Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was full of family, good friends and lots of food...just the way it should be. G'pa Gilbert and Uncles Steve & Kevin came for the long weekend and got in lots of fun Nora time. She sufficiently showed off her new walking skills and ability to control a crowd (i.e., make adults do whatever she wants and stop conversation to watch her being cute!).

Here are some pictures from the holiday weekend.

Nora's new favorite spot - the shoe "rack" by the front door, which happens to be the perfect height for a Nora bench...


Showing off her new/used winter boots! Pretty sassy!

Walking walking walking...


I can't imagine many things better than seeing your adorable daughter walk up to you with arms outstretched and a huge smile...


Nora helped me make the gravy...


Chris and me, cooking away!


Nora, greeting Sofia with Desre looking on...


The T-Day crew - the Boyd's (plus big, Desre & Itzel, and little, Sofia & Fiona, girls), G'pa & G'ma Bongorno, Jim, G'pa G, Steve, Kevin, and us (notice Nora eating off of my Dad's plate)...


Grandpa's food tasted much better than her's did...


Until she flung it on poor Kevin...


Finally, after the boys left this afternoon we went to Edgewater Park for Nora's first self-propelled walk down by the Lake!

Busy week

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week - it was a busy one! I worked M, W, & Th and had book club/girl's night on Friday night. And, more importantly, Nora decided to begin choosing walking as her preferred mode of transportation! The only thing that slows her down is her current inability to stand up from sitting, so if she falls she has to crawl to the nearest wall, chair or person for help. It's pretty cute!

Here's a video of said walking (I love her new way too big overalls from G'ma S...nice and cozy):



Nora, all ready to go out in the cold - she even brought an extra chin to keep her warm!


Playing in the hat basket...


And, here she is in "the chair" at almost 13 months, compared to 5 months - not much more hair, but a lot more lbs and inches!

Kiss the cook

We're heading to Yellow Springs for the weekend, so I leave you with this cute video of Nora playing with her favorite "toys". The non-toys are always the best, huh?

Fun n' Games

Here are a few videos from the past week or so of Nora playing two of her favorite games: tag (sorry if the camera work is a bit nauseating) and peek a boo.

Wow

I am overwhelmed today to wake up and feel filled with hope for our country and for the world. We had a wonderful day yesterday volunteering for Obama, which made his victory feel so much more like our victory too.

I canvassed the neighborhood for an hour or so by myself before Chris and Nora met up with me, and in that hour I fell more in love with Cleveland and Ohio City/Detroit Shoreway than I have in the previous 3 years combined. I talked with people young, old, black, white, hispanic, female, male, poor, and not-so-poor and I really felt like we were neighbors and were in this together. It felt absolutely amazing to walk around and feel that sense of shared purpose - I even got a unanimous round of applause when reminding people to vote in a local barber shop! The afternoon left me even more in awe of what Obama has been able to do during this election - it was clear that everyone I spoke to (except perhaps for the 18/19 year old guy who said he'd only vote if I agreed to go on a date with him - yes, I'm serious) really felt like Obama had their best interests in mind. That's a refreshing feeling.

I am really looking forward to watching Obama pull together his support staff over the next few months - I think he'll bring in a diverse and open-minded group of very smart people. What a relief!

Go Obama!!! Go America!!!

A Day of Inspiration: to Volunteer and to WALK!

[This is a joint post... Naomi started it this morning and is now out being a "houdini" for the Obama campaign. I'm working a half-day and will be home this afternoon to hang out with Nora and hopefully get out and knock on some doors!]

Naomi: Well, I'm both incredibly nervous and extremely hopeful and excited today.
Chris: Me too... I can hardly contain myself here at my desk. Can't we just fast forward to 10 PM???

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this adorable video from this morning... it is truly a landmark day!



We went out on Saturday to canvass for Obama again, knocking on doors, and enjoying a lovely Saturday afternoon in the neigbhorhood:

Tracey, fresh off her time in Australia, joined us for the day's work:

She brought Nora yet another Birthday present!

Nora got tired of smiling and being all cute, so she decided to close her eyes for a bit... or was she just checking her eyelids for leaks?

Just kidding! I'm totally awake!

After our turf was sufficiently canvassed, we went back to Gypsy for some hot chai and snacks!

And last, but not least, CONGRATULATIONS are in order for Liz & Jon and Baby Elzie, who has arrived just in time to witness history! We love you already!

Cautiously optimistic

We went downtown yesterday to see Obama (and Bruce Springstein!) along with 80,000+ other folks! The only downside to the event being so successful was that we didn't get anywhere close to where Barack was speaking. All in all, though, I wouldn't trade the fact that 80,000some people are excited enough about him to stand out in the not-so-warm weather for hours on end just to hear/see him speak. It felt like a historic moment. Pretty amazing.

Nora was a trooper and only had a few moments of frustration over not being able to get down and crawl around amongst the masses. Mostly she was just interested in watching everything going on around her. I did get a few stares when nursing (discreetely but obviously) and changing her diaper on my lap, but most of the stares were friendly and curious more than shocked or disgusted - good liberal crowd. ;)

Obama was great (mostly his stump speech w/ a few new tidbits thrown in) and The Boss was wonderful (I love me some Springstein).

I'm volunteering all day tomorrow (Chris is taking a half day to come home and watch Nora) and am very glad to have something to keep me busy. Go Obama!

The overflow crowd:


Larger than life...


Looking toward the stage:


Before it got dark and started raining...we look pretty comfy, huh? :)


This video isn't much to look at (dark with bright lights), but you can hear the beginning of Obama's speech...