Ah Munna Getchoo!

Around about Tuesday Norah decided that walking is faster than crawling. Ever since then she's gotten steadier and steadier. Now that she's a little more sure on her feet, being chased has become one of the most fun things ever. In fact if you're not catching her fast enough she'll slow down or even pretend to fall just for the fun of being "gotten".

When she was first playing this game with us she would literally giggle for minutes every time she got caught. The camera was out of batteries (of course) so by the time I got the video it was almost bed time. I left the camera running a couple of seconds longer then it really needed to hoping she'd start up the adorable giggles again, but no such luck. Of course I have no idea how to edit it, so you're stuck with the 14 second version.

Also, please notice the dog's startled retreat. Ever since Norah's been really walking she's tried to "share" various toys with Jamie. Poor thing, she was really getting used to Norah as a source of extra food. Now there's this whole new dimension of playing and shrieking she's got to worry about. It's a good thing Jamie is patient. Anyway, enjoy!

A Little Bloggy Bragging

Just a quick update:

Norah has this awesome rideable elephant that her grandma in Yorba Linda got her (Hi Grandma!!). We call him Elliott. He's in the second picture down on the right side of the page. Anyway, she loves him and calls him by name all the time. When she does it kind of sounds like "Ell-lut" since she can't really make the long eeeee sound yet. I digress. Anyway, last night I was wearing a sweatshirt with a very small (maybe 2 inch tall) embroidered elephant on it. As I was feeding Norah, she reached out with her little finger, touched it and said, "Ell-lut".

Now I don't mean to overstate this or anything but learning that a picture of something represents that object is a pretty big developmental step! I thought maybe she was going in that direction with the rhinoceros thing the other day (see post below) but she really proved it when she put a name with a face, so to speak.

It kind of makes me feel guilty that we don't read with her every single day. Granted she still has a pretty short attention span and all, but I'm definitely making it a point to look at one or more books every day from now on. Now that she knows that pictures can equal objects before we know it she'll be learning that letters can equal sounds. Quick! Someone get this kid some wood letter blocks!! :-)

BONK!

Norah never ceases to amaze me. She learns new things at an incredible rate. Thousands of little synapses connect every singe day. I'm sure she actually knows much, much more than she's revealing, but here are a few developments in the last few days and weeks:

• Grammie (my mom) has been working with her on "in" and "out". If you tell her to put something in a basket or take it out she will. We're trying to make sure she knows that the things she takes "out" need to be put back "in". That'll work until she's two or so, right?
• She says and signs "more" when she wants more food. Sometimes she signs more and points to the type of food she wants. Sometimes she makes you guess. She also signs and says "all done" when she's finished.
• She knows "up" and "down". When she wants to be held, she tries to say "up". It comes out "bopp"
• Just today she pointed at the rhinoceros on Daddy's shirt and then to the stuffed rhino that she has in her room. She did that several times. Sweet! She's also recognizing pictures of monkeys and elephants as the same animal as her stuffed ones. That's a pretty big development!
• But her favorite new word/action is BONK! Now that she's walking she tends to fall and hit her head a little more often. Usually she doesn't really hurt herself, but she thinks about whether or not she should cry (I don't know where her preternatural desire for attention could have come from... certainly not me!). So Grammie started happily yelling "BONK!" every time she hit her head without hurting herself. Now, when you say, "BONK!" she puts her forehead up against the nearest hard surface and laughs. I'd say that's a better reaction than hysterical screaming every time she loses her balance.

So that's the update from the Jones household. Thanks for trying to keep up!!

PS - For those of you who are wondering, Mark and I had a lovely (and baby free) 6th anniversary weekend. It was wonderful and relaxing, but we're glad to be back with our girl. She grows so fast, we just don't want to miss it!

Thankful Thursday

This coming Sunday is our 6 year anniversary. Just a couple of weeks later, on August 5th, will be Norah's first birthday. Words can't even express how thankful I am for my amazing husband. He's my best friend, the anchor to my head-in-the-clouds personality and an even better father to our girl than I could have ever imagined.

Things aren't easy for us in some ways right now. But I can't imagine walking through the furnace in faith with anyone but that man. As uncertain as many aspects of our life are at this point, Mark has not wavered in his certainty that we'll be provided for. That gives me strength. In view of all the good gifts that have come down from the Father of Lights (none the least of which is Mark), I have to believe that he'll continue to be faithful. So, there's really only one thing I can be.

Thankful.

The Wee Wobbler

Mark asked me the other day when Norah will leave the "infant" stage and become a "baby". I'm not sure there's a clear cut moment, but I'm pretty certain that this is one of the signs of the transition.

Hooray for my baby!! Too bad she doesn't know that the remote we've designated for her to talk on (and throw on the floor every ten seconds) just happens to be the one without batteries that used to control the DVD player. Why weigh her down with details, right?

By the way, did you notice our stylish new side table by the couch? The pink really works with the rest of the decor, don't you think?

Monkey See, Monkey Dial

When friends and family call (especially Grandma and Grandpa) we usually let Norah talk on the phone for a little while. Until now, talking on the phone for Norah has been about trying to pull it away from her ear to see where that familiar voice is coming from. Apparently, however, after observing our phone conversations, Norah has decided that it must be a pretty fun activity. We heard her blabbing in baby gibberish at Uncle Frank's on the 4th of July. Here's what we saw (once we got the camera out of course):

What's that in her hand, you ask? Well, let's take a look at the extreme close up...

Oh look, it's Uncle Frank's remote! I swear in this picture she might as well be saying, "Mom! SHHH, I'm on the PHONE!" Just one more reminder to the parental units that our little one is watching (and listening) 24-7. Fortunately the remote is about the closest she's going to get to a real phone conversation for quite a while.