10 months… double digits!

We’ve reached the double-digit month and what a whirlwind it has been!  Not only do I feel like Norah is changing on a daily basis but we had two big events this month, Easter AND her Dedication!  It has been so fun watching Norah become more interactive, fine tune her motor skills, and talk more and more.  My favorite new development has been kisses… big, sloppy, wet, kisses.  I used to think it was kind of gross when a kid would slobber all over their parent and they would just smile and say thank you.  Now I am that parent and I can’t get enough of it!  It’s just so sweet when she grabs ahold of your head and plants a big one on your face then turns her cheek to snuggle in.  I’m telling you, it’s priceless!

One of the skills Norah has been learning to perfect is waving bye-bye.  We’ve been working on this for a while now and I feel like she’s becoming more consistent.  I’d say 75% of the time she’ll wave… we’ll keep working on it.  We’ve also been working on crawling.  After doing a little bit of research Chris and I were freaked out that Norah was  en route to skipping that developmental stage (apparently crawling on all fours is good for coordination).  She had perfected scooting around on her belly and could even pull her self up from that position so we knew she wouldn’t do it on her own.  Not to worry, Annorah is a master crawler now, although often she still scoots on her belly when on the hardwood floor.

Our biggest accomplishment this month is walking… kind of.  She walks with the assistance of a “walker” that my parents got her for Christmas.  I was quite amazed the first time it happened.  She was standing at the ottoman with it parked next to her and she just turned around, grabbed on and went.  Now she can’t get enough of it!  It’s adorable to see her ear to ear grin and listen to her screech with excitement.

Her fine motor skills are improving as well… her pincher reflex for example.  She very quickly realized some foods are tastier than others and this fine tuned skill has enabled her to hunt and pick for her favorites.  Gone are the days of grabbing her food by the fist full to shovel it in her mouth.  Now she can pick those stray blueberries from a pile of peas.  I must admit, even though it’s harder to feed her a well-balanced diet now, it’s so much fun figuring out her food preferences.  Peas over carrots, cheese over peas, bread over cheese, but above all BLUEBERRIES!  She loves them!  To bad they’re SO messy.

As I mentioned earlier, our first big event this month was Easter.  We made the trek over to Yakima to celebrate with my family.  Kendra, Luke and Owen made the trip over as well.   Norah and Owen had a blast playing non stop together.  They even spent a little time coloring Easter eggs.  Sunday was a beautiful sunny day that was perfect for “finding” Easter baskets and hunting eggs.  Norah was very excited to find her basket and had so much fun playing with the plastic eggs inside.

Our second big event was Annorah’s dedication.  We feel incredibly blessed to have great friends and family who support us in every way imaginable.  Many of them braved the crowds of the 11:00am service to witness the dedication, stand with us, and pray for us.  I cannot express how important this day was for us as a family.  Our faith is very important to Chris and I and we hope it will be just as important to our children.  We were blessed to have Pastor Phil lead the dedication.  It’s hard to imagine that 3 years ago this month he married us.  Amazing how time flies! (*Dedication Pictures will come once I get them from Kendra and Luke)

The stats:

• 22 lbs 13 oz (75-90%)
• Tooth count: 6
• Shoe size: 4 1/2 wide.  We got her first pair of real shoes this month.  They are adorable little ”stride rite” shoes.  I think she prefers chewing on them rather than wearing them but oh well!
• First word: “Dada!”  She officially refers to Chris as “Dada.”  Proven again and again when he comes home and when looking at his picture.  Oh how I dream of the day she starts to say “mama!”
• Moving, moving, moving… crawling, scooting, walking with a walker, pulling up, sitting down, rolling, kicking, shaking her booty!  Go, go, go.  ALL THE TIME.  I’m always amazed at the amount of energy she has.
• Loving the out doors!  Now that things are blooming, Chris and I make it a point to walk with her every day.  We take our time to stop and smell the roses, literally, and she LOVES it.  Not long ago we went to the P-patch a few blocks away and she just crawled around in the grass stopping to examine every dandelion and looking back at us with that unbelievably adorable grin!

And as always… pictures:

Happy Easter!

Tasty shoe

9 months… upward mobility

Flashing a toothy grin while playing at the park.

Just as I thought I had baby proofed enough, our little baby girl started pulling herself up!  Right now it’s just from sitting to standing.  She hasn’t quite figured out how to crawl
on all fours which I’m pretty sure has bought me some time.  Her army crawl is quite proficient though and she recently realized the cold dark land of the laminate floor is much more adventurous than the safe cozy island the rug provides.  This has also made Mommy’s life a little more interesting!  I can’t leave her on the rug to wash the dishes and expect her to stay in my sight line, oh no, she loves joining me in the kitchen now.  I can’t say I mind it though.  It’s adorable when she rounds the corner into the kitchen and flashes me a big toothy grin!

