Happy Memorial Day

I would have dressed Norah in red, white, and blue for the occassion... but none of her red, white, and blue clothes fit just yet. Today's picture is one I snapped of Norah in her PJs. I love sneaking up on her in her crib when I hear her playing in the morning. She always jumps when I say her name, and then her face breaks out into a huge smile. (She's a little perkier in the morning than her daddy....but he comes around by noon or so)

I was delighted to find out that my good friend, Karen Smith and her husband, Shane, welcomed their baby girl, Bella Kay, to their family yesterday at 2pm. Bella was a healthy 7lbs. 13oz. We can't wait to meet her...I'm sure she's beautiful, just like her name implies.

Hide & Seek Champ in Training

Let me preface today's entry with a couple of disclaimers: 1) I am a responsible parent, and 2)you may not find the following recount of my day to be funny in the least...but if that's the case then either A) One of us has a lame sense of humor, or B)You don't spend enough time in the company of a 4-month-old who never ceases to amaze you.

Gramps and I spent a good part of today driving around College Station, looking at the painted trains that are on display. We had a blast, following the little tourist map, as though we were out-of-towners and taking goofy pictures. Norah was a trooper, hardly protesting at all until it was chow-time.

So at that point, Gramps and I threw in the towel and I headed home to feed Norah. After her belly was full, I decided that Norah needed some time to roll around and play-afterall, she'd been couped up for a while in the carseat and was a very good girl. So I put her down on the floor to roll to her heart's content (by the way, she can now successfully maneuver herself through both a right and left hand roll) With a contented baby in my midst, I sat down to check my email. I looked away for maybe 45 seconds, and she was out of sight. I thought, "Her only method of transportation is rolling...she can't have gone too far" but I still didn't see her. So I got up from the chair to investigate further, and spotted her right away. She was in the farthermost corner of the livingroom half-way under the couch---trying to make a break for it. The look on her face was pricesless--like the cat who swallowed the canary and still had yellow feathers hanging out of her mouth, and yet still held on to the slight possibility that the onlooker may not have noticed.

I almost fell on the floor laughing, as I dashed to get the digital camera. The posted photos show her reactions to being discovered after trying so carefully to hide from mommy. The first two pictures I like to call "Busted", and the last one is, "Oh, Mommy Thinks its Funny...I'm ok".

This is the second time in the past 3 days that Norah has attempted to get under our living room furniture, which leads me to the conclusion that she is wasting no time in scoping out the best hide and seek spots on-site. Needless to say, Norah thoroughly enjoyed her free time today. And come to think of it, so did I!

Sweet Rolls

What a little acrobat we have on our hands! Norah spent a good part of this fine Monday rolling just about everywhere! She gladly performed for me and Grammy this morning. Then she put on a matinee show for Gramps and Grandad this afternoon, followed by an encore for Daddy tonight.

Presently, she can only roll to the right...which is pretty funny, considering our house doesn't go on forever, so she quickly runs out of track and promptly begins demanding that we add on an additional wing of the house to accomodate her newly formed addiction. She reminds me of a little wind-up toy that moves in one direction, until it hits a wall, at which point you have to pick her up and face her the other way so she can continue on her happy way.

Now that Norah has discovered that she is mobile (at least in one direction), she doesn't relish being confined to her swing or bouncer chair as much as she did a week ago. She's living up to her "Norah the Explorer" nickname, and we're already having to keep a close eye on her travels. Today she almost rolled right out of Gramps' sewing room, and tonight she was just about underneath the ottoman in our livingroom!

We are all missing Memaw. She has had a very rough time recovering after triple bypass surgery 2 weeks ago. Today she had to be re-admitted to St. Joseph for dehydration. She is in our thoughts, and definately our prayers. Norah particularly misses Memaw "stealing all her sugar" from the back of her neck...so get well soon, Memaw! We love you!!

Cutie Booties

I couldn't resist posting some pictures of Norah in her pink booties, courtesy of our across-the-street neighbor, Mrs. SanAngelo. They're still a little big yet, bit we cinched them on tight and she had a blast kicking her feet up over her head so that she could admire them up-close. She always takes a much greater interest in her feet when she is wearing shoes, or in this case, booties.

