15 month update

Nora has been 15 months old for a few weeks, but with the holidays and the cruise, I haven't had much time to update. She did very well at her 15 month well baby visit. She was 32 inches long (~70th %), 22lbs (just under 50th percentile), and has a whopping 49 cm head circumference (90th percentile).

She's got lots of words now, and seems to learn a new one every day or so. She says mommy, daddy, hi, bye, see-ya, uh-oh, wow, cool, wee, see, dat (that), shoe, doggie, more, down, tickle, tay-coo, (thank you), and sticker. I'm sure there are more, but I can't remember them now.

She's gotten pretty good at stacking blocks. She prefers to stack the cups inside one another instead of on top of one another, but she'll do if for a long time. She also loves the big puzzles and having mommy and daddy read books to her. She like Barnyard Dance, Snuggle Puppy, any Dr. Seuss-like rhyming book, and Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type, or pretty much anything else that we read to her. She'll bring the book to one of us and then point to the space next to use and say "down" which she uses for up or down right now. She loves being outside and will often bring us her jacket or a hat and point to the sliding door. We try to spend some time outside each day, but with the extreme cold we've had lately, it's been difficult. She likes to sit in the snow and move her hands through the snow, but there is just too much of it for her to really play in.

Nora has gotten quite proficient at walking now. She has finally realized that she is sturdy. On the cruise, she discovered climbing again, so instead of just climbing stairs, she now like to climb anything she can!

Nora still eats pretty well most of the time. We've suffered through 2 stomach bugs in the last three months, and we're having some difficulty after the cruise. We're working on veggies again. She's finally eating carrots, squash and peas again, but still won't eat broccoli (which she used to love). Fortunately, she still likes curried lentils, so we can "hide" veggies in that! She's becoming much more independent with feeding - she wants to feed herself as much as possible, but she's not very neat about it. It's been messy but fun watching and helping her learn to use a spoon - even though she'll often give up and use her fingers a short time later!

Well, I think that's all for now. I'm sure I'm missing something, but she seems to learn something new everyday, it's really amazing!

Cruise!

We had a wonderful time on vacation in early January. We went on a cruise (Danielle and Jeff's Adventure Wedding Cruise). It was so nice to get out in the warm sun for a few days, and Nora LOVED the beaches. The two days that were totally at sea were a bit tough because the public places on the boat were crowded so Nora didn't have much safe room to explore (people don't think to look for a 32 inch tall child running around with her arms in the air). We had the best waiter for dinner - he provided great service and great entertainment for Nora. Nora even started saying thank you to him as he brought her grapes and french fries to eat. Yes, we gave her french fries for dinner a number of nights. Unfortunately, dinner was so close to bedtime, we needed to entertain her more than worry about the quality of the meal. She had a great breakfast every morning - fruit, yogurt, eggs and oatmeal! Lunch was hit or miss. Sometimes, she'd have a small slice of pizza and some baby food veggies (we brought carrots and sweet potatoes with us), sometimes yogurt. Usually, something pretty healthy. However, she discovered that mom's plate usually had a chocolate chip cookie, so she'd also get a small piece of cookie for a treat after lunch. The beach days were great because there was enough space to walk around with her in the stroller so we could get her to nap! Naps were pretty tough to come by on the boat.

Our first night at dinner, Nora wore an appropriate big "What time is the Midnight Buffet?!"

During the safety meeting, we tried the "floating crib" on Nora. She was very good about letting us put her into it, but I don't think she was too happy when we didn't take her right out...

Enjoying the water at the beach. Nora just loves the water. She's still not so sure about sand, but she really loves to go in the water!

Looking cool on a beach chair...

Taking a nap after a long day in the sun.

Changed into dry clothes, but still enjoying the sunshine!

I'm ready to party!!!

Showing off my new dress!

Our room steward created a towel elephant and a towel doggie as well, but this monkey was really cool. Nora loved to look at the monkey, so we left it hanging until the end of the cruise.


Danielle and Jeff's wedding was amazing. Magen's Bay was beautiful and the weather could not have been better. Danielle made one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. It was great to see her and Jeff finally tie the knot. Nora was a bit unhappy...she screamed through the whole ceremony. It was totally because she was hot, hungry and tired, but it's still fun to say it's because she was afraid of losing her best friend (aunt Danielle)...

Danielle and Jeff gave everyone beach towels to remember their wedding. They are great towels. Nora "christened" one of ours the first day we used it. Lucky for us, there was laundry on board!

The groom and groomsmen on the boat the morning of the wedding.

The Bride and Bridemaids upon arrival at Magen's Bay.

Andy and I after the ceremony.

A great photo of the bride and groom. The background is just beautiful!

Another cute photo of Danielle and Jeff.

Christmas

We had a wonderful, if very long, Christmas celebration. We started on Christmas Eve. My dad, Danielle and Jeff came up and we had chinese food (after a 3!! hour wait) and opened gifts. Nora had a pretty good time opening up the gifts (hers or anyone elses). She didn't care much about what was inside, but paper sure made a good noise when it ripped!

