I was looking back on my blog and realized that I never wrote about Norah's trip to Texas Children's Hospital back in February. Norah was almost four months old when we were planning a weekend trip to Austin for our niece's first birthday. It has been nearly seven months since this all took place so I don't remember the exact details, but after a trip to the pediatrician with instructions to watch her swollen left eye overnight and call our doctor if it got worse, Chris and Weston headed to Austin with plans for Norah and I to follow on Saturday when her eye was better. Well, her poor eye ended up looking worse. Much worse. And she was running a fever. So after another trip to the pedi on Saturday we were sent to the TCH ER where we were admitted for an infected tear duct.
Norah was a great little patient. Thankfully she was young enough to not mind being trapped in a small room with no toys. My mom and sister kept me company until Chris and Weston made it back from Austin (they came right home when they heard we were being sent to the hospital).
This is what she looked like when we were on our way to our first appointment. Her left eye was a little swollen and there was a hard knot where her tear duct is. Dr. G massaged and pressed on her eye and green gunk came out. Yuck!!
Snuggling with Auntie after we were admitted.
Hanging out at the hospital with mama.
And this is her eye after the probing procedure a very sweet ophthalmologist performed on her. Had she been just a little older they would have had to put her under general anesthesia for the procedure, so we were very thankful this happened and got taken care of when it did. She recovered very quickly and we were released the next morning to go home. We're so thankful for our healthy babies and having to go through even such a minor procedure such as this made us even more thankful for that.
Our sweet girl's first birthday is quickly approaches, and before that gets here and I feel really behind, I wanted to do a quick update about her.
Norah has been great about the straw cup since around 6 months. We also continued with Baby Led Weaning and she really began eating well on her own during this time! At first she was shoveling food in to her mouth but around 8 months or so she was able to pick up smaller pieces more easily.
She also began giving kisses, one of my favorite tricks! She doesn't give kisses away very often, but when she does she is fierce about it. We also put up blackout curtains in her room which helped tremendously with her bedtime routine. The picture above was taken when I was trying to put her down- it was SO bright in there! I can't believe it took me so long to get those. Once they were up she had no problem going to bed at 7.
At 7 months she was wanting to be mobile SO bad! She would sit up and scoot in circles, but still wasn't full on crawling yet.
Riding in a cart with brother!
We enjoyed the pool this summer and Norah loved splashing around in the shallow section.
She also went to her first 4th of July parade!
Thinking about crawling, but not quite there..
Bath time got a lot more fun once she was sitting up really well and could join big brother! They both think it's so fun to take a bath together.
Around 7.5 months she figured it out and hasn't slowed down since!
On the move!
Football season was quickly approaching and thanks to Aunt Caitlin she was well dressed and ready for it.
Giving kisses to herself :)
She is a great eater and will eat nearly anything I put in front of her... except for green veggies. She'll eat a bite or two of those and then be done.
Her favorites: spaghetti, string cheese, waffles, oranges, peaches, bananas, yogurt- very similar to her brother!
She is also sleeping so well! She goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 and would wake up once around 4 and then goes back to sleep until around 7:30. At ten months I was so happy when she gradually began to drop the 4 am feeding.
It is so fun watching her try to keep up with her brother and Weston loves that she can move around and play with him. She is a little bit feisty, which we adore about her, and it cracks us up when we see a glance of her little attitude come out. She is such a little character and we just love her to pieces!
Our precious girl hit some big milestones from 4-6 months.
She loved bath time, despite her face in the lower picture.
She rolled over for the first time around three months, but got really good at it around 4 months.
She started sleeping in her crib in a sleepsack around 5 months. She would go to bed around 7:30 wake up around 3 or so to be fed and I'd bring her to bed with us to finish sleeping. This was my favorite stage!
Sweet girl on her first Easter!
Her first taste of food was just shy of being five months. After trying it I decided spoon feeding an infant and wrangling a toddler at meal time was a little tricky, so we took a pause and waited til she was around 6 months to pick up again with finger foods.
Norah was sitting up just before she was 5.5 months old, strong girl!
First trip to the zoo at 5 months old!
Another cute sleeping picture. Even though she doesn't really use a paci, she liked cuddling with her wubbanub.
Hanging out with dad before bedtime.
We had some unseasonably cool weather in April so we got another use out of this cute outfit!
Six month check up!
Stats:
Weight: 15 pounds 11 oz (41st %)
Height: 26 inches (57th%)
At 6 months she was still in 3-6 month clothing, and 3 month or 6 month items from Carters.
