Nora {2 years old}

My apologies to my 2nd born, you obviously don't have as many monthly updates as your sister.  But hey, we did let you start eating suckers earlier than her- so there are some advantages to being the little sister.

Nora, here's what's going on in your life right now:

FAVORITE SONG: "Night Night Nora", to the tune of Frere Jacques.  "Let it Go" and really any other song from Frozen. "Twinkle Twinkle", but only at nighttime.
FAVORITE FOOD(S): You love food.  You are such a good eater.  You particularly like creamy italian dressing, eggs, cuties/halos (little oranges) and cereal in the morning with your daddy.  
FAVORITE BOOK: Tough call as your nightly selections seem to change.  But you really love the Sandra Boynton books, just like your big sister.  You are a really big helper when we read "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa".
FAVORITE WORD(S)/Phrases: "NO Emmy/Momma/Dadda/shoes/shirt/pants", "I need a poo" (I need a spoon), SalDog (sally, the dog), "yeah", "pinkee" (blanket), "mut-mee" (your stuffed monkey).  A few months ago you went through a phase where you repeated each word 3 times...without fail.
FAVORITE SHOW(S): Really, it's whatever Emmy wants to watch.  So right now it's the movie Brave, Frozen and the show Bubble Guppies.

OTHER TIDBITS: 

• You still adore your paci, we plan to take that away once you get all of your teeth.

• You have about 8 stuffed animals or loveys in your crib with you

• You also take a sippy of water with you to bed and stuff it up in the corner between your pillow and the crib rails.

• You want to do everything that Emmy does.  You also demand the same color of utensils and cups and plate that she has.

• You are either very happy or very upset.  There's not a whole lot of gray area with you.

• You still love to cuddle and rock at bedtime, and I love that.

• You give the cutest, yet orneriest looks all the time!  You know how to play us already, and we let you!

Some pictures from our small family celebration last night, the big party will be in a few weekends.

15 months {nora}

Hooray, I have actually been keeping notes this month for a real monthly update.  The only problem is that the list is in my office!  So maybe I can find a few minutes while I'm eating lunch to get this updated.  Until then, here's what this past month of Nora's life has looked like.  I'll just say, here the past week or so there have not been a lot of smiles and fun times...

Here's a pic of the girls, each at 15 months.  What do you think as they get older: are they looking more alike or less?  I wish the pictures showed their hairlines better, Emmy had such a receding hairline!!!

WAIT...I just found a major similarity.  They are both wearing dried ketchup!!!!

14 months {nora}

This month has been such a fun one.  Nora is becoming more independent since mastering crawling.  She is also demanding to do/have everything that Emmy does/has.  In fact, just tonight she handed over her little bear paw for her nails to be trimmed.  She usually hates this tradition, but because Emmy was enjoying it- Nora decided to enjoy it too.  Now, if we can just work on modeling Emmy's behavior to be perfect then we could have 2 perfect children.  HAH.

Here's a little sampling of our last month: swim lessons, cuddling, sitting nakey in the sun whilst eating dum dums, Mother's Day, and more nakey bodies taking a bath in the front yard in a 56qt Rubbermaid tub.

And the obligatory photo comparison.

12 month collage {nora}

I need to work on a 12 month update, but in the meantime- a collage from the last month of our baby girl's first year.  SO hard to believe.

Nora {11 months}

Collage for now...written update to come later

8 Months {Nora}

I'm only a day late posting this.....wahoo!!

Here is what we have been up to this past month:

Eat: A typical day would include:  630am bottle, 715 oatmeal/fruit, 10am bottle, 1145 fruit/veggie, 2pm bottle, 430 bottle occasionally, 530 veggie/finger foods, 645 nurse/bottle.  My guess is a typical day would be 20-25 ounces of milk.

Sleep: (you can see previous blog post for more on this one) A typical day for Nora starts anywhere between 430 and 6am.  The earliest we go to retrieve her from her crib is at 6.  

Naps: During the week she'll take a 1-1.5hr morning nap (starting at 8 to 830) a 1.5-2hr afternoon nap (generally 3 hours after waking from morning nap), we are trying to get an afternoon catnap out of her but most days she doesn't buy into it.  During the weekend, at home, she doesn't sleep near as long as at daycare.  This seems completely opposite to me, but I'm just glad she sleeps well at school.  Emmy never did until she went down to one nap a day.

