Nory's 8 month birthday

We celebrated Nory's 8 month birthday earlier this month by taking a walk at More Mesa, a park near our new house. Little did we know at the time that the beach at More Mesa is a nudist beach. Luckily for us, the cool 55/60 degree weather meant that the crowds were few and the people we did see were clothed.

Ellwood Park, etc

Dan and Jen, bless their hearts, were in town to help us move right before New Years this year. We snuck off to our favorite park Ellwood for a morning to let the dogs romp and me run! Only one more week until the 1/2 marathon in Carlsbad... I'm looking forward to a break from running.






See more pictures from our November/December here!

Christmas

Better late than never! We are catching up on photos and blogs during Santa Barbara's "Rain Event" today (yes, they actually call it that).

This year (well, last year technically) we went to Redlands for Christmas, where we were joined by Dan and Jen (back from their year long trip, hooray!), great-grandma W, great-aunt Judy, cuz-uncle Jeremy, and my parents. Lots of people and lots of fun! Nory loved her presents but she loved the wrapping paper just as much. She did pretty well, better than the last time we were in Redlands. I was afraid she would have stranger anxiety, but on the contrary, seemed to LOVE all the attention which gave Dan and I much appreciated break. Nory learned, during our visit, that blowing raspberries is VERY funny and the longer she did it, the more people would be rolling on the floor laughing. She would just keep going until her face turned purple! It was interesting to see her "performing" for an audience.

Many presents, but what could be better than this one?

Lots of time with lots of family and family friends!

Cuz-Uncle Jeremy and GGrandma Wilma

Auntie Jen and Nory's new Indian outfit!

Maryanne

Nory and GGrandma

Nory and Gramps

Priceless... we managed to snap this photo of the whole family. So glad we didn't all get together and not get a picture! Merry Christmas everyone!

SHE EATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I was beginning to think that Nory was going to skip the baby food stage all together. Between 6 months and 7 months, Nory turned her nose up (and tongue out) at everything. Between 7 months and 8 months, she would only eat bread and an occasional cucumber. Every few days I'd sit her in her high chair and give her a spoon full of pureed baby food just to test the waters, and every time she would simply give her best raspberry and spit it out (or feed it to the dog, if it was something she could get her hands around). BUT... yesterday, the day before her 8 month birthday, I was talking idly on the phone to my mom and gave Nory her spoon of pureed sweet potato - and SHE ATE IT! Then I gave her another bite... and SHE ATE IT TOO! Then she ate the rest of the jar!!! And today she ate a whole jar of banana/applesauce! Better late than never. It is such a relief to be able to enter the stage where I can leave the house with FOOD instead of MILK when we go out. HOORAY!

Also at 8 months, she is now the only baby in my mom's group who is not crawling. She "craws," which is to say, almost crawls, making herself into a perfect little bridge, rocking back and forth, and scooting herself around the house backward, often ending up under a crib, desk, or behind a couch. I think crawling will be here before we know it and I'm appreciating every last day I have without it!

Other good news for 8 months: Nory has returned to sleeping through the night. She slept like a perfect little angle from about 3 months until 6 months, at which point her sleep was interrupted by the arrival of her first tooth and lots of traveling. The terrible sleep continued for over a month and she has just recently finally settled back into her old 7-7 routine (well, most nights anyway). Ahhh, sleep...

Lots of cute pictures of Nory and the family from Christmas, but we are running a bit behind. Check back soon!

New House

Finally our internet is working! One week without internet was almost more than we could stand. Here are a few pics of our new house. You can probably tell that the outdoor living space is my favorite feature. You can play "where's waldo" with the baby!

Our nice new kitchen

Our awesome backyard deck with barbecue!
Nice big grassy space out front
Orange, orange, and lemon trees!
Can I eat this bark, mom?
Our cute little garden, already growing some volunteer onions, lettuce, and what is that pink thing growing there?
A detached garage.
My friend Erika holding Nory in front of the house. Erika owns the preschool attached to the church in our front yard.
The view from the front - did I mention we live in a church parking lot?