Norah News and Plays of the Week

Here's what our little darling has been up to of late!

• She can count to 1o! We heard it for the first time last night. Last weekend, in the truck we heard "6, 7, 8, 9, 10!" but she always seemed to get stuck on 4 and 5... she has a strong preference for the number 8, so she'd start out "1, 2, 3...8!" Last night, while counting birthday candles in the Elmo book, she did the whole thing, without help.
• Speaking of the Elmo book, it's her favorite, so so she tells me. She's started identifying things as her favorite, or good (milk) in a verbal way.
• She can also get most of her alphabet down now too, although I am not sure she is making the connection between the song and the individual letters, but it's a start!
• She knows there is a baby in Mommy's belly, and sometimes she knows it's a boy. Sometimes she stares deep into my belly button and waves..."Hi Baby!"
• She's got a mind like a steel trap! Yesterday a guy from Verizon came out to install our FiOS (HOOray!). He arrived before I took her to daycare, and we saw him with his truck, up on a pole doing whatever it is they have to do up there. This morning, she says "Where did the guy go? With Truck?" Likewise a friend of ours is in the hospital and when I told her I was going to see the doctor today, she said "Paul is sick, in hospital" Go figure.
• She is BIG into her ruby slippers this week. She has long loved shoes of any sort and has always shown a preference for what attire goes on her lower digits, but this week she is wearing some pink sequins numbers (yes, with her sweats), with diamonds on them (or at least that's what Megan has told her!)
• In other news, I am feeling fine, pregnancy wise at least. Still fighting this sinus infection, but I think it's on it's way out. Had my 19 week appointment this morning and all reports are good - Brudder's heartrate is 160 - higher than Norah's was, so much for the wives tale of a high heart rate meaning a girl! He's an active little dude and the doc had a bit of trouble getting him to stay still for the sonogram... then he 'punched' the mic (or at least that's what it sounded like) much like his big sister used to do!

Life Before Kids...

I was asked to dig up the attached picture today and it got me thinkin'... my how much free time we had before becoming parents! I wouldn't change a thing, about the before or the after, but my how things have changed. This picture was taken in Vermont, in July 2005... shortly after I met Matt, and long before I could imagine life as a suburban Mom... though in all actuality, not that long before both of those things were a reality!

This summer, I drove a fuel efficient Toyota, that could fit me, two of these ladies, all of our bikes PLUS camping gear... somehow now we need a giant SUV to get 'wee Norah and her gear around!

I also rode my bike hundreds of miles, mostly with some or all of these great ladies...I even rode it 100 miles on a single day. Up a mountain. Now I take my mountain bike around the 'hood, with Norah her trailer... maybe 5-10 miles at most, with a stop at the playground!

This summer I did my first, second and third triathlons... hopefully someday there will be a fourth? I started to realize if I slowed down just a little, that maybe, just maybe Matt was the one for me! I started a financial plan that let us buy our house, I climbed at least a dozen big mountains and I swam in rivers and ponds all over New England.
I also had some GREAT times, some fabulous roadtrips with the ladies in the picture! I haven't known these gals all that long by some standards, but at this point I've known them for more than half the time I've been here in the US - though it feels like much longer. It's hard to see them much these days, with us out in the 'burbs, Julie with a newborn, Sue about to have a newborn, Lori's moved to Texas and Molly's in the middle of moving to Chicago - but whenever I do see them, it's wonderful, and in many ways like no time has passed at all - like we'd just got back from yet another trip to a mountain or beach or race. These days it seems we're mainly getting together for weddings or baby showers, but that's ok too. There's a few new characters in the cast - not only Matt and Norah, but Jeff and Vic and Laurel... and the list continues to grow this year!

I'm looking forward to ever-bigger get togethers, even though I am sure they won't be as often as we'd all like! Cheers ladies (non-alcoholic of course for all you pregnant and nursing mamas!)

Mamarazzi

So we all know that Norah loves to work the camera, but maybe, sometimes, she gets a little fed up with all the pictures. In this video, Matt and Norah are chasing each other around the house, and I was trying to catch it on film. Here, you can see Matt come into the dining room, where he hid from Norah. Norah then comes flying around the corner to chase him, and stops to pose for a picture, before getting frustrated and walking away, "No pictures"!

*Sigh* I've become Norah's own Paparazzi - her Mamarazzi, if you will

All the News that's fit to Print!

There’s lots of good news in my family these days, specifically, with my sisters! I’ve known both tidbits for a while now, but it wasn’t really my news to share until recently!

