Playful Norah

Since we went a whole month with no pictures, here are a bunch from this past week.  See, we told you we'd do better....

Ten Months

Also known as the month we took no pictures.  In our defense, we were under construction for, like, six weeks... At ten months, Norah:

• has taken off crawling.  Seriously, we can't get her to sit still and she is into everything.
• has climbed the stairs leading to the front door.  It's scary to watch, but she's learning.
• is no longer a vegetarian.  She's only had chicken so far but she likes it a lot.  She also really likes the potato and leek combination we've been giving her lately.
• is getting her 3rd tooth, the first one on the top.
• will give kisses when she is in the mood (which doesn't happen very often).
• crawls after us when we leave a room.  Unfortunately for her, she always turns towards the bathroom whether we're in there or not, blabbering on about mamamama the whole way (even when she is crawling after Dad).
• is a perfect angel when Grandma changes her diaper but never fails to roll away from Mom or Dad.
• pulls herself to a standing position on anything chest height or lower.  The couch is still a little too high for her, but pulling up on Phoebe seems to be fair game.
• likes to help Mommy fill her water bottle at the refrigerator then take a drink.

Here is the closest thing we have to an official ten month picture:

Climbing the stairs.

Going for Nana's cell phone.  This remains the most reliable way to get her to crawl from Point A to Point B.

Victory!

Norah's there's-a-dog-coming face.  Despite what it looks like, she's really not afraid of dogs.  Even close up giant ones.

Laughing at Mommy tickling her.  

Getting into her toy box.

We are finally getting all our furniture moved back into the living room so we promise to do better with the pictures this coming month.

Norah vs. Banana-Carrot-Oatmeal

I'm not really sure who won....

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: