Six Weeks Old

 Six weeks old today! The books all say the first six weeks are the hardest part and that from here on out it will get easier. She's been pretty easy (at least as far as newborns go), so it will just be more and more fun as she gets older and bigger. Already with her smiling and becoming more responsive we are all enjoying interacting with her even more. She tends to have three really wide awake times during the day - early in the morning, sometime mid-day/afternoon and then late in the evening (like around 8 or 9 pm). During these times I put her down on the floor (either on her tummy or the play mat as in the pictures) to let her exercise her muscles. It's also during these times that she is most likely to smile! The rest of the day is spent sleeping - a few long-ish naps and then some briefer cat naps and some short awake times too. I'm not really sure how many times a day she is eating but I am guessing it's upwards of 10-12 times. But not always for very long. Since she is gaining weight at a good rate, I am not too concerned with monitoring her feeding and am instead just letting her tell me when she wants to eat. I took her to the doctor's today to get weighed and she weighs 8 lbs, 12 ounces which means she gained 12 ounces in 14 days. At this age the average baby gains 4 - 7 ounces a week, so her gain is really great!

Edit: I just realized she was weighed two weeks ago Thursday, so actually she's gained 12 ounces in 13 days...even better!

Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Weeks Old!

 Today Nora is five weeks old! And, coincidentally, today is the day she really started smiling consistently in response to us. Before today there had been a few smiles here and there, arguably some of them "real" smiles, but mostly just reflexive smiles. I was able to catch a couple of them in pictures...the last picture was taken on my phone with Instagram, which is why it looks a little strange. I love the "surprised" look on her face in the one with her wearing the green shirt (thank you Cary & Jeff!). And I just can't ever have too many pictures of Henry and Nora together. Other than the smiling, there haven't really been any other new "milestones" happening this week. Nora is definitely exiting that lovely newborn phase of sleeping all the time, in any place. We're entering into the phase of needing actual nap times - which will be something to figure out how to do with Henry and all his activities he does.
I forgot to say that she weighed 8 pounds even when I took her in last Thursday. Good - but I expected more!

What Henry's Been Up To

 Despite being occupied with Nora these last 4 weeks, I've done my best to keep Henry busy. I must say, I've gotten a TON of help from lots of other people in this regard - thank you to everyone who has spent time with Henry lately...he loves it and I love it!

The first picture is from the guided preschool hike at Tryon Creek. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this is a FANTASTIC program for preschoolers. The rangers do an amazing job teaching great information in a fun way and the kids always get to do a neat project as well. Here Henry is modeling his tree costume, complete with a leaf headdress and bark vest.

Henry has been assisting me in the kitchen quite a bit lately and loving it. The second picture is of him kneading the turkey meatloaf.  He is a wonderful sous chef and very capable - much more than I would expect an average 4 year old to be.

 On Friday we went downtown to Pioneer Courthouse Square to see the arrival of the Christmas Tree. I figured Henry would be into seeing a huge truck bringing in a huge tree assisted by a huge crane...and I was right! What I didn't count on was all the fanfare that went along with the arrival of the tree. There was a mini-parade prior to the arrival of the giant tree complete with a marching band and police escort. Santa was there as was the Unitas pig (had no idea who/what this was, but apparently it's their mascot) and lots of booths giving away free goodies. (Henry scored candy canes, popcorn, chocolate milk and the cutest chocolate turkey.)  He was, however, perplexed as to why Santa had a cane. He finally decided that Santa must use it while he's "out and about" but not at other times- his exact words.

 And, finally, Henry started his new classes this last week - woodshop and acting, both his own choices. I wasn't too sure what to expect in the woodshop class, but what I certainly didn't expect was for the very first tool they learned to use be a coping saw. I have to say I was a bit nervous to see him go to work with that saw, but he did great! Parents were only allowed to stay for the first 15 minutes of class but by spying through the window in the door and Henry's report after class, I learned that they also learned how to use a hand-cranked drill and hammer and nails. They are given free range to create whatever they want. Henry didn't make anything in particular this session, but I am thinking he will probably make a gun next class since he was admiring some of his classmates' handmade weapons after last class.

