Two Las Vegas Adventures

The first adventure I'll report on was very early in the month, when Garth and Sheri came to visit. Nora was so thrilled to see them -- when they arrived she started saying "Pompa!" for Grandpa and she hasn't stopped talking about Pompa ever since (every older man she sees, every author picture in her books, is Pompa). We had a great time going for stroller walks, visiting Ethel M. chocolate factory (it's within walking distance from our house), eating at our new favorite restaurant, Paymon's, and visiting the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.

(Sidenote -- we thought Mandalay Bay was awesome and then it showed up on one of our TV shows this week, Modern Family!)

The second adventure was this weekend, when we visited Red Rock Canyon, a conservation area just outside the city. It was colder and windier than we expected, but absolutely beautiful. Nora was talking about the rocks (Ocka! is how she says rock) for at least half of our scenic drive.

Other daily adventures include wandering our neighborhood, going to the park, and doing some shopping. (Nora even says "shopping" now.)

Nora at 14 months

Nora's language development is happening really fast right now. She seems to say new words every day. Here's a selected glossary:

• Ride: pronounced ride-ah, meaning to go for a ride in the stroller
• Bowl: pronounced bo, meaning she wants her cereal in a bowl exactly like Mom and Dad, with milk on it
• Read! or Read it!: pronounced quite clearly, with book held out, in a commanding tone
• Baby: pronounced perfectly and said repeatedly, all the time, to talk about her baby dolls
• Mommy: pronounced perfectly and said repeatedly, about Mommy. I love hearing it for the first 10 minutes or so. 
• Cracker: pronounced cack-cack. A favorite food.
• Water: pronounced wa-wa with hand to mouth (a modification of the baby sign for water)
• Eye: said while poking you in the eye
• Other words: car, plane, book, grandpa, dad, school, Michelle (her teacher in Wyoming), play, apple, banana, meat, more, please (accompanied by the baby sign), toast, butter (referring to almond butter, a favorite food)

(Note: Pictures are in reverse chronological order from 3/1/2014 back to 1/20/2014.)

Straws and stickers are fabulous amusements when eating out. (But we have learned to never take Nora to a restaurant after 5. Actually, we should never take her anywhere after 5.)

For Grandpa Garth, the Dodgers fan

Archie Bear was a going away present from Nora's friends at school in Wyoming and she loves him

This flower and butterfly push-toy was a going away present from my boss, Jamie. Nora is clearly delighted with it.

So many cheesy grins!

Nora's hair is quite long, fairly curly (on the sides and back -- not on top), and some days it is very unruly. We love it.

Favorite activities: stroller rides; playing with her airplane, baby dolls, and "guys" (that's what she calls little people); singing and dancing; being chased on hands and knees; reading books

Favorite foods: crackers, cereal, grapes, chicken, almond milk, most fruits, toast, almond butter

Least favorite foods: vegetables, tofu (tried it once -- not a fan) 

Nora was sick for several days in January, but she was so remarkably good-natured about it. Michael describes her as the happiest sick baby you'll ever meet. And through the stress of the move she's been a little angel. We feel really lucky to have such a happy girl!

Moving

Leaving Laramie was difficult. Logistically we had to sell our house, wrap things up at work, and do all of the necessary planning for relocating while caring for a one-year-old. Emotionally we had to say goodbye to a place we called home for almost five years, to our first house, and to a town that felt really comfortable. We said goodbye to wonderful and supportive co-workers. And, perhaps hardest of all, we said goodbye to Nora's fantastic childcare center and the place where she was born and spent her first year. Some days we thought we were totally crazy to leave.

Last UW basketball game

I loved being a Wyoming librarian

My wonderful co-workers threw me a lovely farewell tea on my last day, February 14

Goodbye to our favorite restaurant, Sweet Melissa Vegetarian Cafe

Goodbye to our first house. We loved it so much.

But, new opportunities awaited us in Nevada. So we took off on Tuesday, February 18th right after the moving truck left with all of our household goods. We had a really good time on the road. (No, I'm not being sarcastic.) We spent a night in Evanston, WY and then spent a day and night in Salt Lake City, the halfway point of our drive.

