Christmas Pictures

Henry gives Sammy his Christmas present.

 This is basically just a post to share some of my Christmas pictures. We started off Christmas eve with a fabulous brunch at Cary and Jeff's house, then headed to Brett's parents for an equally fabulous dinner. The next morning my family came over to our house to open prezzies, then we all re-convened at my Uncle Scott's house for dinner. A fun-filled two days for sure!

At Grandma and Grandpa Sutter's house

Christmas crazy eyes...waiting for the big guy in the red suit.

Stockings hung by the chimney with care...

Santa came!

More from Santa! Playmobil fort with soldiers. cowboys and Indians,

Playing with the new fort.

Happy (crazy?) kiddo.

Globe from the uncles...Henry had been asking for one for months!

Mexican wrestling sweatshirt/mask.

Yoda and Darth Vader slippers...he wore one of each...thanks Auntie Joan!

11 Week Pictures

Pictures from Christmas Eve, Christmas morning and today. More Christmas photos to come...

11 Weeks Old

Nora turned 11 weeks old yesterday...but I haven't had a chance to download any recent pictures from my camera to the computer to post. We had a wonderful Christmas - Henry especially got spoiled...I can't wait to share the pictures.

Nora continues to grow stronger and stronger. Today I had her on my lap facing me, laying down on my legs and I held her hands and pulled her to a sitting position. She held her head so steady and turned her head side to side to look around the room. She probably could be using the Bumbo chair but we still need to put the safety strap on it. No rolling over yet...I think that usually happens sometime between 3 and 4 months. She's very talkative - loves to coo and make noises as if she's having a conversation with the person who's holding her.

I will get pictures up just as soon as I can!

Pre-Christmas Update

 Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all the through the house just about all the Christmas preparations were done and so I have time for a blog! Henry is spending the night at Gigi's again for the second night in a row - as such, I have had a chance to finish all the wrapping of the presents and get all (hopefully!) of my errands completed. Hooray!

Henry spent a fun-filled day today up at Mt. Hood with Mom, Uncle Mike and my uncle riding around in my uncle's old Snow-Cat. I've only seen one picture so far, can't wait to see more!

Last week Brett, Henry and I went to see the NW Children's Theater production of Peter Pan. It was really great - Peter, Michael, John and Wendy all flew and there was a lot of sword fighting. Surprisingly Henry was a bit frightened at one point of the pirates and their swords. He even asked to leave, but after some reassurance decided it was okay to stay and watch the rest. He looks just thrilled in that picture of him at the theater, doesn't he? He was still a bit afraid of Captain Hook after the show was over and refused to pose with him, so instead Brett did.

We've been busy with holiday preparations - we decorated gingerbread houses one night - as seen in the picture. We've also been busy making cookies and decorating the house - two things Henry really enjoys doing. We woke up one morning last week to find about a half an inch of snow outside - which made Henry immediately decide to lie down and make a snow angel.

10 Weeks Old

 I didn't take her to the doctor's this week, so I don't know how much weight she gained, but she is really filling out and even getting slightly chubby!

In terms of milestones, the biggest thing I noticed this week is that she is truly reaching out for things. She's not able to grab things yet (I don't think the pincer skill comes until much later), but she definitely reaches out and kind of punches things.

Her neck is getting so strong I think in the next week or so we'll be able to get the Bumbo seat out for her to use. We got the new safety strap for it so we should be good to go. Henry really enjoyed using it so hopefully she will as well.

Here she is in the bath. I couldn't resist taking a picture for two reasons - first because there's such a difference between this picture and the ones from her first bath where she was so unhappy the entire time. Now she is content and relaxed. She absolutely loves being in the big tub with me but is still happy in her little infant tub.

 We went to see Santa today. No tears! I can't say she was overly thrilled to be sitting with him, but she didn't cry! Henry was happy his first time as well (9 months old) but screamed the second time (21 months), so we'll have to wait and see for next year.