Health: Another ear infection scare on 11/11 but all clear...teeth? She is still acting like something is wrong, but maybe it's just teeth.  I wish we had a dr in the family.

Shoes: What are shoes?  This girl rarely even wears socks.  Amazing the things you forget to do the 2nd time around.  I do think her feet are a size 2 though.
Clothes: 9-12
Diapers: Size 3, but they are getting a little tight.  We will move up to size 4 as soon as we use up all the size 3 diapers.
Trips: None!  Trying to get her sleep scheduled more consistent really gets in the way of things.  In fact, we have had to divide an conquer quite a bit this past month for birthday parties and church.  It will be very interesting to see what happens this weekend up at my parents house for Thanksgiving.
Likes: jumping in the jumperoo, LeapFrog music table, eating her toes, food, staring at her video monitor camera when she wakes up (it's like she knows that we are watching her!!!!), yelling when she sees "Emmy the beast" approaching, falling asleep during the bedtime nursing/bottle, splashing in the tub, pooping during nap and nighttime, sippy cups
Dislikes: sleeping in (old news), the booger sucker (aka nose syringe....she doesn't just dislike it....she HATES it)
Milestones: going from sitting to belly by means of falling, spinning on belly when she wants, sporadically scooting backwards when on tummy time, FINALLY rolling belly to back and can get 1/2 way around from back to belly, saying: mamamamama (which sounds more like muh-muh) with some baaa, gaaaa, and daaa's in there, she also screeches a lot- this is usually in response to Emmy screeching in her ear

Other: Nora is becoming very easy to excite.  When we pick her up from daycare, she will just start bouncing with happiness(whether that be while sitting on the floor, or in someone's arms).  She has no separation anxiety when we leave her in the morning and will occasionally give me "kisses" when I drop her off.  She's still not a big fan of holding her bottle, and she still wants her bottles VERY warm.  Emmy still loves Nora very much, but does not like for her to touch her big girl toys. She will tell her "No, baby.  No touch".  It's funny b/c I think Emmy calls her "baby" more than "Nora.

Oh, and how could I forget about Halloween happening this past month.  Nora wore a ladybug costume at her daycare party and a flower on Halloween.  Emmy was Minnie Mouse again (her request!)

So you made it this far????  You deserve some pictures.

7 months {nora}

Happy 7 months to the cutest little girl named Nora that I know! I say it every month, but goshdarnit, time is flying by TOO fast. 

Here are a few(or alot) of highlights from the past month.

Eat: Milk and solids nowadays.  We are halfway implementing the "Baby Led Weaning" theory (we introduced finger foods a little after 6 months) and we are also doing purees.  The shortlist of foods that she has tried: banana, avocado, strawberries, pineapple, oatmeal, apple slices, egg yolk, green beans and mum mums.  As far as milk is concerned, my guess is that she's nursing/taking by bottle about 24-28oz per day.
Sleep: Asleep by 7pm and usually awake by ???am.  She was waking at 515ish for a few days and then would go back to sleep in the mornings.  Just this morning (10/22/12, so this should technically go in next months post) she slept from 715 to 615!  Sweet Jesus Hallelujah!  Seriously, the first thing I did was thank Jesus for her one night of *potentially* amazing sleep.  Of course, the one night Nora slept thru was the one night Emmy had to wake to pee.  Oh well. On a normal night for Nora, I still usually end up in the guest room to be on paci patrol.

Naps: Naps are still sporadic, but we (daycare & me) are really trying to get her on a schedule.  Last week she did a great job of having a 45 minute morning nap and 2+ hour afternoon nap.  I know this is still nowhere close to the sleep that she should be getting, but we are still grateful for it.

Food: Whoops, I forgot about this section and put it all above.  I will add here that Nora's hand-eye-mouth coordination is pretty good.  I think I'll go ahead and contribute it to introducing finger foods earlier than we did with Emmy.
Health: Thought she had an ear infection at her 6 month appt (which was actually at 6m3w), but all was clear.  She was messing with her ear again tonight, so I wonder if her teeth are trying to move up.

