Turkation

Norah and I are just wrapping up two days of vacation together. Aunt Rose (mom's sister) and Uncle Merle are in town, so we decided it was a good excuse to take some days off. Yesterday we rode up north and back with Seth to Lisa and Scott's for the day. Mom, dad, Rose and Merle joined us as well. Lisa, Norah and I were able to get a good walk in together before everyone arrived, and then we enjoyed a nice lunch and afternoon outside. I saw TJ ride his bike and we painted eggs.

Today we were productive around the house, but also got in a nice run in the morning and walk in the afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather. We also had an interesting trip to the grocery store. I knew Norah was tired when we left the house, but I figured she would sleep in the sling while I was shopping. However, for we spent the first 10 minutes in the store trying to get situated. She kept fussing every time I put her in the sling, but then when I took her out she laughed at everything she saw - a bright bottle of lotion, a person walking by, a balloon. Finally, she got comfortable and we slowly made our way through the store. Even a major spit up episode in the meat section didn't get us down. A nice store employee got us some paper towel, we cleaned up and kept moving.

A baby in a sling really does attract a lot of attention - particularly when she is sitting out of the sling a bit, has bright blue eyes and flashes her big smile at just about everyone. Three older Hispanic women couldn't get enough - "Ohhhh, que linda, que linda." We were in the pasta section with them for several minutes. And so the trip went until I picked up my last item and looked down to see Norah had fallen asleep. (Nice timing.)

Norah continues to be so much fun. She rolls over onto her stomach almost immediately whenever we lay her down on her back. She smiles her big cheesy grin all the time and seems to really enjoy interacting with us. I think I can safely say she really is in a night time sleeping pattern (consider that a whisper - if she hears me saying it she might think she needs to shake things up). It also helps that we really are into a routine. Seth typically gives Norah a bath between 6:15 and 6:45, I read to her while she eats, put on her music and lay her in bed around 7:00 / 7:15. Since we let her cry a few times several weeks ago she really hasn't made a peep in the evenings until she gets up to eat between 2:00 and 4:00. She goes right back down and sleeps soundly until we wake her up at 7AM to eat and head to daycare.

So, I guess this is a bit of a ramble, but it's your lucky day - Seth and Philip just got back with dinner (which is either from Asia Market or Vietnam). Mmmmm...

P.S. Seth's sister Greta used to say "turkation" when she couldn't quite pronounce "vacation."