Happy 1st Birthday Nora!

Wow, a whole year has gone by....phew that was fast! Everyone who said it (they grow up fast) was absolutely right, but I'm not sure I believed them when they said it until it happened to me.  We are so blessed to have this happy, healthy, eat-everything, sleep-at-night, good-napper, persistent, adorable little 1 year old on our hands.  She is determined to do what she wants and that is challenging as first time parents, but we manage to still discipline when needed so she learns early. 

Funny story, but off the topic...I made a pinterest recipe tonight that I knew couldn't be bad. I mean, it was crescent rolls, pizza sauce, mozz cheese & pepperoni rolled into deliciousness.  Nora ate it, but threw a lot on the floor. I made broccoli and peas after the fact because I knew she didn't eat much. She probably ate as much of the broccoli as I did and that pretty much made my day!  (told you it was off subject!)

She had her 1 year appointment and her are her stats:

• Height: 31 inches (96%)
• Weight: 20 pounds 4 ounces (56%)
• Head Circumference: 18 1/4 inches (85th%)

She is maintaining on all aspects as far as percentages go, and that continues to mean the need for longer shirts/pants!

Also at the doctor she had 2 shots...of which resulted in crying until the nurse distracted her with a book the doctors office gives all 1 year old kids.  Phew..that was close!

So, what's new?  The love of toys that have cause and effect-ie. her golf club to golf ball, cars to pull back and watch gooooo, throwing something and watching it fly...those kinds of things.  Also, she loves to be outside exploring (aka: eating grass, mulch, my flowers!).  She often takes off at the chance that she might get a few steps in front of me.  Persistent little booger: 30 times of "no no Nora that's Jerseys water" or "no, no Nora that's Mommy's hutch" and she still goes back another 30 times to play in the water & dog food or open the hutch to the endless supply of non-baby proofed things! We are officially off the bottle and only using sippy cups (as of 2 days ago) and it hasn't been a problem.  As long as she doesn't see the bottle she doesn't know it exists.  Brushing her teeth & bath time are always favorites as well as beating up on Jersey (she's a good sport).  The absolute latest hype at the house....Nora with her leg over the crib trying to climb out-caught by Beth today as she was watching her! (side note: we are not ready for a toddler bed yet-no limitations...yikes). One last thing...she love, loves reading books in the car, in the cart at the grocery store or at home.  She grabs one and comes to be and backs up and sits in my lap to be read to.  I love this so we try to read at least 3 times each day-when I'm not working.

What's not so new...her love of every kid that we could possibly see outside or at the store. She is a social butterfly and waves at EVERYONE & it's always accompanied by a cute little smile, then a giggle. Who on earth could resist that?! 

Here she is-our 1 year old:

Loves my cup with the straw & being outside in the screened in porch

First of many zoo trips with Cousin Hunter

Standeford Cousins: Nellie, Coralynn, Bella, Ann & Nora

Loves swinging at the park

Relaxing with Daddy on the back porch

So big!

At her birthday party

Adorable....ask her what the owls say.....she replies "hoot hoot"

Proud Mommy & Daddy

Loves chocolate cake, but then again so does Mommy!

Just a note as we go forward that I will not be posting, but maybe-maybe once per month (and I realize this might have been going on for the last 2 months).  I'm overwhelmed with other things I would rather do that are outside & this has kind of been like a chore to keep up even though I love to have it and look back.  Who knows I may change my mind...but I just thought I would let those of you know that are frequent readers!

Happy 1st Birthday Nora!

I remember this day like it was yesterday....One of the best days of my life! So hard to describe the joy she has given us this year.  Mommy & Daddy Love you!

Nora {11 Months}

In the beginning I would have the "month" post on the exact date (13th of each month).  Now, I'm happy to have it done before the end of the month (update: time got away and obviously not posted before March).  Thankfully this year is leap year and that gives me an extra day (today) to get this whipped up and posted!

We are officially with in days of sweet Nora turning 1 and we have mixed emotions for this huge event.  Before we get there lets talk about 11 months! This age has been a blast for a bunch of reasons.  I like to use every possible moment to teach her. It's fun to watch her play, talk, learn, read, interact with other kids and other people at the store.  It's just a lot of fun AND shes a "hip baby".  That makes it easy to carry her and thirty other things up and down the stairs all day long with out having to  hold her head for support!

She has been mumbling baby talk for a while now, but we can actually interpret what she is saying some of the time where before it was only mama or dadadada.  Jer-sey happens to be one of the words she has picked up on lately.  I think more that I've picked up on that actually being what she says because it doesn't sound like that it sounds more like "hers zeeee" and if you don't know what shes talking about you're clueless as to how she got that to mean Jersey! She walks around with toys saying Jersey or doggy which is more "doag-y" sounding.  This is almost too much for me-She's not even 1 and she comprehends! We have been trying to encourage her with short words like ball, club, book, car, doll, baby, but she only says the things she wants to say and that's OK.

