She reveals herself!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Babushka Norah
Nonna, Aunt Alessia, and Ethan came to visit for 4 days in late September. They thought it was funny to put Norah's scarves on her like a babushka. Norah got a kick out of it too. We did it to Ethan too--which was hilarious! Check out Alessia's blog to see that: jimandalessia.blogspot.com
Strolling
Norah likes to go for little walks around the cul-de-sac. She sometimes holds our hands--of course we insist when crossing the street. Here she is with James on his lunch break on a particularly beautiful day.
Our little girl
I think Norah looks like a little girl in this photo, not a baby! She is growing up so fast!
Chasing Bubbles!
Here's Norah on the patio chasing elusive bubbles! She could do this all day and all night long, if we didn't somehow distract her and hide them.
Cottage Cheese!
We have been experimenting with utensils lately (notice the spoon), but Norah seems to just hold the spoon in one hand while she uses the other hand to pick up the food (in this case, cottage cheese and pears). It is quite a mess, but she's learning.
Messy girl!
Here's my messy girl with her creation! Luckily, when I say, "Okay, let's put these away", she will help me out.
Norah's favorite activity
Norah loves to empty out my cupboards, particularly right after I have put everything away. She really did a number on this day--she even got the big griddle pan out! She was quite impressed with herself.
Ethan was here, too!
Of course, if Alessia and JIm came, so did Ethan. Here he is trying out some pears, I think.
Iowa vs Maine Football game II
Whenever Iowa gets a touchdown, the cheerleaders come out with big I-O-W-A flags (one for each corner of the stadium). We were the O's and we chanted "O!!!" when our flag was lifted. It is quite stirring to hear all the people shout in unison. Can you see the cheerleading guy flipping in the photo?
Also, there was one guy who held a cheerleader on ONE arm for about 5 minutes straight while she led a cheer!
Iowa vs Maine Football game
We went to this football game on August 30 with Alessia and Jim, Nick and Sunny, and Francesca and Jarrod. It was a good time, but a little bit HOT in the sun all day. Iowa killed Maine, so we left after the third quarter (we couldn't take the sun anymore!)
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
it's dead
Well, we heard the devastating news today: our hard drive is DEAD. The company that we sent the drive to said that it had been mechanically destroyed by the reader needle, which must have gotten off balance somehow. As James described it, it is as if someone took a CD, scratched it all over with a screwdriver, and then tried to play it. Not a possibility.
We have lost:
1) All digital photos from 6 years ago to today
2) most of our digital videos from vacations
3) all of our music (though we can recover most from our iPod)
So, we have a commission to our faithful readers: If you have digital photos of trips or events that James and I (and Norah or Samuel) were there for, could you burn them to a CD and send them to us in the mail? We will try to piece our photo collection back together with your help. We will have lost some really great shots (particularly from our trip to the Grand Canyon, and another trip out West), but we hope we can get some of the more important occasions back.
We will buy a new hard drive soon, and put some more recent photos (still in our camera) on the blog soon.
Oh, and a note to those of you who are thinking: "I should get an external hard drive and back up all my data ASAP so this doesn't happen to me!": the company we sent our drive to discourages that since most of the drives they try to recover data from ARE external drives--they tend to fail a lot. So, we will probably be using an online back-up system from now on. Lesson learned. The hard way.
--Chiara
We have lost:
1) All digital photos from 6 years ago to today
2) most of our digital videos from vacations
3) all of our music (though we can recover most from our iPod)
So, we have a commission to our faithful readers: If you have digital photos of trips or events that James and I (and Norah or Samuel) were there for, could you burn them to a CD and send them to us in the mail? We will try to piece our photo collection back together with your help. We will have lost some really great shots (particularly from our trip to the Grand Canyon, and another trip out West), but we hope we can get some of the more important occasions back.
We will buy a new hard drive soon, and put some more recent photos (still in our camera) on the blog soon.
Oh, and a note to those of you who are thinking: "I should get an external hard drive and back up all my data ASAP so this doesn't happen to me!": the company we sent our drive to discourages that since most of the drives they try to recover data from ARE external drives--they tend to fail a lot. So, we will probably be using an online back-up system from now on. Lesson learned. The hard way.
--Chiara
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
what...time...is...it?
