Shevlin Park

We went with Nora to Shevlin Park for a walk last week.  We both wonder about how bumpy it is, worrying about her little brain getting bounced around too much, but she seems to love

 nothing more than bouncing along a bumpy road

Chantrelle hunting

We went Chantrelle mushroom picking west of Bend off the Santiam river on Sunday.  We hit the the mother load, and now how mushrooms coming out our ears.  

Ralph made a chantrelle, chevre cheese, and elk sausage pizza the first night.  We had chantrelles and eggs this morning. They seem to be agreeing with Nora just fine.  

She was great, rode in the baby bjorn the entire day and was happy as a clam.  She got pine needles in her hair and diaper (don't know how they got down there, but they did), and had her first encounter with a salamander.  She also shot poop across the hood of the Saab.  I was changing her and apparently wasn't quite quick enough.  Yep, driving around with poop across the hood of your car definitely screams "baby on board" more than any little sign hanging in your window.  

Happy days despite pimples and peeling skin

This week has been absolutely gorgeous.  The leaves are turning and the mountains have snow, the air smells of winter, but the sky is cloudless and blue.  All that and the weather is warm!  It's the type of weather that reminds us all why we live in Bend.

Nora and I met some friends to watch a Rugby game.

And they say babies don't smile until 3 months.....all I said was "say cheese!"

Nora listening closely as Ralph reads over the different measures to fill out his voting ballot.

Once I figured out that Nora didn't appreciate what I was eating last week ( onions and garlic), things began to look up.  10pm to midnight still seems to be a witching hour, but other than that she's been a real trooper.  Her baby acne has gotten a little worse, spreading to her neck now, and she continues to shed a layer of skin, but she doesn't seem to be bothered by either.

The Honeymoon ended abruptly

So this is how the majority of the past several days have been.  Man, if we didn't have a sense of humor, I don't know what we would do.  

I think we got spoiled our first 2 weeks, everything was fairly smooth, sweet and simple.  Yea, well, that's over.  No more waking once a night, now it's once every hour or two if we're lucky.  She must be going through a growth spurt.

Oops, I cut off Ralph's head.  You get the picture though.  Nora is vigorously trying to feed on Ralph's forearm.  She gave herself a hickey on her own arm the other day sucking on it.  I swear people, I do feed her. 

A rare moment of quiet. I think Bean too is feeling the effects of sleeplessness.  

She seems to like this superman/football stance.  Disregard the audio, I was talking on the phone while I was taking this.  

This was in the middle of the night last night.  With the advice of our friends Marty and Kristen we starting using my exercise ball to bounce her on.  She loves it.  You've got to bounce like you mean it though, she doesn't stand for any whimpy little, gentle bounces.  Usually she'll get quiet right away, then she'll get wide eyed like she's really paying attention, then she'll drop off to sleep, wha la!!  It is tiring for the bouncee.  Ralph's got better endurance for it than me right now.  I'll have to start training more.  

Social butterfly

I should have known, having Ralph as her dad, Nora is destined to be a social butterfly.  Aunt Jeannie came down for the weekend.  Mike and Teresa Oreste came to visit as well.  Georgia, Ryan and Heather's baby girl came over last week to visit.  We were going to go for a walk, but the girls had other plans - eating.    

  

 

Nora is getting used to Bean.  He will s

neak a kiss in that drenches her whole face,

she doesn't even seem to notice.  

Bean got into something green last week.  Notice the green birthmark on his face now.  

Nora held onto Jeff's thumb throughout dinner

This is Nora's view of the table

We went out for Jeff's birthday (a couple weeks late) at our favorite resteruant, Zydeco.  Jay, Lisa, and their 4 year old, Maggie are old time friends from Minnesota that are visiting Bend. Jay is an attorney and Lisa is a teacher, they had been living in Telluride; last year they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a 20 foot trailor and traded time for money.  They've been  traveling around the country for the past 8 months, living the good life.  Pretty cool, huh?

Me and the honoree birthday boy and girl (Nora was born on Jeff's birthday) 

It's official.....she's an eater!!

Nora had her second doctor's appointment today

She gained a WHOPPING 1 lb 2.5 ounces from her birth weight.  She's 7 lbs 15.5 ounces!!  She also grew a half inch and is now 20.5 inches.  I was so proud.  I felt like doing a touch down dance in the doctors office.  

Look out, when the girl is hungry, anything is at risk of getting latched onto.  When going in for a kiss she may try to nurse your nose.  She has been known to try and squeeze milk out of cheeks, necks, earlobes, fingers, and noses.  

Mom, Dad, Nora, Bean, Ben and I all went for a walk down to the river this afternoon. She is beginning to familiarize herself with the sights, sounds, and smells of the neighborhood, the rackett of the local geese, the smell of the river and fresh cut grass, and the sights of all the passing dogs, walkers and runners.   

I love the hat Jill sent us.  Nora looks like a cute little Russian in it.  It's a hand-me-down from

Emma and Abby.

.

2 weeks old!!!

Nora went to Portland on Friday to meet grandpa Kaplan, great grandma and grandpa Sweeney, and most of all to surprise grandma for her birthday.  Nora played some mini golf on Saturday and watched a bunch of football, but spent the majority of her trip sleeping.  

She met her Uncle Jeff and and Aunt Casey on Sunday as they just arrived from their cross country trip home from Philedelphia.  

She had her second bath this morning.  Although she seemed to be in a shocked state, we think she enjoyed it.  She graduated from the bathroom 

sink to the kitchen sink, taking advantage of  the sprayer.  

First trip in the stroller.  

Her new outfit from grandma Kaplan

Nora and Georgia

nap time in the family room

milk coma

Nora's first friend, Georgia Ann Koch, Ryan and Heather's baby girl, on the left was born 9 days after Nora.  

6-10 days old

Nora at Target contemplating what kind of diapers to buy

I'm beginning to feel like a milk cow.  Nora is certainly a good eater, sometimes wanting to eat every hour!!  However, it's worth it during the day to fill her up, cause she rewards us at night. The past 3 nights she's only gotten up once to eat!!

Lynnda was vacuuming and Nora raised her little hand and covered her ear, letting

us know she didn't appreciate the noise.

Vogue pose