We are struggling with the fact that humans show their sin-nature so quickly and therefore have implemented some discipline when Nora decides to clearly do something she knows she is not supposed to ie. turnover during diaper changes, touch something she's not supposed to touch, etc.  This new discipline has been good for her and us both.  She now doesn't turn over during diaper changes and understands the consequences of her actions (simple actions of course-shes only 11 months!).  Makes life easier.  However, sometimes she just out right throws a tantrum...you know the throw-your-self-on-the-floor-and-whip-your-head-to-the-ground type of tantrum! Wow, those are crazy...and so it begins that we not only have a cute little baby, but we have a cute little baby that we have to teach right and wrong to, teach about tons of things.  We are out of the just hold them and say "Aww" stage and it was like the snap of my fingers and bam-she's a big girl!

I am packing away more and more clothes. We now have several totes of clothes she can not wear.  Lately its the 6-9 or 9 month old clothes that are getting all packed up.  Most of her 12 month shirts are too short in the sleeves, but they do the job!  I'm looking forward to the garage sales this summer to stock up on 18 & 24 month clothes.  Even the stores clearance sections are still $4-10 for a shirt or $10-15 for a pair of pants! For someone who is out of them in 3 months-that is simply crazy and not in the budget. If there is ever a time for hand me down clothes...its now when she doesn't even realize it.

Sleep: ever since our tough love she has been sleeping like a champ.  Every now and then she wont take a second nap, which is about right age wise, but sometimes I really wish that she would.  It's easier to get things done around the house if I know she is safely sleeping in her crib!

Activity: She is walking like a pro now & even seems as though she is "running" to the next furniture piece or toy.  We walked outside for the first time the other day & she loved it.  She also likes pushing a shopping cart in the store-she grabs the lower rack and pushes away.  She's definitely busy & harder to keep entertained so we have started going to the library to have story time and see other kids her age.  In the summer we will be busy at the zoo since we got a membership to the Indianapolis zoo which means unlimited visits.  Play time outside is something I'm looking forward to after being couped up all winter (even though it has been mild).  Pinterest has been great for ideas on keeping Nora busy-now if I could only get around to half of the things I have pinned on there. 

From now I officially have 14 days or 2 weeks left of breastfeeding to reach my goal of 1 year! It hasn't been the easiest thing in the world, but it was best for both of us.  I'm ready to not have to worry about pumping at work and keeping the supply up to be able to satisfy her. We will quickly transition to cow's milk after my freezer supply has been depleted.

We can now consider ourselves toddler-aged since she is full out walking and eating 99% of the foods we eat.  Someone has a birthday next month & its going to be a "HOOT"!

Loves bath time & always has something in her mouth

Seriously on the move!

Cute as can be

Happy Birthday Cousin Serenity!

Katie with Caleb, Christina with Kherinton, Heather with Seija-friends from church

Nora 10.5 months, Seija 7.5 months, Kherington 3 months, Caleb 2 months

The guys with the babies-adorable

Loves her Daddy

I call this the "Bieber" hair do! LOL

What she does after a bath....

Coming to get Mommy

 

A Little Tough Love

Nora's sleeping habits had been better at 4 weeks than at 9-10 months.  She was consistently getting up in the middle of the night.  To make a long story shorter...I woke up 5 times in a night, fed her each time (why, I know why did I do that) and she went back to bed.  Usually it was 1-2 or 2-3 times I would do this and it "seemed" easiest to nurse her to sleep so I could get back to sleep. (not like I can actually fall asleep before I hit the pillow or anything!)  I had myself convinced that it was a good idea until that 5th time that last night in early January.  After talking with Jake we decided a little lost sleep a few times would make up for the long periods of sleep that we could gain if she would sleep through the night like she did from 4 weeks-4 months and 5-8 months. 

Our plan: feed her 6-8 ounces before bed time and only feed her after 8-9 hours of sleep (so around 5 am).  When she woke up and cried we would let her cry for 20 minutes then hold her until she went back to sleep & put her down & do this until the 5 am feeding time. 

Night #1: She woke up at 1-consistent with what she had done. After 20 minutes crying and 20 minutes of holding her she was back to sleep and didn't wake up until 5:30 am.  Progress...

Night #2: She woke up again around 1-Jake held her for 15 minutes and she was in bed & didn't wake up until 7 am. More progress...

Night #3 She slept until 8 (12 hours) and then woke up.  Holy cow..it works!

From then until now which has been about a month she has gone to bed and not gotten up until after the 5 am feeding.  She does some nights wake up crying, but has learned we are not getting up to get her.  Of course I get up and listen through her door for a minute, but what new Mommy wouldn't. 