Shoes: What are shoes?
Clothes: 6-9 months.
Diapers: Size 3.
Trips: Up to Kansas a few weekends ago for Halle's bday party.  I think that's it.
Likes: grabbing noses and chins, eating the bill of Chris' hats, nursing, playing with her feet and trying to chew her big toes, feeding herself, listening to books, pat-a-cake, petting Sally, pooping right when going to sleep and pooping in the bath, keeping her feet constantly moving and ankles rolling, shaking her head "no" with a big fat grin on her face.
Dislikes: not getting things the exact moment that she wants them, regular schedules, finishing a full bottle, new faces
Milestones: Sitting upright and pretty steady. Talking more, still alot of "hey", "ha" and "huh" sounds.  The other night, at 4am, I swear she was saying "mamamamamam" (of course, not saying MOM on purpose), or maybe it was just my lack of sleep that imagined this up.  Can put paci in mouth proficiently.  Reaches for and grabs objects, takes them from hand to hand.
Other: Nora's little personality is really starting to shine through.  If the girl wants a bottle, you better get it to her STAT!  If she wants to stop taking it just to look around, you better take it out of her mouth STAT or else she is going to let you know about it!  Little miss thing is entering a stranger anxiety, something that Emmy didn't start going through until recently.  This is all new territory for us, so it should make her baby dedication next month interesting.  I just hope she doesn't cry.  Nora is so funny in that she doesn't roll over consistently.  She seems pretty content on tummy time and only fusses after being there for 10-15 minutes.  I'm pretty certain she knows how to roll (since she's done it quite a few times in the past)...but maybe she just has a short term memory :).  Also, Nora's not a big fan of naps.  We spent alot of time fighting her this past weekend to go down.  Coupled with Emmy being in the "treacherous three's", this weekend really wore Chris and me out.   I had to remind myself many times how fortunate we are to have our girls, and that did help ease frustrations.

Well, if you made it through all of this nonsensical rambling- you deserve some pictures.

6 months {nora}

I absolutely cannot believe that 1/2 of a year has flown by.  I only thought that time passed by quickly with Emmy, it's is FLYING by this time around.  Before I know it, it will be time to plan a birthday party.  Wait, hold on, I'm not even going to think about that right now....on to the update.

Eat: Usually just shy of 6am and then every 3 hours.  Feedings are closer together in the evening, but I see this changing as we plan to start solids soon.  So today looked something like this (note: our schedule is a bit off as Nora is fighting an ear infection) 515am, 645am, 9am (took very little bottle), noon, 3pm, 530pm (nursed) and 650pm (bottle, usually between 4-6 ounces)
Sleep: Asleep by 7pm and usually awake by 6am.  We still have one or two times during the night that we have to go in and insert paci.  

Naps: Naps are sporadic.  Usually a short morning nap (30 minutes) a longer noon nap (1-2 hours) and a short afternoon nap (another 30 minutes).  She definitely isn't getting in the recommended 14 hours of sleep per day...we are trying to get there.

Food: none yet, starting soon.
Health: Double ear infection 09/12/12

Shoes: I put some size 2 shoes on her tonight, they had a little bit of room in them.  So she's probably still a 1.  I figure it doesn't matter much though since we RARELY put shoes on her.
Clothes: 6-9 months.
Diapers: Size 3.
Trips: Alabama VS Arkansas football game in Fayetteville on Sep 15.  Nora didn't do the best.  She didn't want a bottle, didn't want to nurse, didn't want to nap....I will choose to blame it on the ear infection and not the probable fact that she just doesn't like to travel.
Likes: still loves for her big sister to be all up in her space, waving her arms like a mad woman when nursing or taking bottle, for people to look at her- it makes her face light up, bath time, peek a boo, her feet- to touch things with said feet and for people to play with said feet
Dislikes: taking full bottles, when we leave her sight in a moment of need, sleeping ALL the way through the night, taking medicine (taste or control issue?  Maybe a little bit of both)
Milestones: She rolled over from belly to back twice for my mom on Sept 18.  She did it once for me as well.  This was the first time she did this since 3 1/2 months.  Chris still hasn't seen it and Nora hasn't repeated it since the 18th.  She is also so close to sitting up.  I think Emmy will have so much more fun with her once this happens.  And then tonight she found her toes!  Oh, the great toys that never go away.  Making lots of sounds with an "h" sound (like hah, huh, and heh).  She also has a raspy little voice, which reminds me that I need to get the camcorder out more often.
Other: Nora is turning into such a happy girl.  It is much easier to get smiley pictures of her nowadays.  She was never really unhappy, but now her face lights up with delight at the smallest things.  She absolutely loves Emmy and misses her when she's away.  She has started watching us as we eat so we are going to start food soon.  I actually fed her a few little bites of mandarin oranges tonight and she did pretty well with them.  Of the 4 pieces, only one got spit back out with the tongue thrust reflex.

