Eli the elephant

Nora doesn't really grab for things dangled in front of her yet, but she does reach out for things that are off to her side. One of her favorites is the elephant, Eli, who lives on her changing table. Every time she's getting a diaper changed, Nora reaches out for Eli with one hand, pulls him onto her chest and face, and uses both hands to try to stuff him in her mouth. Since Eli is about the size of Nora's head, the whole thing is pretty entertaining. I tried to capture it on video for you, and you can kind of see it here. Nora's pretty fascinated by the camera lately, so as soon as she sees it she forgets about whatever else she's doing (you'll see what I mean). So there's only a little bit of eating Eli and a bunch of staring fixedly at the camera, but keep watching for the cute smiles and giggle at the end.

The retro look

Nora's wearing a shirt today that was mine when I was a baby! She seems to like wearing her Mama's clothes. Thank goodness Nana saved it all this time. Yes, that's a tie-died lion (or maybe it's painted on). And the back has a moon and stars! Nora is also showing off her awesome head, neck, and arm strength in some of these pictures. What a strong girl!

Taking pictures on the changing table is no good - the mobile is too exciting so it's hard to get smiles for the camera...

But Mama can get smiles when Nora's in her crib!

You can sort of see the moon and stars on the back in this one. And look what a big girl she is!

Happy Baby!

Nora is doing the sign for time here. I think that means, "Enough pictures, Mama, time for nursies!"

More Family

Nora got to meet some more of her extended family this weekend (or should I say, they got to meet her!). Mama's Uncle Paul and cousins Ruth Ellen and Melinda stopped by for a quick visit on Sunday evening. Nora was pretty tired, so she's not really at her best in these pictures, but it was clear to see that she was happy to meet everyone. You can see her getting progressively more sleepy (and see that she got changed into her PJ's halfway through the visit). :)

Auntie Em

Trying to correct the sad dearth of pictures of Aunt Emily and Nora here! Em is headed back to college this weekend, so we won't see her again until Thanksgiving, but we were so happy to spend the weekend with her both here at home and at Nana and Babchi's house.

Down to Earth

According to an article in Wondertime (a great parents magazine to which Nana and Babchi gave us a subscription) that I happened to notice yesterday, babies in Bali are considered gods for the first 3.5 months of their lives. On their 105th day, their body and soul unite, and babies are ceremonially touched to the ground for the first time in their life amidst much celebration of the new person, a god no more. Nora is 105 days old today, and although she's certainly touched the ground already, I like the idea of celebrating her personhood. Nora's personality is definitely coming out, and she's much more like a real little person now than she was when she was born. The days of a little lump of baby lying around are over now - she's vocal and starting to become mobile, and has definite likes and dislikes. It's truly amazing to be her parents!

To celebrate her 105 days, we'll be taking Nora to the Brooklyn Fair this afternoon. Seems like a fitting occasion for Baby's First Agricultural Fair!

Some pictures from the last week:

Nora being entertained by Aunt Emily.



Nora being entertained by Nana.


Nana testing out Nora's sling (this is actually from last month, but it was too cute to skip!).

Live Action Nora!

Check this out! A video of Nora playing with her daddy this morning. Ignore mama's scary voice - I was holding the camera and not thinking about how my talking-to-the-baby voice would play out so close to the microphone!

Bumbo

Finally, some newer pictures! Nora was hanging out in her bumbo on Saturday. It's been a little cooler lately (though not today), and she tried out wearing soft-soled leather moccasin shoes to keep her socks on. Otherwise, she kicks them right off! You can see her cute orange kitty Robeez in the last 2 pictures. They are wonderful hand-me-downs from Aunt Sara's sister Ruby!

Playing with her NORA links:

Looking very grownup (drooly chin and all):

I don't know about all these pictures, Mama.

Daddy's telling me a story!

Brightwater

Thank you, Abby and Sara, for sharing these pictures with us! I wanted to post more, but blogger is being very persnickity about pictures for some reason. So these are all you get for now!

Nora relaxing with her Uncle Ben.


Nora with her Aunt Abby and Aunt Sara.


Nora "enjoying" the traditional Brightwater baby bath.


The cabin, for those of you who haven't joined us on a Brightwater vacation.


P.S. Aunt Emily, clearly you need to pose with Nora more! We don't have any pictures from that weekend of you two together!

Up and Over

In celebration of her three month birthday on Saturday, Nora rolled over! Well, she flipped from back to front, to her left, anyway. She did it once with encouragement on a slight incline, then repeated the performance about 20 times all over the place - on a flat quilt outside, on our bed, in her crib... She hasn't shown any inclination to try it some more since then, though, but we'll keep you updated.

Sorry for the lack of new pictures lately! People have been giving me a hard time about it. :) For some reason we just haven't been breaking out the camera as often as usual the last few weeks. Not a very good excuse, I know. I promise to post a few of the pics that we do have as soon as I, um, find the camera. Maybe Aa took it to work.

Gillette Castle

We had a fun family afternoon at Gillette Castle today, featuring lots of hiking around, gorgeous views of the Connecticut River, and admiring of the elaborate stonework and gardens everywhere (guess who that was! Hint: Nora is not so into rocks. Or flowers.). Nora spent most of the outing napping in her new baby carrier that Mama made last week - look how pretty it is! Aaron and aunt Abby are trying to convince me that I should start making these to sell. What do you think? Would you buy one for someone you know with a baby?

Nora is sleeping in the first three pictures, that's why her head is so deep inside the carrier. When she's awake, we put it on so she's higher up and can see around!
Babywearing isn't just for Mama! Daddy wears Nora in all of her carriers/wraps/sling too. A kitty hanging out atop one of the many stone bridges. Apparently Gillette was really into cats and had as many as 15 at a time, plus all the carved ones all around the castle and grounds.
Nursing Nora in her carrier while looking at the goldfish pond. This picture is in honor of World Breastfeeding Week!

Library Thing

Nora's aunt Abby is the librarian at Library Thing, a really cool website that you should all check out. Nora recently started her own library there, so you can check out what she's currently reading (um, having read to her). The pretty book covers on the sidebar of this blog are from her library too! Mama hasn't quite gotten around to listing all of Nora's books yet, but we're working on it.

Nora and some of the books in her library.

Stylin' in the LT onesie.

Goodbye, Pepe

We're back a little early from our Maine vacation because Aaron's grandfather, Nora's great-grandfather, passed away this week. He was a kind and friendly and caring man, and he'll be dearly missed. I'm so glad that he got to meet his great-granddaughter. Goodbye, Pepe.

Pepe and Nora, 3 weeks old.