Week 32 - Modeling

Would you look at this beautiful little sweetheart in her Sunday best!  Although I am the biggest fan of pink, I must admit that our little girl looks really great in purple...

Here's Norah with her favorite stuffed friend which I think resembles her - pretty in pink with magnificent blue eyes...

Hmmm...I think we're going to have to kiss the bouncy seat goodbye because she prefers to sit up and lean over in it rather than lounge back in it, which gets Mommy a bit nervous...

Modeling her cute slippers (that Great Aunt Sandy had actually bought for Nathan after he was born)...

Speaking of modeling, we decided to do a modeling shoot with Norah in some of Mommy's "antique" baby clothes that MaMoo passed on.  Here she is in the bunting that my Great Aunt Lenny had made for me when I was just a babe.  At first she kind of gave me the "stink eye" as if to say, 'WHAT are you doing to me?'...

'Seriously, Mom, get me out of this thing'...

'I can't get my arms out to suck on my thumb and that does not make me happy at all'...

'ok, fine, I'll just chew my way out'...

'I beg of you, please help'...

After freeing her from the baby straight jacket we moved on to this sweet cape that my Mom made for me.  This was more of a hit with her since she could freely move about...

Norah has always been a fan of the activity center but now she just has an absolute ball jumping in it...

Speaking of enjoying things, Norah really enjoyed her menu additions this week including zucchini (which she thought was "yum!"), butternut squash (which at first she scowled at, but then raised her eyebrows with enthusiasm for more) and sweet potatoes (which I think is her favorite food yet...that's my girl, having a bent for anything sweet)...

Sporting some black and white (soccer ball colored) hair accessories in honor of Uncle Ross' soccer season kickoff (he's the women's soccer coach at Columbia High School over in Illinois)...

Week 31 - Norah turns 7 months!!!!!!!

This has been a huge week for Little Miss Norah!  To kick things off, she was introduced to this fun play table  that MaMoo got Nathan for his first Christmas and she has taken to it just like he did!  Her favorite thing to play with is the mouse and she likes to shut the computer top... 

She was also introduced to Pete the Penguin and she has been having a ball with him!  There are so many fun things to play with now that she can sit up.  One day this week she seemed to start dancing while she was sitting, but perhaps she was just a bit unstable...

However, she took a break from sitting and decided to lounge back on her Boppy and kick Pete for a while...

Here's big brother Nathan showing his little sister how to "shake, shake, shake" a container filled with pennies...

She got the hang of it very quickly...

And has been practicing all week long.  Now she'll pick up anything she can get her hands on and just shake it like crazy...

Norah is really smitten with kitty and puppy!  Here she is giving some love to Hobbes the only way she knows how - by pulling ears and hair.  Once again, just as with Nathan, Hobbes is extremely patient and takes the abuse...

Here's Nathan introducing his buddy, Scout, to Norah...

Norah graduated to the high chair this week and she seems quite comfy!  As far as her growing menu, this week she tried carrots (at first she seemed to think they were just ok - she didn't spit them out but she was crying through the first few bites; however, she seemed to take to them as time went on), avocado (which she loved and ate right up) and yellow squash (which she found quite yummy).  One funny thing she's started this week is grunting for more food - we can't seem to get it into her mouth fast enough... 

She looks so tiny in this big chair...

We needed some pink to brighten up these cold, gloomy, winter days!  We cannot believe that our baby girl is 7 months old - the time is flying by way too quickly!  She's growing up so much and doing new things every day.  This week has been an especially big week in her little life.  On her 7-month birthday she watched her first video, Baby Einstein's World Animals, and she went crazy when the lions came on - she's clearly a fan of the felines!  She learned how to take balls out of her play fish bowl (and she dropped some balls in too, but I think that was just by accident) and she learned how to bang the balls together (at first it was by accident, but with more practice it was very concentrated).  We are having so much fun watching our sweet little girl grow, learn and develop and we thank God every day for blessing our family with her...

This week Nathan decided to jump in on the bear shot with his teddy...

Week 30 - working on crawling!

Here's our baby girl catching up on some reading while enjoying tummy time...