Thanks to our friends, John and Corianne, we stayed in Castle Creek Inn in Sandy, Utah. They live there and manage things. We had the Ivanhoe room, which was so fabulous.

Nora's favorite part was the big bathtub.

The weather wasn't quite nice enough to really enjoy the balcony, but it was a lot warmer than in Laramie!

We spent some time at the children's museum in Salt Lake.

One of the animal noises that Nora knows is "neigh."

After a night in Salt Lake, we met Grandma & Grandpa Brough in St. George and enjoyed lunch at Cafe Rio. Nora found the black beans delightful.

We arrived in Henderson at our new home on Thursday the 20th and the truck with all of our stuff arrived on Friday the 21st.

We're enjoying the great weather and the park next to our house.

Highs have been in the 70s almost every day since we got here.

We're getting everything unpacked and set up. Here's our living room and dining area.

And Nora is pretty happy. She has seemed a little extra clingy and not quite her usual happy self, but there's lots of new stuff to adjust to. We expect it will take us all a little while to feel settled.

My cousin Celia and her family have had us over for meals, which has been so nice. We've been to campus a few times to take care of business and we're looking forward to getting to know our new colleagues. We're impressed with how friendly and helpful people seem at local businesses and around town. We bought a second car and have only been lost a few times.

We hope friends and family will come visit us in Las Vegas! Sheri and Garth Terry are coming next week, but our guest room is available after that. It's easy and fairly inexpensive to get here, and of course there are lots of entertainment options that we're becoming acquainted with. Let us know if you're coming this way!

Las Vegas

We are moving to Las Vegas in about a month! We're very excited and a little overwhelmed with all we need to do to prepare for the move. I'll be working at UNLV Libraries as head of educational initiatives and Mike will work at the academic success center at UNLV.

We visited Las Vegas and Henderson last weekend to find a place to live, scope out our neighborhood, and get Nora registered at her new school. It was a very successful trip, given that we accomplished those goals and did a couple of fun things while in the area. Here is photographic evidence of the fun stuff.

We visited a bird preserve in Henderson, and it was beautiful and peaceful. The weather was amazing -- 65 degrees in January? Yes, please. (Check back in July to see how much we love the weather then.)

Nora was very excited about ducks. She now says "quack quack" when she sees a picture of a duck. 

Our evening activities on the strip were a big contrast to our peaceful morning outing. The fountains at the Bellagio scared the little one.

But the conservatory at the Bellagio was really beautiful!

The gardens are currently celebrating the Chinese New Year. The children in the photo above are made of flowers.

Happy New Year!

We wish you all the best in 2014!

2013: Year in reading

Every year I like to share what I read. In 2013 I read 60 books, below my recent highs of around 80 per year, but much more than I expected to read with an infant. It turns out that you can easily read (especially on a phone -- it's the perfect size) while breastfeeding and rocking a baby to sleep. :) Here's my Goodreads profile and the final list for 2013, with favorites in bold.

January 2013
A Good American by Alex George
Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman (book group)
Arcadia by Lauren Groff (book group)
Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein
Lucky Break by Esther Freud

February 2013
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives by Annie Murphy Paul
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (book group)
How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (book group)
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year by Anne Lamott
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

March 2013
Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta (book group)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce #5) by Alan Bradley (book group)
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

April 2013
Take Me Home by Brian Leung (book group)
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

May 2013
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin (book group)

June 2013 
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (book group)

July 2013 
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (book group)
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (book group)
The Days are Gods by Liz Stephens
Austenland by Shannon Hale
Why Have Kids? by Jessica Valenti
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Crashed by Timothy Hallinan
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (book group)

August 2013 
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
Girl Walks into a Bar by Rachel Dratch
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Elsewhere by Richard Russo

September 2013
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes (book group)
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Solar by Ian McEwan

October 2013 

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

November 2013 
NW by Zadie Smith
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
The Future of Us by Jay Asher
The Circle by Dave Eggers
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

December 2013 
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (book group)
Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Christmas

This was Nora's first Christmas, and it was awesome.

We got to spend the whole week of Christmas together

Nora got some excellent presents

Nora gave her very first present to Seth (a tractor he can take apart and put back together with a power tool)

And she got a pretty Christmas dress!