Seesters @ 1/2 year old

Looking alike enough to be related?  YES
Looking alike enough to confuse them in pictures? No, not to me
Looking cute enough to pinch and kiss chubby cheeks?  ABSOLUTELY!

Love my healthy girls.

I am working on a 6 month post.  Looking at pictures from Nora's past month of life makes me so sad because it has completely flown by.  I can't believe that at 1046am tomorrow, our little one is 1/2 a year old!  Please father time, slow down a little bit for this mama?

5 months {nora}

5 months old???  I cannot believe how fast time has flown by, such a cliche statement I know.  We have had a busy past month (4th of July, vacation to Colorado and Emmy's 3rd birthday).  With all those food eating holidays and celebrations, I'm happy to say I still managed to lose 2 lbs leaving that last pesky pound to go!

Eat: Somewhere between 530 and 6.  So today's schedule looked something like this 530am, 830am, 1200pm, 230pm, 530pm, 8pm.  During the day Nora takes 5oz bottles and her 8pm feeding is also a bottle, generally 6oz.
Sleep: Usually asleep by 800pm and as previous item said, now waking a little early to eat.  Not sleeping quietly through night as she is still waking somewhere between 4-5am. She is in her own room now (we disassembled the crib and put it in "mimi and papa's room", guest room. I usually go in there around 4 am and sleep on the bed until she completely wakes to eat.  Sleep has been a little bit better since moving her into a big crib in her own space.  Also, Nora caught a cold after Emmy's bday party so nap times and night time haven't been so hot lately due to nasal congestion.

Naps: The late morning/noon nap is usually the best nap at 2+ hours.  The morning nap and afternoon nap are more along the lines of 1 hour.  We try to get her to nap in the evening but that doesn't always work.  I can foresee her dropping that evening nap and hopefully going to bed earlier.

Shoes: I think she's a size 1, but we rarely put socks or shoes on her.
Clothes: mostly 6 months.
Diapers: Size 3.
Trips: Colorado in July (Nora did NOT like vacation. Altitude? Too many strange faces? Getting a cold? Teething?  We may never know...)
Likes: LOVES Emmy, her face just lights up when big sister enters her view, exersaucer, floor gym, drooling, exploring with her hands, pinching things with toes, blowing bubbles into bottle, sleeping with arms out (yay! we dropped the swaddle), pat-a-cake, being held and carried in baby bjorn (facing out)
Dislikes: having to wait on a bottle, when Emmy steam rolls her, loud noises, too many strange faces approaching her all at once.
Milestones: Bearing weight on legs and standing with support, starting to hold bottle, plays with hands and very grabby, putting paci in mouth and ripping it out, occasionally turning when we call her name, sits with support, very strong on tummy time but still won't roll over...oh well.
Other: Nora is still doing very well at self soothing to sleep (sometimes needing a little help with paci-reinsertion).  I was hesitant about breaking her of the swaddle but she started to get to the point of breaking out of it.  She still has crazy arms, so I put loveys around her arms so they serve as a little barrier between her hands and her face/paci. Nora took her first swing ride at a park in Grand Lake, Colorado.  She finally went swimming this past month and loved it, as soon as I put her in the water she started kicking her legs like she wanted to swim.  Nora is still the sweetest and I love watching her little body shake with delight when she gets excited.

the past month

colorado 2012

Sidenote:  When she's not being a typical eye rolling, tantrum throwing, mad/stomping, independent yet still needs help doing everything 3 year old....Emmy is the sweetest thing.  Her favorite song right now is "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from the Lion King soundtrack.  She sings it SO sweet.  She started school recently at B'Nai and is having the best time.  She has changed and developed in her first week of school, it's amazing!

Our lives are completely blessed with our two little miracles, I cannot imagine life any differently.