Norah is still enamored with the whole concept of utensils...

As far as food goes, she finally ate peas all by themselves this week, without any oatmeal mixed in, and she seemed to think they were yummy!  She also tried green beans which she loved and broccoli which she really loved...

I would say that hands down, Norah's favorite thing to do these days is put anything and everything she can get her hands on into her mouth.  Here she was attempting to apply her lipstick but decided to just eat it instead...

On January 12, 2012 Norah got to see her first real snowfall (we had one earlier in the month but it was barely a dusting, so that doesn't count).  Here she is sporting her "My First Snow" bib...

Whenever Norah wakes up Nathan likes to be the first one in her room and this is how he greets her...jumping up on her crib, peering in and saying "Hi, Baby Norah!"...

Here's big brother Nathan helping his little sister try to crawl by pushing on her feet.  She does scoot along like a little inchworm if you put her on her belly and let her push off the palms of your hands as she kicks (however, she usually just lays down, turns her head to one side and starts sucking away on her thumb).  I don't think she cares in the least to be mobile...

Some more crawling training with the help of Nathan and his trusty friend, Follow Me Fred...

All in white in honor of her first snow this week.  Our "big girl, pretty girl, sweet girl, honey girl" (as Daddy and Nathan affectionately refer to her) had her 6-month pediatrician appointment this week and she weighed 13 pounds, 9 ounces (5th percentile) and she measured 25 inches long (9th percentile).  Looks like she's living up to my nickname for her, "littlest love"...

Whatchu lookin' at?

Week 29 - Fun while sitting up!

Well my goodness, you start a girl on "real" food and she just plunges right in!  I had put Norah in her Bumbo seat while I went to do something and when I turned around she had pulled Nathan's shopping cart down and grabbed a box of pretzels to start gnawing on.  Speaking of real food, she still wasn't too hip on the peas we started giving her last week.  We had to hide the peas in her oatmeal in order to get her to eat them at all, but if the ratio wasn't quite right she was on to us instantly and wouldn't eat them at all.  Sometimes after a bite she would just keep her mouth wide open and let it fill with saliva so that everything would just ooze out - little stinker!  But, by the end of the week, she loved her peas...as long as they were mixed with a 1:1 ratio of oatmeal!

She's really doing a great job sitting up on her own and she's even added a new trick to the mix - playing with toys while sitting...

She's still a fan of sucking on her thumb but more often you'll catch her sucking on her fingers in this backwards position...

 Some morning playtime - we just love her "tired eyes" look...

Norah has never been a fan of "tummy time" but this week I figured out that she does much better at it if she's on a solid colored surface like here on our bedroom floor (guess her tummy time mat was too busy for her).  Nonetheless, she would much rather roll over onto her back than work on building her muscles in preparation for crawling.  Here I caught her in mid roll...

But boy, she just loves sitting up like a big girl...

I don't think she's a fan of sharing the chair with the bear anymore - looks like she's trying to toss him off...

Crazy Fun Christmas Season!

December started out on the cool side, giving Nathan an opportunity to sport his new Elmo winter hat that MaMoo got for him...

Nathan was all about the Christmas tree this year and had fun helping Daddy put the lights on; he was especially a fan of the bubble lights...

Hanging stockings by the chimney with care...

Nathan was also crazy about the "twinkle star" on top of the Christmas tree...

The 2011 Krestel Christmas Tree...

After church one Sunday we went over to G-Ma (as Nathan now affectionately refers to her) and Pa Pa's house to do some Christmas baking.  Here's Mommy and her little doll baby...

Sweet little Norah hanging out with G-Ma and Pa Pa...

In awe over the snow globe...

While Nathan was making rice krispy treats with G-Ma...

Norah was snacking on Daddy's head...

The Christmas season fun continued when we had some friends over to make gingerbread houses!  Aunt Carrie was the "construction engineer" and she kicked the fun off by reading The Gingerbread Man...

Joining in the fun we had Aunt Carrie with Sarah... 

and Madi...

Our sweet friend, Mrs. Angie (giving Norah some loving) with her kiddos, Masey...

Nolan...

and Spencer...