Speaking of grins, Annorah’s tooth count is up to five and one that is just about to break through.  Our previous 12 hour a night sleeper is a thing of the past and now I feel as though I’m getting up with her endlessly.  It’s only a phase right?  That’s what I keep
telling myself at least.  These teeth have come in very handy in the solid food department though.  Norah has very quickly taken to finger foods and is now eating them like a champ.  Meal time takes twice as long and is three times as messy but it’s so fun to listen to her babble, kick her feet and shove as many peas in her mouth as possible.  I’ve tried to tell her one at a time but for some reason she just won’t listen.

The big event for this month was a visit to Arizona to have a Hillis family reunion.  Great Grandma Pat hadn’t met Annorah yet and was thrilled when we told her we had planned a trip to see her.  Uncle Robb, Aunt Brynne, Uncle Brad, Grandma Katie, Grandpa Ernie, and even Great-Aunt Sheila met us in Sun City for the weekend.  And of course any time the Damman siblings gather, there is always a race to be run.  This time only a half marathon though, whew!  Ernie even ran a 5k.  Grandma Katie and I took Norah out to experience the race first hand as we met the runners at

After Chris had successfully finished the half marathon wearing his vibrum 5 fingers!

the 7 mile mark.  Traffic was a bit bad on the way to the finish line so we only arrived in time to see Chris finish.  Everyone is curious to know if Norah will catch the running bug.

And now for the stats:

• 22lbs 7oz (95%)
• 29 1/2 in. (97%)
• 5 teeth
• Annorah’s favorite past time is walking around furniture, swinging at the park and sticking things in her mouth.
• Brown Bear is still her favorite book although 10 Little Fingers and 10 Little Toes is a close second
• Babbling a lot!  She’s been experimenting with intonation and volume changes and working on different consonants (still no “m” sound in sight). She loves to whisper and then suddenly yell.  It’s a good thing she’s so adorable because it often times hurts my ears.
• She’s finally starting to notice the animals around her.  The zoo has become a lot more fun and every time we pass a dog Chris tries to get her to bark.  We actually think she might be trying.  She always does this cute little “ugh” sound.
• Norah also adores her cousin Owen.  This has always been the case but it has become way more apparent the last couple of months.  It’s so fun to see them interact with each other.
• Protesting.  Yes, our 9 month old has figured out what she wants and is now starting to throw little 9 month old tantrums.  Right now it’s just arching her back and screaming.  With as stubborn as Chris and I are, I can only imagine what is to come for us as parents.

And for my favorite portion of the post.  Favorite pictures:

Snuggle time with Gramma Katie

Thanks for the adorable headband Auntie Brynne

"I'll have what they're having."

Best day ever!

Standing up like a big girl and loving it!

8 months…TEETH!

Yes, TEETH… and all that implies.  From 4 months on Norah has chewed on everything and slobbered up a storm and everyone always said “she must be teething.”  Fast forward 4 more months, add three weeks of sleepless nights, a little tylenol, a little oragel, and finally some ibuprofen and poof… you get a tooth!  Well, two teeth to be exact!  Norah’s first tooth made its appearance on January 21st followed by a second tooth a few days later.  Both on the bottom, both cute as ever.  I don’t know what it is about teeth that make me feel like my baby is no longer a baby but her toothless grin is slowly turning into a pearly white smile.

Another big accomplishment for my ever growing girl is mobility.  Our little peanut has developed an adorable mode of transportation that appears to be half inch worm half army crawl.  None the less she has become quite efficent at it and is scooting around all over the place!  I’ve mentioned to Chris on multiple occasions our need to officially baby proof.  It’s so hard finding the time to put locks on the cabinets, find new places for our low lying breakables and plug all the electrical outlets.  I’m just happy to get the rug vacuumed once a week!

This month also marks the official start of our nanny share.  I’ve taken to watching my good friend’s 4 (almost 5) month old daughter on two of my days off.  Little Miss Audrey Olnon joins us twice a week on Monday’s and Wednesdays (Tuesdays and Thursdays the girls share a different nanny).  I must say it is quite the adventure.  Audrey is a sweet little peach but having two small babies to keep track of, feed, diaper, and entertain keeps me VERY busy.  So far, so good though.  I picture these girls becoming great friends the older they get.  For now, I just try to keep Annorah from pull Audrey’s bows out of her hair!