This morning, I was pulled out of sleep as I heard Norah making noise over the monitor. I looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was only 5:15 a.m. She was saying 'Mama' over and over again--not in a particularly distressed voice, but a persistent one. Then there was a long pause, and then she said 'Nano' (for Nonna) a few times, and then 'Dada' a few times. It seemed like she was trying to get our attention. I waited a bit longer (I didn't want to get out of bed), but then felt guilty, thinking, "What if she is all wet or can't find her pacifier or something?". So, I dragged myself out of bed and crept toward Norah's room.
There she was, sitting in her crib, happy as can be, looking through her photo album in the dim light of the nightlight. She was saying the names people she knew!!! Once she saw me, though, I had to pick her up. We cuddled for a while, and then I put her back to bed.
James thought I should post this so I can remember it.
--Chiara
There she was, sitting in her crib, happy as can be, looking through her photo album in the dim light of the nightlight. She was saying the names people she knew!!! Once she saw me, though, I had to pick her up. We cuddled for a while, and then I put her back to bed.
James thought I should post this so I can remember it.
--Chiara
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Twilight Zone
Norah and I go to the library on a regular basis to listen to storytime and play with the trains (choo choo!).
We were there yesterday playing with the trains, and another little girl and her dad came to the area we were in. Norah and the other girl were playing, and I saw Norah take a train from the girl, so I said, "Norah, are you sharing nicely?" in my disciplinary tone. The other girl's dad looked at me strangely; here is the conversation that follows:
Girl's Dad (named Randy): What is your daughter's name?
Me: Norah
Randy: That's my daughter's name too!
Me: Oh! I hope she didn't think I was just telling her to share! Do you spell her name with an 'h' or no 'h'?
Randy: With an 'h'. I wanted no 'h', and my wife wanted the 'h', so we went with the 'h' at the last minute.
Me: That's so funny! Our Norah has an 'h' too, and it took us until the last minute to decide whether we wanted it that way or not!
Randy: Wow! I can't believe they have the same name. That is strange. You don't hear that many Norah's running around.
Me: What is your Norah's middle name?
Randy: Claire, what's your Norah's middle name?
Me: Claire!!!! I can't believe it!
Then he went on to explain how they had come to name her Norah Claire, and I did too. Finally,
Randy: I hope we don't have the same LAST name, or we have entered the twilight zone!
Me: Your last name isn't Hemsley, is it?
Randy: Nope. Phew!
I just thought it was so funny that these two girls, born about 6 months apart in the same city, have the exact same name and were in the library at the same time playing with the same train set (and having trouble sharing it!). Bizarre!
--Chiara
We were there yesterday playing with the trains, and another little girl and her dad came to the area we were in. Norah and the other girl were playing, and I saw Norah take a train from the girl, so I said, "Norah, are you sharing nicely?" in my disciplinary tone. The other girl's dad looked at me strangely; here is the conversation that follows:
Girl's Dad (named Randy): What is your daughter's name?
Me: Norah
Randy: That's my daughter's name too!
Me: Oh! I hope she didn't think I was just telling her to share! Do you spell her name with an 'h' or no 'h'?
Randy: With an 'h'. I wanted no 'h', and my wife wanted the 'h', so we went with the 'h' at the last minute.
Me: That's so funny! Our Norah has an 'h' too, and it took us until the last minute to decide whether we wanted it that way or not!
Randy: Wow! I can't believe they have the same name. That is strange. You don't hear that many Norah's running around.
Me: What is your Norah's middle name?
Randy: Claire, what's your Norah's middle name?
Me: Claire!!!! I can't believe it!
Then he went on to explain how they had come to name her Norah Claire, and I did too. Finally,
Randy: I hope we don't have the same LAST name, or we have entered the twilight zone!
Me: Your last name isn't Hemsley, is it?
Randy: Nope. Phew!
I just thought it was so funny that these two girls, born about 6 months apart in the same city, have the exact same name and were in the library at the same time playing with the same train set (and having trouble sharing it!). Bizarre!
--Chiara
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Norah's new tricks
Nonna and Alessia and Ethan came last week to visit, and we had a lot of fun with them. We went to the library for story time, and to the University Homecoming Parade. Nonna spent a lot of time talking with Norah, and taught her to say Mama! I came home from work, and Nonna said, "Norah, who is that?" and Norah said, "Mama!" Imagine my delight and surprise! Norah also says Nanno for Nonna, and that was the first word out of her mouth a couple mornings in a row. So, Norah is talking a little more. She also approximates "dump truck" whenever she sees one by saying, "Duh Tuh!" And baby is "beh beh"--always with the two syllables. It's a lot of fun hearing her try to talk.