Nathan had an absolute ball and did a great job assembling his house all by himself...

Sneaking some sprinkles...

While baby Norah played contentedly with her Taggies car while chilling in her Bumbo...

And hanging out with Mommy...

And Masey snacked on some treats...

And played in the activity center...

Aunt Carrie's finished product (aka - the sample gingerbread house)...

And the kiddos with their works of art... 

 I was SO PROUD of Nathan's very first gingerbread house - he definitely has an artistic side to him...

Our good friends, Roland and Melissa, blessed us by giving us their Learning Tower because Jet wasn't using it.  Nathan just loves this thing since he is always wanting to help us out in the kitchen (and it's so much safer than the step stool we were using)...

We had a really fun visit with Kim, Steve and Laurel when they came into town to spend Christmas with Kim's family over in Illinois...

Laurel has always been so good with Nathan and here she is reading him a book...

On Christmas Eve morning Daddy and Nathan baked the annual Happy Birthday Jesus! cake...

Later in the day Nathan wanted to be picked up but Daddy wanted to be hands free so he got out the Ergo; lo and behold, Nathan still fit in it and thought it was a blast...

Norah was bewildered and amused at seeing her big brother in "her" Ergo...

Mommy and Nathan decorated the cake...

Let's just say that Nathan is a big fan of sprinkles...

Merry Christmas Eve!

Nathan giving Sarah some Christmas love...

What a bunch of cuties...

Nathan's new face (I call it his "cheeser face")...

Our two little blessings from The Lord...

And of course, a "cheeser face" pose...

Norah looked precious in her little fur coat from MaMoo...

After church, G-Ma and Pa Pa came back to our house for dinner and read Nathan the Hallmark book, "The Very First Christmas" that they recorded for he and Norah.  Nathan simply fell in love with this book ever since they gave it to him at the beginning of the month and we got into a routine of reading it every afternoon before his nap - he just couldn't get enough of it!  Before he would turn each page he would say 'G-ma's turn' and then 'Pa Pa's turn' (he had memorized who read which page) and when we would finish the book he would say 'thank you G-Ma and Pa Pa.  Merry Christmas G-Ma and Pa Pa.'   It was so adorable!

Jesus is Born - Merry Christmas!

Norah opening her first Christmas gift (and might I add, she was a natural at tearing into gifts)...

Of course, like any baby, she also enjoyed eating the wrapping paper...

I think the biggest hit this year was the dump truck that we got for Nathan...

Another big hit was the work bench that we got him.  He especially enjoys screwing and unscrewing things with his electric drill and he goes around "nailing" things in with his hammer...

After some egg bake and gift opening we headed over to G-Ma and Pa Pa's house to spend the rest of the day.  Here's Norah with Aunt Hanna and Uncle Steve with the beautiful and very special blanket that Aunt Hanna made for Norah...

Snuggling with Pa Pa...

I really like this picture because people have been saying that Norah looks like me and for the first time I could really see it in this picture...

 Another one of Nathan's favorite gifts was the electric toothbrush from Aunt Hanna and Uncle Steve (he's always been jealous of Mommy and Daddy's Sonicare brushes so now he has his very own electric brush)...

Norah digging into more gifts...

 Sweet baby girl sporting her "My First Christmas" bib...

Some family pics...

Of course, another "cheeser face" pose...

Licking his chops for Jesus' birthday cake...

Snuggling with G-Ma...

Of course, Nathan's most special gift was the blanket that Aunt Hanna AND Uncle Steve made for him...

Up until this point we were still putting Nathan in a pack-n-play (and Norah on a bed surrounded by pillows) whenever he slept at G-Ma and Pa Pa's house, but we brought this bed mattress up from the basement so that  Norah could start using the pack-n-play and Nathan could have a big boy bed...

G-Ma and Pa Pa surprised Nathan with this Veggie Tales manger scene and Nathan absolutely loved it all season long.  He especially enjoyed singing "Away in a Manger" (complete with all the motions) with Laura the carrot.  Speaking of singing, whenever the song "Feliz Navidad" would come on the radio Nathan would yell, 'Daddy!'  Who knew that Kevan sounded Mexican...