Hanging out on Nonna and Poppy's deck in May.
Eating some ice cream at CFA.
One day I attempted to get a picture of Norah wearing an outfit that was mine as a baby. Clearly she was not feeling it.
Pancake! And her favorite trick to do when she was being spoon fed.
I love sleeping baby pictures :)
And attempting to crawl... with a block in her mouth :)
Norah also got her first teeth during this time! Her two bottom teeth came in together around 5 months.
Weston continues to adore her and loves finding new ways to make her laugh.
At 6.5 months Norah also started clapping! I have a cute video that won't load right now, so I'll try again later.
We love our baby girl SO much and we're having the best time watching her grow. Our family feels so complete with her here and we are so thankful for the JOY she brings to our lives!
We have a two year old (plus two months..). How is that even possible?! Wasn't it just yesterday I was holding this little baby boy in my arms who couldn't yet walk or talk? It's so strange how it can seem like he just entered our lives, but at the same time I can hardly remember life without him.
Weston has always made us laugh since the day we first caught a glimpse of his little personality. He has definitely grown into a quirky, silly little man and here are some things about him at two that I don't want to forget:
~He loves to dance still- to game show theme songs (Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune), commercials, or any other music he hears, and lately has been doing one that we call the "Weston Stomp".
~He has also developed a thing for trashcans (quirky, I told you :)). He loves throwing stuff away, helping dada take out the trash, and pointing out the trashcans where ever we go. He and his daddy take walks (or a "galk") nearly every evening and they usually make their way to the park where Weston likes to pick up the trash and put it in the big blue trashcans. We should really be getting a discount on our HOA dues for keeping the neighborhood parks so clean.
~He loves routine, predictability and for everything to be in it's place. If Chris or I make a bowl of cereal he'll point where the bowls are, then show us where the cereal is and then say "Miiik! Miiik!" (Milk). It can easily come off as him bossing us around sometimes, but I think he just thinks of it as more of a game and likes knowing what we're going to do next. I think...
~He loves helping with anything he can- throwing Norah's diapers away, carrying groceries in, putting his dishes in the sink, feeding Charlie. Such a good little helper!
~As I mentioned, he loves to go on "galks" (walks), especially with daddy. On these walks he always searches the sky for airplanes and quack quacks and points out all the cars as well. These galks usually end up at the park where he loves to climb, slide, swing and hang from bars like a little monkey.
~Speaking of hanging from bars, our once overly cautious little boy seems to be a little riskier lately. We've caught him climbing on his table, chairs and other various pieces of furniture and trying to hang off the edge of the counter and from the oven door.
~He loves to be outside. He plays in the backyard a lot, probably more than he plays inside. He roams around and likes to peek through the fence and watch our neighbors dogs..
~He still loves his little sister. He wakes up each morning and from each nap and "Baby?" is usually one of the first things out of his mouth. He says "hol baby?" numerous times a day and always tries to play with her (a little too roughly) when she's on the floor. He's recently discovered some funny faces that he can make that will make her laugh, he LOVES that she thinks he's so funny!
~He loves to Skype with Nonna, Poppy, and "G" (cousin Gentry). When he notices the computer out, or sometimes just randomly, he'll start saying "Nonna? Poppy?"
We love this little boy and his unique personality to pieces. He's the sweetest, most affectionate boy who keeps us constantly entertained.
One uncooperative baby... One amazing photographer... Three different photo sessions. That's what it took to make these pictures happen. It is so wonderful to have a talented photographer as your sister, especially when your newborn is a tiny bit cranky and doesn't appreciate having her picture taken. Katie tells me that it happens with other clients, and it's something that goes along with the job, but I would have been so embarrassed and disappointed if this would have happened with a photographer I didn't know well. Fortunately, since it was my sister we could just call it a day when we realized things weren't going to turn around, and she happily tried again another time. And then one more time after that.
Seriously though, I am in love with these pictures. I love that there are family shots. I love that there are sibling shots. I love that there is a mix of lifestyle and sweet baby poses. I love that she snuck in some super cute pictures of our boy too. And can I just say that accessorizing a newborn girl photo session might have been just a teeny tiny bit more fun than a boy's (sorry Weston).
Thank you again Katie for your patience, endurance, and amazing work. We will treasure these forever!
For more of Katie's work you can also check her out on Facebook (Katie Little Photography) :)
