This month, Nora sprouted two new teeth in the middle of the bottom, and they’re becoming more and more visible when she laughs and yells. She’s also become a champion sitter, and can bend forward to reach for toys and sit back up with almost no problems. Every once in a while, she will end up flattened out on her back or stomach, but usually seems kind of amused by her new point of view. She likes to play with cups and buckets, pulling things out of them, and knocking over towers. Still no rolling, so Jonah’s toys remain safe for another day.

Nora’s playing around with lots of different sounds. She tries to smack her lips to copy some funny noises that Sean makes and likes to test the limits of her voice where she’s straining but not making any sound come out. When she wants to make noise, though, she is LOUD! She also has a loud, continuous kind of gravelly wail/yell she does when she’s getting tired and falling asleep, which is pretty hilarious, especially when she does it in public.

The greatest entertainment in the house for her is, of course, Jonah. She loves to watch whatever he’s doing, and he’s getting to be a better sport about voluntarily doing things near her and bringing her little toys that he thinks she’ll like. He still doesn’t love sharing the bath with her, but she thinks it’s pretty great to watch him playing in the tub. Being the second child, Nora has a lot more practice finding entertainment for herself, and can be very content sitting and playing with her things, especially if she can also see what Jonah’s doing. She’s also gotten more interested in Sean’s guitar playing and has started to join the boys for their bedtime music time if she’s not too tired.

This month, Nora’s also moved into her ‘stranger anxiety’ phase a bit. She definitely expresses a preference for being with her mom and dad. She’ll be fine with someone else as long as she doesn’t see or hear a parent (especially mom) to remind her that we haven’t been in her sight. We’ve also noticed the huge smiles, laughs, and kicking legs that accompany Sean’s arrival home from work. She is most definitely glad to see him!

She loves being outside, which is nice now that the weather is finally seeming slightly summer-like. She can do her swing in the backyard as well as the swings at the park, enjoys walks, and doesn’t mind sitting with her bare legs and feet in the grass.

Overall, she remains a very happy girl, learning lots of new things. :)

Weight: 16 lb 2 oz
Height: 26 in

The big excitement this month – sitting and laughing!

Nora’s started sitting up on her own now! She can keep her balance for about 30 seconds or so before tipping over, and her best sitting has been happening at the library storytimes when she’s so interested in what the librarian is doing that she stays really still. She’s not quite steady enough that I can set her down and walk away, but it won’t be long. Like Jonah at this age, Nora’s not at all interested in rolling or really trying to move anywhere on her own, but she has started to really enjoy being held in a standing position. If I stand her up next to something, she’ll hold on to it and I can let go for a little while. It cracks me up to see such a tiny baby standing up by herself. She also really loves bouncing and jumping, so when she starts to get fussy, a little bouncing around helps get her happy and sometimes even laughing again.

In the first part of April, Nora started laughing pretty regularly. We’re learning what kinds of noises she finds funny and where she’s most ticklish. Obviously, she finds Jonah to be the funniest out of all of us, and just loves it when he does little tricks and games for her. Nora’s starting to communicate more in other ways, too. She has figured out how to yell (very different from her cry) and she uses it when someone stops doing something that she was enjoying, like she’s saying ‘I wasn’t done with that yet!”

She is really easy to take places these days because she’s so interested in everything (and she’s on a pretty predictable eating routine). I don’t have to worry that she’ll get fussy when we’re out and about. In the car, Nora just contentedly looks out the window. At the library or the store, she babbles and checks out the people and colorful stuff. The only thing I have to watch out for is that everything in her reach can and will end up in her mouth in a matter of seconds.

Nora enjoys being in her exersaucer with all the toys around and has figured out how to spin her seat to reach what she wants. She hangs out happily in there while I make meals and also likes when I give her kitchen stuff to play with (chew on). She also likes to be outdoors, taking walks and sitting in the grass. Going outdoors also usually calms her down quickly if she’s a little cranky, as does some diaper-free playtime on the floor.

Aside from her new preferred morning wakeup time at 5:45 (ugh), her changes are getting more and more exciting. It’s so fun to see her learning all sorts of new things!

Weight: 15 lb 6 oz

Nora is continuing to grow and practice all her new skills. There haven’t been any huge new obvious milestones this month, but she’s definitely getting quicker and more accurate when grabbing things and shoving everything in her mouth (especially any kind of fabric). She holds her head up higher and longer when she’s lying on the floor, and has just started barely trying to support herself sitting up with her hands between her legs on the floor. Jonah likes to see me let go of her for a second to see if she’ll stay up or tip over. He gets a little nervous, though, on the few times she’s taken a quick bath with him and doesn’t want her to tip over in the tub. Nora loves bathtime, and we’ve helped her sit in the tub with Jonah for a quick wash. It will be great a few months from now when they can really play together in there.

