Happy Belated Easter!

Sorry we've been slow on the updates lately.

We had a good Easter weekend. We went to Chris's parents house for early dinner and hung out with family and friends. Joe, Norma, Sofia and Norma's Mom also came, which was great. It was a good occasion to get Nora into a cute spring dress (even though it feels very winter-like still!).

It's been a pretty action-packed week in Noraland. On Sunday, Nora rolled over (front to back) for the first time (at exactly 5 months)! It was very exciting and she hasn't yet been able to replicate the act, but I'm sure she'll be rolling all over the place soon enough.

She has also taken a much more intense interest in everything we put in our mouths. She wants to "drink" water out of our glasses and eat anything and everything. I'm still trying to hold out on solid food, but I did give her a little taste of my banana on Monday - she spit it out but wanted more immediately!

To round it all out, she got her first cold. It's already getting better, and was never really that bad, but it was sad to see her coughing and snotting all over the place. On a positive note, she almost made it all the way through her first winter w/out getting sick! And, I think this cold was encouraged by her teething...that's what I've heard anyway.

Without further ado, here are some pics of the past week and a cute video of her standing up...such a strong girl!

Nora got to meet Jesse during his recent visit to Cleveland...

A cute new bonnet from Great G'ma and G'pa Sikes...we're ready for the sunshine!

All greened out for St. Patrick's Day...

Good Sadie...Nora LOVES Sadie

Getting ready for baseball season...Go Tribe!

On Easter Sunday, hanging out with Grandpa B...


Sofia doing something cute (baby Fiona is due any day now)!

Aunt Beth and Nora...

Nora trying to drink my water...

This was absolutely adorable - Nora is fascinated by babies littler than she is...here she is trying to kiss (a very slobbery open mouth kiss) Theodore (a new friend of the family who is about 12 weeks old)...

She was very concerned and confused when he didn't enjoy her affections...we told her to get used it, boys won't admit to liking her for years to come!

Mommy & Nora

And as a reward for making it all the way to the end, here's that movie...

17 lbs!!!

We had a great weekend - my Dad and brothers (and Kosar the dog) came for a visit, which was wonderful. Nora loved catching up with them. I think it's safe to say they're all smitten. :) I think it's also safe to say our Nora is working on some teeth. She chews (hard!) on anything she can get her hands on and is drooling more than normal. Watch out food!

On Monday Nora walked in her first St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown! She was wonderful and enjoyed seeing the marching bands and the big Newfoundland dogs that were walking by us. Pictures to come...

Today Nora and I went to the pediatrician's and she weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs (26 1/4 inches long)! She'll be 5 months old this weekend. I can't believe how fast she's growing. I really like her Dr. - we talked about nursing and sleeping and starting solid foods (Nora can't wait but I'm hoping to hold out until she's 6 months). She's (the Dr.) a really down to earth woman who is very supportive of the many "untraditional" parenting decisions we've made (homebirth, co-sleeping, postponing vaccinations, etc.). She agreed that our girl is healthy and as cute as ever!

Here are pics from the weekend:

"Petting" Sadie (wearing her onesie from Logan - thanks!)...


Sadie and Nora in a staring contest...

Nora checking out G'pa G...

With Mom and the Uncles...

Nora loves to fly!


Trying to eat Steve's finger...




"Petting" Kosar...

Snuggles with Mommy...

and Daddy...

Spring? Seriously?

We got hit by a whopper of a snowstorm last weekend! Here's a picture from our front porch:

On Sunday we managed to get out of the house (walking, of course) to go to Joe and Norma's for brunch. Here's Chris trudging through the snow. You can see Nora's little feet protruding on either side of his waist...she slept through most of the walk:


Sadie LOVES the snow, so she's been in heaven running around out back. We got a few good videos of Chris and I playing with her in our backyard. I'll post those later. Here's a picture of us about to go outside...so excited!

Nora is as good as ever. She's laughing a lot these days and now ends her laughing fits with a nice loud squeal, usually followed by the hiccups. It's pretty heart melting. If Nora was a superhero her super power would probably be being so cute that the bad guys would immediately turn good - she has a brightening effect on just about everything she comes into contact with. Here are some examples:


Nora is learning good dental care early, using Daddy's teeth as proxies:

She's really started to notice Sadie and the cats - I think she wants to eat them!

ALERT...the following picture contains some adorable, chubby nudity...

Possibly the most exciting news of late is that Chris shaved his winter beard! He picked the coldest, snowiest weekend to do it, reminding us that spring is just around the corner. Here's a video of Nora seeing her Daddy cleanshaven for the first time...

Leap Night & More

What Naomi didn't tell you about was all the outdoor activities we got into this weekend with Nora. It's definitely true that we're getting a little cabin fever right about now. We've been hopping on any chance to get out for a walk with Nora & Sadie when the sun's out, even if it's in the 20s, as it was on Saturday afternoon.

Friday night was a little warmer, but it ended up meaning rain. Not too much, but just enough to dampen the festivities at the first ever Leap Night. Part of a series of events under the umbrella of Pop Up City, Leap Night was themed around winter activities, from snowboarding to ice skating, and included an outdoor video game competition (Rock Band), bonfires, warm food & drink, and more. The venue was a vacant riverfront property in the Flats that will soon be transformed into the Flats East Bank megaproject. The next event will be in our neighborhood in some vacant storefronts...fun! So, Nora enjoyed the outing, but it definitely wasn't her all-time fave. It was windy and a little rainy, but she was happy to run into some friends and spend some time out on the town!

Snowboard ramp... and yes, eagle-eye, that's Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in the background!
Naomi & Nora standing next to the dead Christmas tree forest:
Ice sculpture and Cuyahoga River bridges:Then, on Saturday, we popped Nora into her off-roading stroller, wrapped that sucker up, threw Sadie's leash on her (Sadie, that is) and set out for Edgewater Park. It was an adventure! Sadly, we didn't bring the camera, because we found that barely any of the sidewalks between shoveled and the bike/ped path down to the park was one big snow drift. Once we got down to the bottom of the hill, the park path itself was manageable. Sadie & I ran a couple laps and Naomi did one with Nora. The sledders were out on the hill by where our pre-wedding picnic took place and we both dreamed of the day when we'll be able to tow Nora down to the park in a sled and then ride the slopes with her, right down to the snowy beach!

By Sunday, we were exhausted and ready for a break. But that wasn't in the cards! Nora had her first trip to the zoo and apparently loved the monkeys. In fact, she loved them so much that she went back again on Monday. She's gonna be pissed when she realizes that she slept through the whole thing the second time around!

And as a reward for reading down to the bottom of this lengthy, text heavy post, I'm going to reward you with a video of Nora talking and bouncing in her new swing!

New friends

Nora has had an exciting couple of days full of new friends and new toys. On Friday we went over to Molly and Joel's to hang out with Molly, Will, Mae, Norma, Sofia, Ashley, and Alta. Here's a pic of the littlest girls...Nora at just over 4 months, Alta at 2 and a bit months and Mae at about 3 weeks:


On Saturday, Norma and I went to a resale event in Fairview Hts and I got Nora lots of cute clothes, books and a fun exersaucer that she loves. Here she is enjoying her new toy:

And here are some random pictures of Nora looking cute: