One of my colleagues made this awesome blanket for Nora:
Nora is very fond of all the dots - she’ll spend a long time trying to pick them up. Thank you, Nifer! Nora is proud to be the recipient of your very first completed knitting project.
As of today, Jen and I have been married for 10 years. It sounds like a long time, but it absolutely doesn’t feel like it. I can’t speak for Jen, of course, but to me it feels like only yesterday that her aunts were threatening my life in the parking lot of our rehearsal dinner and my mother and sister were threatening the life of the air conditioning repair man at our reception. Now we have a beautiful daughter who, coincidentally, turns 10 months old today. I guess the take away message from all this is that life is short and good things fly by.
Sometimes, though, good things choose to take the stairs rather than fly.
One of Nora’s favorite restaurants is California Pizza Kitchen - she loves the Smashed Pea and Barley soup.
This is a picture of her the very first time she sat in a big-girl high chair at a restaurant (and not her car seat):
We’ve held off on posting about this because we don’t want to be accused of grade inflation, but it’s hard to deny that Nora’s started standing!
Also? She’s starting to get hair.
Nora doesn’t know how she ever got along without a wagon to lug all of her stuff around in. Long gone are the days of crawling from the living room to the kitchen with Red Bird in her mouth. Such form. Such poise! Such grace! Such bunny slippers!
Recently she’s mastered backing up without running herself over. She even looks where she’s going now!
And she goes so fast she’s just a blur.
Such a goofball.
Last Sunday Nora’s cousin Kacie had her baptism. Nora had fun too.
Good news: we finally got a picture of Nora with her two great (and I mean great) aunts Ginny (on the left) and Marge (not on the left). Bad news: we didn’t get this picture until after Nora developed her goofy “I see a camera” face. Note Grandpa in the background looking proud but relaxed. :)
(caution, sacrilege follows)
Brien and Colleen’s camera contained better pictures. Nora was very sleepy here, this being during her nap time, but she’s a trouper. We really ought to have let her take a nap in the cup — think of the motivational poster!
This morning I was awakened by Nora yelling “dada!” and jumping out of Jen’s arms to pounce on my head. Then we giggled and cuddled for 5 or 10 minutes while she crawled all over me still saying “dada dada dada!”
How could anything go wrong today?
Nora’s Aunt Colleen and Uncle Brien came out to Ann Arbor because their friend Doug had (and I am not making this up) the Stanley Cup at his house.
I think perhaps you did not appreciate the full gravity of the preceding sentence.
Their friend Doug. Had the Stanley Cup at his house. Also? There was a buffet.
Here are some shots of Nora and her humble servant meeting the oldest trophy in professional sports.
This is important. If your kids don’t learn about alcohol & sex from you in the safety of your own home? Then they’re bound to learn about it crawling around in Mom’s recycling bin at work.
