home, small race (for Chicago), donuts!
Cons: Sharing the Lakefront Trail is the only thing I can think of and that wasn't bad at all!
Would I run it again?: Yes!

9 months

Ada is 9 months old! I can hardly believe it! She's learning new things so quickly these days. She is this close to crawling but can't quite figure out how to move with both knees on the ground so she kicks one foot out to the side. She definitely gets where she wants to go.

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Costa Rica to start off the month. I don't think any of us were ready to come back home when it was time. Ada adored her Tía Lala and Tío Paolo...and they adored her as well. We heard lots of "que linda" and "muñeca" wherever we went. Ada did great on the flights too. We left super early in the morning both on the way there and on the way back so it messed up her sleep a little but not too terribly.

Ada loved the ocean!

 

With Laura's parents and youngest brother

We visited a dairy farm.

Laura's grandma and Ada

Laura's grandpa and Ada

Ada's first day at her new daycare was the day after we returned from Costa Rica. She did great and loves it already (and so do we)! One of her classmates turned one a couple weeks ago and they had a pool party to celebrate. The teachers even took a picture of all the babies "sunbathing" under a palm tree. It was adorable! I saw photos from a tea party too but Ada wasn't there that day.

Auntie Natalie has visited a lot this month which has been great! Grandma and Grandpa Lenz also visited and we went out to eat with Brigitte. Plus, we traveled up to Cochrane for a long weekend for my 15 year high school class reunion.

Ada with Great-Grandma Rohrer

Ada has two teeth now and loves to eat. There aren't many foods she won't try. In Costa Rica, we discovered that she loves papaya! She likes music and will dance to pretty much any rhythm she hears, even the washing machine. She pulled herself up in her crib for the first time yesterday and loves standing with her walker. She still isn't a fan of having her nose or face wiped and cries when John or I leave the room. She hasn't been sleeping very well so we moved her into her own room last night. It's an adjustment for all of us but hopefully she'll be back to sleeping better soon!

Playing on the slide at the park

Standing with her walker

Standing in her crib

8 months

 

Ada is almost 8 months old! We're heading to Costa Rica early tomorrow morning so we decided to do her 8 month picture a couple days early. June has been a busy month!

Ada is sitting up like a champ! She loves to sit and play with her toys. She can get from a seated position to all fours but hasn't quite figured out to crawl yet. She still loves standing with help. She's "talking" a lot now with some recognizable syllables like "dada" and something that sounds like "hi." Her fine motor skills are developing pretty quickly too. She can feed herself small pieces of food. She's eating really well and enjoying most foods we give her. I'm excited to see what she thinks of Costa Rican food this week.

Ada is teething now. We can feel her first tooth coming in but can't quite see it yet. She's tolerating it pretty well but we gave her her first doses of Tylenol yesterday to help with the discomfort. I was worried about how she would sleep last night but she only woke up once around 4am. She has been sleeping pretty well in the new apartment so far. Fingers crossed that it continues!

We were able to visit Jamine and her family when we were in Madison for Ben and Heidi's wedding. It was fun to see them. Taya especially interacted with all of us more than she had before. I think Taya and Ada will be good friends.

We had a great time at Ben and Heidi's wedding. It was so good to see the Rohrer and Sluzewski families again! Ada had a great time dancing with Grandma Jul, Great Aunt Mary, and Mary's friends too. Of course, Ada had to eat during the ceremony but I was able to sit in the back with her and see most of it.

John's family came down to help us move in to our new apartment. It took two loads in the UHaul and van on Saturday plus another load in the van on Sunday but we made it! We're almost unpacked now, mostly thanks to John. We'll have to finish when we return from Costa Rica.

Our first Pride Parade

Saying goodbye to North Harbor Tower

We're definitely going to miss our lake view.

This is how we commuted home the first week in our new place (Ada was still at daycare downtown).

7 months

Ada turned 7 months old on Monday! (Yes, I'm almost a week late with this post.) She's now sitting up for long periods of time by herself though she topples over sometimes. I've seen her get from sitting to lying on her tummy without toppling over too. She's not crawling yet but will stay on her hands and knees for a few seconds if we put her in that position. She rolls all over and seems to collect all the hair that's on my floors!

She's experimenting more with her voice. She's not screaming as much anymore (knock on wood) but has started growling which is adorable. She's also doing great with eating real food. We give her pretty much whatever we're eating and she eats whatever purees are being served at daycare.