Friday we went to the doctor for Norah's 4-month check-up. She now weighs 11 lbs. 10 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches tall. I was proud of her. She was very good for the nurses (ie-she didn't wet the scale like last time--they strip her down, so I wouldn't have blamed her too much if she had, and she didn't cry one bit, even when they measured her head) The only tears were shed during the administration of her booster shots. She had to get five total--2 in one leg, 3 in the other. She wailed until they were over, the promptly shut off the water works before the nurse had even left the room. She was pretty cranky for the next couple of days (the shots made her run fever), but she's much perkier today.


Norah enjoyed Bible class this morning, as always. There were more babies there today than there have ever been! (I think I counted six) We are so blessed to have such a wonderful Bible class program. Norah's class is made up of babies 3-9 months old. They all sit in little seats that resemble carseats, around a c-shaped table with the teacher in the inner curve of the table. I know it probably sounds a little crazy that they teach the babies...but they really do keep them engaged for the entire length of class. ( I know, because we've stayed and watched before) They sing lots of songs and use a very wide variety of visuals to keep the babies' attention. Norah absolutely LOVES her class and all of her wonderful teachers, and we are very thankful for them.

Chain Rolling

We've had a great week! The weather here has been the best that I can ever remember for May. Every day this week has been breezy and cool...with little or no humidity. So this is what spring feels like!

Norah is absoultely loving her newly acquired rolling capability. Last night she completed her most difficult roll-stunt thus far. Six rolls in a row! I honestly think she finds great pleasure in escaping the confines of the blankets that I lay on the floor for her to play on. She shrieks with delight when she manages to complete enough revolutions to traverse the unblanketed floor!

Jason and I are, of course, enjoying watching her explore her new ability. We know she'll be crawling before we know it! (She already gets up on all fours and tries with all her might to move forward).

We've added another step to the bedtime routine. More evidence that Norah is growing up--she is already honing her "bedtime stall" tactics. For the past couple of nights, the only way we've been able to quiet her is to play lullabies on a timer that goes for 10 minutes when we put her in bed. I forgot to put them on last night and she let me know about it! Sure enough, as soon as the music started, her talking stopped and we didn't hear another peep from her room til morning.

She'll be four months old tomorrow. We have a wellness check-up, which means another round of shots. We're bracing ourselves--the last round didn't go over too well. They left her with a knot in her leg for about a month, and she cried like we never knew she was capable. It all but broke Jason's and my heart. Thank goodness for children's Tylenol!

Mother's Day Surprise

It was a busy, but wonderful weekend!
Saturday morning, Jason, Norah, and I met Uncle Grant and Aunt Paige at Lowe's at 8:30am to get started on a top-secret Mother's Day surprise for Mom R and Grandmother. We picked out tons of gorgeous flowers and about 6 bags of mulch and loaded it all into our trucks. Then we headed out to "the place" (Robinson-speak for the place where Grant and Jason grew up, and where Grandmother and Mom R still live).

We had commissioned Mom R to "keep Grandmother busy" (little did she know, we really needed BOTH of them off the premises so we could set to work on our big project, unnoticed). When they finally evacuated, we set to work. We had TONS, of plants (Verbena, Silvermound, Vincas, Balloon Flowers, Calladium, Petunias, Zinnias, Lantana, and more!) but with 8 hands and Norah cheering us on, we completed the planting in less than an hour! Grant even made a garden stake that read, "Happy Mother's Day! We were very pleased with the end results, and we finished just in time for Mom R and Grandmother to return from town! As they pulled down the lane, the five of us were sitting in front of the newly planted bed, drinking ice tea. After they had the chance to take in the flowers and express their thanks, we all sat around drinking tea in the cool shade. It was a great day that I think we'll all look back on and smile.

Roly Poly

Every member of the Robinson family now has the capability of performing the third step in a "Stop, Drop, and Roll"! Norah rolled right over for daddy last night while mommy was cooking dinner. I was so glad the he got to see it! The first roll was from her back to her stomach, then later last night, she rolled from her stomach to her back!

She has also begun "singing". Its the sweetest sound I've ever heard. Her singing is different from her "talking". I can only describe it as more musical. Trust me though, it is precious!

Dodging the Bug...(hopefully!)

