To Market, Two Birthdays

Nora's 1st trip to the West Side Market was a hit!

There are two big birthdays coming up this week: Naomi's is tomorrow, on Martin Luther King Day and Nora's 3 month birthday is on Wednesday. What??? 3 months??? Yes, it's true! It's hard to believe, but today, on a blustery day in Cleveland, Naomi & I sat with Nora, Julie & Chantal and watched the videos from Nora's birthday through December for the first time. It's crazy enough to think that we hadn't watched these videos yet, but then, to see how much she's changed already... it's wild! I'm still trying to figure out the camera and how to convert the videos to files I can share, so I'm not going to post them here, but even just looking back through this blog, you can get an idea of how big she's getting, how much more aware and visibly happy!

I think that's the best part... seeing her face reacting to mine. I put her on her changing table and start making silly faces at her and she just lights up. In turn, I get giddy and the whole thing just keeps cycling from baby to daddy to baby and back for a good 2 minutes, until my cheeks start to hurt and I realize that Nora's laying bare-assed on the table and that I'd better get a diaper on her before she shoots a poo at the wall.

We're starting to realize that this year isn't going to be as quiet as we'd forecasted. Contrary to 2007, this year we'll be busy with big events in our friends' lives. Tish & Morgan are getting married in Santa Cruz, Erin & Henry in Chicago, Sarah & Aaron in Washington... Molly & Joel will be having their second baby any day now; Norma & Joe, their second in March; Emma & Rob, their second in April; Jake & Sarah and Julie & George will both have their first in July. We'll be traveling to share in many of these events, which is great for so many reasons, but I think we're going to be pretty burned out by the end of the summer!

Here are a few of my faves from the past week or so:

Nora in her Happy Coat (passed down from her mother!):

Time to fly!

Nora's alert and sitting pretty with mommy & Chantal:

Julie reads to Nora:

Chantal & Nora:

Sleepytime scowl:

Nora has really started to notice the camera... work it baby!

Lisa cuddles Nora:

Grandma & Grandpa:

Great Grandma:

She's been getting her thumb pretty consistently:

Happy in mommy's arms:

Naptime:

Holiday Recap

As promised, we've finally uploaded the holiday pictures from Yellow Springs & Cleveland 2007-2008. Click here to see 142 memories from December and January!

Nora made so much progress over this 3-week period and in the week since. She's more aware of her hands and her eyes are steadily following moving objects. Tummy time isn't exactly rocking her world just yet, but she's making great strides there regardless, picking up her head for a little longer each day. Sadie, incidentally, loves tummy time. She so badly wants to play along, but has shown great restraint, staying juuust off the mat!

These weeks were a great time. It was such a treat to get to see all of you, friends and family, in Yellow Springs and in Cleveland. Most of all, we were so happy that you got to meet Nora at this young age. She'll be so much bigger next time you see her! As for those who haven't met her yet, what are you waiting for?

11 weeks - 14 pounds!!!

Our little Nora isn't so little anymore! At Monday's pediatrician appointment she weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs. That's about 85-90 percentile. Go Nora! What can I say...she loves the milk!

We still have lots and lots of holiday pictures to put up, but here's a little video of her cuteness to tide you over. Please note her impressive ability to track objects, which is an important developmental milestone before learning to control her arms and after smiling for happiness not just gas. Enjoy!