Nuggets of Gold!

ELEVEN MONTHS

Dear Nora,

In your eleventh month, you seem to have hit the accelerator on this whole growth thing. You are sprouting teeth faster than I can keep up with, and you've mastered the fine art of sitting up from lying down. You're such a pro that suddenly we've started to find you like this when we check in on you during naps:

There was a week or so when you'd gotten the hang of sitting up, but you weren't quite sure how to get back down, so you'd get stuck sitting. Which displeased you. A lot. But after some time and a bit of practice, you got the hang of it. So for all I know you sneak out your bedroom window, joyride in my car, and then come back and lie back down before I come check on you during naps now.

Valentine's Day was this month, and for that grand occasion you made your very first work of art -- fingerpainted hearts! We foolishly picked an evening when you were already grumpy (see teeth, above) to spring this new activity on you, so you weren't really into it. But we managed to get some lovely artwork to share with family and friends, and I'm pretty sure the marks you made were with red fingerpaint, not the blood of your enemies -- which on that night was us.

After several months of having crusty eyes, we took you to an eye doctor who told us you needed minor surgery to open up clogged tear ducts -- a condition many babies are born with and only some grow out of without a little help. It was outpatient surgery, one we were assured was "easy," "quick," "routine," etc., even though it required a general anesthetic. But ohhhh, Nora. Taking you back to a hospital was something we hoped never to have to do. You handled it like a champ. Mom and Dad? We were complete wrecks. When a kindly old hospital volunteer summoned us from the waiting room afterward so we could be reunited with you, we very nearly knocked him down because we wanted to run ahead and be with you. When he opened the doors to the recovery area for us, we were met with a blast of your screams. Apparently, you were NOT impressed by several nurses' attempts to calm you down when you woke up among strangers. But once you recovered from that fit of anger, you were back to normal instantly. Except "normal" no longer involves crusty eyes or matted eyelashes, so the surgery was a success. And if I never see the inside of that hospital (the one where you were born!) again, all the better.

You had lots of visitors this month, including some people your own size. Heidi and Evan flew down from NYC with Miss Eva, just two months older than you. And you gals hit it off. It wasn't long at all before you two were getting in trouble together. Exhibit A:

You got into the paper recycling bin. And the stack of unread magazines on the coffee table. And you decided things that were in the bin and on the table were much more fun spread on the floor. Wheeee!

You also got a visit from Aunt Liz and Uncle Josh, and your cousins John Dominic and Frances, the latter of whom you were meeting for the first time.

Here, too, I foresee trouble. Don't ask me why.

Love,
Mama and Daddy

TEN MONTHS

Dear Nora,

They say you learn something new every day, but this month I think you've been learning new tricks by the minute. Probably most notably, you learned how to spit ... and you thought it was hilarious. We thought so too, until you decided to do it while you're eating. So feeding you has become like a Gallagher show. Except instead of being covered with watermelon, we're constantly picking puree of green beans, carrots, apples + blueberries, etc. out of our hair and off of our clothes. Most importantly, we are NOT laughing at this. Because it is NOT funny. (Tee hee.) Not at all funny. (Hee.) 

Some other tricks you've picked up are much more fun for everyone involved, as well as less messy. You like to clap your hands together, especially when we prompt you by saying "clap clap hands!" and making ridiculous faces at you. You also like to gimme five, cool kid that you are. Generous, too -- we ask for five, but you generally give us 10, 20, 45 or 275.

As you've gotten more adept at feeding yourself puffs, you've also gotten more generous about sharing them. Murray is the main beneficiary, but sometimes you slip one to mom or dad, too. When you're playing, you like to pick imaginary puffs out of a block or cup (or sometimes, if we're really lucky, out of your diaper) and hold out your hand to us until we "eat" them.

All that puff-eating was probably made a bit easier by the arrival of your two top front teeth. One is in and ready to roll, but the other is sort of on deck, I guess -- through the gums but only just. But the asymmetry doesn't seem to be slowing you down, and it certainly does nothing to reduce the cute. We thought we would miss the toothless, gummy grins you gave us when you were five months old, but the jack-o-lantern grins we get now are pretty wonderful too, as it turns out. 

But can we talk about these puffs a little more? You always liked eating them, but for the longest time we had to put them in your mouth for you. If we handed them to you, you'd shake 'em around for a while and then throw them. Every time. After a while, you caught on that you could put them in your mouth, but you needed an invitation. First we guided your hand, with a puff in your fingers, to your mouth. After a while, all you needed was for us to tap your hand as if to say "OK, time to put that in your mouth!" and you'd do the job. Finally, you figured out that you're in control here. And instead of carefully grasping one puff at a time off your high chair tray, you scooped up as many as you could and shoved them all in your maw. So now we're back to handing you one at a time, but, finally, you know just what to do from there.

It's hard to know what the future will hold, you're changing so fast. But we did get a small glimpse of the next six weeks, weatherwise, thanks to your new friend, Mortimer. He's the groundhog who looked for his shadow at our favorite park on Groundhog Day, and you were there to witness the prognostication. Mortimer, bless his heart, predicted an early spring. And good thing -- you've still got a lot to learn, and a lot of the fun stuff is outside!

(Nora checks out Mortimer with her friend Claire, left, held by mama's friend, Amy.)

Love,
Mama and Daddy