Moments

The first couple of photos are from an afternoon at the beach.  Scott and I took turns going for a swim.  The water feels great.  The last two photos are of Nora and the friend she made at the Home Depot.  She adores other babies.  

Open Letter From Nora

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

I haven't seen you in almost a month which is fine.  Maybe you have something better to do than watch your sweet little baby bloom into life :(

This past week was difficult.  I just wanted to update you on what has been going on here and happening to me.   Please see below.

1.  Pants daily.

2. No park at all yesterday.

3.  VERY few desserts.  None of them Banana Creamies.

4.  Spinach baby gruel for lunch.  If you've never tasted this, it is poop from babies who are force fed green crayon shavings.  Or green cornstarch and water, I'm not sure. 

5.  OMG THEY TRIED TO WIPE MY FACE.  OH HOW THIS ANGERS ME!

6.  She spoke to me rudely at 2:14am on Wednesday.

7.  The only toys available are the SAME toys as yesterday.  I don't want to point fingers, but baby toys aren't expensive and she had to have learned her cheapness from somewhere.  

8.  They continue to taunt me with the ONE thing that would make my life complete.  The remote control.  Always in view, but perpetually out of reach. 

9.  Mommy continues to run away to this place called work.  She returns hours later as if nothing happened. 

10.  A big dog bit me in the face.  OK, that didn't happen, but what if it did?  Think of how terrible you would feel. 

Can you guys come by and check on me?  Perhaps you could intervene on the remote control thing.  I'd settle for access to the kitchen drawers though.  Or the fridge.  I'm not picky. 

Awaiting your reply.

Love,
Nora



Credit where credit is due: much of this was *heavily* inspired by the Honest Toddler.

My sweet busy girl

Moving forward slowly

Update

A little nub of a tooth pushed it’s way through Nora’s gums a few days ago.  We’ve been feeling it for a week or so, but now it is finally visible.  Teething doesn’t seem to bother her.  She is her usual busy self.  However, she did use said tooth to go all zombie on me.  I was standing in my bedroom in a pair of shorts, contemplating what shirt to wear.  She was in her walker, scooting around the bedroom.  I wasn’t paying much attention when she sidled up behind me, grabbed my calf, and chomped down.  If that had happened a couple of weeks ago: no problem.  Now: “Ahhh!  The zombie apocalypse has spread from the TV.  Damn you AMC!”

She is a happier baby now that we are back home.  I think it has a lot to do with mobility.  She spends hours cruising around the house and the back patio in her walker.  Gma Layton asked me to observe her expression when we reintroduced her to her rolling friend upon return from SLC.  It wasn’t glee or happiness.  No.  I put her in the walker and she immediately wore an expression of deep concentration, tucked her head, spread her arms, and zoomed over to see if we had removed the barricades to the kitchen drawers.  She had work to do!  Those drawers don’t open and close themselves, you know. 

This morning we took her to the beach to watch the surf competition.  While Scott and I were busy watching the waves, she managed to pull the blanket she was sitting on towards her, exposing the sand underneath.  We didn’t notice until a handful of sand was in her mouth.  She didn’t seem to understand why we made such a big deal.  The sand didn’t taste half as bad as the time she dipped her hand in a poopie diaper and was able to get said hand to her mouth before I was able to intervene. 

She is starting to play little games with us.  One game she likes is the fall down! game.  In this game, she sits on the bed with a pillow behind her.  She then throws herself backwards onto the pillow.  She then grabs onto my hands, and I pull her back up into the seated position.  During this game, she often tries to throw herself backwards before I’ve even started to pull her up.  I tell her that this defeats the purpose, but she just ignores me. 

In other news, we are thinking of switching from cloth diapers to these:

 

She wasn't so cooperative during this photo session

Nora Nora Nora

Emily and Nora

Cutting the Cake

Pictures from the weekend

Videos

Looking over some of the videos I took over the weekend.  There were so many situations just like this:

*from crappypictures.com

Mackelpranging

Climbing

I'm enjoying my stay in Gillette. It was fun to see Becky get married. Her son, Orion, is so cute! Steph's son, Hunter, is an amazing little boy. He is 3 years old and he can read! He remembers all of our names, he is not shy at all. As soon as I was introduced to him, he invited me to play "Monster Trucks" with him. He has been my fast friend ever since.
We went to Bonnie's today after church. Her horses are so cool. We were feeding them Lucky Charms, they love them. The little baby, Percy, that I am petting, lost his mother 1 week ago.

We went to Devil's Tower this afternoon. It is about 45 min drive from Bonnie's. Suddenly, I want to watch "Close Encounter's of the Third Kind" again.