Nora Evelyn McGowan

Nora’s newfound mobility* means she’s free to roam the living room and explore the many wonders it has to offer. Naturally, no tour of the living room would be complete without a stop at the Pack ‘N Play Café for a gnosh on the front leg nearest the loveseat. Frequent visitors to the café know, of course, that the rear legs are much more tender and well worth the effort of digging one’s way under the CD cabinet to get there, but our little girl takes pleasure in even the most pedestrian of treats.

* No, you didn’t miss anything. She’s not crawling *forward* yet, but she can really motor in reverse. She’ll actually see something she wants, spin around until she’s facing the other way, crawl backwards to the thing, and then spin back around to pick it up and, you guessed it, put it in her mouth. That’s our Nora: determined but predictable.

Nora had oatmeal with blueberries for lunch today and heavens is blueberry hard to wash off a wiggling baby!

So what does Nora eat? Yesterday she had a lovely dish I like to call `peanoa’ (mushed steamed peas in very lightly spiced quinoa). So far she’s had (in addition to breastmilk, of course):

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Moments after this shot was taken, Nora tried to eat Kacie’s head (but not in an unfriendly way).

Nora’s recently discovered the joys of sitting up in the crib. This is how we found her this morning. Note the one leg hanging out the back of the crib. Did we catch her in an escape attempt? Was the smile merely a clever ruse to throw us, her captors, off her trail? Tomorrow never knows…

Back when we were in California Nora sat on real, live grass for the first time in her life. The picture on the left is not a picture of that event. The picture on the right, however, is. Many thanks to our friend Christine DeSalvo Miller both for taking the pictures and for thinking to send them to us.

Nora came into the lab yesterday to help me record some word lists, sort some papers, and help Sylvia take pictures of the dept.’s new ultrasound system. Here are some candid shots Sylvia got of Nora studying anatomy.

Michigan is an exceptionally dull place. Here in the midwest we have to make our own fun. Click for fancy new zoom feature.

These days Nora is napping in her crib. This is a welcome change.

Nora and I actually played with this diaper-turned-wig for about half an hour this morning. Sometimes we’re easily amused.

Moments before this shot she was laughing, playing, and singing: sing, laugh, laugh, giggle, *deep breath*, SCREAM!