First of all, Norah’s not only getting a new brother, she’s also getting a new cousin! The first cousin on my side of the family in fact! My sister Susan and her husband Joseph Michael are expecting their first child about a month after “Brudder” arrives. (We’ve been telling Norah that the baby is a boy, and when I asked what she wanted to call him, she said “Brudder”, so Brudder he is, at least for the time being) Anyway, so far so good with her pregnancy… she’s busy researching this and that, and staying on top of all things as usual, and I’m happy to, for once in my life (or so it seems) be able to offer a little advice once in a while… especially when things were still on the QT. As much as I wished my family were closer when Norah was born, I'm really feeling it now…

Speaking of family being closer, Erin and her other half, Eric, are moving back to the East Coast! I think I speak for everyone when I say we couldn’t be happier! They had been working towards this goal for some time now and things really started to come together in the past month or so. Eric has already started with his new job in Nova Scotia, and Erin is busy wrapping things up back in Calgary and hopes to join him by the end of the month. My Dad, being the man of leisure that he is this time of year, is en route to Alberta right now to join Erin on a cross country road trip! I must say, I wish I could join them! They claim to have only a vague plan, but if I know Erin, there’s a little more structure involved than that… In any case, we’re hoping they decide to swing south and stop into see us… we’ll see!

This is the second time my Dad’s been able to spend some extended solo time with one of us, as adults. When I was on my maternity leave with Norah, mom was working, and Dad was chomping at the bit to see his first grandchild, so I suggested he come down to hang with Norah and I… he did, for about 10 days! We lucked out with unseasonably warm weather and spent a good portion of the time hanging out on the deck. I learned a few parenting tricks from him in the process, and he had bragging rights on snuggle time with Norah, at least until he returned with Mom in tow a few months later! In any case, I look forward to hearing their tales from the road, and look forward to having Erin only one timezone away!

And if anyone out there has need for a Mechanical Engineer/Project Manager in the HRM, have I got a lead for you!

It's a Boy!!

Maybe it was Mother's Intuition, maybe it was just luck, but I was right! We had our Ultrasound this morning and our little bean was happy to show us his cute little bum, as well as all his little boy parts in between. Suffice to say, there wasn't much doubt! Here are a few pictures of the little guy:

The Sun has Come Out!

Well after a 3 or 4 days of constant rain, the sun has finally come out again! I don't know about everyone else, but it's improved my mood significantly! I've been able to get outside a little bit, even went for a walk at lunch the other day!

Norah seems to be in a better mood too, and hasn't been testing us quite as much since the weekend. Last night, our financial planner came by for a check-up meeting and Norah was an angel - she watched a DVD, politely asked for more milk, and went to bed like a dream, as usual. Anyway, the point is, not too much to say today, but here are a couple of pictures to keep you paying attention! This one is of Norah, taken this morning, as we were heading to daycare. She happily posed for this picture, and even took a break from eating her jam sandwich!
This one was taken yesterday, by one of her classmates mom's... she and I both agree that we are amazed any time we come by at an off time and see just how organized a room full of kids can be! Apparently Norah was in the midst of asking for more yogurt at this time... that's my girl!

Testing, Testing

I can’t believe how naive we were a year ago… we thought Norah’s ‘tantrums’, which started around 11 months, were all there was to the terrible twos, and we were just getting an early look at what was in store. She’s always had her own ideas about things, and has never been shy about expressing them, but we’ve definitely seen some more assertiveness in the past month or so, as she tries to figure out two to control her little world. We know we’re not supposed to be her friends, we’re her parents, but we’re really starting to understand “this hurts me more than it hurts you!”

She had the meltdown to end al meltdowns on Saturday (I reserve the right to edit this statement, as my suspicion is this isn’t the last) In fairness to Norah, we didn’t exactly set her up for success… taking her to a crowded McDonalds, a little late for lunch, and thereby really pushing into naptime… THEN not only sitting in plain view of the playland, but not allowing her to go in. Anyway the poor kid tantrumed herself into exhaustion, even waking up mid-nap to mumble “McDonalds, McDonalds…” In any case, she got over it, as did we!

Last night while we were waiting for Matt to arrive home and dinner to heat up, we were playing with coloring books, stickers etc. and having a perfectly nice time. At one point, I suggested she didn’t need to take out EVERY single page of the stickers, and maybe we should save some for another day – needless to say, she didn’t agree! That part’s fine, she’s entitled to her opinion, but she started stomping her feet and pouting & crying about it, and at one point, slapped me on the leg - hit me! I stopped her dead in her tracks with my reaction, a stern warning and a threat to send her to her room. Needless to say, that lasted for about 3 minutes and she hit me again, so off to her room she went. She resisted of course, and I had to carry her in there, but I sat her on her bed and told her to stay put until she was done crying. Honestly I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, and we have such limited time together during the week that I hated to do it, but I also can’t have her hitting me – or anyone else. So I left the door closed, but so she could open it, and went back to the kitchen.

