Snapshots from this week

Amazingly, this is the 100th post on Nora's blog. Wow, not only is she a year old, but she's in the triple digits for blog posts as well! :)

Nora adores her bike from Nana and Babchi. She rides it all around the house, and has totally figured out steering and getting herself out of corners by backing up!

Yes, she has to go for a ride before she even gets out of her PJs in the morning.
She can even mount and dismount by herself! It helps to have something to hold onto so the bike doesn't go sliding out from under her.
We had some very hot days last week, which always make for a sweaty, sleepy baby.
She was so sacked out during her nap one day that she didn't even wake up when I came into her room, so I took some pictures. She always prefers to sleep on top of her blankets, which makes sense when it's hot, but not when it's cold and she still does it!
All ready to set off for the Memorial Day parade, snacks, sunhat, and all.Waiting for the parade to start, Nora and Daddy both look pretty skeptical at some people who were trying to give us money on behalf of Christianity and then interview us about how God must exist because there are Coke cans in the world (at least, that seemed to be the gist of their argument). They seemed to know better than to talk to Mama - they must have known I would have told them what I really thought and not been as polite as Daddy was!
Nora looking all grown up in some cute pink pants that were a Valentine's Day gift from Uncle Ben and Aimee and her new big girl sneakers. She's grown out of her leather moccasins, and I spent ages looking for a pair of shoes that would suit her for the summer as she learns to walk. The key for a new walker is that they need really flexible soles, so that they can learn how to balance. She'll still be barefoot most of the time, but she does need some sort of shoes for outdoor situations when it wouldn't be safe to go without shoes. My main obstacle to finding an appropriate pair of shoes is that I'm really cheap, and wasn't going to spend $30 on the really nice ones... I finally found these at Target, and they're cheap and cute and very bendy, so hopefully they'll work. We tried them on around the house this morning to see how they felt.
Hm, what sort of mischief can I get into up here?
Yay for being a big girl!
Nora's been having a language explosion recently. A week and a half ago, she had three words: Mama, Dada, and (sign) hi/bye, all of which she's had for months. Now this is her vocabulary:
Spoken: Mama, Dada, Daddy, hi, byebye, yes.
Sign: hi/bye, more, milk, food/eat, all done, Daddy (occasionally).
Who knows, when she gets up from her morning nap today she may have even more words! She also repeats what we say a lot, but I only put the things she does without prompting on this list. Her most common repetitions are all done (ah da!) and shoe (shooo). It's super cute! She also started clapping yesterday for the first time.

Big girl!

Nora's been going crazy with the learning new things lately! After starting to sign "more" on Monday, she's already extended the meaning to "more" of anything she wants, not just food - so now she uses it for more food, more stories read to her, more pushes on the swing, more toys please because I threw all the ones I had out of my carseat and I can't reach them... Yesterday, she said what sounded suspiciously like "bye bye," in the appropriate context, three times (and then no one else was leaving, so I couldn't get her to do it again!). Also yesterday, at story hour, she started standing on her own for long periods of time, like over a minute - much longer than she's stood without holding on ever before. Then, when we got home from the library, she stood up by herself in the middle of the floor without anything to pull up on! I think she was inspired by Caitlyn, a 14 month old girl at the library who was busy running around everywhere. I can't wait to see what Nora learns how to do today. :)

I took this picture because I was impressed she was doing such a good down dog (which we do in yoga class every week) on her own. Little did I know that this was actually the beginning of the standing on her own process! I was so flabbergasted that somehow I didn't take a picture of her standing up. The adorable strawberry dress she's wearing (though this may not be the most flattering angle to see just how cute it is) was another birthday gift from Alyssa and Dan.


But I got a picture of her when she stood up herself this morning! Doesn't she look proud of herself? I love her bedhead when she first wakes up.
In the bottom right of that picture you can see a red and yellow drum, which is filled with other instruments. This was a birthday present from Nora's friends Jack and Elise and their parents, and it may be her very favorite gift! She loves all of the instruments, and can entertain herself for ages playing music. Her favorite is the ladybug-shaped xylophone bells, with an accompanying mallet for banging. Lots of fun!

In other news, Nora's 12 month well-baby pediatrician visit was earlier this week. As expected, she's healthy and happy, and doing great. She's only gained 1 lb in the last three months, dropping her weight to to the 85th percentile, but that's perfectly fine. She grew 2.5 inches in that same three months! She's still in the 95th percentile for both height and head size. She's definitely getting taller and leaner - a few months ago, we couldn't use the tray on her booster seat because it was too tight on her belly, but now it fits her fine again!

