Nory meets people who love her

The last two weekends have been taken up with people whom we love - and who love Nory! Two weekends ago Nory and I left Dan behind and did a whirlwind tour of the Bay Area. We drove up with my mom on Friday and came back on Sunday. Nory did pretty well on the 5.5 hour drive each way, but I won't lie and say she enjoyed it! Still, I felt pretty blessed to have such a good traveler on my hands, especially after only returning from New York a few days earlier.

First stop was Walnut Creek, where Nory and her great-grandma Wilma were mutually delighted with each other. She also got to meet my aunt Judy and cousin Jeremy. She was a little fussier than normal, but it was still wonderful for her to meet everyone, and I had a great time seeing everyone too!

GreatGrandma Wilma, Grandma Sue, Judy, and Nory - 4 generations on the Spungin side

We then went to Alameda, where Nory's great-grandma Virginia lives. My uncle Charlie and aunt Irene were also in town so we got to see them too! We all went out for a nice lunch and then took some photos by my grandma's home.

Grandma Sue, Grandpa Tom, GreatGrandma Virginia, Judy, and Nory - 4 generations on the Linkhart side

This past weekend our dear friends Chris and Alison Lum came for a visit. They were only here for two days but we sure made the most of it! They loved Nory and Nory loved them. Chris volunteered to drive the stroller everywhere we went! It was so wonderful to see them, I feel quite lonely now that they have gone back to Seattle. The Santa Barbara weather cooperated (not too hot) and we had several mini adventures throughout the weekend.

Chris and Alison

Taking a walk at our favorite park

At the beach at Ellwood

Chris and Nory at the harbor

And here are a couple shots from around the house. Nory still does not have great head control, so we have been working hard at tummy time and bouncy ball time.

Tummy time

Reading "Are You My Mother?"

First time in sunglasses (didn't last long!)

Visit more of our latest photos here and here.

Oh, Susanna! Oh don't you cry for me...

I bet it isn't the last time she'll hear that song! I'm happy to show off the latest addition to the Greenladies family - Susanna Elizabeth Henry. She was born on Monday to my dear friend Abby. Abby and her husband Caleb are both very tall, so there was some debate over whether Susanna would be longer than Nory at birth. However, Susanna is only 20.5 inches, and Nory is already 21 inches! It might not be very many weeks before Susanna passes Nory, but now we will always be able to look back and say "remember when Nory was taller than Susanna?"

I'm struggling with wanting to hop in the car and drive straight through to Seattle so that I can meet this adorable little person, and give Abby the hug she deserves. However, common sense is prevailing (barely) so I am stuck admiring her in photos. Well done, Abby!

A photo of our girls together from earlier this year:

New York in Review

We are back home from New York - phew! I'm happy to be home, traveling was fun but a lot of work with a baby. Here are some highlights from our trip! After getting NO COMMENTS on my last post with all those adorable baby photos, I'm hesitant to post more cute-as-a-button baby pictures, thinking that maybe my audience's appreciation for fine baby photography does not match my own... however, I will error on the side of annoyance this time.

Visiting the Robbins

I covered this in my last blog post but I thought I'd add a couple more cute pics of Owen that Dan shot. All in all we had a wonderful visit. The Robbins boys have sure grown up fast!

New York - the wedding

Of course the main excuse that sent us to NY was to attend the wedding of Matt Valley and Claire Lundberg. It took place at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. There was also a pre-wedding bachelor party on Fire Island, and a barbeque and drinks the day before the wedding. We made some new friends, Matt's grad student friends from Columbia. The wedding itself was lovely, partly because Claire's family had hired a babysitter for the cocktail hour/reception so Dan and I could enjoy a baby-free party!

An artsy photo of Dillon and Maya's shoes

Nory in the ridiculous but darling outfit I made her wear to the wedding

Nory and me at the wedding

Claire and Matt

Dan at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

New York - other fun stuff

Other highlights of NY included:

• Eating the best bagels in the world for breakfast every morning. Okay, you may think I'm crazy to make such a statement, but we were in Brooklyn and found a bagel shop that was rated the best of brooklyn 2008 - what could be better?
• Visiting the chaos of Times Square.
• Taking a trip to B&H, the camera super store. Dan could have spent all day there, alas, our schedule only allowed for a couple hours.

That's all! I am looking forward to taking Nory to visit her great-grandmas this weekend.

We love Connecticut

We are in Connecticut, and we love it! It is so relaxing, and Nory is feeling it too. She demonstrated this by sleeping for 8.5 hours straight last night - from midnight to 8:30am. Okay, it might not be Connecticut that did the trick, but I for one enjoyed the longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep I've had in 11 months immensely. It may be a fluke (or a growth spurt?) but I sure hope the trend continues!

Here are some photos that I couldn't help but share, not of anything in particular but just of our baby being adorable, particularly for her far away friends and relatives that can't meet her yet.

Tummy Time

Evan, Polly, Owen, Nory and Judy at the Garden of Ideas in Ridgefield

Owen is so head over heals for Nory, he loves helping whenever he can!

Dan and Nory enjoy playing the nice Steinway grand piano

And these shots were just too cute to not post. Have I mentioned that my daughter is adorable? Can you tell that I'm crazy about her?

Nory's been shot!

Yesterday, Nory had her first shots. It wasn't nearly as traumatic as I'd anticipated. First of all, our very reasonable pediatrician doesn't give all the vaccines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for infants at 2 months - she only recommends the vaccines for diseases that infants actually are in danger of catching, on a schedule very similar to Dr. Sear's in the Vaccine Book. Nory screamed (who wouldn't?), at which point I tried to feed her (she would have nothing to do with food), after which I gave her a pacifier, which settled her wonderfully. We went straight to my mom's group from 10-noon, and when I got home Nory seemed unusually fussy. Thinking it was due to the vaccines, I gave her the infant tylenol recommended by her doctor. Not even two minutes after, she had one of those amazing poops - not to rival Charlie's, but needless to say it involved a mop - after which she was her normal happy-go-lucky self for the duration of the day. I guess I have not acquired the mom-skill of deciphering the "I need to poop" discomfort from the "I just got shots" discomfort.

On to happier news, we have one healthy, short and squat little girl! She was 21 inches long and 10lb 4oz yesterday, putting her in the 10th percentile for height and the 40th for weight. (A short aside - we had dinner last night with some friends, one of whom was 11 pounds at birth - really? I can't fathom.) She is full of smiles these days, a great sleeper, an obviously terrific eater, getting balder by the day, and generally the happiest little person I know - a wonderful consolation for what I consider to have been a suckier-than-average pregnancy and a helluva time (not) breast feeding. (The (not) breast feeding isn't really something I feel like blogging about, except to tell all you mothers or someday-to-be mothers out there that actually, not everybody can breast feed, and your baby will be fine. I wish someone had told me that before hand.)

This Saturday we leave for over a week long vacation to New York and Connecticut, to visit my long time friends the Robbins, and to attend the wedding of Dan's long time friend Matt Valley. It will be our first time on an airplane with the baby, and we are doing it in style by driving 90 miles to LA at 4am and then catching a 5.5 hour flight to New York, renting a car and driving an hour or so to Ridgefield, CT. I figure, no time like the present, it can't be any easier when she's wanting to crawl or walk the whole time! Wish us luck!

One last note: I have recently started jogging again. If you happen to be driving through Santa Barbara and see me jogging in a pathetically slow, awkward, and painful looking manner, remind yourself that I just had a baby before you fall down laughing at the site of me. If my lack of endurance doesn't make you laugh, seeing me trying to juggle the jogging stroller and dog leash and curbs ought to do the trick!