Matt arrived home, looked around and gave me a quizzical look. I quickly explained what had happened and then we waited… before long, she appeared in the doorway and said “I’m finished”. We had a quick hug and a little chat and she ran over to see her Daddy. Who greeted her, and then asked “Did you hit Mommy?” Poor Norah, I thought she was going to start all over again as Matt was talking to her! Her little lip was quivering and I was praying that he made his point and then let it go – whew! He did, and I’m pretty sure she got the message, both that hitting is not ok and that Mom and Dad are in this together. Now the trick will be sticking with it for the next 16 years or so…

How'd She Know?

Last night, a friend stopped by to drop something off for us. This friend is going thru a really tough time lately, and yesterday happened to be particularly bad. Norah came running, shouting her name, and ran over for a BIG hug. I'm not talking a silly bear hug, but a tight hug, and a long tight hug. It was so long, I wondered if Norah was ok... I looked at her face, and she had a very serious expression on her face as she hung on tight, and kept hanging on. Our friend looked at me and said "Did she know I needed some love today?" as her eyes misted up and Norah kept on hugging.

Now, we didn't tell Norah anything, but I guess, in some way, she did know.

Birthday Party Pictures

By popular request, here are some pictures from ONE of Norah's THREE Birthday parties! There was the one at school, one at Oma and Opa's and one at our house! The one at our house was an intimate affair, mainly with a few of the neighbourhood kids, and a few Curious George (Monkey George) highlights. Good fun and monkey cupcakes were had by all and the kids enjoyed tracing themselves on the wall then decorating with markers and stickers. We set up the dining room with pint sized furniture and let them rule the roost for a couple of hours.

Here they are, having their lunch... nuggets, cheese, fruit
And here are the Y-girls, Emila and Ella, making their mark... hi guys, I know you're checking out the pics!

Here you can see two of our neighbours, Erin and Jack... looks like Jacks Mom is having fun ;)

So, if you haven't heard, I made Monkey Cupcakes for the big day... I was pretty excited about how well they turned out! The cake was a regular yellow cake, but with added bananas and cinnamon - YUM! Photo Credit to Heather, who caught this one in action!

Here is the Birthday Girl herself, looking pensive... or tired

Here's Heather's daughter Samantha, who's a little younger than Norah, but seemed to get into the swing of things in fine style...

And lastly, here's Norah and Dad, making a tower of birthday Mega Blocs big enough to get into

A bone to pick with "Them"

They say each pregnancy is unique. They also say if the heart rate is high, it’s a girl. They also say that if you carry low it’s a boy. They also say that in your second trimester you’ll have loads and loads of energy.

Well I’ve got a bone to pick with “them”. Last night, I fell asleep at 8:45, I couldn’t even stay awake to find out whodunit on my favorite Tuesday night crime drama (It was the PI, in case you were watching – didn’t see that coming) My first trimester was much like the first few weeks of carrying Norah – dead-dog tired, nausea only if I didn’t eat every couple of hours, and then, as if by magic, at week 11, I felt like a million bucks! Well this time, I’m here to tell you that at 16.5 weeks, I feel more like a quarter, you know, 25 cents, than a cool Mil.

I’m still exhausted (see above), I have headaches at some point most days, and while I don’t puke, thoughts of my stomach are never far away (and not in a good way either) and I’ve been having back pain that I didn’t experience last time until near the end. Now, there are a few things that are different this time around… we have Norah, for one. She’s quite independent overall, but let’s face it; she’s only 2 and needs a lot from me still. I have work to do, for another. Yes, it’s true that I was employed the last time I was pregnant, but I was caught in somewhat of a reorganizational vortex for most of my pregnancy, so my actual responsibilities during that time were fairly limited. The down side of that was that I wasn’t sure I was actually going to have a job to come back to, which is definitely not the case this time. I have loads of work to do, with some more just piled on this week… I have deadlines during my planned maternity leave that I’m going to need to figure out how to address. (Here in the US, since maternity leave is so short, they don’t hire a replacement, they just hobble along, one mom down, until you get back)

On the other hand, last time we tore out two walls (one interior, one exterior), build a deck, and totally gutted and rebuilt our kitchen – surely that had to be a lot of work and stress, even though Matt did all the heavy lifting.

