46 Weeks Old

I just realized that in only 8 weeks Nora will be one year old! I'm having a hard time believing that! Luckily the next 8 weeks will be busy as Henry starts kindergarten so hopefully it will seem like longer. I don't think I'm ready for her to be a year old yet.
This week she's continued to improve her mobility...mainly in discovering that she can move out an open door and outside...which is problematic when we want to have the front door open! She is also a climber and explorer. She loves to open drawers and cupboards and to try and pull herself up onto just about anything. She takes after Henry with her amazing sense of humor (yes! at 10 months old she definitely has a sense of humor!). Her latest trick is to hang a wet wipe (or piece of paper or tissues, etc.) out of her mouth and shake her head around. She can do this over and over and over and crack herself up every time. The first video is one of her doing her crinkled nose and "snorting." She also finds it immensely funny to do and, strangely, also must think that it's very charming because she does it when she wants something from someone. I have to apologize for the quality of the second video - terrible camera work on my part. But I decided to still post it because it shows off her exploratory skills as she gets into a cupboard, her speed crawling (albeit only a short bit) as she tries to get away from me and, best of all, she signs "light." I also tried to get her to sign bird but she wasn't having it. Probably because there wasn't an actual bird in the house!

This week we took a trip to the zoo, the river, and went mini-golfing again. I hope to squeeze in a bunch more activities next week before school starts. Finally, a picture of Henry at the zoo that he himself posed for and insisted I take. :)

45 Weeks Old

Both kiddos are better and, as a bonus, Brett figured out a way to fix my seemingly irreparable computer. Hooray!
In the two weeks since my last blog post Nora has started doing so many new things. For me, the most exciting changes are the ones that facilitate communication. On that front she has started saying the word "woof!" to mean dog. It's awesome! She just loves dogs (all animals actually) and to hear her be able to say the word in conjunction with seeing a dog is so cool. She also has started signing! Yippee! It's kind of amazing to me because I don't sign with her nearly as much as I signed with Henry and she's already signing. What's really interesting about it is that both her and Henry signed the same word first: "light." She's also done the signs for "fan" and "duck."  Knowing that she can sign has made me more determined to review all the signs I learned with Henry and be more deligent in signing with her. I remember a lot of signs, but I could be a lot better about doing them with her...plus there are lots I have forgotten and need to relearn. (Surprisingly she hasn't signed "more" or "eat" yet!)
Apart from the communication developments, she is continuing to get stronger (and braver) with trying to walk. She uses the couch, tables, walls, etc., to walk around and will even occasionally take a tiny step from one piece of furniture to another (e.g. couch to ottoman). She's lightening fast with the crawling as you will see in the video. It's short and the best part is at the beginning when you get to see her signature pivot move. she loves, loves, loves to be "chased" and especially when the person chasing her is Henry. She's also up to 8 teeth now, with a swollen spot on her gum that I am pretty sure is tooth number 9 getting ready to come through.
The picture above was taken today at the park.

We've been only moderately busy the last couple weeks. Henry finished up his woodshop class and I'm proud to say only made one gun this time...and it wasn't even for him but rather a collaborative project he and his friend made together that his friend kept. He also made a boat for himself and he and his friend also made an airplane together. We've been going swimming pretty regularly with a preschool friend and heading to the river whenever it gets really hot. We attended the Multnomah Days parade last weekend. Last year Henry was in the parade and so it was fun for him to have the experience of watching instead. Plus his preschool was in the parade again this year so he got to see his former teacher and some classmates he knew. We also attended one of the Little League World Series games at Alpenrose. (Picture of Nora below...she was so serious while watching intently.

And, of course, lots of trips to Gigi's house and the park!

And, finally, I just love this picture of Henry (taken today)...

Delayed Post

Two sick kiddos (101+ degree fevers) + one crashed computer = no blog post today.
Stay tuned...

