Sunday, April 25, 2010

I'm back!

After being too busy to update the blog during tax season, a week has gone by and I can stand to open my computer for recreational purposes again.


Now that it is over, I can say that tax season went well. Andy was able to minimize his travel during his time which really helped. He also doesn't give me too hard of a time when I have to work late. During March both sets of grandparents decided to head to Florida, so we had a little less help during this time, but Nora was well taken care of between Andy, Stacie (our nanny) and my flexible work schedule (as flexible as you can be and still work 60 hours per week)!


Nora is now 16 months old. She is weighing in around 25 lbs and ~32 inches. Just about average for her age. She has had a very healthy winter which we are so thankful for. Besides a little brain surgery and some meningitis, she has been super healthy so far! She has never had an ear infection or a cold! Maybe her chromosome disorder gives her some sort of super-immunity or something. I am sure that it helps that she is not in daycare; but she does spend about 3 hours per week at therapy where there are lots of other kids. We also take her out rather frequently. she likes to grocery shop - so I am sure to take her each week. She also likes to eat out at restaurants (and so do we!), so we go out to eat a couple times per week. She has had a bunch of doctors appointments since my last posting, but noting too notable to even mention. She is doing well.


Nora development is chugging along. Her level of delay is different in different areas. However, she does seem to make progress in most areas - which is good because then it gives us confidence that she will get to her goal - just a little later than most kids. She is currently working on learning to stand & walk. She does well pulling herself up, crawling up and down stairs, and cruising along even surfaces. She is working on cruising on more complicated surfaces and hopefully getting the balance and confidence to take a step. It is hard to say when this may be - could be a month, could be a year or more. Sometimes stuff happens fast, sometimes it seems to stall.


Her most difficult area right now seems to be understanding and manipulating toys. She is physically getting good coordination with her fingers and has good strength; but has difficulty understanding (or even caring!) about some things that "typical" babies do (putting objects in a bucket (I am sure we have said "Put it IN, Nora, Put it IN!" at least 2 million times), pressing buttons on toys to make something else happen, imitating others, etc.). She has also started Speech Therapy recently. She has not said any words so far and does not appear to understand too many besides her name and "Buster!" We have been working for some time to teach her the sign for "More" (clapping hands together).


She has become a great eater - not too picky. She has given up her bottle with really no problem and just started to drink out of a baby cup with a straw. She loves to drink out of a regular cup too, but has not yet earned that privilege due to her tendency to fling her cup onto the floor when she is finished drinking. Same treatment goes for plates & utensils. (We have been leaving some larger than normal tips at local restaurants to compensate for the mess!)


She likes to laugh a lot. Particularly at Andy. But I can sometimes earn a laugh or two myself. Tonight it was a special performance of allowing her to hold out her rubber duck in the bath tub and grabbing it with my teeth, then letting her pull it out. This was particularly hilarious to her.
Here is Nora in February reading a book. She really likes books. Particularly those with things to touch. One new skill she has developed in the last couple months is pointing!

Nora really likes her wagon that she got for her birthday. Buster likes it too!





Nora climbing the stairs and happy at the top:

Reading again:
Post Chocolate Easter Bunny face:





Forgot to mention the storm! We had a big hail storm in April that did some pretty significant damage to our siding and roof. Here are some photos after the storm. It is still not fixed as we have been waiting for the insurance company to settle our claim.



Bits of siding on the ground:


Holes in the siding:




Buster - investigating the damage to the barbecue grills:


Nora enjoying breakfast by candlelight while we waited for the power to come back on (it was only off for about 15 hours).



Nora dying Easter eggs. I gave her the egg, snapped the picture, then realized that I shouldn't have given her the egg after she smashed it on her tray. Oh well.





Nora having a snack at the counter:




Nora getting ready for a walk outside with Andy!



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