A nasty stomach bug has been navigating its way through the far reaches of the Gilmore family this week. Dad turned up with it first, and shared it with Memaw (who is in the rehab center after having triple bypass surgery last week), then Mom (who had just gotten home from her trip to California), and now poor Jonathan has it! I feel like my entire family is getting picked off, one by one! Norah and I have seen EVERY single one of our sick family members this week, within 24 hours of when their respective bugs hit...yet somehow neither one of us has shown any symptoms yet. I'm praying that Norah won't get it...and I guess I wouldn't mind if Jason and I missed out too. Nobody likes to be sick!

We have gotten into a pretty good bedtime routine, which makes the evenings in Robinson County quite pleasant. It turns out, Norah is an avid reader...at least, we think she's going to be as soon as she learns how. She absolutely loves being read to. Every night before bedtime, we read "Goodnight, Moon" and "Guess How Much I Love You". She pays careful attention to all ofthe pictures and really seems to listen intently. Its one of my favorite times of the day. After we finish reading, Jason and I put her in her crib, and she lays there quietly until she's ready to fall asleep. Again, we ask ourselves---why are we so blessed!?

I now understand why I've always heard that children are God's greatest blessings. It's amazing to me that someone so small can teach me so much. I've mentioned before how much I love to see Norah first thing in the morning because she is always so joyful--just thankful to be awake, and to have another day of life. It is a daily reminder to me of how I ought to be. To wake up each morning and think, "This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" I pray that she will always keep her sweet, joyful spirit, and that God will help me to be more like Norah.

Norah is still working on the roll. She's also learning there are lots of different ways to get from A to B. Her latest way to get around, is what I like to call the "Spin Move". Using her legs for leverage, she can do a total 180, which makes it pretty interesting when I come into her room in the morning. She's rarely where I originally laid her down! This has led me to come to grips with the reality that her days of immobility are numbered. She is also becoming increasingly facinated with hands--both her own, and those of others. She just stares and stares at them. Our little explorer is growing up!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Ok, so she hasn't rolled over yet...but we are getting SO close! We watched her for about 30 minutes last night, as she rocked and rocked. She did manage, to travel about 180 degrees from where we laid her down. Norah is getting stronger by the day. She is also working hard on the crawl--though I can't bear to think she's nearly old enough to get around on her own! I think she must be trying to learn something new so that she can surprise Grammy and Gramps when they come home from California tomorrow. We have missed them, but I know they've had a wonderful time with Reina, Devin, Kepler, Tesla, and Reagan! Every time we've talked to Grammy on the phone she's been tooling around some new, interesting place--the Redwood Forest, the seashore, the mountains... We can't wait to hear about all of their adventures!
Last night we had a fantastic dinner with Uncle Grant, Aunt Paige, Grandma and Grandmother. We also learned that Grandmother is capable of doing a full set of sit-ups and push-ups as long as Norah is close-by.

Today we're waiting on the phone man to come and fix our telephone lines. (We've been operating solely on cell phones for the past three days) You've gotta love how specific they are with when they'll arrive, "Sometime between 8am and 1:56pm. Honestly--how can you know you'll be here before exactly 1:56pm, but not even know what hour?

My Appolgies

I think this officially makes the longest run I've gone without updating the blog...but for good reason. Mom left town last week, and I have just fallen apart! (Not to mention my semi-involvement with a little diversion called "Teen Summit") Fear not, faithful bloggies--I'm back with renewed vigor! (In otherwords, I'd much rather blog than go to the grocery store this morning)

It was a busy weekend! We spent most of Friday and Saturday up at the church building for Central Texas Teen Summit. Norah was VERY patient and well-behaved. She did manage to pay me back for the boring weekend, away from her toys, swing, and crib. While we were working at Summit, she slept through her feeding, so after about 45 minutes, I decided to wake her up. She was sleeping hard, so I decided to change her diaper--that never fails to rouse her. As I opened her diaper, she flooded the changing pad! So, being the caring mom that I am, I quickly picked her up, so she wouldn't have to lie there in it. So I'm holding her, naked from the waist down, attempting to sop up the newly formed lake-- meanwhile, Norah proceeds to soak my shirt. I calmly finished cleaning up the first mess. Then put a diaper on my little "rain cloud", and re-dressed her in the trusty spare outfit I had packed for her. Just wish I would have thought to pack one for me. I finished out the rest of the day at Summit with a MASSIVE wet spot on my side/back!