Day 60- A Whole Lotta Nothing

That's what we did today. When we got home from work, there were severe weather alerts, so we hunkered down and did absolutely nothing.

Well, Nora watched a little "Chloe's Closet" with her "Pal Violet" while eating her maracas.



Notice the extremely wet t-shirt. That's from her basset-like drooling thanks to those molars that really need to pop through so this kid can get some relief. She's been up crying twice already since going to bed 3 hours ago. Last night she was up from 11:45 p.m. until 1 a.m. for the same reason.

Teething pain aside, she's a sweet, sweet girl who made sure to give kisses to the pretty baby in the mirror before winding down for the night.

Day 59- A Walk in the Park

Wheeeee!!



Brad took today off, and I left work as early as possible on this gorgeous afternoon so we could get Nora out for some fresh air. Notice the short sleeves, the capri pants, and the flip flops. Nora enjoyed the sliding board again, but the swing was still a huge no-no. It was so bad that I couldn't even let her sit there long enough for me to snap a picture of her crying.

After several times down the slide and meandering around the playground to watch the big kids play, we put her in a stroller for a walk. That lasted about 5 minutes before she let us know that she was not happy to be confined in her itty bitty umbrella stroller.



I think we need to get something a little more comfortable for long walks.

Day 58- High Five!

Happiness is...



Teaching your baby to do "high five", cheering like a maniac when she gets it right, and then laughing your heads off together.

Day 57- Stuck Like Glue

This pretty much sums up my entire day. There are much worse things than having an adorable baby love you so much that she doesn't want to be anywhere other than attached to you, but really, I couldn't even go to the bathroom without this:



That isn't a smile on her face, in case you can't tell. She's crawling and crying, which is one of the most pitiful things I've ever seen.

I did sneak in some reading time, and Nora thought she might learn her alphabet (Seuss ABCs) through osmosis.

Day 56- Out and About

Brad ran 16 miles this morning at Cade's Cove. Nora and I stayed home, played, read, ate, napped, and so on. By the time Brad got home around 2 p.m., both Nora and I were ready to get out. We went to Target to get her 2nd "big girl car seat", to School Box so I could get some school supplies, and then we made and impromptu visit to Dede and Grandpa's. Since we weren't planning on that visit, we didn't have much to entertain Nora with us.





Thankfully, Dede and Grandpa have got us covered in the toy department.

Side-note: How about those jeans? They're size 18 months, so they're a wee bit big on her, but oh so cute!

Day 55- Tutu Cute

Nora's birthday tutu arrived!



Her birthday party theme is "You are my Sunshine". Yes, I'm being "that" Mom who throws a themed first birthday party, but I don't care because are you seeing how cute this is??



With her "Birthday Girl" onesie and flower headband, she will be the cutest, frilliest litte sunshine in all of the land. Hopefully she'll tolerate the frufru long enough to get some cute birthday pictures.

Day 54- Sunny Days

It was an unseasonably warm afternoon, with a high of 76 degrees (about 24 celsius!!!) so we decided to spend some time outside in the yard with Nora.

Relaxing on a tree stump.



Beautiful baby enjoying some fresh air.



Wondering why Momma isn't picking her up.



Getting her way and melting her Momma's heart.



I hope this means that spring is on the horizon because Nora seems to enjoy being outside, but I know that we're just as likely to get blasted with snow this time next week.

Day 53- Unhappy Camper

Nora has been a grouch the past 2 nights.



She didn't like the pretty flower headband I got for her birthday pictures and party.



She didn't like sitting on the couch with her bottle.



She didn't even like her bath.



I'm blaming it on teething. I think her 1 year molars are getting close to coming through. I hope to get my happy, smiley baby back tomorrow!

Day 52- Hanging out

This was taken after Nora finished a bottle. She can now easily get herself in and out of this little seat. I'm thinking of getting her a nicer chair for her birthday (I haven't discussed this with Brad yet, though, so if you're reading, check out PBK's "Anywhere Chair" ha!)

Anyway, she was sitting there yelling at the dogs, who were refusing to play with her.



Hopefully soon they will all come to a peaceful understanding.

Day 51- Day Care

Who's the fairest of them all? Isn't it obvious?