The stats:

• Scooting/crawling/inching.  I’m convinced this new found mobility has helped her trim down a little!
• LOVING bath time.  Chris tends to be the bath time pro and lets Norah scoot around on her stomach.  Our tub is double wide so there is plenty of room for her to move.  She almost glides around from toy to toy with a HUGE smile on her face.  She gets so excited in the tub she just can’t contain herself.
• Exploring her voice.  She’s experimenting with consonants including “dada” but Chris isn’t convinced she knows what she’s saying yet.  Even so, I haven’t heard any “mamas” yet!
• The pincher reflex is in full swing and she is picking up everything.  We may need to start finger food soon!

And my favorite part… the pictures:

Tasty Food!

Checking out Great Grandma Isabelle

Snuggling with Great Grandpa Charlie and cousin Owen

Laughing at Daddy

We think they're going to be hazel...

7 months… apples, bananas, and pears, oh my!

On a walk at the zoo with Grandpa and Grandma

So much has happened this last month but our biggest this adventure was Christmas in Yakima! I hadn’t been home to Yakima for Christmas in about 5 years.  It was nice being in the home I grew up in for Norah’s first Christmas.  At first I was disappointed we wouldn’t be celebrating here in our home and at our church.  That was the plan initially but my grandmother (Dad’s mom) hasn’t been doing too well and she and Grandpa have needed extra hands at night.  The idea that this will most likely be Grandma’s last Christmas made the decision easy… over the hill and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go!  Kendra, Luke and Owen also made the trip for two nights and left for The Walkers on Christmas eve.  I love having our whole family together.  We even had the treat of my mom’s parents coming down for a night to spend Christmas Eve morning with us.  If you know me, I’m all about the family, so I just relished having everyone together.

Lighting is bad... just wanted to show off the cheeks!

The big theme for Norah’s gifts this year was food of the solidish variety… hence the title.  We got her all kinds of baby food along with fun colored bowls and spoons to eat it with.  Being that Norah is such a good eater I was not the least bit surprised that quite enjoyed tasting new things.  We’ve had a great time introducing new foods this past month.  So far her favorite is mashed avacado.

And now for the 7 month stats:

• 20 lbs 12.8 oz! (75-90th%)
• Sitting up like a pro.
• Doing the caterpilar scoot.  She some how worms her way accross the floor to get to what she wants.  Totally inefficient but that’s good for momma because we haven’t done much baby proofing yet!
• Tuning her fine motor skills.  It’s so cute to see her concentrate while using her thumb and pointer finger to pick things up.
• Fascinated with textures.  One of her favorite things to do is gaze up at Chris while rubbing his beard.  Daddy daughter bonding at its finest!

The day I’d planned to take Norah’s 7 Month photos we had a massive snow storm.  Thankfully it was my usual day off and Chris was able to stay home from work.  We had a nice cozy morning followed by a walk around the lake (with a mini photo shoot) in the afternoon and pizza at the Ridge up the hill for dinner.  It was a great way to spend Norah’s first snow day.  I’ve had a request to make the photos larger so here are the favorites…

Down at the lake

Eating a snow ball Daddy made.

Silly Daddy

Love this baby girl!!!

6 months… 12 hour stretch

(Better late than never)

That’s right… our baby girl sleeps at night for 12 hours straight.  If you would have told me a month ago that Norah would sleep 12 hours, in a row, without waking up, I never would have believed it.  Needless to say, it’s been glorious!  I usually feel quite rested and now that I’m back to work, that is much needed.

Our fun adventure this month was meeting Santa!  The day Annorah turned 6 months old, Chris and I took her to meet the jolly ol’ man.  I thought I had the day planned perfectly.  I was going to pick Chris up at 1:00 (about a half hour after Norah wake up from her nap).  Then we’d scoot over to the U village, see santa, and drop Chris back of at work.  Well, I didn’t leave until almost 2:00, we got to the village at 2:15, just in time to see that Santa takes a break from 2:00pm-3:00pm… not good timing!  Norah usually only lasts 2.5-3 hours before napping again and by the time Santa returned it would be prime napping time.  We decided to tough it out anyway.  We killed some time just shopping around and returned at 15 minutes ’til to find a line of about 15 people… seriously!  So there we sat.  Norah finally hit the wall at about 3:15, so I sat on a planter box to feed her as she fell asleep.  There was a 2 year old boy in line behind us that hit the wall at about 3:30 and would occasionally scream.  That ended Norah’s little nap pretty quickly.  She woke  up after about 15 minutes just in time to see Santa.  She was still in her post nap/milk coma phase when we first sat her down but after a minute or two she snuck in a sly little smile and we were done.  Not too bad for VERY little sleep and sitting on some strange man’s laugh.  Here’s the final product:

"Santa! I know him!!"

