Here’s Nora for her first eleven months. (If you click on it, I think you’ll be able to see the whole thing larger.)

Of course, the big news of the month is that Nora started walking! In the day or so since I took the video, she’s hasn’t taken more than a step or two – she’s definitely happier with her crawling speed, but she’ll get the hang of it soon, I think. She likes to walk while pushing chairs around the kitchen and while pushing a walking toy that we borrowed from a friend. Mostly, it’s just nice to see how controlled she is as she goes from standing to getting back down on the floor. She rarely just totally falls over which makes us worry far less about her cracking her head on something every time we turn around.

She’s picking up on more signs, and the cutest thing is if we stay out in the mornings a little past her naptime, she will start signing ‘sleep’ to me. Much nicer than just getting cranky! :) We also love how excited she gets when she sees a meal getting ready and starts signing ‘eat eat eat’. I need to really get on top of teaching her more signs now that she’s learning them so quickly, especially since she is generally very vocal and insistent when she wants to get something across to us.

Jonah, of course, is a major influence in Nora’s life, but lately it’s become increasingly obvious how much. Whenever she sees Thomas the Tank Engine on books, DVDs, or toys, she becomes absolutely giddy with excitement, and she can spot him nearly an aisle away at Target. It’s ridiculous. She loves the school buses that drive by our house and now cries when they turn the corner. She’s also started to ‘sing’ the Wheels on the Bus. She doesn’t have the words – it’s more of a ‘eh eh eh’ – but the rhythm and even some melody are definitely there. For a week or so, I thought maybe I was just making it up, but then she did it at lunch and Jonah said, “Hey! Nora’s singing Wheels on the Bus!!” So it’s not just me. Sean’s heard it, too. And when we ask her if that’s what she’s singing, she gets the biggest smile. She also does the hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider, and loves that song, too.

Nora had her first long car trip to go up and visit family in the Seattle area for Thanksgiving, and she did great! She napped well in the car and was totally happy to play with toys, read books, and watch Jonah in the backseat. It was also her first time sleeping away from home somewhere that was not a hospital, and she slept through the night the whole time we were gone (thank goodness!) She wasn’t too anxious about meeting all the new people and let everyone have the chance to see what a happy little girl she is. She’s doing well with her eating, and even got to have turkey with us on Thanksgiving.

We’ll be mainly celebrating her birthday tomorrow since Sean will be home, and she’ll get her first taste of cupcake then!

Happy birthday, Nora!!!