December 25, 2008 by mommy.

Norah and Emily got lots of great gifts. Emily’s favorites are her new digital camera (from Grandparents Macy) and remote control car (from Grandparents Wobbema) and slippers (from Mom & Dad). Norah’s favorites are anything that belongs to Emily, tissue paper, and her Pooh blocks (from Grandparents Macy). Oh, and her new chair from Santa.

Norah got another tooth on Christmas Eve, bringing her total up to 4 - two on top, two on bottom. Today she said a new word - apple - as I was feeding her applesauce.

Mommy got several new Willow Trees and a special surprise - princess cut diamond earrings from Daddy. Daddy got a nice new scarf and gloves he is excited about, and a geeky business card holder. Plus, he has the gift of his mom being with us for the holidays. Nuba got some new treats and a new personalized mat for her food and water bowls.

Of course, there are too many gifts to mention. Thanks to everyone. Merry Christmas.

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December 14, 2008 by mommy.

Norah also says something that sounds quite a bit like “all done” when she is finished eating. She is doing great with her sippy cup these days and doesn’t seem to miss nursing too much. I miss it a little bit and am in a bit of physical discomfort. Hoping restrictive undergarments and cabbage leaves will do the trick, although it hasn’t helped much in the week since we stopped nursing.

Norah is enjoying trying new table foods and occasionally will even try helping to hold the spoon. I can’t believe the little toddler that is blooming. She still just has 3 teeth (top left and the two bottom ones) although two more top teeth (to the immediate left and right of the one she has) are starting to try to come through.

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December 14, 2008 by mommy.

Norah has scaled Mt Everest - or at least, the the main staircase in our house. One night she seemed ready to try it so I put her at the bottom and she made it all the way to the top! She is especially motivated to go up when she hears the bath water running!

Norah also has a new word lately, or rather a new understanding by the rest of us. She has been saying baba for a while and we finally realized that is what she calls Nuba. She is quite fond of her.

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December 11, 2008 by daddy.

Tonight over dinner Emily heard a sound coming from the laptop that sounded a bit like a buzz.  Shortly following that she said “dan’s phone, would you like to call home or mobile”.  I just started to laugh because I knew she was repeating exactly what she hears the bluetooth speak back if the voice dialing is being used.  It was a great moment in parenting.

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December 11, 2008 by daddy.

Today is a day not unlike any other, but for some reason today is a day that I am missing my ladies a lot.  I am sitting at work cranking away just wanting to be crawling on the floor playing games with the princesses and chillin’ with the queen.  I am taking this as a sign that we have not had good family downtime lately and we need to work on that.  We will have to work on that very soon.

Love,
Daddy

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December 8, 2008 by mommy.

Today we said goodbye to Grandma Macy, who went back home to SD after being with us since the day after Thanksgiving (Nov 28). It was such a blessing to have her here for Norah’s birthday (by the way, Norah had a great time and you can check out all the pictures for evidence of that). We had a great visit and both girls loved spending time with Grandma. Dan and I enjoyed a date night and two trips to the grocery store sans kids. Wow!

Yesterday was also sad for me as it was my last day of nursing my baby girl. I am so proud that I made it all the way to one year without using any formula - despite working full time and traveling! It was such a blessing to have that time with Norah and be able to provide for her for a year, just like I did with Emily. It is bittersweet - I am excited to see my baby grow up, but it is hard knowing we won’t be sharing that time anymore and I may never nurse another child. Very emotional for me.

One final goodbye - my best friend (and long-distance friend) Kate has lost her longest friend - her black lab Serenity - due to illness. She was quite the personality! ‘Bye Mooks.

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December 8, 2008 by mommy.

First, the raspberries…not what you might think. Norah has started pursing her lips (or sometimes sticking her tongue out) and blowing raspberries. It is pretty cute. In fact, she was doing that in the bathtub tonight…which brings us to the next part of the post.

Norah bathed solo for a while and then Emily got in. The water was cooling down so we added more warm water which resulted in a pretty deep bath. The next thing we knew, we got a personal lesson in why you NEVER leave a child alone in the bath even for one second - Norah somehow flipped sideways and was suddenly on her back underwater. Dan was right there and swooped her up but it still made our hearts skip a beat.

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December 8, 2008 by daddy.

The time has come and Norah has taken her first steps!!! It was amazing to watch.  The other day we were hanging out in the living room and our little walking princess took three steps from mommy to daddy.  That was about it… then she just wanted to plop down and not try much more… but she can cruise when she is pushing her hippo or a chair in the kitchen.  Not long now and we are going to having races around the kitchen island.  We are so proud of you little N.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

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