Look who turned one! (almost a month ago)

Nora celebrated her first birthday on July 30.  Nora... our sweet, sweet little baby who is so happy, bubbly, and social during the day and was such a difficult baby at night.  Just a few examples: leaving for the evening with girlfriends only to come home and find she'd been screaming for 1.5 hours (and my cell phone battery had died so Matt had no way of telling me), putting her to bed only to have her wake up screaming an hour later... and then another hour later... and then again after we were in bed...  It was very difficult having a baby who couldn't put herself back to sleep without screaming because she refused to take a pacifier or suck her thumb.  It was a very trying year for me, a tiring year, a year where I felt I didn't have any answers and how in the world had I already raised two kids past this stage because I sure didn't feel like I knew what I was doing. 

BUT we're on the other side of all that... eight nights in a row now she has slept all night without waking up and crying.   In a few months those rough nights that gave me my first gray hairs will fade until I've almost forgotten them.  I hope. 

In retrospect the first year always seems to fly by.  How could this little peanut be a year old already?  When Nora turned one (the very day) she suddenly seemed so much older, she laughed like crazy and tried so hard to engage others in her laughter and "conversations". 

She is so sweet, such a social butterfly, so fun to be around.  She loves her siblings: likes to join in their games, knock down their blocks, climb on them, and follow them around the house.  She loves Molly: grabs Molly's fur in her little hands and pulls and pats and squeals in delight.

She's a walker now, toddling unsteadily all over the house.  At first she would make noises until we looked at her and then start walking once she had our complete attention.  Now she just goes.  She loves stairs and climbs whenever she gets a chance.  She's finally learned to "turn around and go feet first" even if this means lying on her belly four feet from the top of the stairs and pushing herself backwards toward them (and sometimes miscalculating and ending up in the bathroom). 

Nora's first word was "Nana" (if leaving off a syllable can count as a first word).  She saw the banana display at Walmart and started shouting, "Nana! Nana! Nana!"  She wants a banana for breakfast every morning: she pulls on her high chair and start her "Nana, nana, nana" chant. 

She's a pretty big girl and if Karl doesn't start growing they'll be the same size soon. 

Happy First Birthday, Nora!