Two Months of Bliss

Just when you thought you couldn't get enough of blog posts about our baby - here's another! ;)  Nora turned two months old May 13 and, since our baby is the smartest/most attractive/unique/perfect baby in the world (not biased at all), I feel the need to document all her milestones.

Weighs 9 lbs 4 ozs, and is 22 inches long.  When she was born, Nora was in the 25th percentile for her weight and 75th percentile for her height.  Now she is somewhere in the 15th percentile for her weight and 60th percentile for her height.

"Coo"s all the time.  It is so darned cute.  Her two-month pic above was taken mid-coo.  She is so funny.  We coo back and forth a lot.  Yes, my masters degree and half of a PhD makes me uniquely qualified for this exchange.

Can move her pacifier towards her mouth.  She has recently fallen in love with her Wubbanub.  For those of you unfamiliar to baby land, a Wubbanub is a pacifier attached to a stuffed animal.  If Nora's pacifier falls out of her mouth, she compensates by sucking on the frog's hand.  Hey, whatever works.

Took her two month shots like a champ.  This was definitely a proud momma moment.  There were three shots she needed.  The first needle prick caused her to whimper from being surprised, but she didn't make a sound otherwise for the rest of her shots.  When our nurse left the room, another nurse asked her to "go ahead and give Nora her shots."  To which our nurse replied, "I just did.  We are all finished."  The other nurse was surprised because she didn't hear any crying out in the hall.  I guess my "crying is for babies" speech to Nora on the way to the pediatrician's worked.

Getting very manipulative.  In our childbirth classes, they preached over and over again that you can't hold a newborn "too much" because they don't learn to manipulate you until they are a little bit older.  To say that Nora has learned how to manipulate her admirers is an understatement - she could teach an entire hospital of newborns how to school their parents.  She just wants one thing in life - to occupy your shoulder.  All day.  Everyday.  And she does this creepy thing where she kisses your neck.

Has about two more weeks of harness wear.  Her ultrasound is scheduled for May 29 to verify that her left hip is staying firmly in place.  We expect this to go well as all her physical examinations of late lean that way.

Conquers tummy time.  I can't wait to see how she handles tummy time without a harness.  With the harness on and keeping her legs in place, she is able to overpower and almost roll over.  Without the harness, she could probably somersault around the floor.  Her neck strength is pretty amazing thanks to the harness positioning as well.


Enough bragging - on to the good stuff.  Here are the latest photos of the cutie:

First bath I gave her without Daddy's help:

Not actually Nora - but a funny email that Nora "sent" Kevin as he was preparing to head back from Afghanistan:

Reading the Very Quiet Cricket from Aunt Crickett...who is anything but quiet:

Just hanging out:

Holding on to her pacifier for her life before she met Uncle Kevin for the first time:

Getting one-on-one cousin time with Emma:

Smiling for her Mommy:

 Loving on her Wubbanub:

That's the face of a girl who JUST had her two-month shots only minutes before.  Does she look sad to you??

Chilling out with her favorite babysitter, Taylor:

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday - time to be thankful!

1. Ahhhhhh

That's my textual interpretation of a sigh of relief.  The semester is O-V-E-R.  What does that spell?  Over!  Over!  Having a baby in the middle of a semester was incredibly challenging.  Turning in this last little bit of my research was like climbing up a mountain wearing boots filled with concrete.  It wasn't my best effort.  My perfectionist self hates this.  But, my GPA has more than a little 'wiggle room' - if my efforts earn a low grade it won't derail my funding.  Here's what I'll be doing tonight:

2. Kevin is HOME!

This should really be first on the list, but I blog based on stream of consciousness.  Kevin knows that he is top of mind while he is in a war zone - thankfully the only war zone he faces these days is the traffic on I-40 instead of Afghanistan.  It was so neat to be able to introduce him to his newest niece, and of course to watch our crazy Emma get super-pumped over seeing Uncle Kevin.

3. JD

My husband is a swell guy in case you can't tell from my other blog posts.  Not only has he been super-Dad while I struggled through the rest of the semester, he has been super-husband as well.  He cancelled night meetings at a moment's notice so he could entertain Nora while I worked on my research.  He cooked meals, ok so he is actually best at picking up meals because I stopped grocery shopping for a little while, but you get the point.  He offered to be in charge of the middle of the night diaper changes when I have to get up to feed the baby.  Sometimes I let him and take advantage of a few more moments of sleep, but mostly I tell him to go back to bed.  I have to nurse Nora anyway, so there is no point in both of us getting up.  He changes his morning meeting schedule so I can get in a run before he leaves for the day.  The list goes on and on...

4. Weather

It's true - I am a summer girl.  I won't even run when it is less than 60 degrees outside.  I'd rather have to run at five in the morning because of a heat advisory than in the middle of the day when it is 58 degrees.  Call me crazy.  This weather has been beautiful and I plan on taking full advantage of it now that I am on summer vacation.

5. Nora

This silly girl is such a joy in our lives.  She is doing SO WELL with her harness.  In fact, she just had a check-up today and her doctor thinks that her hip is staying firmly in place.  We are continuing with her physical therapy and wearing the harness to ensure that everything is as it should be by June.  Orthopedic issues almost solved!  She nurses for a speedy ten minutes every four hours, and, even bigger news, our super-trooper is also sleeping through the night!  We have moved her into her room, and from 10:30 - 5, I get blissful, uninterrupted sleep.  Some people say it's too early, I say don't knock a good thing.  Seriously.  Let it be.

6. Memphis Grizzlies

In a shout out to my hometown, I am thankful that the Grizz are doing well in the playoffs.  My economic development background knows that this is a good thing for our City, my hometown pride overflows when I watch ESPN.  We plan on cheering them along on Monday night in the Forum - Go Grizz!

Living the Pioneer Life

Day 3 of no Internet or cable at the house. Our landscape guy cut the cable when tilling up the yard. At first I thought, hey this is no big deal. I need to finish up my paper for the semester anyway. This will cut out all the distractions.

Wrong. Have you ever tried to write a research paper without an Internet connection? It's impossible. So I started thinking about the pre-Internet days of paper-writing. I guess we would reference encyclopedias. I'd be hard pressed to name a friend who owns an encyclopedia, not even counting the irony that the paper is discussing recent real estate trends in the Memphis market.

I feel like a pioneer.

Giving up on the paper momentarily, I decide to watch a movie. Except Netflix streams over the Internet. That won't work. So I spend a few hours pulling weeds in the yard praying that the Comcast van starts driving down my cove. No luck.

I spend the rest of the day trying to accomplish what I can using my iPhone with mixed results. Why aren't all web pages mobile friendly?

Then my phone dies. Thus, I lose my connection to the outside world. Staring at a sleeping baby only provides so much entertainment and reading about crafty center pieces in Better Homes and Gardens seems overly-domestic, even for me. Can't a girl get a break around here?!

Back to praying for the Comcast van...