Oh the Modesty!

Nick's curiosity about my nursing cover led him to give it a try while feeding Norah her nightly bottle. It's a good thing he was so discreet since he was alone in the basement. Wouldn't want to be accused of being an exhibitionist!

Stay-cation at the Condo

We spent spring break at the condo (where spring has definitely not sprung). Norah slept better this week than she did during our overnight in Winter Park. It seems that her lungs have acclimated to the 9000 ft. elevation. A handy thing for a baby living in Colorado. As you can tell from the photos, we did a whole lot of nothing - although Norah was busy flirting with the puppies on her mobile. It was the perfect way to spend the week.

Kiss Me. I'm Irish!

Between Norah's blond hair, blue eyes, length and last name, there's no doubt she's dutch. But we needed to do something to remind her of the rest of her heritage. Enter the St. Patrick's Day Parade. In spite of its size, Denver's parade may not be quite as authentic as it could be - what with the Jimmy Buffet float, the UFO float, and the roaming Alpacas. Hopefully, the trip to Ireland this summer will undo the damage done on Saturday.

The parade also reminded us how much has changed since I was a kid. For instance, we didn't let Norah eat green bagels that landed in the gutters after being thrown from floats. It's a miracle me, my siblings and cousins still think fondly of St. Patrick's Day.

Speaking of cousins, thanks to Patrick for organizing another great tailgating, parade-watching party!

Kim and Bridger with their baby, Merle (wearing her autographed Merle Haggard collar, nonetheless).

While the parents are away...

Norah doesn't seem particularly vexed by our absence on date nights, but she has a few rough moments. During a recent one, she was less than comforted by her blanket's truism.

A little snooze with Popos (while wearing Popos' favorite of Norah's outfits - thanks Casey!).

Hilarious!

Norah now tells herself jokes and then cracks up. She thinks she's hilarious.

Our Nightly Constitutional

Bradley Class Baby Reunion

Tonight we reunited with the couples from our Bradley class and with six little additions. All the babies are between four and six weeks old, so it was a noisy, but very cute, gathering.

The difference three months make...



Norah was quite taken with little Conner. Conner is Filipino, and in his culture they don't cut the baby's hair until they are one year old. Can you imagine how great his hair will be in another eleven months?

Weekly Update Sans Photos

Norah's dance card is fuller this month than it was last month but it's with activities that aren't particularly photo friendly, like Mommy and Me yoga, Ash Wednesday service, and a tax appointment. (The absence of photos is probably for the best because Norah had a run in with a baby shampoo that wasn't particularly baby friendly. Her head and neck are currently covered in an awesome rash.)

During the beginning of the first yoga class, Norah took advantage of a quiet moment to show off her gassy talents. I was worried that might be her commentary on yoga, but she seemed to warm up to it during other classes.

Ash Wednesday was Norah's first (of many!) church service. While she was always super active during church services when I was pregnant, she was soothed by the organ on Wednesday. She received a sweet blessing from the minister during communion and then the imposition of ashes, but the minister only applied them faintly. Maybe it was too much to tell a baby that to dust she would return.

Then, Norah made a trip to appointments with our financial planner and accountant. In one shot, we were able to open her 529 and expose her to the wonders of clergy tax law. We don't know what she'll major in when she goes to college, but currently she excels at spitting up. Will I ever leave the house in clean clothes again?

Happy Birthday!

Norah celebrated her one month birthday yesterday by trying her first bottle. Other than drooling a fair amount of breastmilk onto Nick, she seemed to figure it out.

We tried to continue our streak of successful "firsts" (bath, bottle) with a trip to Mommy and Me Yoga this morning. While we made it to the class (in and of itself a success), the class was cancelled. We substitued a walk around the neighborhood where we ran into cousin BJ on his construction site. He's working on a super cool house that left me with residence-envy. Tomorrow we'll try another first: leaving Norah with Nana and Popos while Nick and I take advantage of Restaurant Week.

Bathing Beauty

Apparently, Norah's cord was in no hurry to fall off and only finally did this weekend. (I'm sure Pei the acupuncturist would call it a lazy cord.) Now that she's cordless, we could give her her first bath which she responded to with the same nonchalance we are learning is characteristic of our daughter.

And then it was time for a story.