Taking all information into account as well as my own gut feeling, I’m going to guess that we’re having a boy! (even though the heartrate would indicate otherwise) I have mixed emotions about this, having never been one myself, but I’m sure as with most things parenting related, we’ll figure it out as we go along. As long as he’s healthy and happy, I am happy to figure it out! With Norah, we didn’t find out if she was going to be a girl or a boy until she arrived, and in fact Matt as so convinced that she was a he that I had to convince him to choose a girls name only 2 weeks before she arrived! This time around, we’re going to find out, next week in fact.

Anyone else care to hazard a guess?

Nanny Dot's Birthday!

My Nanny Dot, Norah's only living Great-Grandmother had a birthday this past weekend. It snuck up on me, like it always does, in early March! I have a really neat card here for her, yes, that's right, here, in MA, not in her hands, mailbox, or on the way. My bad, to be sure, but I did have a couple of great chats with her this past week, and a couple of really good laughs. There is lots of good things going on with my family these days, and Nanny Dot is one of them - she's had a rough year, including selling her house, that my grandfather built, moving out a lifetime of belongings, and worst of all, a round of chemo. But the good news is the move to a Seniors housing complex seems to have suited her social nature and she's on the other side of the chemo now, and starting to look and feel like her old self... take a look!
In the interst of giving credit where credit is due, my Dad took this picture. I wasn't home to join them for the birthday dinner, but my tech-savvy Dad had these pics on the wire seemingly moments after returning home - thanks Dad!

This other picture is of Nanny Dot and her daughter, my Mom. Mom's been on the front line with all the changes with Nanny this past year, and while it hasn't always been easy, I'm pretty sure they're all in a good place these days - they sure look great, don't they??? Love ya guys!

No Diaper Mommy

My little girl is gone to school today without a diaper. I knew, no, hoped this day would come, but to be honest it took me a little by surprise. We've been talking potty for some time now and having various degrees of success, but I didn't think she was quite ready to go big with it. She had other ideas. She knows Hannah (the little girl in the potty book) has panties, and I guess she decided she wanted them too.

This morning, when I went in to get her up, we did our usual snuggle/chat routine, and then I went to change her diaper before we headed out for breakfast. I should not that she's been increasingly reluctant about this start-of-the-day diaper change, but this morning really took the cake. She kept saying, "No Diaper Mommy, No Diaper!" and went so far as to take off the one that I had muscled on to her. Now, my approach all along with the potty training has been to give her the information, and follow her lead - I guess this was a message?

I don't know for sure, but time will tell. I let her teachers know (and apologized in advance!) so it will be interesting to see how the day goes. Wish us luck!

Edited 3/5/10 to Add: Well she lasted about an hour from when I dropped her off, or about 2.5 hours total. I guess she was standing on the play structure and said "I pee" and she did. She was quite upset about it, and the teacher tried to make her feel ok about it. Needless to say last night's learning was about 'accidents'!

Norah News: Thanks Aunt 'Zie!

Aunt Zie's Birthday present arrived today. I told Norah that there was a present for her at home when I picked her up, and to say she was a little excited when we came in the house is an understatement. In any case, as you can see from the attached photos, she liked her gift! I couldn't choose just one of the pictures I took, so here they all are!

The cutest part was after dinner, when Norah decided to put the whole get up on again, on her own - she managed with only a little help, and then went in search of... her camera! She then proceeded to 'take pictures' of herself

Norah News: 2 Years Old!

I used to interview Norah at each of her monthly birthdays (we used to have cookies too!) , but between one thing and the other, I haven't been very consistent with it. Well Norah turned 2 recently and I did an interview with her. She's busy and doesn't have too much to say, but she's pretty clear that it's her birthday and that she's two! Enjoy!

Big News, and it's not Norah!

There are a couple of reasons I haven't been blogging too much lately, one is that I've been writing a lot at work, which, as you can imagine, isn't all that conducive to writing in my free time. Another reason is that I've been really really tired lately. But the real reason, which is related to the tired thing, can be best explained by Norah:
Yup, that's right, Norah is going to be a big sister! Come August, our little family of three will grow to four! Spilling the news got a little complicated due to the miracle of social networking... if you're reading this, you're probably a Facebook friend of mine, and you may also know that a lot of my extended family are on there too. You may not realize that I have a number of co-workers on there too, including my boss. So, I didn't my boss to find out from Facebook via my family nor my family from my boss via Facebook or any other wacky combination therein! Complicating matters was a couple of immediate family visits early on where my long standing and very vocal dislike of decaffeinated coffee gave me away almost instantly and a planned trip to see the in-laws where we wanted to share the news in person.

In any case, here we are at 15 weeks and the secret is out, I mean here is, on the Internet. Norah seems to be looking forward to having someone to taunt, er, I mean play with, don't you think?