Now, if I could just sleep through the night myself! I've been having problems with this for a while now which has led me to a Diet Mountain Dew addiction-that doesn't make it any better. I try to cut myself off before 4 pm so it doesn't keep me up at night (LOL, officially old!).

We are thankful she is enjoying good night time sleep again after a little rough patch that I blame solely our parenting for that time being. 

All about Jake

Read the last 15 posts (or more) and I'm sure you won't miss the name Nora in any of them, but Jake & I get lost in the excitement we have for raising a sweet little girl.  So this one is about Jake. 

Recently, he joined a basketball league with my brother-in-law John. They have had 2 games; lost one, won the other and after a while of not playing I'm excited to announce that he is OK with no injuries.  He did bump up the cardio at the gym the week before to kind of "get him in shape" since most of the guys playing with him have college basketball experience.  Downfall to basketball...they have really late games-this week 9:45 pm start...in Greenwood.  This means a late night after the game, but it gives him a chance to get away and do something he enjoys. 

Still as handy as ever! Doing projects around the house that I'm sure he would rather not do like rearranging pictures or touching up nail holes from rearranging pictures.  Lately, we've been working on a huge-over-arching-project that entails cleaning out the loft to make a "play room" for Nora and in the process cleaning out the spare room to fit my craft stuff & all the junk from the loft.  Needless to say, we are having a garage sale in May. 

Emerging on the cooking front. I asked him to give me ideas for dinner meals because after thinking about food all day, teaching others about food all day, then coming home to cook....its the last thing I want to think about.  So, he whipped up chicken cordon bleu last week and has some kind of Mexican steak something planned this week or next.  The only downfall to this is getting random stuff we don't already have in the pantry to make the recipes he picks out..like adobe peppers that were $$ at the store for a little can. 

Best Daddy ever. Playing with Nora and reading to her are my favorite things to watch.  Melts my heart all over again to see him soft and gentle with her.  (we are still working on voice tone-sometimes she is overly sensitive to it and cries.)  She squeals as he says "I'm going to get you..." as she tries to run, but with too much excitement takes a tumble. She loves him and is so excited to see him when he gets home from work. She has started noticing the garage door opening when I say "Daddy's home!" so now when she hears it she pauses and then crawls/walks to find him. 

Not too much new going on, but I feel like he isn't a part of my blogging now, so this one is for you Hun (since I know you are reading this from work!). 

More & More...and Some Randoms about Nora

Just a quick (read, long winded update on nothing) update on a few things: Nora now has a total of 7 teeth! Three happened to be popping through at the end of last week.  This morning she was grinding the top with the bottom....eww talk about nails on a chalkboard. 

Yesterday, I forgot my pump at home and Jake was off work so they dropped it off while they were out running errands and we had a chance to weigh Nora at my work.  Even though she was fully clothed (she isn't at the doctors office) it would be closer to the last weigh in at her 9 month appointment in December.  She is now 20 pounds (with clothes) and it sure feels like it.  We are in the market for the next step up car seat and that may be what we do in our "spare" time tomorrow. 

Speaking of "spare" time, it is used much more wisely now days compared to pre-baby.  Now, we clean, cook, shower, grocery shop, etc in our "spare" time where that was not something we would have done before. 

Today I realized that we sweep the kitchen floor more than we used to and that we need to start mopping the floor wayyyy more than we used to.  My bare feet almost stick like cement when I walk near her high chair. She feels the need to feed Jersey now, so on the floor food flies! The dishwasher gets a work out everyday compared to every 4-5 days when we were just a 2 person family.  It's a little monotonous to empty, fill, empty fill... but I'd rather do that (Jake empties, I fill) than wash each dish by hand (because I'm anal and have to clean the sink before I would wash dishes).  Other things we do more now: eat at home because it's just easier and we stay home in general more often than we used to for the same reasons.  Nora doesn't want to be held or couped up anymore and sometimes it's easier to stay home and play with her here rather than chasing her everywhere as she gets in to and disrupts a lot of things! She's curious and we love that, but it also is exhausting making sure she's not going to break anything or hurt herself. 

OK, enough on that.  Things are different, but an AWESOME different and we love it.  As I type I hear her beating on her drum that is speaking Spanish and "singing" along to it.  "Bailamos, Cantamos, Jugamos el tambor...." haha!

Nora {10 Months}

I know, I know a little late on this one! She is 2 weeks from being 11 months & I'm finally getting a moment to type up the last months highlights.  I love using this as a scrapbook sort of baby book of "what's happening" each month because otherwise I think I would forget and it wouldn't ever be put in a book for us to remember when she's older.  Here goes for the 10 month update:

She doesn't have another doctor appointment until her 12 month appointment, but these are my estimations on weight and length.  Mostly based on the clothes she wears, how much she was at 9 months, of course my expert opinion-LOL. 