On Christmas morning, Nora woke up to even more gifts. Santa didn't bring her much, and he only wrapped a couple of gifts, but she seemed to enjoy them. Danielle and Jeff came up for Christmas day as well and we had a yummy Turkey dinner and then went to Mike and Patty's house for some dessert and to see more family! Overall, it was a great day - and Nora did very well. She was pretty clingy at Mike and Patty's because of all the strangers, but other than that, she seemed to be okay with the whole change to her normal routine.

The weekend after Christmas, we had Andy's family visit to celebrate. Another great party, with lots of great food. We exchanged gifts yet again, and Nora got to visit with Cory and Rand's dog Dasher. He was very well behaved, and Nora learned the word "doggie" before the end of the day.

Playing with some blocks on Christmas Eve


Come on daddy, hurry up and get the toy out of the box!!


Finding a present under the tree Christmas morning.


Nora carried her gift over to the table so mommy could help open it.


All those wonderful gifts, and the best stuff is still in the Tupperware drawer...

Playing in the snow

We've had loads of snow this year. Before Christmas, Nora and I went out and played in the snow. Here are some photos from that day. Since then, she has learned how to better walk in her snow pants (hitting a growth spurt probably helped a ton). She likes to sit in the snow and move it around with her hands, and walk along the driveway so she can knock snow off the piles. The snow has been a bit too deep for her to maneuver well in, so if you sit or stand her in the snow, she gets stuck!

Here she is showing off her great new (to us, anyway) jacket.


She fell over right after I took the above photo. She was not too happy about getting stuck in the snow!

Nora enjoyed being pulled in the sled, as long as I didn't pull her too fast. I went too fast once, and she totally freaked out. However, at a slower pace, she would shout "wee wee wee" while moving around the yard.

Decorating or undecorating the tree

We put up our tree about a week before Christmas this year. Nora was very interested in the tree, but fortunately, never tried to climb it! She really enjoyed taking ornaments off the tree and handing them to mommy and daddy to hold. We only had one ornament casualty this year - a fish ornament broke in two, it was a bit more fragile than we thought!

It's been a month!

I haven't blogged in a month! Life has been pretty busy since before Thanskgiving. Nora has been making leaps and bounds with her walking and talking. She has so many words now, it's pretty amazing. She's also starting to learn to sign for diaper changes and naps, which is making life a bit easier.

As everyone knows, we are all still recovering from the ice storm. We were lucky enough to have our power restored quickly, but many of our friends (including our next door neighbor) are still without power. Some have been told they will be without power until after Christmas. Fortunately, everyone I know has found a warm place to stay or has an alternative way to heat their home (either with a generator or a wood/gas fireplace). My heart goes out to everyone who is without power. This is a difficult enough time of year for many, and to add this stress is very hard. I've seen many work crews out every day, so I know they are doing their best to restore power as quickly as possible, despite the cold, sometimes nasty weather!

"Helping" with the dinner prep

Nora loves to stand in her Learning Tower while mum works on dishes or chopping veggies for dinner. She has recently started to "chop" her own veggies and bread! Here she is, "helping" mum prepare dinner. She, of course, doesn't always have the best aim with the knife...

I like to feed myself!

Nora has been very interested in feeding herself lately - and not just finger foods. She loves to try and feed herself oatmeal, yogurt and peas. Of course, the first time she fed herself peas, I had to take a photo of the aftermath. The sippy cup was a mess, but Nora was very happy! She didn't do to bad - most of the food ended up in her mouth, but at one point, she got tired of handling the spoon (with help), and chucked the spoon to eat the peas with her fingers!



Nora does much better with food such as eggs. She must have her eggs served in her own plate, but often she takes them all out and puts them on her tray (then back in the plate) while she's eating. Once she is finished though, you need to be quick because the plate goes...on top of her head!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

For Thanksgiving, we went to my sister's house. It was pretty nice. Jeff's family was there, as well as our own, so it was a pretty big party. Nora, as usual, realized that it was a special day and refused to take a nap. We had been hoping she would take her normal morning nap, which would help get her through the day. Luckily, she didn't get too cranky. Nora enjoyed lots to eat on Thanksgiving. She had some squash, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach souffle, cheese and crackers. She also got a little apple pie filling and a few bites of pumpkin. She learned that she could get everyone to laugh by spitting out her food in a loud and messy fashion. Andy and I had been working on teaching her to say no thanks (using signs) when she was done eating, but she couldn't resist all the attention. Another big favorite of Nora's was my sister's cell phone. I think she held onto it for most of the day!




The day after Thanksgiving, Andy and I drove up to Maine to visit his family. We decided it would be a good time to drive up to Damariscotta to visit Andy's Grandparents, since they haven't had the opportunity to see Nora since last Christmas. It turned out to be a really great day! Andy's grandparents both enjoyed watching Nora play in the middle of the room - she provided great entertainment for all involved. It was great to see Andy's family as well. We got to see a lot of people that we don't get to see very often.





We spent Saturday in Maine as well, and just enjoyed the day with Nora's grandparents. Nora enjoyed playing with some beads almost all day. She would put them on, take them off, put them on, take them off, then put them all on the ground, pick them up...amazing how something so simple kept her busy for so long!

I'm still cute!