Socially, she has definitely started to show a preference for being held by one of her parents rather than strangers. Nora’s always been a very snuggly girl, and up until the past few days, has been pretty happy in anyone’s arms, but now she’s only ok as long as she doesn’t see Mom. Once she realizes someone else has her, she’s done. Nora’s also started babbling a whole lot more. She’ll go minutes at a time, just talking away to her toys or anyone who looks her way. It’s fun to see how her face really lights up when anyone from her family starts talking with her. We still haven’t gotten any full on laughs, but she’s getting closer and closer with occasional little chuckles.

It’s also fun to see her getting so much more interested in the world around her when we go out. She hardly ever cries in the car anymore because she’s checking out everything out the windows. When we only need a few things at the grocery store, I put her car seat in the cart, and she loves looking around at all the bright packages. We’ve gone to the baby storytime at the library a few times, and she gets really interested in the music and watching other babies. And of course, when Jonah’s around, she pretty much always wants to be facing in his direction to see what he’s doing.

She’s still an awesome sleeper, going almost the whole night and usually taking two good naps during the day. We’ve been really lucky with her sleep habits from the very beginning!

Weight: 14 lbs
Height: 24.25 inches

Nora’s settling into more of a routine these days. After waking in the morning, she is at her absolute happiest for the next two hours – smiling all over the place and content to do just about anything. At almost exactly the two hour mark she starts fussing, and I have finally learned that what she wants is a nap, so she gets wrapped up and is asleep in minutes. When she wakes up about an hour later, she is very happy for another two hours, and then naps again. Happily, this is typically her longest nap of the day and often coincides with Jonah’s. After this next wakeup, the rest of the day is always different – sometimes sleepy, sometimes awake, sometimes, cranky, sometimes happy – but at least for the first half of the day, I know what to expect from her now. She still sleeps great overnight, usually waking only once towards the early morning.

She continues to get more social, and has started having ‘conversations’ where she takes turns gurgling and cooing with someone. Jonah also likes this and tries to tell me what she’s saying when something she babbles sounds like an actual word. Yesterday we went to the library storytime for Jonah, and for the first time, Nora sat on my lap and watched everything very intently. Usually she just wants to snuggle in the wrap and fall asleep, but now she’s starting to get very interested in the puppets and the other kids. Although she hasn’t laughed out loud at us yet, there have been two occasions where something in her dream was funny enough to get a laugh, so I look forward to hearing more of that soon. :)

Nora hasn’t done much more in the way of rolling, just the very occasional accidental roll, and that’s usually when she’s mad about being on her tummy. That’s ok, though. Pretty soon, Jonah’s going to have to be a lot more careful about where he puts his things once she’s on the move because she’s learned how to put stuff in her mouth. When something interesting is held in front of her, Nora will often reach out to grab it and try to get it in her mouth. Her favorite toys for doing this are her plastic linking rings, but she also really likes things that make crinkly noises and enjoys a rattle-y frog that has a mirror in it. She is doing a lot better at holding up her head and keeping her balance and will sometimes be happy in her bumbo seat for a half hour or so. And she did a great job sitting in the rocking chair all by herself for this month’s photo. Last month, we definitely needed someone nearby to spot her and catch her when she tipped.

Weight: 12 lb 7 oz

Height: 23 1/2 in

Here’s one more photo from this morning. She’s watching Jonah play music (as usual).

Every month I hope to write a little post about what Nora’s up to and take a picture of her in this rocking chair to see how she’s growing. :)

Nora is staying awake more during the daytime now, napping usually three or four times, but not really on any kind of consistent schedule. Since she still loves being carried around in the wrap when we’re out of the house doing something with Jonah, she usually takes that opportunity to snooze, wherever and whenever it is. This girl can sleep through almost anything when she’s comfortable! At night, she regularly sleeps from about 10pm-5am, then eats and goes back to sleep. We really appreciate the long stretches!

She’s has gotten very smiley over the last week or two – really likes having people talking to her, whether it’s on the changing table, in her bouncy seat, or in someone’s arms. If someone walks away for a minute, she makes her little sad face which almost always turns right back into smiles as soon as the person comes back. It’s especially nice for all of us that she smiles at Jonah more and more. He really likes it! (And he’s starting to initiate more interactions with her, offering her toys and trucks to look at.)

Nora has rolled over from her stomach to her back a handful of times, but it’s been more of an accident than something she actually tries to do yet. She doesn’t like spending much time on her stomach, although she is starting to be happier lying on a blanket on her back, kicking her legs and looking at toys hanging above her. She can purposely get her fists into her mouth, and enjoys gnawing on anything that gets too close to her mouth.

Finally, about a week ago, I moved the last of the newborn-sized clothing off of her shelf to make room for the 3 month size. :)

Weight: 10 lbs 12 oz
Height: 22.5 in