11 months

Nora's 11 month Birthday was yesterday! As always, I am in awe by how quickly she's growing.

I keep being struck w/ the thought that Nora is the most fun/interesting/adorable at each stage she goes through and I can't believe I thought during the previous stage that she was the most fun/interesting/adorable then. I guess that goes to show that our Nora shines in the moment and she's just getting better and better with age. I feel truly lucky every day that she is in our lives.

At 11 months Nora:

• has 3.75 teeth (two bottom middle, one top middle and the other top middle is partially in);
  
• crawls like a pro and stands up on objects with no problem;
  
• can walk while holding a hand or pushing a toy;
  
• smiles easily and has a wonderful laugh that she saves only for the most gleeful of moments (usually a friend, an animal or a good tickle);
  
• has decided to boycott easy diaper changes, forcing us to move like lightening to get those things on and off;
  
• probably weighs a little over 20 lbs;
  
• can say "dog" and "no" and, sparingly, "mum" for milk, and I think she's said "done" and maybe "shoe";
  
• has only been sick twice, the last of which was a really long string of colds that has just finally cleared up;
  
• nurses before naps and bedtime and a few times between - she's a busy girl these days;
  
• takes 2 naps a day, varying in length from 45 min to 2 1/2 hours;
  
• LOVES cantelope and watermelon and enjoys raisins, cheerios, dried cranberries, bananas mixed with just about any veggie, beans, just about any fruit, and bread;
• gives wonderful hugs to people and her stuffed animals and still kisses open-mouth with generous amounts of drool;
• is a little dance machine and bops her head to anything with rhythm;
• loves to turn the light switch on and off - she could play that game for hours;
• is careful around new people, but doesn't cry when I leave for work;
• knows what she wants and will let you know when she's upset!;
  
• and is an absolute joy.
  

Here are some cuties from the last few days...



Swinging at the Boyd's (they had us over for a late evening bonfire in their backyard):



She likes to hang out "fireside":


Daddy & Nora spinning...see video below for live action spinning:


Demonstrating her walking skills!



Hugs for everyone. :)



And, finally, the spinning...

Ah, love...

We had a wonderful weekend in Punderson State Park celebrating Matt & Melissa's wedding. It was beautiful weather and an amazing spot for a wonderful couple. Nora thoroughly enjoyed herself, meeting new friends and getting in a good bit of dancing!

Nora, looking pensive waiting for the ceremony to begin...


Chris & Nora with Joel & Mae...


More pensive waiting...


Nora found all kinds of "treasures" to keep her busy...


Congrats to Matt & Melissa!

Buddies

Nora has such a packed social life, it's hard to keep up. Recently, she's hung out with Will G and Zoli and had lots of hugs and kisses from Max, Molly & Sadie.

Here are Nora and Will having an intense discussion about the need to lower the voting age to 1 (because we adults keep f'ing it up!)...


Will, who is almost 2, initially followed his toddler instinct to take toys away from Nora but quickly realized his mistake and would say "sowwy" and give her huge bear hugs and kiss her head...SO cute.


A relaxing day at home w/ the pets (Molly was being elusive, so no photos of her lovely roundness)...



And here's Zoli, about 4 months older than Nora, teaching her all kinds of new tricks! Zoli and his Mom, Carol, have been hanging out w/ Nora one day a week while I'm at work. They already have a number of inside jokes.

Yay!

Nora started clapping on Monday! It's really cute.



And here are some adorable shots at Whiskey Island last night while watching Chris play volleyball. It was chilly enough for her to sport this cute cute hat.

Sassy Malassy

Yep, you heard it here first - our little angel has added some sass to her repertoire lately!

I think it's a combination of a growing ego (the "I'm an individual with desires" kind, not the "I'm better than everyone else" kind), a few back-to-back colds, and some front upper teeth making their way into her mouth. Whatever it is, it appears as an arched back scream when we redirect her from, say, diving off the bed or down the stairs (I wanted to go down there!), or take something away from her (that power cord/sharp thing/cat's tail was my new favorite toy!). It's humorous, tough on the ears and exciting to see her little personality growing right in front of us.

So far, we've been trying to honor her feelings (I know, it's hard when you can't have something you want...) while not paying too much attention to it. She usually forgets about it quickly and moves on to something else.

Here she is in all her glory - no pictures of aforementioned sass...sorry.

Watching the rain...



Mmmmm...yummy shoe!


This smile looks like her Daddy!


So fast!


My sous chef...so helpful!

baby blessings, browns, and no no no

We had a good rainy weekend in Cleveland. Nora is still getting over a cold (probably 2 or 3 colds, really) and is working on her two upper front teeth, so she's been slightly out of sorts lately but she tries her hardest to be her happy go lucky self. She's become obsessed with the word "no" - yeah, I thought it was too early for that too! - and it seems she's come to the conclusion that all framed pictures are called "dada". ;)

On Friday night Chris's parents sat for Nora and C and I went to a surprise Bday party for Adam. It was fun to have a little "adult time" and I think G&G Bongorno enjoyed spending time with Nora.

Saturday afternoon we headed down south to attend a baby blessing for Ani (the daughter of Cassandra and Jason who we met in our birth class). It was a really beautiful ceremony celebrating Ani and their family. I loved seeing how much Ani and Nora have grown - it inspired us to try to get together more often.

Last but not least, Sunday was the first Browns game of the season. Although the game didn't end well we had a good time hanging out with friends and, as always, the kiddos managed to lighten the mood significantly. :)

Cassandra and Jason giving Ani their blessing...


Nora and Ani getting re-acquainted...


Playing in the grass during the blessing...


Mae, Nora and Sofia hanging out during the Browns game...


The scene...the guys did lots of tongue biting as the Browns stunk up the room.


Football is exhausting...and, yes, Nora's browns outfit is the same one she wore last year, although last year it was a dress and this year it's a shirt! Click here to see her sporting it last year.


Cutie pie.


And, finally, here's a video of Nora (it's a long one) that demonstrates her favorite new game with the curtains and her love of the word "no" - you have to watch till the end to reap the benefits. Enjoy!

Where's Dada?

Seriously, I think this might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Viewers beware of this video's heart melting abilities. Watch at your own risk.

Not long enough weekend

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend in Yellow Springs. As always, it didn't seem long enough but we managed to fit in watching one of Kevin's soccer games, visiting with family, dancing up a storm, getting lots of sleep (during the day anyway) to cure our colds, and Chris went down to Cincinnati to visit friends.

Nora also learned how to climb up stairs over the weekend and during the last week she says what we think means "dog" (sounds like "daw"), laughs socially when people around her laugh, and points at things she wants or is curious about. She's clearly a genius.

Before we left for the weekend Nora enjoyed our new/old rocking chair (thanks Mom!). Our good family friend, Al, made this rocking chair for my parents when Mom was pregnant with one of my brothers (I can't remember which one) and Mom recently passed it down to us. Nora likes it!


Here are the Speeds in their beautiful house in Cincinnati. They've been putting a lot of love and elbow grease into this lovely old house, and it looks like it's paid off! Nora and I were really really sad to miss the visit, but we decided that the risk of getting little Finn sick and the need for some good napping were too much to ignore. We'll be getting down there to introduce Finn and Nora soon!


And, as a comparison, here's Chris with Finn at 2 months and both of us with Nora at the same age. Finn definitely looks longer, but I think Nora wins in the double chin department.



And, finally, we caught Nora doing some of her fancy dancing! She loved listening to Kevin playing the guitar...I think I'm going to have to learn. :)