I am pretty sure I've mentioned before how much we love Nora's day care. There's no where else I can imagine her being when she's not home with me. It's such a warm and welcoming home environment, and her "teacher", Ms. Tracy loves and cares for the kids like they're her own. Nora was actually smiling at Tracy while I was taking this picture. It makes me feel so good to know that Nora is being loved on even when Momma isn't around.

Other than Tracy, Ms. Kim and Ms. Susie also help out part time. Nora's day care friends are Dontae, Annie, Josh F., Josh T., and Aiden.

When I picked Nora up today, I asked if it would be ok if I took a picture of her playing before we left. This is a little "vanity" that she likes to play with. She opens the mirrors, looks in each one, closes the mirrors, and then starts over. Sometimes the vanity tips over when Nora pulls up on it, and she'll wait for Ms. Tracy to fix it for her so she can continue to gaze lovingly at herself in the mirror.

Day 50- Happy Birthday, Nanny!

It's Nanny's birthday. I should call her.



Fooled ya, Mom!



But seriously. We should call her.



The original idea to do this blog came to me after my Mom and I had more than one conversation about posting more pictures of Nora for her. I was self-conscious about posting too many pictures on Facebook, and I'd see people do these 365 blogs before. I thought it was a perfect way to document Nora's daily life for a whole year (because they change so much when they're this little!) and to satisfy my Mom's desire to see more frequent pictures of the baby. There are only a handful of people who look at this blog regularly, and that's fine with me, although all friends and family are welcome to see it.

However, I know that every morning, the first person who checks in is my Mom. She says it's the first place she goes with her morning coffee. She's probably already checked in for today, so I'm going to have to direct her back here to see her birthday blog.

Mom, we honestly wish we were there with you to celebrate your birthday. I hope you do something special today. We are counting down to July when we can all be together. We love you! xo

Day 49- Sleeping Beauty

Another cell phone picture. I couldn't resist this one!

During the week, at day care, Nora naps like a champ. She sleeps in a playpen from 1-3 p.m. every afternoon. At home, she will nap for me under one circumstance: If she is laying snuggled up against me. Sometimes I will try to fight her to nap in her crib, but it takes up to an hour and a lot of tears to get her to fall asleep for 20 minutes.

OR I can lay down and take an hour long nap with her twice a day. Sometimes I don't nap at all. I just watch her sleep. I used to stress out about this napping arrangement, but like other parts of her babyhood, I realize that this phase will be over all too soon. I'm going to enjoy these sleepy snuggles each weekend for as long as my Sleeping Beauty will allow them.

Day 48- A Walk in the Park

I took this picture on my cellphone, so the size and quality is a bit different from the usual pics.

After work today, when I picked Nora up from day care, we stopped by Victor Ashe Park. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and I really wanted to take advantage. I sat on a "big kid" swing with her in my lap, and she seemed to enjoy that ok. She was mostly watching the kids around us. Then, I tried her in the "baby" swing, and she *hated* that. Giant tears, shaking and reaching for Momma. No good. We moved on to the smallest sliding board. She was hesitant when I first sat her down, but when I helped her slide down to the bottom, I got a few smiles out of her.

I hope we have more weather like this so Brad and I can start getting her out more!

Day 47- Outtakes

I actually did not take a picture today, so let's call today "outtakes". I'll post some pictures I've taken since I started this project that didn't make the cut the first time around.

























I love my sweet, funny, fussy, clingy, loving, snuggly, dramatic, silly, beautiful little Miss Personality.

Day 46- Good night, sweetheart

Nora wasn't feeling bed time tonight. I knew it would go down this way the minute I finished giving her her bottle because she popped right up in my arms and started looking around instead of snuggling into my shoulder. The first 2 times I put her in her crib, she practically bounced up to standing. The third time, she reluctantly stayed put, but looking betrayed, as seen in the picture. The moment I left the room, she started yelling as though there was an intruder in her room. Ultimately, Brad went in and snuggled her until she was sleepy enough to go down without a fight.

Day 45- Be My Valentine

Here is Nora smelling her first rose.



And here she is eating it.



We thought it was fitting that Nora get her first flower from the first man to ever love her.



Mommy got her a pink rubber ducky.

She also got a balloon from Ms. Tracy, as well some Valentine's cards and candy from her "classmates". (Candy for Mom and Dad... score!)

Day 44- Big Girl Bath

Tonight, we finally ditched the infant whale tub. We LOVED the whale tub and are sad to see it go.



Nora had a lot more room to play.



I think she enjoyed herself!