43 Weeks Old

 Another week has zipped by. I feel like the summer is just flying by and we haven't done many of the things I had hoped to do...but then when reflecting back on the week gone by and looking at the pictures, I realize that we actually have been pretty busy and have been doing a lot. This past Friday Henry, Nora, Mom, and I headed over to the coast and spent the night in Rockaway. The weather was cool (of course) to start with, but then got nice and warm...Henry didn't let the cool weather dissuade him and he still went "swimming" in the ocean twice.

He also made this amazing castle masterpiece (with a little help...).  Below is what Nora did while we built the castle...

Can you spot her? She's napping underneath the blanket; covered completely save for a little ventilation.

When we returned to Portland the hot weather had returned and so we've been spending a lot of time outdoors...especially enjoying our lovely new mister. SO much nicer than a regular sprinkler.

Today we went to Oaks Park (first time this summer) and rode the rides and then played a round of mini-golf which Henry has been so excited to do. We'll definitely go back and do it again. I also want to take him to another mini-golf course (maybe Bullwinkles?) because the Oaks Park one is only okay but nothing special.

This week for Nora the theme has continued to be movement! She's hustling around the whole house just as fast as she can go (and believe me when I say the girl can hustle!). She's getting into everything - her most recent "discovery" being Wilbur's water bowl. Poor guy, I have to put it up on the counter whenever she's loose in the kitchen. He puts up with so much! She's loving pulling herself up on anything she can and is trying to take a few little steps if someone holds her hands. Probably the biggest new development is that she can climb the stairs. She all of a sudden climbed up three without any difficulty.

Of course she was so darn proud of herself, but I feel bad because with the marble floor at the bottom there's no way I can let her keep climbing them. Even a fall from only one step could result in a serious head bump if she landed on the marble wrong. Maybe I could put a mat or rug down at the bottom? Oh! I nearly forgot...she's gotten two more teeth! I noticed last week that the two on the bottom next to the two that are already in have popped through. This explains the runny nose and fussiness of the week prior. She is so predictable! Runny nose + fussy one week = new teeth the next week. Her hair is getting lighter still but I can't say for sure it's not just from being in the summer sun as Henry's also has lightened over the summer. Time will tell. And finally, there's this...no words, just this:

42 Weeks Old

Another busy week! The biggest change in Nora this week has to be that she's mastered pulling herself up onto things (anything!) and has even started to take a few little steps once she's standing (while holding onto the couch or whatever). I can't believe she's only been crawling for a couple weeks and now she is no longer content doing that by itself, she has to pull herself up wherever she's at and stand. She even does it in the bathtub! She has also mastered the "fake" laugh as we call it. If she hears other people laughing she laughs along with them but it is so clearly a fake laugh that it is hilarious. The other fun thing I've noticed her doing is dancing when she hears music. I tried to get a video of her doing it tonight but she was more interested in the camera than dancing...I will try again and also try to get one of her pulling herself up. Her crawling has changed to a proper crawl now although she does occasionally still stretch her left leg out for leverage. And she's speedy! Like super, super fast. It's pretty crazy to see her go.
Last Friday we went to the Washington County Fair in Hillsboro. It's a great fair - big enough to be interesting but small enough to not be overwhelming. It was hot, hot, hot when we went, but we still had lots of fun. Of course Nora enjoyed the animals...in addition to watching her brother, of course.

Here's Henry playing a guitar at the fair...and Nora watching him.

Nora watching Henry pet the sheep.

And, finally, she got in on the action too!

Henry started a week long soccer camp this week. He is doing so well and seems to like it a lot. He did request we get him a soccer uniform though. We told him in the fall he can play on a team now that he's old enough, and he'll get a uniform then!

And, of course, Nora loves watching him. Here she's crawled off our blanket and gotten right up to the edge of the field to watch him.

One final picture, just because I love the expression on her face!