Nora's 4 month appt at 4months+3weeks

We had a great 4 month checkup. The dr is pleased with Nora's development and the flat spot on her head is healing nicely.  I did get scolded about giving in to Nora and going in her room in the middle of the night to fix her swaddle.  She really pushed us to transition away from the swaddle.  Also, this past week we moved Nora into her own room.  I can't believe we had her in our room for so long. She ended up in our bed most nights and wasn't sleeping great past 4 am.  She seems to be doing better in her own room and completely slept through the night without waking me up last night from 8pm to 645am.  GO NORA!

Our little girl is growing and is oh so healthy.  A bit smaller than big sister was at this point, but not a little baby by any means ;)

And for fun, here's a pic of them side by side at their 4 month appointments.  I love comparing photos just to see if they are starting to lok more alike.  I think their noses are the same.  Eyes and mouths are different, head shapes as well.  This is about the extent of our comparison.  We are quickly learning that  they are completely different little girls, and we love that fact about them!

4 months {nora}

So as of the last monthly update, I had 7-8# to lose.  Happy to say that I have about 3 more to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight.  Wahooo!  The "hungries" have definitely hit, so I eat whenever I feel like I need to.  I try my hardest to make good food choices when I snack, but sometimes I cheat. 

Now, time for the monthly update:

Eat: Earlier in the month the first feeding was at 7am, lately it's been 530am.  So today's schedule looked something like this 530am, 845am, 1145am, 245pm, 530pm, 8pm.  During the day Nora takes 4.5-5.0oz bottles and her 8pm feeding is also a bottle, usually between 5 and 7 ounces.
Sleep: Usually asleep by 830 and as previous item said, now waking a little early to eat.  Not sleeping quietly through night as she is still waking somewhere between 2-4. I usually try the paci a few times and then eventually put her in our bed.

Naps: The late morning/noon nap is usually the best nap at 2+ hours.  The morning nap and afternoon nap are more along the lines of 1 hour.  We try to get her to nap in the evening but that doesn't always work.  I can foresee her dropping that evening nap and hopefully going to bed earlier.

Shoes: The Pumas still fit and I just put a pair of size 1 shoes on her this evening.  They pretty much fit, of course- a tad bit on the large size.
Clothes: mostly 6 months.
Diapers: Size 2, but we are finishing up the last package of size 2s and moving up to 3s.  We tried Huggies and she had 3 blowouts and peed out of the diaper 2 times.  We are back to Pampers, they just seem to fit her better.
Trips: Up to Kansas to visit my parents and out to Claremore for the 4th.  Nothing big, but we are about to embark on a major road trip this Friday to Colorado.
Likes: Staring/smiling/laughing at her big sister, a semi-swaddle (right now we are actually using our sleep gowns again, but just not putting her arms in the sleeves), the TV, when I sing Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons" song, touching things with her feet, batting at play gym objects, having her lovey close to her face when she sleeps, baths.
Dislikes: having to wait on a bottle, sleeping through the 2am-4am restless period. 
Milestones: Nora rolled over from stomach to back on Friday, July 13th.  She did it a few times in a row but has not done it since.  She does rock while on tummy time and tries to move her legs.  I hope she's not an early crawler.  Emmy didn't crawl until 10 months and it was AWESOME to have an immobile child for that long! She is also coo-ing SOOO much.  Nora has big stories to tell and is up against quite the competition in Emmy and myself. She can bring her hands together while grasping an object, or also at her chest.  She is finally starting to stand up straight when bearing weight on her legs.
Other: It's so fun watching Nora's face lights up when she sees myself, Chris or Emmy!  She usually has a grumpy little scowl, so it's nice to see the corner of her lips turn upward.  Also, unlike her sister, Nora looooves to fall asleep in someone's arms.  She's so sweet and snuggly and it's SO hard to put her down in that "drowsy" state.  I just want to enjoy this time with my littlest princess.

We have had a busy 4th month with no signs of slowing down.

The girls at 4 months.  You can tell who is who, right?

And coming up in a future post, I need to tell you about the following fun things coming out of the mouth of Emmy: asking us how was your day, telling stories, imagination going wild, making up her own songs, jumping into pool & swim lessons, wrestling, chapstick, saying "yesterday and all the time", we've "GOT" to do/get this, stories about things flying up and flopping down, chapstick....and probably more

3 months {nora}

So as of the last monthly update, I had 13# to lose.  Happy to say that I have about 7-8 more to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight.  The weight is coming off a little slower this time around, but I am definitely getting there.  I am starting to fit into a few non maternity items, so that's exciting.

