Snow, snow, snow!

Nyack in the snow sure is purdy. Nana, Poppop and Nora go for a stroll:

Good friends

Nora’s lucky to have so many special friends. There are many more who are not pictured here, but who she, of course, loves very much.

Nora took a trip to visit her buddy Cooper in Vermont. Their moms have known each other for over thirty years!

Nora’s buddy, Leo lives in Boston, but he made the long journey just to hang out with her.

Three buds: Nora, Leo, and her city friend, Henry. Their moms met in Ireland long ago and have stayed good friends ever since.

Nora really looks up to big cousins, Caitlin and Leah. She’s got a good hold on them here.

Nora is fascinated by her very little friend, Ian, or “da da” as she calls him (her word for baby).

Nora chills with local buddies, Moloaa, Vivien and Alon.

First bite of cake… ever!

Here’s the homemade cake. Daddy did most of the hard work, baking until 2am the night before. Mommy did the fun part: decorating the top.

What is this? Can I eat it? Can I put it in my mouth? A little guidance here, please.

Oh, cool. That actually tastes really interesting. Why is that?

Anyway, I don’t know if I’m supposed to be eating this, but I’m certainly not going to stop unless someone tells me to.

I totally just ate that whole thing. And I’m feelin’ it.

Happy birthday, Nora!

Happy birthday, Nora! Thanks for making the last year of our lives so much fun.

A year ago, right about now, we were headed to the hospital. I remember thinking (between contractions) as we headed over the Tappan Zee Bridge, what a beautiful day. Unseasonably warm. Clear blue sky. Pretty Hudson River. And then, of course, I’d have another contraction and think — Ow, ow, ow.

You’re here now, and you’re the best thing that ever happened to us. They say it goes fast, and they’re right. For a nostalgic person like me, parenthood is just a trip. Because just a second ago, you were a newborn. We swaddled you like a little potato and bounced you to sleep on the exercise ball. We couldn’t get you to sleep in the bassinet so we took turns holding you all night. Your little smooshy face, pouty lips. (That’s when you became Shmooples to us. :)) When you sneezed, you’d get your whole body into it. We’d lay you on your back in the activity gym and you’d stare up at the whale, your eyes wide and unfocused. We carried you around in the baby bjorn to get you to fall asleep, you, bundled up in a little bear suit. And we’d walk down to the river and all around. We took long, long walks. Or, we put on some music (a lot of Amos Lee and Wilco) and danced around the family room. Then, you smiled for the first time. Then, you laughed. You rolled over. You started sleeping on your stomach, your butt straight up in the air. You liked to squeal and grunt a lot. We were sometimes worried you were going to swallow a bug because you’d grunt in the stroller, your mouth wide open. You went to the beach and the pool, chubby arms and legs flailing around in the water. You grew two bottom teeth. You tried rice cereal — you didn’t like it at first, so you’d shut your lips and close the shop. You sat up by yourself. You jumped around in the Jumparoo, laughing and squealing with frenetic energy. You started rocking on your hands and knees and then you crawled. You met two dogs (“gungs”) and became fascinated with them, and any creature that was not human was a “gung” or “da.” You pulled yourself to stand. You got two more teeth. And then two more teeth.

When you are happy, you are SO happy. You like to catch strangers’ attention and flash your teeth at them. You get wound up close to bedtime, laughing and kicking on the changing table. When you hear a musical note, whether it’s a jingle in a commercial or Daddy playing a plastic trumpet, you get the urge to boogie. You sometimes look very thoughtful, very serious. You have a lot to say, although we don’t always know yet what you mean. You’ll point to a pillow and say, “Ba ba,” over and over again. You’re sweet, affectionate, curious and very silly. Now, you’re learning to stand on your own. You keep trying and falling, trying and falling, without getting frustrated.

And it goes on and on and on! We’re so proud of you and we can’t wait to see what you do next.

We love you, Shmooples! Happy 1st birthday!

Winter Shmooples

It’s pretty fun to bundle her up and take her out.

Nora Bear Update

Nora helping Mommy shop in Target

Nora has six teeth and two more coming in.

She says, “da” for dog and duck and Dada, maMA for mama, “ba” for ball, “buh buh” for bye bye, “”bbbb” for mooo, “ba ba ba” (the noise a chicken makes), snort (a pig noise).

She likes to be chased. She’ll start crawling away fast and then she’ll look back at us and giggle. Once we start coming after her, she squeals in delight and flails her arms and legs.

She likes to knock down blocks, bang things together, grab the remote, my keys, the phone, my computer, etc.

She shakes her booty whenever she hears music. I mean, it’s a whole-body-shake. She moves her butt, swings her arms and bobs up and down on her knees.

She can walk holding onto a walker or table, although, she’d prefer to crawl if there’s something she’s after.

She is a smiley little monster.

Our house is Nora’s playroom

News flash: Nora likes prunes

Looking forward to fall

Well, Labor Day has come and gone and the pool is officially closed until next summer. I will miss those lazy summer days. Nora really liked the pool. She kicked her little chubby legs and slapped the surface of the water with her palms, splashing water all over her face. She laughed and squealed letting everyone see those two funny little teeth. (I mean, those teeth are ridiculous. What are they good for? They’re just cute, that’s all.) There’s nothing like wrapping Nora in a towel and drying her off so she’s nice and warm and cozy.

I realize that summer’s not officially over yet, but I see a few leaves changing colors already. Why be sad about it? One of my favorite things about being a mom is getting to do the kid stuff all over again, from a new perspective.

This fall will be about apple picking (and apple crisp) and walking in the woods. Nora will wear cute hats and sweaters that Grammy knitted for her, like this one:

We’ll decorate our new house with pumpkins, squash and scary cats (that’s about as gory as I get) and we’ll sit on a rocking chair the back porch and where it’ll be nice and breezy. We’ll take Nora on road trips up North to Cold Spring and New Paltz where we’ll wander in and out of little stores and warm our hands with mugs of hot cider. We’ll drive up to Bear Mountain and look out at the yellows and reds and oranges for miles below. We’ll invite friends and family to our home (which will smell like apple crisp. I’m fixing to make a lot of crisp this fall, people.) Our nieces will ride their bikes up and down the street. It’ll be Nora’s first Halloween. We’ll dress her up in a cute/cuddly costume (most likely with bear ears) and take lots of pictures, and she’ll think, “What? What’s the big deal?” Nora and I will sit by the Hudson and look out at the boats. There will be a chill in the air, a cool wind rippling down the river. We’ll bundle up and head back to the car, bracing ourselves for winter.

(And why be all sad about winter? Think, baby in a snowsuit.)

What’s on Nora’s reading list this summer?

Well, she turned 7 months this week. 7 months old! And I have to say, her reading level has really advanced. Here she is doing some light reading:

And now she’s eating The Business Writer’s Companion, which just shows how committed she is to learning this stuff.– you know, writing memos, proposals and abstracts.

After some careful consideration, Nora decided that That’s Not My Bunny was a little bit more engaging.