SPRING BREAK 2010!!!!

Nora took her first Spring Break Vacation! We went to Washington D.C. to visit Tara and Steve, and then Nora and I went to Philly for a day and a half to visit two very good friends and their son Adam. (TJ had to leave us early because of work :( )
We did have a great time. Tara and Steve took such good care of us. Gave us a grand tour of D.C., since every other time we've been there it centered more around partying. They made us fabulous dinners, and gathered a bunch of baby stuff so we wouldn't have to transport it.
Really, the only down side of the trip...Southwest Broke Our STroller ...errrrrrrr. WE had to duck tape the wheel. Good thing my hubby is handy.
Our first adventure to see the White House, Cherry Blossoms, and kite festival. Nora was thrilled to be outside and people watching.
Nora checking out where the President lives. He invited her in to play on the swing set, but we were just too busy.
She loved being held by her auntie Tara and her uncle Steve
Those Cherry Blossoms are beautiful, but nothing is prettier than this little girl's smile!
"I'm number one!" or, is that an L?
She loved looking at all the kites flying in the air...there were hundreds.
Hanging with her daddy. They are so darn cute together.
These trees were truly gorgeous. People were everywhere. It was extremely crowded. But, it was nice to see that so many families visit our capital.
We did very touristy stuff. We went to the American History Smithsonian and Natural History Smithsonian. Uncle Steve took pride in teaching Nora about many many things we passed. He not only would tell her about what the object was, but what species, what it ate, I don't really know actually-I would lose interest. But, Nora listened to every word.
And, I would show her the animals and make animal noises. She really loved looking at all the animals. Everything was "dog"
Once again, teaching NOra about something that didn't interest me.
This however, did interest me. Anyone know what it is??? Julia's Kitchen! Pretty awesome to see.
We were fortunate to meet up with Mike and Amy also. They came over for dinner on Sunday and we talked and played and had a lovely time visiting with them. Amy is a natural with kids.
Okay, so now Nora and I ventured off on our own for our trip to Philly. I was honestly quite nervous. We had to take the metro from D.C. to the train station, then the 2 hour train trip to Philly. However, it went quite smoothly. Luckily, Steve took the metra with us to Union Station (a huge help), then we got help onto the train, got a great seat, and enjoyed the ride! We had to wait a few minutes for Kristin to pick us up so Nora enjoyed her rest on the bench at the train station.
Nora finally met Adam! They were so cute together and really hit it off. They played all around the house and Nora followed Adam everywhere. I loved being able to let her crawl around and play with toys and just visit with a dear friend.

Tonight, we arrived home to see Daddy! Nora was thrilled to see him. I am a bit nervous about her sleeping tonight. She is a bit off from all the traveling. But, she seems very happy to be home.
So, that was Spring Break, now we have Easter to look forward to. Hop to it Nora!
(Thanks Aunt Lesli for the cute ears, I couldn't resist. But, we will wait to open the rest of the gifts till Easter morning).

10 months old...already????????

What???? Mom~ am I really 10 months old already?
I really cannot believe how fast the last 10 months and 8 days, have gone. Nora is growing and changing, and making our lives happier each and every day. She is truly fascinating and I wish I could attach her to my hip so I would never have to leave her.
I did this little photo shoot right before her nap and she was not thrilled. I got a lot of funny pictures, but not a single one of her sitting with the pink bear. Oh well, it reflects her life now...always on the move, funny, wants to be held by mom or dad when she's tired, and always talking.
She really wants this to be over.
She continues to say "dad" a lot, also "dog" - or rather, "daa-g", many g sounds and b sounds and mmaaa sounds when she is wanting to get of her crib and sort of crying.
She is Super tall. She is standing and pulling herself up on furniture all the time. She crawls over to me and pulls herself up on my legs as well. She actually is too tall to stand under our dining room table.
She is eating many new things, in fact, today she tried tofu and loved it. She likes lentils and crumpets and many veggies. She loves yogurt and fruit. By far her favorite food is banana.
She is happy 99% of the time. Loves to play peek-a-boo, loves paddy cake, and dance and listen to music. Her favorite song is still Itsy bitsy spider.
We met my mom at the mall today to get Nora a couple of Easter things. We had to leave the house because TJ was painting the living room and it smelled toxic! We had fun at Barnes and Noble and shopping.

Grandma came to visit!

Grandma came to visit me for a WhOLe week!
Grandma came to Chicago last Thursday and hung out with us all week. She got on her flight just a few hours ago. We didn't do too many exciting things, but we had fun adoring Nora and spending time together. Grandma loved watching Nora, taking her for walks, going shopping with her and out to eat.

This next picture cracks me up...LOok at that face...What is she doing???? She is so funny. She actually is starting to understand being funny. She does things some times and we laugh, and she repeats it, and stares at us waiting for our response, then gets a funny smirk on her face. I just love every new stage. She is so much fun.

IN this picture, she just wants to be done and have mommy hold her. While she is very good about going to others, she is definitely a mommy's girl.
What a sweet pea.

She needed some snuggle time with grandma before going to bed. Bailey always stays right next to Grandma when she's here.
We are so glad Grandma was able to come and spend time with us. We are very blessed to have so many people in our lives that care for us and love us. And, who take such good care of our baby.


Uncle Charlie bought NOra an ENORMOUS stuffed bear-just because. She absolutely LOVES it! She takes all her stuffed animals and hugs them really tight and then hits them a little out of excitement. She couldn't contain herself with this bear. It even had to sit next to her while she ate her dinner.

Thank you Uncle Charlie for the great bear. It's going to stay at Nana and Papa's for a little while.

Baby's got the ick bug. But we also have exciting news!

Well, this picture was taken on Saturday before we ran a few errands. Nora was a bit quiet that day, but still in a good mood. She looks so sneaky, I had to post it.
I think her gums are a bit tender.She has a tooth on top now and I think another one is coming soon on the left side. Doesn't she look so old in this picture?
She looks so perplexed.
We did some returns during the day and Daddy showed Nora this Grover doll, she wouldn't let it go, so he bought it for her. However, I think Grover made her sick. (probably not, it was probably me, since a bunch of my students have been sick this week). That night, TJ and I had a date. We saw Avatar-AWESOME!!! But, when we got home, Melissa said Nora was up a bunch, sure enough that night she had a 101 temp.
Poor baby. This is the first time she has been sick. She has a really stuffy nose too. She seems to be getting better. She only had a fever till Sunday, but I wish this bug would just go away. I feel so bad for her.
She continues to be a happy little girl despite the ick.
Look at her in this pic. Just not feeling great. She even got a "sick doll" from her nana. The doll is called "blah blah". For real, it' s name is on the back. She really likes it and it has plenty of her boogers on it now. The nice thing- it could go right in the wash. Now that's a good "sick doll"
Our exciting news....
Auntie Melissa and Jim got Engaged!!!!!! Yahoo!!!!!! Now Uncle Jim is really UNCLE JIM.
Nora thinks this is pretty great too. She heard she is going to be the Flower Girl! We have time to practice the walking.
We are so happy for you Melissa and Jim! WE can't wait for that Big Greek wedding!(notice her ring is on her pinky-oops.-the girl has big knuckles)