Nora continues to surprise us with her developing personality and milestones. Here's a quick run-down:
CRAWLS. That's right - our little girl started crawling somewhere around 6.5 months. Everyday she gets faster and more agile. Is our house baby-proofed? Of course not. Here's a video of her going after some dangling cords - uh oh!
Waves hello and says "Hi!". She more or less waves at herself, but I remember when my niece did the same thing. I think all babies start waving at themselves before they turn their little hands around.
Says "Dada." It was hard for me to admit that - not only is she her Daddy's twin, Nora is saying his name. Never mind the fact that I endured the 42 week pregnancy, 20 hour labor and delivery for our 7 pound, 4 ounce miracle, and then breastfed said miracle for almost 5 months. Nada for Mama.
Works on her name in sign language. When I was in college, I spent time volunteering for the Mississippi School for the Deaf and have a big heart for the deaf culture. While I can no longer carry on a conversation in sign language, I'd always heard what a great tool baby sign language (Mommy, Daddy, Milk, More, All Gone, Dog, etc.) was in communicating with your baby. In addition to teaching her basic signs, I have been hand-spelling Nora's name. She loves to mimic me!
Back in the brace. I know what you're thinking - that we had gotten the second opinion on her hip dysplasia and decided to take her out of the brace. After we made that decision, I kept having this nagging feeling that we leapt too soon when we heard what we wanted to hear. I had conversations with her physical therapist, a neighbor who is a pediatric anesthesiologist and her pediatrician who all encouraged a third opinion. The ultimate sticking point was the fact that Nora's old pediatric orthopedic doctor wrote us a typed, three-page letter detailing the reasons why she felt that we received 'imprudent' advice from our second opinion doc. She even attached references and articles supporting her position. We never received the letter because it was sent to our old address - the pediatrician mentioned it to me, which is when I found out about its existence. We decided to have her fitted for a long-term brace that Nora will wear when she sleeps until she is at least 3 or 4 years old. Will surgery still be in her future? Possibly, but at least we will know that we did everything we could to prevent Nora's hip operation if that happens.
Working on standing. This is turning into the 'motor skills' blog post. Now that Nora is crawling, I'll put an object that she wants up on the edge of the couch or something. She will try to pull up. If I put her in a standing position, I really don't have to support her that much while she grabs the object.
Eating more formula and food. JD and I had wondered off and on if we were feeding Nora enough. I had already increased her veggie baby food intake to two containers a day when her daycare workers mentioned that Nora always seemed hungry. We increased the amount of formula she receives to 32 ounces a day (from 29 ounces), and have been feeding her real bits of food. The other day, I gave her a few bits of my sandwich to see if she would eat any of it - she gobbled up every piece of turkey, avocado and tomato. My girl loves to eat everything! The highest her weight percentage has ever been was 25% for her age, so we aren't worried too much about overfeeding her at this stage.
Here is the latest photo dump:
Nora hangs out in my bathroom every morning while I get ready. I guess she got a little tired of waiting on Mommy and passed out.
Headed to dinner with our friends to celebrate their new baby, Meredith.
One of my old co-workers, Carmen, gave me this shopping cart cover at a baby shower. This was our first time trying it out! So much easier than having a car seat in the basket, but it does tire her out a little bit. I have to wedge my purse between her and the side of the cart so she can lean over and relax:)
We like to play on the floor of her closet. Nora crawled over to the piled up bumper pads (JD won't let me use them in her crib) and the whole pile fell on top of her, much to her delight!
My mother and sister gave this to me at one of my baby showers - it's a toy that is supposed to help kids learn how to walk. At her age, she can put the balls is specific places for the noisemaker to work. She played with it for ten minutes before she started 'connecting the dots' and attempting to put the pieces in their similar sized holes. So smart! In a few months she will hopefully be pushing it around on those little baby legs!
First time playing with my Uncle John. He's been sick off and on since this summer, and we went to visit them on my day off on Friday. He loved Nora!
This was the first time she met my Aunt Candice, she loved hanging out with my aunt and uncle!
A pretty good idea of my mornings - Nora plays on the floor of our bathroom and spits up. Buddy watches for the spit up and tries to lick it up before I chase him away. Every. Morning.
Nora gets to wear the medal for being related to her Uncle Kevin, who finished first in his age range and fourth overall for the LeBonheur Pumpkin Run 5K. Good job, Kev!
Post-bath in her Princess hooded towel. How fitting in our house:)
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