And now for the 6 month’s stats:

• 19 lbs 3 oz (90-95%)
• 28.25in (95-97%)
• Sitting up!  Just before she turned 6 months Norah started sitting on her own.  Albeit, a bit wobbly but she’s doing it!
• Started rice cereal.  Norah had been acting very interested in what we were eating so we knew it was time to start.  She’s been gobbling it down well and we look forward to  introducing more exciting things like bananas and apples very soon!
• Never ending smiles and lots of giggling.  Still not able to capture the giggles on video yet… still working on that.
• Enjoying tummy time
• Pulling up to her knees and pushing way up on her arms… Thankfully not at the same time yet!
• EVERYTHING going in the mouth.  No teeth yet but I swear it could be any day!

And now for the favorite pictures of the month:

Wearing Daddy's hat before he left for a run.

Tasty shoe

JOY

Month 5… The return!

A photo Rachel texted to Chris and I while she was nannying my first day back at work.

At this time last year we had just discovered we were pregnant.  I still remember thinking this is happening so fast!  That’s kind of how I feel right now.  It didn’t take me long to warm up to the idea of being pregnant sooner than I’d expected but I have a feeling I will never get used to how fast my baby is growing up.  At 5 months Norah is just a bundle of joy.  I had to go back to work for the first time this month, hence “The return,” and the serious delay in this post.  I’ll slowly be easing into my regular schedule but leaving my baby for 9 hours was nothing like I expected.  I was so afraid she wasn’t going to take a bottle, or not go down for her naps, or be cranky all day.  Thankfully this was not the case.  Well, kind of… she didn’t take the bottle well but she didn’t have any melt downs either.  I think it was harder for me than it was for her.  My dear friend, Rachel, nannied for us that day which I think was the reason for her good behavior.  Rachel has the patience of a saint… with me and Norah.  I think I called her 15 times over the course of the day!  She graciously answered every phone call and even sent me adorable pictures of Norah having a great time.  The best part of the day was getting home and having her snuggle me like there was no tomorrow.  All was forgiven in that moment and I knew she didn’t hold it against me for going to work!  As much as I would LOVE to stay home with her full time at least I now know she and I will both survive while I’m gone.

The weather was dreary and cold. Fitting day for the death of the viaduct.

Our little side adventure this month was to walk the viaduct.  Unfortunately our beloved viaduct will be turned into a tunnel within the next 5-10 years.  Long ago will be the days of driving home from the airport to the most beautiful view of the city to your right and the bay to your left.  Chris and I are quite sad about this.  One day we’ll tell Annorah about the day’s of the viaduct and that she was there when it first came down.

Stats for this month:

• 18 lbs 12 oz (>95%)
• With all the craziness I never got a chance to measure her length
• Smiling all of the time!  This is something people comment on all the time.  “She’s always smiling.”  She is such a joyful baby with a happy disposition!
• Rolling back to front consistently.  Still hasn’t quite figured out the tummy to back thing though.
• Gracing us with her giggles frequently.  We make fools of ourselves trying to get her to giggle but she just does it unexpectedly.  We reproduce our foolishness to get her to laugh a few more times and then she’s moved on… no longer funny enough to make her laugh but we’re happy to settle for a big grin.
• Grasping toys with both hands.
• Slobbering and chewing on everything although no sign of teeth yet!

And as always, a few of my favorite 5 month pictures:

At Greenlake after walk on a beautiful fall day with Mommy and Daddy.

Showing off the chubs!

Chillin' in the bumbo

Playing with the feet.

4 months…

It’s hard to remember what life was like before Annorah.  I know it’s only been 4 months but those 4 months have dramatically changed my life.  Such a cliché I know but it’s so incredibly true!  This month I decided to write Annorah a letter.  One day she’ll read it and I hope she’ll understand just how much I love her.  You can read it here.

Our fun adventure this month was a trip to the pumpkin patch.  We went to a farm down in Buckley near my sister’s place.  We had a great time and will definitely do it again next year.

At the pumpkin patch. Our little lady bug wasn't a huge fan of her costume but she was too adorable not to make her wear it.

Sorry for the delay in posting the official 4 month blog but the letter took me quite some time to write.  So, without further adieu, here are the stats for 4 months:

• Weight 17 lbs 4 oz (97%)
• Length 26 3/4 inches (97%)
• Second round of shots which she handled like a pro!
• First time rolling over (and only time) stomach to back at 3 months and 3 days
• Giggled twice
• She loves to blow bubbles
• She’s babbling up a storm
• We’ve started sleep training, and are somewhat successful.  I’ll update further on sleeping through the night when that becomes consistent.

And a few of my favorite pics for month 4:

Just after her 4 month well child check. You can't even tell she had her shots!

Sleeping in the moby snuggled up to daddy at the zoo.

Talking to "Max" the monkey.

Munching on Max the monkey.