Five months

Nora is a really happy baby, for the most part, and lots of things make her smile and giggle. She loves seeing Mom and Dad sing songs with actions -- "Five Little Monkeys" and "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" are current favorites. She's had a few more social interactions with babies lately, and she finds her friends very funny.

Nora and her friend are almost exactly the same size, but Nora is 6 weeks younger.

Last year at this time . . .

This week Mike and I have been reminiscing about our trip to Europe last summer. This time last year we were in Paris, southern Germany, England, Scotland, and it was an amazing trip. This year we're having an adventure of an entirely different kind, and we absolutely love it.

Four months

 Nora is 4 months old!

Here are some of my favorite pictures and videos from the past month.

Laughing at Mom's singing

Nora is totally into her baby gym these days

And she has sooo much to say

Indianapolis

Mike and Nora joined me for a trip to the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in April. We drove to Denver then flew to Indianapolis and Nora was a stoic little traveler. She made it through a long, long day of travel and when we got to our hotel and undressed her on the bed she just started giggling.

At the hotel

At the conference

In the exhibit hall

We met up with Mike's sister Rachel and her family while in Indy, and Nora also laughed at her cousin, Gavin. Mike and I agree that he's pretty funny.

With Gavin (picture credit: Rachel)

At the Indianapolis Zoo (picture credit: Rachel)

Easter

Here's Nora in her Easter dress, which I knit while pregnant.

We went on a road trip Easter weekend to visit the Bowles family in Idaho and to meet up with Mike's Brough grandparents and his Uncle Mark's family in Hyrum, Utah. It was Nora's first trip and she traveled so well!

Grandma got these cute matching outfits for Nora, Seth , and Clancy. We thought we'd get a picture of these two cousins together.

We tried to get both of them to look at the camera

First Nora had a meltdown

And then Seth did

Mike & Nora & Easter eggs

Nora did not lack for attention while we were with family, even though . . . 

. . . she had to compete with this little character

Who had us laughing until we cried. :)

Three Months

Somehow, Nora is already three months old.

There's lots of drooling and tongue action these days

Pow! Check out that fist.

Tomorrow Nora is three months old and I go back to work. I love her madly and going to work without her will be much more difficult than I expected it to be before she was born. The past three months have also gone by much more quickly than I expected. But, as difficult as it may be at first, most of us must choose some employment in life, and I have chosen to be an academic librarian. Having made that choice, I am determined to do my damnedest to be the best possible librarian that I can be. I'm sure that Nora and I will be fine, especially since Michael is now taking a few months off to be Nora's full-time caregiver. We all have some adjustments ahead!

Eleanor Lucille, fashion plate

I love dressing Nora. We just put away all of her 0-3 month clothes and she started wearing 3-6 month clothes, which means an all-new wardrobe!

A little pink cupcake

Blue jeans!

I love this smile!

Grandma Pat knitted this sweater and headband

The jacket has a penguin and says "snow cute!"

This was an especially good hair day for Nora