Time to Share

Okay, now the cat is out of the bag. Phew!

We found out in early May that we would be expecting our second baby just after the new year. We are exciting to be growing our family!

I must admit that it is a bit different of a feeling than when having your first baby... There were a lot of "unknowns" that I had with Nora but I am finding that there are a lot MORE new and different "unknowns" that we now are dealing with... 

Nora has already expressed her excitement about being a big sister. She is doing big sister things like assigning blame (pointing) and running (crawling) away. She is also sharing lots of food and toys with Ford, giving her good practice for her big day in January. 

She refuses to share her room with the new baby though so I will have to clean out our guest room to make another nursery. I am quickly realizing that what I expected to be somewhat of a summer project may be unlikely. Nora is EVERYWHERE in the house right now and it is becoming a game for her to see how fast she can actually crawl. From room... to room... to room... up the stairs... down the stairs... back up again... And on top of that, nap time is unpredictable so I don't get a lot done.

P2 at 10 weeks, measuring right on schedule.

Our next sonogram will likely be the gender reveal appointment in late July/August depending on when my appointments get lined up. Things have been crazy in the medical department this week, but that's a whole different story. The important thing is that the baby is doing well and we are looking forward to finding out what we will be having!

Updates soon...

Nine Months

We had Nora's nine month check up this morning! She is a growing girl. But hey, we already knew that!

She weighed in at 19 pounds, 12 ounces and is 28.5 inches tall. We're going to have to start looking into a new car seat for baby girl. She grew 2 inches since her last visit!

Next time we go in, Nora will be a ONE YEAR OLD!! Yikes.

She's a very focused baby!

Since last month...

waves bye-bye Nora is still not consistently waving but she does wave hello and bye-bye at times. And then sometimes she waves at times when no one is really coming or leaving. She's a cutie.

knows Ford I must admit that he has been driving me a bit crazy lately with his attention seeking and licking. He is always licking the baby. Nora doesn't seem to mind when he is all up in her business. She likes to play with him and swing his toys around. He hasn't figured out how to best play with her so he just resorts, yet again, to licking. Ick.

"dances" Nora still likes to bounce her arms up and down and dance! She loves music. We sing before bed and naps every day but she likes to listen to music when she's awake, too. We are going to start listening to our Toddler Tunes from Primrose this summer so that we are all ready when class starts in August!

gives mommy "kisses" Nora has been very selective about giving kisses, but it is the cutest thing when she does. I just give her lots and hope for one every now and then.

bangs on the table for more Nora loves to bang on things and make noise. She also is grunting ("mmmm") when she wants more. I don't know if she is trying to say "more" or if she is just making noises. We have been using sign and words for a couple of months and I know she knows the word "more" but she hasn't verbalized with hands or mouth yet. We're still waiting!

loves using her pointer finger She will still point at things, suck on her pointer finger, and is now doing this silly little thing where she squeezes her pointer finger with her opposite hand, over and over again. Not sure why. She is starting to use her pointer and thumb some when she picks up food, but not necessarily every time.

eats some finger foods Nora needs to improve here. I've got to get her ready for daycare. This summer we're going to work on more finger foods! She's got the gumming part down, she just plays with the little bits when they're put in front of her. Hopefully more progress here by next month.

drinks out of a sippy cup We're still drinking water only out of a cup. She has been doing well with it, drinking on her own. She also likes to throw the cup on the floor. And then Ford licks it.

crawls LOTS of crawling. Nora wants to crawl everywhere. She crawled up the stairs the other day. Not just one or two stairs... the whole flight! She doesn't seem to mind crawling on rough surfaces with bare knees. It's awful. She is loving getting around on her own.

stands up on furniture Sometimes I think Nora enjoys standing on the furniture more than actually crawling. She likes to be a big girl. She pulls up on chairs, couches, window sills, people, baskets, cabinets, even somehow our glass shower door. I have no idea how. She does it though!

creeps while standing Nora has been moving around while standing, transferring from different furniture. Our pediatrician said Nora has very strong legs and thinks she will be taking some steps by her next visit at one year. We will see! On occasion she is letting go, but I think purely by accident.

has two teeth No change here. Sometimes I think she is getting more, but I haven't seen any for sure. Those two little teeth front and center are all we have for now!

At nine months...

recognizes her name

knows mommy, daddy, and Ford (looks when asked) talks to other people and self
says "dada" and other babbles (no "mama" yet)
eats three meals a day
takes two naps a day
sleeps all night
climbs stairs (up only)
doesn't want to be left alone to play

doesn't want to be left alone to nap (slight separation anxiety??)