Nathan's froot loop snowman...

Nathan just adores singing and dancing these days!  Here are some pictures from an especially fun afternoon we had where he was dancing up a storm and singing into his microphone along with Go Fish!

For posterity sake I had to document these two precious items of Nathan's.  Nathan affectionately refers to the doll as "my baby" whereas we refer to it as "freaky baby."  He received this as a gift from my cousin, Kyle, when he was first born and he's never taken much notice of it until just recently.  He sleeps with this thing at nap-time and every night and likes to just have it around (although we don't let him take it out in public, I think he would prefer to have this thing by his side at all times).  The freaky baby is laying on what he simply calls "my blanket" which he has had since he was born and it's become his "woobie" (although, again, we don't let him take it out in public).  These are just his special "at home" items...

In addition to singing and dancing, one of Nathan's other favorite past-times is playing (or should I say, tormenting) with Baxter...

Aunt Hanna and G-Ma came over one day toward the end of the month and hung out with us for a few hours.  Here's Aunt Hanna feeding Norah some oatmeal...

G-Ma giving her some love...

And G-Ma reading Nathan his nap-time story...

Oh, this was too funny!  One evening while Daddy and I were in the kitchen getting dinner ready Nathan walked by us carrying his stool from the bathroom into the dining room.  I knew something was up so I grabbed the camera and although his intentions were merely to turn the dining room light on...

He spotted the candy dish and we caught him "in the act" but he tried to give us his "what?  who, me?" innocent look...

How cute!  Daddy worked from home one day during the last week of the month and Nathan ran and grabbed his computer (the other gift we got him for Christmas) and sat down to work on it just like Daddy...

Happy New Year's Eve!  We celebrated the evening at G-Ma and Pa Pa's with Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna.  We had a fun night of eating lots of yummy food, watching tv and playing games...

Nathan feasting on some veggies...

Aunt Hanna as "Mrs. Napkin Head" (movie reference - The Holiday)...

At first Nathan was intrigued but then he got pretty freaked out and screamed for Aunt Hanna to come back...

Some notable mentions from the month include Nathan's ever expanding list of sayings.  His favorite sayings that he added this month include 'follow me!', 'look at this guys!', 'remember this?', ' hi Mommy - how are you?'  And he's starting to learn time references but as of now, everything happened 'yesterday!'  And if we ask him to do something that, unbeknownst to us, he already did, he responds with 'I did!'

Nathan is still really into matching things.  One day we were playing with his Little People airplane and he ran out to his toy bins and pulled out his transportation puzzle to match it to the airplane puzzle piece.  Another day we were reading "Little Quack" and he ran and grabbed his big rubber duck from his bath toys and matched it with the Momma duck from the book.  The funniest matching stories are when he went poop one day and it was two little balls and he looked in the toilet and said "they match!" and when I was reading him the story of Gabriel announcing to Mary that she would be with child he pointed to the picture of Mary and said 'Mary's booby' and then pointed to mine and said 'Mommy's booby.'  Ha - out of the mouths of babes!

 I'll tell you, what a memory Nathan has!    He saw a picture of a toy we played with one time at Aunt Carrie’s a few months ago and pointed to it and said “Aunt Carrie’s – played with this!”  And the one that really blew my mind was when we were looking through a book and saw a  picture of a caramel apple and  he said 'old house, daddy make' referring back to October when he and daddy made caramel apples.

He also has quite an imagination!  We were playing with play doh one day and he made an "ark" and then he made some "animals" and he said 'two of each!' and then we made a rainbow and he started listing the colors!

And Mr. Independent really had us laughing on the morning of December 31st.  Kevan got him out of bed and then went and did something; I was laying in bed and I heard something going on in the kitchen.  I got up and ran in to find that Nathan had grabbed one of his plates out of the cabinets, pushed his learning tower over to the refrigerator, climbed up to get his waffles and sausage patty out of the freezer and then pushed his Learning Tower over to the toaster and had put his waffle in the toaster and was trying to get his sausage patty (that he had put on his plate) into the microwave.  What are we going to do with this sweet little boy who is growing up SO incredibly fast?!?!