Weight: ~19.5 pounds

Length: ~30 inches

Shoe size: 3 or 4 depending on the shoes

Clothing size: mostly 9-12 months or 12 month clothes.  The 9 month clothes are too short in the arms/legs, although they fit her well through the body.  I sense a problem that will not go away for a long time.  Sorry sweet baby, mommy has that problem too!  Looks like Gap long & leans are what she will be wearing in high school.  These were the only jeans that really fit me, but they are pretty expensive so I only had 2 pairs!

Food: We are down to 3 nursing times throughout the day and on average 1 at night.  This has been really nice because planning for trips out of the house are much easier now that I don't have to scope out a place to feed her.  I'm pro breastfeeding, but not into whipping it out in public if I don't have too!  For breakfast she likes to still be fed & loves oatmeal with fruit and cinnamon.  This is the only time she likes to be fed, otherwise, it's "give me the food Mom, and I'll shove it in myself" (or feed Jersey, whichever is more fun! & because of this, Jersey is sent to her cage during meal times.)  She loves everything we have given her so far & this month she had some new foods: spaghetti, scrambled eggs with spinach, cottage cheese, yogurt, and potatoes.  We continue to explore foods learning day in and day out what works and what doesn't.  For example, we had fajitas the other night & she was so interested that I cut up the peppers in really fine pieces and let her try them...bad idea because then she wanted more and more and more.  Fast forward to the next day...they were all in her poopy diaper just as they went in.  Her GI is not ready for that yet!

Teeth: We are now in the 4 teeth fan club.  We broke through 2 on the top this month including the front right & the one just to the right of that one. These seemed to be little harder than the middle bottom two that came in at 6 months.  So, teethers, rags, Tylenol, baby oragel it is and has been for a while now to help soothe that pain. 

Sleep: We are on almost all days getting 2 naps in still. There are a few days where she decides not to take one and on those days I call her "No Nap Nora"-usually it's because we are out running around or doing something to mess up her routine. She likes routine & so do I so I try to stick to it as much as possible. When she naps, its my break time! Sleep has been a little disrupted because of her new teeth, but that's all a part of the process!

Personality: This is showing more and more.  She is full of laughs & giggles and loves exploring the house-well her portion of the house (see picture below).  She thinks she is funny when she does something she knows she shouldn't be doing & it's hard for me not to laugh at her! She looks at me like "hmm...look what I'm doing..." gives a cute little laugh and continues doing what she's not supposed to do...like playing with the gate, the dog bowl, the night light, etc. 

I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the million words about this past month...here are some pictures. 

Loves Uncle Alex now!

Saying bye to the Dimitt's who visited NYE!

Doing her hair with my blow dryer...always into something!

The Mommarazzi is on the loose again...it was warmer out & I just love that coat.

Two things I love about this pic: #1 her love for her baby doll, #2 I finally got a picture with her tongue out...she does this all the time (thanks to the Standeford/Waltz side in her)

Baby Gate $100...psshh...look what my mom does to me for FREE!

10 Month Photo shoot...she ate my sign!

And..I couldn't get a picture with her looking at the camera to save my life!

She Walks!

Check out our little walker HERE!

Almost Walking...

She concentrates...stands and claps! ...then leans and falls or falls back on her bum.  She is almost there, but not coordinated enough to get off balance and move her feet fast enough to get going.  She's close to figuring it out and we are OK with that since we know that she will be all over the place when she starts. 



Supreme concentration..I love this pic

Play Dates

Nora is quite the social bug when it comes to friends. She has been having play dates with several other little kids.  Of course she has bi-weekly play dates with cousin Hunter, but this time it was with Nolan & Kason.  Nolan is 7 days older than Nora (born on my due date with Nora) and Kason is 3 days younger than Nora.   It's so much fun to watch them interact with each other.  You can definitely tell they are boys! They wanted the balls, and were all over the place. They also seemed a little more chill as far as temperament goes.  Developmentally they were all a little different as well. Little Kason, who is in the 2-3% tile for length is already walking/running! Nora & Nolan are both in the 80-90% tile in length and not walking yet. Nora is more vocal (look who her momma is!), but the boys understand how to get what they want too.  Here are some pictures from the evening. 

Nolan in the middle, Kason on the right...both cute as can be!

They all "drove" the cart around the living room.

Love these facial expressions!

Nora has also had play dates with kids from church & the neighborhood. She loves playing with other kids-we should get her a onsie that says "plays well with others"! Hah!

Christmas at the Zoo

All piled in the van on our way to the Indianapolis Zoo

Bundled up, but inside looking at the sharks

I think she's confused, but we were having a good time!

With some of the lights...she looks like marshmallow in her snow suit. It was cold-about 39 degrees, but she was toasty warm!

Family pic

Ann, Nora, Bella, & Nellie

Click HERE for a all Standeford Family picture-take by my sister-in-law, Tabatha.