41 Weeks Old

Nora's now officially been on the outside longer than on the inside! ;) Since she was born three days overdue, I couldn't say that last week when she turned 40 weeks old, but this week I can. Crawling, crawling, crawling...that's what she's been doing this week. She's also getting better at climbing up things and made it up onto her feet today at the couch. She loves to get into things she shouldn't...cords, drawers, etc. I don't really remember Henry being like that...I have a feeling she's going to be a bit of a handful while she continues to explore everything around her.  The video above is a bit on the boring side but the story behind it is cute: she was crawling across the floor and caught sight of her reflection in the brass part of the fireplace. Her head swiveled around, she backed up and sat down right in front of it and started talking to herself. I imagine she was thinking something like "well, hello best friend! I didn't know you lived in there as well!" She has some toys in her hands and, as you will see in the video, it appears that she is trying to get those toys out of her reflection's hands.

We've been spending a lot of time outside taking advantage of the amazing summer weather we're having. We've been swimming quite a bit (although not as much as I'd like to be...it's my goal in the coming weeks to go more frequently). Last Friday night we went to see Brave outside in the park - great movie but we were out until 11:30 pm! Luckily Nora went to sleep when the movie started and slept right through the whole thing. 

Look how grown up Henry looks in this picture (taken at the movie)!  We also went to "Sand in the City" and the Portland Farmer's Market on Saturday. Here's Henry next to his favorite sand creation...a representation of one of his favorite books "There's an alligator under my bed."

We went to a summer concert downtown last night and today headed to the Willamette river to get some relief from the heat. I am going to start going there more often - the water was calm and warm, the sand was great for building sandcastles and there were lots of other kids for Henry to play with (and lots of dogs for Nora to look at!)

Plus we were right  by a pirate ship (or so Henry decided)...

Finally, one last picture of Nora partaking in one of her favorite pass times - pulling out the wipes one at a time!

40 Weeks Old

A crawling video! The change in her in the last two days has been astounding. She no longer wants to be held all the time; she wants to be down on the floor and exploring. She is no longer content to lie down in bed and fall asleep; she rolls away, sits up and crawls off. And she is also already now trying to pull herself up on everything she can. (She was doing a bit of this last week, but it's increased exponentially since she started crawling.) As you can see in the video, just like Henry, she has her own special "crawl" she does. I'm hoping that, unlike Henry, she will evolve to a more traditional crawl rather than a seated scoot as Henry did. It looks to me like she will, but we'll just have to wait and see. Speaking of Henry, he is learning very quickly that his toys need to be up, out of her reach. What I don't think he realizes, however, is that what is out of her reach today most likely will be within her grasp very soon. She's already pulled open drawers in the kitchen and living room and, as in the video, books of the bookshelf and toys of the toyshelf. She has a nasty bump/bruise on her nose from a toy bonking into her as she pulled it down.

She had her nine month check up today and is continuing to grow...a lot! She gained 1 pound 10 ounces in the last month which puts her at 21 pounds, 10 ounces and in the 89th percentile for weight. She is 30 1/2 inches long which jumps her up to the 100th percentile for height. I still don't see her as particularly long, but I suppose it's because she's fairly evenly proportioned...unlike Henry who always seemed long to be due to his high percentile height and low percentile weight. She's meeting all her milestones and the doctor was pleased to hear that she is essentially just eating what we eat and feeding herself rather than being fed. Also pleased to hear that she's still nursing on demand and frequently. He did say that it wouldn't be surprising to see her weight gain drop off at this point (and that some babies even lose weight at this age) due to increased mobility. Hmm...we'll see. :)

She had two vaccines today; including her DTap, which is the one that causes the worst reaction. I anticipated this and gave her Tylenol before her appointment and another dose this evening to try and ward off the pain.

Here she has crawled over to Henry's goodie bag from a birthday party, dumped it out, found the swedish fish candies, dumped them out, grabbed one for each hand and taken a bite out of each one. I basically had to wrestle them out of her grasp.