Playing Catch Up

I am not sure where to start. The past month or so has been, well. Hectic. I was a big part of a big project at work, which required logging many, many hours at the office. But I am happy to say that it is done, it is awesome, and if the universe works the way it should, it just may save someone's life.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Grandpa VZ but I don't have a single picture to show for it. That's because I was insanely busy and Norah was insanely sick. She ended up not having H1N1, thank goodness, but an acute case of roseola. This was a diagnosis based on the mad skillz of Dr. Google and Grammy, who flew out from Texas at the last minute to help out (ie, save our asses). I am currently in negotiations to get our $40 worth of co-pays back from urgent care, who never even suggested that the second most common childhood illness might be the cause of her high fever.

Anyway. Lots of other stuff happened in the interim and Norah learned all kinds of new words, including but not limited to: zebra, water, cold, light, goat, and cocococococo (rooster). She also spoke her first sentences: 'I see wet' (when spilling my giant cup of water across the rug) and 'Mom eye' (when jabbing her sticky finger into my right eye).

Aunt Amy was here this past weekend, and again I didn't take a single picture. Aunt Amy did, though, and so as soon as she shares I will post the best ones. We had fun adventures at such landmarks as the California Academy of Arts and Sciences and Trader Joe's. Aunt Amy brought a suitcase full of dress up clothes from cousin Megan, and Norah experienced for the first time the pure joy of a tiara, high heels, and a feather boa.

Here are a handful of cute pictures from the last month or so (taken with my phone, so not the best quality--but you get the idea):

Norah is petite enough that I can still use her 9 month dresses as shirts.

She and Ruby are always stoked to see each other and share a hug and a kiss. We think Ruby is saying 'NaNaNaNa' and Norah says something that sounds like 'Ewee, Ewee' which I think is Ruby.


Norah got to wear wings for the first time at her friend Ava's house.

Norah has started to express a preference for certain clothes, so one morning I let her go wild and choose her own outfit. She picked out red sweat pants and her glow in the dark pirate shirt. I topped it off with her awesome strawberry hat (courtesy of Pam), and I thought she couldn't possibly get any cuter.

But then she started dusting. FINALLY earning her keep!

Norah's Christmas presents are in boxes in the living room. All she knows is that there are some cool boxes, perfect for climbing. I have a feeling this will be the last year we can pull this off.

This was in Aunt Amy's bag of tricks from Texas. After she finished with this outfit, we read from the Feminine Mystique.

She is obsessed (and I mean REALLY obsessed) with wearing adult shoes. During playdates, she puts on my friends' shoes and is constantly raiding my closet. Today she was walking around in my highest pair of heels and kissing herself in the mirror. If the child wasn't also obsessed with dinosaurs and garbage trucks, I would be worried.

I hope we'll be back in regular posting mode soon!