And, finally, here she is after seeing Santa - passed out asleep...clearly drained from her exciting visit. :)

Nine Weeks Old

Miss Nora is nine weeks old already! Well, actually she was yesterday, but I neglected to get a blog post done yesterday. It was Mike's birthday (12-12-12!!) and we all went out to dinner to celebrate! Anyway, Nora is doing great. We had an appointment with a lactation consultant yesterday so I could try and figure out what the heck was going on with her latch. She offered me a diagnosis and a solution so I am trying it out and so far Nora seems to be doing better. I'll just keep a close watch on her and make sure that's really what's going on and that we've solved the problem. Since I took her in yesterday I got to weigh her (I would go every week if I could...I love seeing how much weight she's gaining!). She gained 6 ounces in 6 days! The little chunker! She now weighs in at 10 pounds, 4 ounces.  (Well, as of yesterday - I'm sure she weighs more than that today.)  She is continuing to get so strong - she can hold her head up consistently on her own pretty much the entire time she's being held upright and she is staying awake for much longer stretches. She is really tracking things (especially people!) and loves to watch and look at all different kinds of things. Riding in the car continues to be a struggle - she just HATES it. We've tried everything we can think of and she just cries and/or screams the entire time. I remember Henry did not like the car seat at this age either (and actually quite a bit older too because I remember especially dreading a drive to Jacksonville and that was when he was 4 months old...), but I don't remember him screaming the way she does.
The pictures this post are kind of lacking because I already posted all our cute pictures in the last couple posts! The picture of the feet I think is so sweet - it was impromptu but next time I will try and get them both in their bare feet. The one of Henry holding Nora I like because of Nora's expression - she is so expressive...and so many of them are hilarious because she looks angry or, as we like to call it, her "not impressed" look. We put up our holiday decorations on Monday, so I had to include one of that and finally the picture of her sleeping in the swing because she finally started to "enjoy" the swing (i.e. not cry the second she's put into it!).

Videos from our weekend

*Whoops! Mom pointed out to me that the year on the video is wrong! My camera's preset dates are one year off, but I didn't even notice it when I posted the video. Yes, it is from THIS year!

Some videos from our time at the beach! The first video is of Brett and Henry "racing" in the swimming pool. Of course Henry wins! Just look at how great he is doing with his swimming - hopefully he'll want to take some more lessons this winter to keep up with his skills. The second video is of Brett making Nora smile - she was really smiling a lot more before I started filming, but she still smiles a lot in the video.

Our Weekend

  We kicked off our weekend by heading to our favorite tree farm - right in our old neighborhood - to pick out our tree. Henry even got to help saw it this year, which was probably his favorite part.

Then, on Saturday, we headed to the coast to stay a night at the Tolovana Inn in Cannon Beach. The weather was bad, but not terrible enough to keep us from going for two (quick) walks on the beach. We also went swimming twice and I'm pleased to say that Henry has not lost any of his swimming skills. I am working on getting a video of him swimming

cut down to the right size to post here so you can see how great he is doing.

The picture above is of me and Nora lounging poolside watching the boys enjoy a hot tub.

And, finally, I just love this picture of Nora and Henry - the look on her face is just perfect. I laugh every time I look at it - I have a feeling she'll be giving him that look a lot in the years to come!

Like Brother, Like Sister (the two stooges)

 I was just going to post an update from Nora's doctor's appointment today, but then decided to share these photos as well. Now obviously Nora is not actively participating in the photo shoot shenanigans like Henry is, but doesn't it look like she knows what she's doing and posing on purpose with Henry? And of course Wilbur couldn't let me get the camera out without trying to make a cameo appearance as well!




 So, anyhow, Nora's appointment went really well. She looks fantastic - growing like crazy. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 14 ounces; which is a gain of 17 ounces in 14 days, or 8 1/2 ounces a week. They look for a gain of 5 to 7 ounces a week at this age, so this is awesome. She is 23 inches long now. She is measuring just like her brother, in the high percentiles (80s) for height and low percentiles (20s) for weight.

  I made an appointment with her pediatrician's office's lactation consultant for next week to get some advice on her latch. Although she is clearly having no problems transferring milk, I can tell there is a problem with her latch and I'd like to get some help correcting it before it worsens or causes any (more) problems.

Eight Weeks Old

 Almost two months old already! Now that 8 weeks have gone by I do wonder where the time went! I can't believe it's already December and that she's no longer a little, tiny newborn. Tomorrow is her check up so I will post then how much she weighs and how long she is. She is now wearing size 3 month clothes in most brands, although you can see she doesn't fully fill them out quite yet. But she feels a lot heavier to me, so we'll see...

Not a whole lot new to report - just more of the same, lots of smiles, more alert and aware of things going on around her.

The video is the one I was hoping to get  to show how she looks all around at everything - it's like her head is on a swivel.

Here you can see her doing her physical and mental exercises. Tummy time to strengthen her neck and back muscles while studying her black and white designs. I made these for Henry too and both of them just love them and stare and stare at them.

Finally a cute picture of big brother and little sister. I told Henry to keep his eyes open, and this is the result. :)