One thing we hadn’t anticipated when we brought Lorelei to Chicago was that the trip would precisely coincide with the days she decided to really get serious about her walking efforts.
Eric and I spent a lot of our time in Chicago hunched over, gripping under Lorelei’s arms and surveying the top of her little blond head, as she trotted around the city saying “bucka-bucka-bucka” over and over. Stairs were a particular favorite; I think she’s in cahoots with a local chiropractor. Needless to say, we had a knack for bringing her to places with many alluring, backbreaking possibilities.
She also began pulling herself up on a consistent basis for the first time during the trip.
One morning she pulled herself up, gripped her way around to the side of the crib, and hit the speaker button on the desk phone. I think she was trying to call room service.
We thought we’d been very clever situating the crib behind the desk, so that we had a small divider between her bed and ours, but her newfound ability to get herself vertical meant that she could just peek over anytime she wanted. “Stay low” became our mantra during naptime.
We did make it to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game one afternoon (I think a passing baseball hat sundae caught her eye as I was snapping this shot).
Lorelei devoured an entire brat like a born Midwesterner, accidentally cheered for the Reds as they scored some early runs, and became irate when I refused to let her bucka-bucka up and down the stairs between the concourse and the seats for fear we’d get trampled by an inattentive fan.
We decided to call it a day in the middle of the 5th inning. As we were leaving, a nice woman in our row (who’d been very patient with our frequent comings and goings) asked how old Lorelei was and mentioned that she had a baby just a couple of months younger.
Eric: [Barely holding onto Lorelei as she lunged toward a passing beer vendor] “And you didn’t bring her to the game today?”
Cubs fan: [Trying to contain her laughter] “Oh, she’s my fourth. You learn.”
Our flight home left ridiculously early, necessitating a 4 am departure from the hotel, but Lorelei was a champ.
There was a tremendously unhappy newborn seated two rows in front of us on the plane. The bad news is that he disturbed most of the plane for most of the flight. The good news is that when it’s not your kid making the noise, he or she comes off looking even better in comparison.
We left Chicago just in time: The day after we got back, the housekeeping workers at our hotel went on strike. We left a good tip, but our applesauce-soaked breakfasts in bed may well have pushed them over the edge.