Climbing on everything...

We have a big couple of months ahead of us! On one hand I am so glad that it is summer so we can enjoy our time, but we have lots to do as well.

We need to start getting Nora ready for day care (one nap a day, only finger foods!) and I should probably start thinking about a birthday party for the sweet girl. Not to mention house projects, cleaning, and school "stuff" to work on.

Until next month (which is now actually less than a month) ... 

Eight Months

Happy eight months to Nora Lane!

This month has been fun. Nora has been showing that she understands a lot more and tries to communicate with us in her own little way. We think she weighs about 19 pounds, but we won't go to the doctor until next month.

Since seven months...

babbling (da da da & na na na) Nora will throw in a different consonant every now and then, but she still mostly uses DA, despite my continuous efforts for her to say "MAMA"!

talks to other babies Nora loves to visit with other kids. She likes to watch and learn from them, too!

shakes things Still loving to shake things... water, her bottle, her puffs container... anything, just to see if it makes noise!

facetimes with daddy Nora won't talk on the phone, really... she just wants to look at it!

eats fruit, veggies, chicken, yogurt & cereal  No big changes in diet for baby girl, but we have been trying a lot more finger foods! It takes her much longer to eat, though, so I have to help her along just a bit.

army crawling (see video below) Nora's made lots of progress on the crawling front... (see previous post). She is now full-on crawling around. She doesn't like to travel too far, though... I'm thankful - I don't have to chase her around just yet! 

holds herself up standing Nora LOVES to stand. She pulls herself up on everything now, even things that she really can't pull up on. I don't know how she does it. Then, she moves from one piece of furniture to another. Loves it.

sits up on her own Nora will play sitting, take sitting breaks, sit and read. She is a sitting professional. And so much for laying down. I can't get the girl to lay down still for more than a millisecond. Makes it hard to take a picture and especially hard to change a diaper!

A snapshot of Nora at eight months:

waves bye-bye

knows Ford

"dances"

gives mommy "kisses"

bangs on the table for more

loves using her pointer finger

eats some finger foods

drinks out of a sippy cup

crawls

stands up on furniture

creeps while standing
has two teeth

There's Mommy!

Teeth

Nora's been drooling a lot lately. And every day since she was about 3 months old.

We were just playing one afternoon when I spied it... A TOOTH! Or, at least I thought it was.

So I preceded to do what every mom would do when their first child gets their first tooth... look at it and feel it. Which of course, she wouldn't let me do. It's pretty amazing that for five stinkin' months she didn't complain a bit about a tooth coming through her gums but she won't for the life of her let me look at or feel her gums. Every time I tried to get in there, she would whip her head away so fast.

Stinker.

Needless to say, I don't have a picture of it, which is what Justin requested (facetiously, of course) when I called to tell him that I was pretty sure there was one there.

But in less than a week, I have determined it is definitely a tooth and it is coming up little by little each day. And guess what... there's ANOTHER one, too!

So Nora will have two little teeth on the bottom, front and center, pretty soon here. Maybe when they're more than a millimeter out of her gums I can try to capture her first pearly whites on camera.

Until then, we will just have to enjoy her sweet smile sans-teeth.

Enjoying her new tunnel!

Loving the playroom!

Morning with mommy

Crawling

April 2nd: Army crawling

April 10th: Inch-worming

April 17th: Spurts of crawling

April 22nd: Shaky crawling

April 26th: Crawling

There she goes!

Nora is not the baby that just wakes up one day and is all of a sudden doing something new. She grows and grows in all kinds of different ways right before our eyes. It's fun to see the progress!

I can't help but be so proud of baby girl! But, I know that now...

...our lives are forever changed.

On another note, we have officially lowered her crib since she started sitting up. She also pulls to standing and thinks it is pretty fantastic. She did this once in her crib, too. That takes a lot of talent being that she is in a sleep sack which is usually pretty twisted.

Now what?

Let me out!

Kind of blurry, but she obviously loves it!

Sitting up in the crib... instead of sleeping, of course.

Six Month Photos

Prepare yourself for cuteness.

The last time we saw our talented photographer was when Nora was just a week old...

I can't believe it's been six months since that picture was taken. Time FLIES and SO MUCH has changed!

We recently had Nora's six month photos taken and Nora loved every minute of the photo shoot even though it was pretty chilly. There were so many amazing pictures but here are some favorites:

Look at those rolls!! 

So sweet!! 

Play Time

This is going to be fun.