Cruisin'

So our little girl is definitely finding her feet. The video below is a little long (it's only a minute), but she was so excited I just couldn't shut it off. It's pretty obvious to us that she doesn't even really need anything to hold herself up on any more. I think it just makes her feel more comfortable. So for your enjoyment, I give you, the Pre-Toddler:

The Lazy Mom's Record Keeper

Norah did something recently at a dinner with family and Mark's Aunt Tina remarked to me, "Better put that one in her baby book." In her Whoosey Whatzit? It took a minute for me to register the whole baby book thing. There are moms out there - who, by the way, I respect very much - that still carry on this time honored tradition. From milestone to daily minutia, they diligently record baby's every deed in The Book. I really like this idea in theory. In fact, while I was pregnant (probably in my nesting phase) I even thought of starting a baby book type journal for Norah.

There are just a couple of problems with the idea. First, my handwriting is really nothing to record for posterity. Add to that the fact that I'm left handed and anything written in ink gets smeared across the page...well let's just say I would've flunked calligraphy school. Second, I'm too busy. That is to say, I'm lazy. Spending all that time writing those things down (neatly, no less) just seems like something I wouldn't make a priority. So when Mark's aunt brought it up, it was the first time I thought about since I'd had Norah. And all this thinking about The Baby Book got me feeling kind of guilty. Do I just not love my child enough to catalogue her every achievement? Will she have an assignment one day in junior high, ask to see her baby book, and be bitterly disappointed at her mother's lack of interest in her life?

Then I remembered...

I blog.

So here's Norah's "Baby Book" story:

The other day we had dinner at Mark's aunt and uncle's house. His Aunt Cindy is in town and requested his uncle's home made Chinese food. Uncle Frank makes the best Chinese food around (and we like visiting with them anyway) so we were in! Before the meal Mark decided to feed her some hot and sour soup. I think he was kind of doing it as a joke to see her "sour face". Well Daddy, no such luck. Norah LOVES hot and sour soup! She kept yelling for more (which is about the only thing she says that sounds remotely like "Mamma"). Strong flavors do not intimidate this kid. It looks like we've got a baby foodie on our hands.

There. Now it's all recorded on the World Wide Interweb for posterity. Guilt trip averted.

Little Helper

I could barely keep up with this kid when we wasn't almost walking on her own. Now that she's got the crawling thing down and she's working on toddling, we seriously need a cage. Unfortunately, now that she's mobile the pack 'n' play (aka the Baby Cage) is way too confining. She's decided that the best thing to do when I set her in there is to scream at the top of her lungs as if she's being skinned alive.

She understands the concept of "helping" at least abstractly. I mean, she "helps" the dog eat her dinner all the time. So I decided to see if she had any patience with helping me do the laundry. I needed a place where she could hang out while sorted clothes. I figured, best case scenario, I'd even get the wet laundry in the dryer and a new load in the wash. 

Hence, the laundry basket became a miniature baby cage. The piles of clothes around the front and side are to keep her from tipping over. Before you start firing off that letter to Child Protection Services, she lasted maybe ten minutes in her new play pen, she was supervised directly the entire time, and as a bonus I actually DID get the load of laundry in the dryer and a new one in the washer. Sweet!

This is Norah pretending to be an angel. We are not fooled.

This is Norah in a more natural state, pondering what mischief she can get into.

This is Norah in her most natural state. Yelling. But hey, whatever gets the laundry done!

Steppin' Up

It's officially happened! We don't have pictures or video of it, but Norah took her first steps on her own today. I held her armpits from behind to let her get her balance. Then I let go and she took three steps, right into Daddy's arms. Stay tuned for photos once she a little more steady!

Learning to Share

This might not be the kind of sharing that I'll be encouraging in the future. I just turned around and Norah was doing this. I figured that since Jamie is so sweet and patient with her (increasingly mobile and interested) little roommate that I'd allow it for now. Observe:

A(nother) New Trick!

This video has a couple of really special things in it. The swing Norah is sitting on is a miniature porch swing that my grandfather made for my brother and I when we were little. He passed away last year just a few weeks before we were going to take Norah to visit him for the first time. Grandpa made a lot of gifts for us over the years, but this one is probably my favorite. I'm so glad to be able to share it with my little girl. She really seems to enjoy it too!

The other special thing is this video is the newest skill Norah has acquired. She learned this while we were on vacation but I didn't want to mention it until I had it on video. I know the lighting is a little dim, but I hope you can see how she responds to my question...

That's right folks! Our girl knows where her nose is! Next we're working on ears and eyes. Stay tuned!

My Little Fishy

My mom is a swimmer. I mean, not only does she love to swim, she's an amazingly good swimmer. For years and years she swam a mile a day six days a week. More than once she was stopped by swimming coaches asking what team she swam with. Once a woman who identified herself at a junior olympics swimming trainer stopped her mid-lap and said that she WISHED she could teach her students to swim like my mom.

I am a flopper. Not even really a floater. When I was little my parents would sometimes go weeks without washing my hair because I was so terrified of having water in my face. Mom made sure that if I were out in the middle of the pool and my raft flipped that I could get to the side without drowning. After 6 summers (or more, I've blocked it out) of swimming lessons, that's about all I learned.

My poor momma never got a kid who loved the water as much as she does. Until maybe now... Below are a few pictures of Norah in the pool yesterday. She got more and more comfortable in the water as time went by. Today she was dunking her own head under and kicking her legs out behind her. I think grandma might finally have her fishy baby.

Norah with mom as she was first getting in. She's enjoying the buoyancy.

My happy little water baby.

Again with the bouncing! Does this kid ever sit still!?!

On Vacation

In celebration of Summer (and my mom not having to work during said Summer) my parents got a place in Breckenridge for a week. They've been here since last Sunday and they were nice enough to invite us up for the last few days of their holiday. We left Durango after work on Wednesday and arrived just before 11 pm. 

We've had a lovely time so far. Yesterday was all about the shopping! We went to the outlets at Silverthorne and then to Target. Norah basically spent three hours hanging out in her stroller watching us shop. She was so well behaved. Especially for a girl whose biggest shopping experience has been in Farmington. 

Today we took a nice walk through town while Daddy took a nap (he's feeling sick from his THIRD sinus infection this year). The highlight of the day came after we got back from town. We took Norah swimming in the baby pool here at the resort. She had so much fun! The water was only a foot deep so she could stand up on her own. I think we got a few good pictures. We'll see when we get back home and upload the new pics to the computer. For dinner we went to a great restaurant here in town. It was fantastic food! Norah was so well behaved too. She really made the experience pleasant when she could have ruined an otherwise lovely dinner. Funny, as long as you keep her face stuffed with food she's a pleasure to be around. :-)