She also made up her own sign for when she wants to drink out of our cups--we are very impressed that she has the imagination to do that! I am so glad we did baby signs--they really show you that there is a lot going on inside a 16-month-old's brain--a lot more than they can tell you with spoken words anyway.
Progress on the hard drive: it has been sent to a firm in Madison, WI, where they will try to recover all of our precious photos and videos, and then charge us an arm and a leg (which we will pay!) to get the data back. A lesson to all: back up your hard drives from time to time!!!!
More photos ASAP!
Chiara, James and Norah
She also made up her own sign for when she wants to drink out of our cups--we are very impressed that she has the imagination to do that! I am so glad we did baby signs--they really show you that there is a lot going on inside a 16-month-old's brain--a lot more than they can tell you with spoken words anyway.
Progress on the hard drive: it has been sent to a firm in Madison, WI, where they will try to recover all of our precious photos and videos, and then charge us an arm and a leg (which we will pay!) to get the data back. A lesson to all: back up your hard drives from time to time!!!!
More photos ASAP!
Chiara, James and Norah
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sorry for the delay....
We have temporarily lost the ability to post photos, since our hard drive with ALL our digital photos, videos, and music crashed recently. We are doing our best to have the data recovered, and I hope we will be able to do so.
Meanwhile, I (Chiara) started teaching again, James is working as usual, and Norah is growing by the day.
Here are some new things she can do:
She knows a lot more signs now (too many to list), so communication is a lot easier and more fun. She gets a satisfied grin on her face when we understand what she is saying.
She is repeating words she knows when she hears us say them, like "cold", "dog", "hot", "truck", "baby" etc. Of course they are some combination of ba, da, or ca.
She says, "Curl" for "squirrel" and does the sign--it's really cute.
She can go UP stairs, but not DOWN. She just waits for someone to bring her down.
When we get home, she stands in the driveway and yells, "HI!!!" as loudly as she can to see if any other neighborhood kids will respond. If she hears other kids, she will take off as fast as her legs can carry her to see them!
It's been a fun summer and fall looks like it's well on its way. I am looking forward to those crisp afternoons.
We will post more photos as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.
Chiara and James and Norah
Meanwhile, I (Chiara) started teaching again, James is working as usual, and Norah is growing by the day.
Here are some new things she can do:
She knows a lot more signs now (too many to list), so communication is a lot easier and more fun. She gets a satisfied grin on her face when we understand what she is saying.
She is repeating words she knows when she hears us say them, like "cold", "dog", "hot", "truck", "baby" etc. Of course they are some combination of ba, da, or ca.
She says, "Curl" for "squirrel" and does the sign--it's really cute.
She can go UP stairs, but not DOWN. She just waits for someone to bring her down.
When we get home, she stands in the driveway and yells, "HI!!!" as loudly as she can to see if any other neighborhood kids will respond. If she hears other kids, she will take off as fast as her legs can carry her to see them!
It's been a fun summer and fall looks like it's well on its way. I am looking forward to those crisp afternoons.
We will post more photos as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.
Chiara and James and Norah
Monday, August 25, 2008
Running from Daddy!
James likes to chase Norah around--her she is trying to escape! Better open your eyes, Norah!
Home SWEET Home!
After plowing through our 25 hour drive, it was GREAT to be home.
Norah got this sticker at the dentist, and moved it off her shirt onto her belly. Then, she looks at you like, "What are you smiling at?"
Watching the Seals 2
Norah was getting a kick out of the seals AND the sea gulls, both of which are captured in this photo.
Watching the Seals
We went to the Chatham Pier to watch the seals. There were at least 5 seals there, waiting for fishermen to drop them some scraps!
It was a lot of fun to watch them.
Let me out!
James spent his time in the shade digging a deep hole that he could place Norah into! She later fell into the hole and bruised her cheek! Thanks, James!
Catching some rays
Nonna and Jeri on the beach catching some rays!
It was a beautiful morning at the beach--not too crowded---then we left just as the crowds and the clouds rolled in!
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