Dear Norah, Month Eight

Dear Norah,

I’ll start with my favorite development for the month: you give kisses. And not just any kisses, huge, open mouth aimed straight-for-the-cheek kisses. They are sloppy, slimy and oh-so-wonderful. Your kisses are one more way for your sweet personality to present itself and I can’t get enough of those open mouthed kisses. 

With summer weather upon us, we have been spending more time in the pool and have enjoyed a couple of trips to the beach. Your first few trips were fairly easy, as you would stay in one spot. Now, you scoot and roll and reach and twist and pretty much do anything but stay in one spot. It’s made keeping you on a sand-free blanket under an umbrella a little more challenging. You love the water and enjoy being held in both the pool or the gulf. While we put the same baby sunscreen (60 SPF) as we do on your brother, you began to sport quite the tan. Apparently you have skin like your daddy that tans very easily.

You are also big enough to be able to swing on the infant swings at the park. While I have to repeatedly explain to your brother why you can’t go “high” yet, you love the gentle pushes and have a huge smile plastered to your face the entire time you swing.

I haven’t mentioned in a while the fact that you are a pacifier baby. And you finally figured out how to put your pacifier back in your mouth in the middle of the night. While it hasn’t stopped your twice nightly wakings, it has provided you with some self-soothing techniques that I can only hope will soon transition into meaning more sleep. As a result of your newfound skill, your crib features no less than four pacifiers to guarantee one is within your arm’s reach at all times. Also this month you have started doing a new "trick" where you simply lean forward from a sitting position to sleep. While I'm happy you're so flexible, I'm pretty sure there has to be a more comfortable way for you to sleep.

You have become more vocal this month, probably because you are beginning to realize that it’s the only way to compete with your brother, who talks all the time. Your squeals, screeches, coos and aahs are now more frequent and at a higher decibel.

I can’t tell you how much love I draw from your sweet smiles, burrowed cuddles and genuine happiness. You are perfection in so many ways.

Love,

Mommy

Dear Norah, Month Seven

Dear Norah,

We celebrated Easter during your seventh month and while you couldn’t quite hunt for eggs or enjoy delicious ham at brunch, you did wow all those at church with your adorable Easter dress and Easter bonnet, which you accessorized with a smile on your face. We received compliments about you from total strangers, as if you were displaying all of the joy that Easter has to offer in one little bundle. 

After receiving the green light to start fruits and vegetables with you, we began solid foods much like we did for your brother. Carrots first, then butternut squash, then sweet potatoes, and then peas and green beans before moving on to the fruits. I wasn’t quite sure how you would handle it all, but you took to solids like a champ. In fact, I had the camera ready to go to film your first bite of carrots, but spoiler alert: it’s very anticlimactic. You simply ate them just like you had already eaten carrots a million times before. You enjoyed most foods but weren’t really a fan of peas or green beans.

I’m not sure if it was the solids or if you are just finally getting to the right age, but your sleep improved marginally this month. Instead of being up four or five times, you now only want to see my sleepy face twice a night. And I can’t thank you enough for that change. While I never thought I would be appreciative of a seven month old who wakes twice a night, I know now it could be oh-so-much worse.  

I’ve talked before about what a sweet, happy baby you are, and as you have grown I have noticed that after you flash your largest, most adorable smile, you will often bury your head in my shoulder. It’s as if displaying that amount of emotion is overwhelming to you and your bashfulness takes over for a sweet moment. It is one of my absolute favorite traits about you right now and I love being on the receiving end of your sweet cuddle. 

Love,

Mommy

Dear Norah, Month Six

Dear Norah,

In some ways, it’s impossible to believe that six months have passed since the first time we held you in our arms. And yet in other ways, it’s like you have always been a sweet part of our family. Regardless, I still find myself shocked each time someone asks your age and the words “six months” come out of my mouth.

In perhaps the biggest news of your sixth month: you finally rolled over from front to back. After you rolled over from your stomach to your back at such a young age, I assumed you would quickly learn the art of going the other way as well. However, that wasn’t exactly the case. You would frequently try, get stuck on your side, and be content to roll right back on your back and keep playing. One Sunday morning when our whole family was in the same room together, you finally rolled over on your own. I now think you were just waiting for that perfect time to have an audience.

At your six month checkup, you weighed 16 lbs and 1 oz, and were in the 52 percentile for both your weight and your height. This is great news, meaning your little belly is content and the rice cereal is agreeing with you. It also means we received the green light to start you on fruits and vegetables…your whole little world is about to be rocked. 

 

During your sixth month, your Uncle Rush, Aunt Kristen, and cousins Emelie, Christopher and Nikolas came for a visit. You were passed around frequently and loved on by many during their time here. While they were here, we joined them for a trip to Panama City to see Grand-dad and Grand-Gale. It’s about a six hour drive without stops, but with a nursing six month old, it took us about seven and a half. For the most part, you did pretty well on the way up and back. You had a few crying periods where you simply didn’t want to be in the carseat, but at some points I didn’t want to be in the car any longer either, so I couldn’t really blame you.

While in Panama City we stayed at Grand-dad and Grand-Gale’s beach condo, so you got to experience your first trip to the beach. It was actually still a little chilly due to the wind, so you enjoyed snuggling up on me and taking a nap both days we went. I have to say that I couldn’t complain about the ocean waves, a good book, a pina colada and a sleeping baby in my arms. That about sums up my definition of perfection.

Your curiosity and general state of awareness continued to improve as you take in everything going on in the world around you. You adore watching your brother do pretty much anything, and your sweet giggles in response to anything he does to make you laugh is precious. Your constant state of alertness has made it more challenging to get you to nurse, as you would rather be taking in the sights around you than sitting still and eating. 

 

Everywhere we go people comment on what a happy baby you are and how you are always smiling. You bring us such happiness each and every day.

Love,

Mommy