Mommy Lesson #329

It doesn't take that much baby sunscreen to cover a baby's face.

It's okay, Norah, you make a cute tribal baby : )

Where she gets it from

Ever since Norah was born, her hair has been the subject of many conversations.  First people talked about how much hair she had.  Then we all laughed when she just had the mohawk on top.  After that, it just got wild.  The latest development is that it has gotten curly on top (so cute, right?).  We've even featured it on the blog here, here, and here.

Well, we recently found out where she gets it from.  Here's Norah:

And here is a picture of Norah's great-grandma and great-great-grandma:

Great-great-grandma Aubrey holding baby Great-grandma Lazell.

The curly hair comes from both sides of my (Alisa's) family.  While I don't have curly hair AT ALL, this is the first evidence that I contributed to Norah's genetic makeup.  Darn those strong Padilla genes...

Hooray for Cousins!

We were lucky to see all of Norah's cousins in July.  Norah was excited to meet her cousins Easton and Kendree who came all the way from Wyoming for the 4th of July.

Playing at the splash pad.

Contemplating the water.

Boop.

Kendree loved to give Norah hugs.

Having fun in the pool.

Later in the month, Norah's cousins from Utah came to visit.  Norah loved all the "big girl" attention she got from Kara and Brooke.

The Stevens girls with baby Norah.

Nine Months

It's official: Norah has been out longer than she was in.

There have been so many exciting firsts this month.  At nine months Norah:

• is crawling and exploring everywhere.
• gets herself to a sitting position.
• has curly hair - don't worry, it's still plenty wild (see below).
• spins in circles on the floor by sitting, falling forward, and sitting again.
• says "mamama" and "dadada."
• is only picky about one food: peaches.
• loves to feed herself teething biscuits, especially at the dinner table with Mommy and Daddy.
• plays with her hair to sooth herself.
• has an AFV sense of humor: laughs when we drop things, stumble, yell at the cats, or jump out at her.
• has made good friends with Phoebe.
• likes straps and tags of any sort.

Here's the official nine month picture:

She's the third generation to sit in this rocking chair.

And here's a few more for good measure:

Norah's first time in her big girl car seat.

Crazy hair.

Norah and Phoebe.

And finally, Norah's first time crawling:

The One With All the Splashing

On the 4th of July we took Norah to the pool for the first time.  In the morning we went to our neighborhood pool and in the afternoon we went to her great-grandma's pool.  Here are some highlights from both:

Norah splashing herself in the face: priceless.  And she kept doing it, too...

Check out Dad's farmer tan...

Norah borrowed her cousin's turtle float.  We didn't think she would like it but she did and kicked a lot.

Is it too early for her to start training for the 2028 olympics?

Making Magic Memories

A few weeks ago, we took Norah to Disneyland for the first time.  The very first ride she went on was the Little Mermaid and she loved it! It was hard to take pictures of her on the ride, but these two show that she was wide-eyed through the whole ride.

This one looks like it was taken "under the sea" for real...

The best part was when she leaned forward like she was on the edge of her seat.

We went on Small World next - she was a little fussy while we were in line because it was hot and she was tired.  She was almost asleep when we got on the boat, but when we drifted into the air conditioning and the music started playing she woke up to see what was going on.  That lasted a few minutes until one of us commented about how awake she was and then:

Out like a light.

All in all it was a great day!  We're glad we have passes and we'll be taking her back soon (she'll meet Mickey one of these times...).

8 Months!

We have LOTS of updating to do for the blog, but we'll keep it just to the official 8 month details for now.

At 8 months, Norah:

• is thisclose to crawling.  She gets up on her knees and elbows and rocks back and forth.  Sometimes she takes a "step" with her knees but doesn't quite know what to do with her arms yet so she face-plants.  Between inching forward this way and rolling, she is really getting around.  If she makes it to the coffee table or her shelves of toys/books we have a mess on our hands.
• has eaten every vegetable we have offered.  We can't pick out any clear favorites yet, but if you take too long getting the spoon up to her mouth or refilling the bowl, she will let you know how upset she is, usually at the top of her lungs.  It's all very dramatic.
• feeds herself teething biscuits.
• gleeks when she opens wide for more food.
• likes to watch Baby Signing Time.  She can recognize the signs for cat and milk.  She's even done "milk" before, but not consistently.  Mostly she just tries to eat our hand when we sign milk.
• is cutting her second tooth.  We still don't have a picture of the first one.
• consistently sleeping 12 hours a night and taking 2 or 3 naps a day.
• likes to swim.  She's been to the pool 2 times now and loves being in the water.  The funniest part was when she splashed water up into her face and then looked around like she couldn't figure out what had just happened.
• is truly babbling now.  She's currently working on her "m" and "b" sounds, which has resulted in her saying "mama" quite a few times.  We won't count it as a first word until she does it on purpose (Daddy's rule because he's still hoping she'll say "dada" first...).

Norah's official 8 month photo.

Norah started to fuss when I was looking at pictures on the camera.  I  took one of her and she stopped fussing.  She must have been thinking, "Hey, point that thing at me!"

Norah getting into her toy box.

Norah finding and eating the magazines under the coffee table.  They have since found a new home.