Yay!

Nora loves to play outside! We've had some gorgeous days interspersed with some not-so-lovely ones lately, so we're making the most of the nice weather when we've got it. Here she is picking dandelions in her sporty new dandelion-colored shorts outfit, a birthday gift from Alyssa and Dan.
Crawling on grass feels so neat on your hands and feet! Right after this picture was taken, we got attacked by a swarm of gnat-like bugs, and Nora got a big bite on her forehead...
...As seen in this picture, where she's also modeling her new baseball cap from Savannah! (And her mouth is full of Cheerio's, which is why she has such a funny smile.) Poor baby - the red bump from the bug bite is still around today, six days after the bite. She has super sensitive skin.
In other exciting news, Nora did her first real sign yesterday! She signed "more" first thing in the morning when she wanted more nursies, and continued doing it throughout the day and today. She's doing a self-modified version (it looks like clapping with one open hand and one fist, basically), but it's very clear what she means, and that she knows what she means. She gets this big proud grin on her face and signs very deliberately until she gets whatever she wanted more of! So far, she's only using it for food, but that's when we model it the most, so that makes sense. She did it at all of her meals yesterday, and again today! I think she'll probably expand it to other uses as well, and I hope more signs follow soon! Now she can really talk to Aunt Emily!

Happy Birthday to Nora!!

Whew, what a busy weekend! First of all, here's the article about Nora's yoga class. That was our excitement for Friday.

Saturday, of course, was Nora's first birthday! We had a really wonderful time with lots of family and friends. I know a lot of people took some great pictures, and I'd love it if you could email them to me when you get a chance!

Nora got to open her presents from Mama and Daddy before she even got dressed in the morning! You can see just how excited she was.

Nora really really likes balloons.
Yay for my very own balloon!
Checking out one of her birthday books.

The scene, all ready for the celebration!

Nana and Nora getting ready to party.

All dressed up and ready to go!
Nana and Babchi gave Nora a bike!
Nora's very proud of herself.
We set up our little camping tent, and filled it with balls to play with!
Neat shadows...
Daddy presents... The birthday girl!!

Cupcakes!

Wow, this is for me?!?
Um, how do I get into it?
Ohh, now I see. Cream cheese frosting is really good!
I like ice cream too!

Nora shares her cupcake with her friend Savannah, while her friend Taylor plays in the tent behind them.

Nora's friends Elise and Jack help her open some presents.

Savannah tries out Nora's new rocking horse. It's really fun!

Nora was very focused on unwrapping gifts.

Peeking in her wagon to see what else awaits her!

Ok, time for a ride.
Hey, pull me faster!
Mem and Grandpa gave Nora a swing - it's a big hit!

Sunday was Mother's Day, and we celebrated by eating out for both breakfast and dinner, and going for a hike (where we found our first letterbox) and some ice cream in between. It was a fun and food filled day! I am so lucky to have such a strong and special and sweet and brave little girl, and I feel so blessed to be her mother.

Pictures and News

A long time since the last update here - sorry! But lots has been going on... Here are some cute pictures of Nora, of course, to start off.



Hanging out in her chair, getting ready for lunch.
Eating a cracker before lunch.
Here, I picked a dandelion for you!
It's really, really, really interesting.
Daddy just finished landscaping around the new stairs he built in the side yard.
There are rocks!! Hurray! Nora loves rocks.
I mean, she really loves rocks!

Before: getting ready for Nora's first real haircut. (I trimmed her bangs in February, but this is the whole thing.)

Before from the back: you can see all the long wisps making up the coveted baby mullet!
After: she's suddenly a toddler! (I evened up her bangs a little more after this picture.)
After from the back: no more mullet!
Nora likes both her new haircut and her supper.

In other exciting news, Nora and Mama have been taking an Itsy Bitsy Yoga class together for the last few weeks. A photographer from the local paper was there this morning, and there may be a story in the paper on Mother's Day this Sunday featuring the class! I hope some of the pictures he took of Nora get in the paper - she was having a really good time this morning, and looking super cute (as always).

Also exciting news is that we're getting ready for Nora's first birthday this coming Saturday. She's having a party with her family and friends - I'm sure lots of pictures will follow! She's also getting ready for a special Mother's Day on Sunday, which should be a bit more relaxing than Mother's Day last year, when we brought her home from the hospital.

And finally, the most exciting news of all is that Nora's going to be a big sister this fall! Her new baby sibling (we don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl, but we'll find out next month) is due on Halloween, so they'll have a space of just under a year and a half between them. We're all thrilled, and can't wait to meet the new baby!