Onto the real point of this post, the monthly update:

Eat: about 7 times a day (7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm, 7pm, 810pm).  Sometimes the 6pm feeding stretches to 630 and we drop the 7pm feeding.
Sleep: usually up by 645-7am and down by 830pm.  Nighttime and naps are spent in the cradle in our room still. The good restful sleep usually ends by 430-5am at which point I will go reinsert Nora's pacifier.  If she gets restless again then I usually put her in bed with us (to each their own, no judgment please).

Naps: random and each day is different.  Today she took a 3 hour nap.  Yesterday, she was good to get in a 45 minute nap.Shoes: Too hot to think about shoes.  I need to find some baby flip flops.
Clothes: anything from 3 to 6 months
Diapers: Size 2, but I have a feeling we won't be in this size long.
Trips: None!  But we did have some Indiana family visit over memorial day weekend.
Likes: looking at Emmy (pretty much always makes her smile), kicking her feet at objects or just at the air,  baths (this is her most active time of day), looking right and cocking her head left (we are working on this, we don't want the princess to have to wear a cranial helmet someday).
Dislikes: having a consistent sleep pattern from day to day (one day lots of napping, next day very little naps, and repeat), when Chris puts lotion on her after bath time, having to wait a long time for her nighttime bottle, gas drops (she acts like I'm giving her poison. Have you ever tasted those things?  They are so sweet like candy)
Milestones: Laughing out loud (she has a deep little laugh, completely takes after me on that one.  Sorry honey), grasp her rattle and I *think* she intentionally shakes it, pushing against elbows a bit when on tummy time on the boppy, sitting in the bumbo, she definitely turns her head to find our voice and smiles once she finds us.
Other: I think Nora was having issues with my dairy consumption, so I have eliminated that from my diet.  I don't think it was lactose intolerance, but a protein allergy.  Her congestion and gas seems to be better, but not all the way gone.  It's manageable, so I am going to leave my dietary exclusions as is: chocolate and dairy. I think we will move Nora into the guest room this weekend.  The girls will eventually share a room, but it takes Emmy SOOO long to fall asleep and she is SOOO loud while she is falling asleep.  Hopefully here in a few months Emmy will get it figured out.

We still think Nora is just the prettiest and sweetest little thing.  She is so easy in a lot of ways, but also a little more difficult than Emmy was in other ways.  I love watching the relationship build between the two sisters, there is already so much love there with so much more to come.

my girls, at 3 months.  I'm thinking they don't look much alike here.

May-June happenings.  See the photo with the feet?  Both girls LOVE to touch things with their feet.
They are just two peas in a pod.

And some Emmy things to close out the post:

• About 80% of the time, Emmy is calling her daddy by name instead of "daddy", "dada", etc.  It is hilarious!!!
• She also thinks her cousin Elyse's name is pronounced "Oh-leese".
• The girl LOVES to sing.  This month she has really enjoyed singing "I'm in the Lord's Army", "Zaccheus" and "This Little Light of Mine".
• Our nanny, Alex taught Emmy some color songs.  They are sung to tunes such as "Row Row Row your Boat", "10 little indians", "She'll be comin round the mountain", etc.  Well, tonight when Chris got home from work, Emmy wanted to sing some of these songs with him.  He started in on one song, got about 2 words into it, stopped singing and looked at me.  It was because he wasn't sure how to fit the words of the song to the associated tune.  He didn't even say "mama, please help"...it was just a look.  Well, Little Miss Observant is watching all of this and chimes in with "Daddy, why you need mama's help?"  She knew EXACTLY what was going on!  It was so stinking funny.

Two Months {nora}

So as of the last monthly update, I had 20# to lose.  Sad/happy(?) to say that I have 13 more to go.  Sad b/c that 13# seems like such a big number.  Happy because I lost 7# of FAT in one month.