He is equally enchanted with his other class, acting. He's now had 2 sessions of that class and the teacher gave me a great compliment after class today - she feels that Henry is the most responsive to her directions and really understands what she is trying to get the kids to do. I am just so happy he is doing something that gives him a chance to express himself in a different way than he usually does and gives him a chance to practice his speech with new people. I'm hoping it will be something he will want to stick with after this session.

Four Weeks Old

Nora is four weeks old today!  I still haven't taken her in to the doctor's office to get weighed, so I don't have any vital statistic information to share. I am going to take her in tomorrow when I take Henry in to get his flu mist, so I'll post that information when I do. 

I hate to keep comparing her to Henry, but boy oh boy, is she different! The first two pictures are of her on the boppy doing her "tummy time," which she does with no complaints. Yesterday she astonished me - she was propped up as in the first picture, then she was halfway over the top of the pillow, then she was all the way on the other side. I put her back in the starting position and she started pushing herself over again, so I grabbed my camera and started filming. The video is posted below. I just missed the very beginning when she is in the "start" position (but you can just look at the first picture to get an idea of how she started) and she didn't quite make it all the way over the second time, but regardless, I was pretty impressed! 

Even though she's mad in the other picture, I think she's still pretty cute!

Halloween 2012

 *You can click on pictures to view them larger...



We started celebrating Halloween about a week before the big day this year. First was the pumpkin decorating party at Henry's school, then on Friday night we went to the Mt. Scott Community Center's Halloween carnival. The first two pictures are from that - Henry got to play lots of spooooky carnival games, go through a haunted house, climb on the inflatables, and even go swimming. We had a great time! Then on Saturday he carved pumpkins with Uncle Mike. Henry wanted scary faces, so they looked up ideas on the internet and Mike replicated them on Henry's pumpkins. On Monday night we went to the Sellwood Community Center's Halloween carnival - more games ensued, including a toilet bowl toss (pictured) where they had to throw a roll of toilet paper through a toilet seat.

Henry's school had a costume parade (so cute!) and a little party then that night we went to mom's neighborhood to trick-or-treat  (as usual) since our neighborhood's lack of sidewalks and lots of hills makes it less than ideal for trick-or-treating. Henry decided to go as a cowboy (as he had at the Sellwood carnival and also at school) at the last minute rather than as a soldier which was what he'd been planning to be for the last few weeks. Not sure what spurred the decision, but personally I think he makes a much cuter cowboy anyway. When people answered the door to give him candy he said "Howdy, Partner!" or "Howdy, Ma'am!" :)  He kept a few pieces of candy from his haul and turned the rest in for the Great Pumpkin to change to a present -  some Playmobile knights (in shining armor of course). Happy Halloween!

3 Weeks Old

Happy Halloween! Today Nora is 3 weeks old. She is doing great - eating lots and staying awake more and more for longer and longer stretches at a time. Not a whole lot new to report since last week...I'm thinking about taking her into the doctor's office next Wednesday just to get weighed because I am so curious as to how much weight she has gained.

The picture below to the left totally shows off her "signature" look - that furrowed brow and slight scowl is definitely a look she gives us all the time! And I just can't get enough pictures of her and Henry together. He still asks to hold her all the time and is so sweet to her. :)

Halloween pictures to come soon!

Pumpkins and Preschool

 Last Friday Henry's class went to Lee Farms Pumpkin Patch for their annual field trip. On Mondays and Wednesdays he is in a mixed 3/4s class, but on Fridays, it is only 4 year olds...and they only have 7 kids so they are a pretty close knit group. At Lee Farms they got to tour the whole farm and see all the animals including chickens, turkeys, rabbits, goats, pigs and cows. They also got to sample apple cider, go on a hay ride, and, of course, pick out a pumpkin. Here are some of the pictures from their trip.

 Then on Wednesday night we had a special pumpkin carving/decorating night at the preschool. We were all able to attend (including Nora) and I think Henry really enjoyed having his whole family there and showing off his new baby sister.