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.

Some Updates

Norah had her 7 month checkup this week.  She is now officially heavier than both of the cats!  You might think that she'd have passed that milestone a while back, which she did with Max (~14 lbs.) but with Phoebe weighing in at almost 18 lbs., Norah had quite a bit of catching up to do.  Norah is now in the 90th percentile for height and around the 80th percentile for weight.

And what was that we said about showing no signs of teeth?  The doctor took a close look and saw that her bottom two teeth were very close to breaking through and in the last two days one has!  Pictures will have to wait until more shows through and Norah cooperates.

Since we know you all are just here for the pictures:

Norah camouflaged on a blanket. 

Eating sweet potatoes for the first time. 

Norah's new way to make Mommy and Daddy laugh. 

7 months

Better late than never, right?

At 7 months, Norah:

• loves to eat solid (okay, pureed) food.  She has happily eaten green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes.
• is sitting like a champ.
• sleeps 10&1/2 - 12 hours every night (we know!).
• loves to play with stuffed animals and books and chooses them over other toys offered.
• takes baths in the kitchen sink and loves to splash.  We have to keep the whole countertop clear of any important papers.
• gets the hiccups when we make her laugh hard.
• likes to be in on the joke, laughing just because we are.
• is starting to get upset when we leave the room.
• laughs hard when we raspberry her tummy, neck, or toes.
• grabs and eats her toes all the time.
• tries to roll away during diaper changes.  She has succeeded a couple times.
• is learning to scoot (not with her face), although, sometimes she just goes in circles.
• seems to have a lot more to say these days.
• is growing back all the hair she lost from the sides and back of her head.  Hooray for no bald spots!
• shows no signs of teeth.

And now for the good stuff:

The official 7 month picture.

Playing on the floor.

Our wake-up ritual: peeking through the bars. 

Good morning!

Norah trying to scoot:

And finally, bath time:

Since this first time splashing, she's gotten a lot more in to it.  Water gets on the counter, window, floor, us...

Norah, Eater of Green Beans

We gave Norah her first taste of people food this morning with some green beans.  After steaming and puree-ing them, we agreed that puree-ed green beans taste way better than we had expected.  Norah was at least willing to give them a try.

Eagerly helping spoon in the first few bites.

Pausing to think about it...

On further reflection...

No more, please.

Norah gave the green beans a second try in the evening, and ate the whole bowl.  She also had something else to eat:

A little light reading never hurt anybody.

The One with the Elephant Whisperer

Norah had a lot to say to her elephant the other day.  Also, she doesn't know what the video camera is yet - see if you can tell when she spots it:

Norah had recently started "talking" a lot.  It's fun to come home after work and hear everything that she has to say about her day.