Swinging at Maggie Daley Park 5.9.17

We did quite a bit of traveling this month. We spent a long weekend up in Cochrane for Mother's Day Weekend. In addition to celebrating Mother's Day, we celebrated my cousin's fiancee's wedding shower and Ada's baptism. It was a busy weekend! Ada did really well in the car for the 6+ hour drive. In fact, on the way there, she slept from her regular bedtime all the way until we got into my parents' driveway (4+ hours)!

Ada with her godparents, Ben, Annie and Ben

The Rohrer Family

We also spent a week in Austin, TX. I had the American College Health Association Annual Meeting there for work so John and Ada came along. We arrived a couple days early so we had some time to explore before the conference. We visited the Texas State Capitol, the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library, and Barton Springs Pool. We also ate a lot of delicious food and discovered that Ada likes refried beans and grits! Ada did great on the plane both to and from Austin. Hopefully she'll do just as well when we go to Costa Rica in July!

 

 

Our other big news this month is that we signed a lease on a new apartment. We're moving up to Lakeview. After looking at apartments on three different occasions during the same week, we finally found one that we both loved. Ada was great during all the searching...and we discovered that some buildings just aren't as baby-friendly as others. I'm a little anxious about leaving the only home we've known in Chicago but hopefully we'll all be happy with this decision once we're settled in.

Ada's first CTA bus ride

Ada's first CTA train ride

Race Report: Crazylegs Classic 8K

Post-race photo in Camp Randall

We took our first family trip to Madison last weekend for the Crazylegs Classic. It was our 6th annual trip. The friends we usually meet there didn't make it this year though. Sad face.

We pretty much have our pre-race routine down. We parked at the ramp closest to the Kohl Center, walked over for packet pickup, and then took the free shuttle to the Square. Then we hung out at the Wisconsin Alumni Association Member Appreciation breakfast until it was time to get into our corrals. I was in Corral U so I had a pretty long wait. John took Ada in the stroller and met up with a couple of friends for the walk.

Ada's first bus ride

John, Conor, and Ada

I hadn't run much since the Shamrock Shuffle (only 4 times) so I figured I'd take it pretty easy. My plan was to run at a pace that was comfortable but pushing it. About halfway I (almost literally) ran in to a former School of Nursing classmate. It was great to see Maggie and we ran the rest of the race together.

I absolutely love this race! It's so fun to be back on campus. The course is challenging (with running up Bascom Hill and Observatory) and scenic (well, except for the stretch in Lot 60). Plus, you get to end on the field in Camp Randall with two celebratory beers!

Ada's first beer

Distance: 8K
Time: 45:03
Cost: $35 8K, $20 2 mile walk
Pros: Well organized, fun to be back on campus, great course
Cons: Umm...the weather isn't always great but otherwise I can't think of any!
Would I run it again?: Yes!!

6 months

Ada is 6 months old today! I cannot believe she's 6 months old already...and then again, I can't believe she's only been here for 6 months! This little peanut has grown so much. She's almost up to the 50th percentile for both height and weight! The milestones are coming fast these days. She's rolling like crazy from back to front and front to back...but mostly to her right. She gets mad when she's up against her activity gym or a wall and can't keep rolling. She loves sitting and standing up with support.

4.8.17

Her new Oribel PortaPlay (4.22.17)

Standing at the park (4.22.17)

We had a few visitors this month. John's parents stayed overnight one night in early April, my mom stayed for a few nights in late April, and my cousin Jenna visited too. We went to Oshkosh for Easter and saw Annie and Ben's new house. My parents came too which was great. My dad hadn't seen Ada since Christmas! We also traveled up to Marshfield/Stratford for my Aunt Jeri's funeral. It was great to see the Spindler side of the family but not great circumstances. Rest in peace, Aunt Jeri.

Sitting like a big girl with Daddy (4.15.17)

After Grandma Kathy cut her bangs (4.16.17)

With Grandpa John (4.16.17)

The Lenz "kids" (4.16.17)

Ada and Harper, second cousins (4.25.17)

Last weekend we made our annual trip to Madison for the Crazylegs Classic. I ran the 8K and John walked the 2 mile with Conor and Lisa with Ada in the stroller. We saw lots of friends and family that weekend...my Aunt Mary and Uncle Jeff, Conor and Lisa, Kurth's, and my cousin Jill and her family. It was a busy but awesome weekend!

John, Conor, and Ada

Ada trying out her first beer

Family selfie in Camp Randall

Today we officially got the go ahead to start Ada on solid food. We're going to give "baby led weaning" a try. Basically, you just offer whole (soft) foods instead of purees. Before today, we had let Ada suck on raw carrots, celery, and cucumbers (and cooked asparagus) but tonight we gave her a cooked carrot. She actually ate some of it...and mostly by herself too!