Onto the real point of this post, the monthly update:

Eat: about 7-9 times a day
Sleep: usually up by 6am and down by 9pm.  Nighttime is spent in the rock and play sleeper and naps are spent in the cradle or on the bed. She still likes her arms to be swaddled.
Shoes: she sported her little Puma shoes a few days ago (size 0).  They didn't stay on well, but oh so cute.
Clothes: 0-3 and 3 month clothes. She is wearing the 6-9 month Gerber onesies which brings me to the question of, does anyone's baby really fit into the gerber onesie sizes at the same age?  They seem to be so teeny tiny.
Diapers: We are on the last package of size 1 and will be moving up a size after it's gone.
Trips: to Fayetteville on Mother's Day weekend for Greg's graduation
Likes: being held, eating, baths (most of the time), flashing "I'm a big stinker but I look so sweet" smiles
Dislikes: turning her head to the left for sleep, feet being covered up during naps/night, staying asleep in the carseat once the car stops
Milestones: This month Nora tried out the bumbo (8w), really started making eye contact (6.5w), coos while I sing to her (7.5w)
Other: We think that Nora will be a little less dramatic than big sis...we shall see!  Also, this month Nora went to her first birthday party and first wedding (all in the same day).  She did a great job and got plenty of "oooohs" and "aaaaahs" from everyone.

Some Emmy things that I don't want to forget:

• Apparently Emmy loves to dance at wedding receptions.
• She demands all the time "say it!".  She will tell us this if we ask her a question and she doesn't want to answer it.  Or sometimes it's just to repeat what she has just said.  I am unsure if this is a bossy pants issue, or if it's actually a language development thing...anyone know?
• She LOVES Dora....ugh
• Emmy loves the idea of an ice cone (aka sno cone) but doesn't actually like to eat one.
• She knows NO stranger, she is such a happy social being.  But we really need to start teaching her about stranger danger.

And a picture to end with....my girls each at 2 months.

One Month {nora}

Seriously, a month has already passed by?  My post partum checkup is in 2 weeks and I still have 20# to lose?I have to go to work in a few more weeks?  NO!!!!

Here is what the tiniest princess has been up to:

• eat, sleep, poop, repeat
• First road trip to Mimi and Papa's for Easter (2 1/2 weeks)
• Ditched the newborn diapers and moved to size 1 at 3 weeks
• Starting around 2 weeks we started having longer stretches of sleep at night, yay!  Nora's last feeding in the evenings is usually between 8 and 9pm and she wakes around 2-3am to eat.  In exchange for this nice stretch of sleep in the evenings, she eats every 2-2.5 hours during the day.
• We have nicknamed the newest member of our family, Noisy Nora.  Seriously, she makes so many noises.  Squeaks, grunts, sighs, laughs, and more grunts.  I hope I can catch this all on video.
• Nora definitely likes to be held upright on your shoulder, it's amazing that she already has a strong preference.
• She hasn't lost too much hair yet, knock on wood.
• At exactly one month old, we weighed her on a baby scale and she was 10#!  It was not a digital scale, so I suppose we could be off an ounce or two.
• She isn't too interested in tracking objects or her play gym yet, but she has some pretty good head control.
• I mentioned that she likes to be held on shoulders...well, Nora likes to be held period.  It's not to the point where we are holding her all the time.  But in her dream world, she'd be in someone's arms or the baby Bjorn ALL day!
• Just this past week she has started coo'ing a bit.  Maybe she and Emmy will develop a little "sister talk" b/c Emmy goes up to her and starts talking a weird baby language.  Nora actually seems to enjoy it.

We have had so much fun with 2 little princesses in our midst.  This first month has flown by and I know it will continue to feel this way.  Just wish I could either slow down time or bottle this up to enjoy it more later.

Now onto some Emmy funnies:

• We must hear at least 100x a day "we do we do _______" (i.e.: eat, brush our teeth, watch TV, put on clothes, take out the trash....get the picture?)
• She can walk on her tiptoes...well, curled toes.  Think toe ballet.
• Our little bull in a china cabinet thinks that she has to be RIGHT in Nora's face...all the time.  Sorry little sis.
• She is starting to make use of adjectives and especially interested in opposites.  But her favorite word is "big".  And anytime she says the word, she raises her voice and opens her eyes.  It's cute!
• OH.......tonight, we were at the Copan restaurant and she got SO excited about the bottle of ketchup.  She yelled "ketchup" really loud and it silenced the whole restaurant...it was embarrassing and hilarious all at the same time.
• We bought her a clock that changes colors when it's an appropriate time to wake up.  So every morning at 635 (or later if she actually sleeps in), I love hearing her over the monitor "mommy daddy, my cuckoo clock is green".  I may have mentioned this one before, but I don't want to forget it!
• The girl LOVES blowing bubbles, watering plants, and telling me that I need to pump. =)