More new friends...

Just catching up on Nora's latest visitors... Lynn and her son popped by on Sunday to take Lori to the ferry. It was really cute watching him meet Nora.

 It was even more amusing when Nora went straight for his nose...

  

 Lynn practiced doing some "Baby Signs" sign language with Nora. She's provided me with many resources to start teaching this, but I just need to find the time. It looks fun!

  

Lovely Laura was able to come over for coffee today, along with Heather... Sadly, they had to make the coffee themselves as I still don't know how! :) By the way, it's really fun to say "Laura and Nora" together... 

I sure am enjoying the opportunities to catch up with all my favourite people in the world.

 

Yeah, our wonderful neighbours are back home, and they were so sweet to knock on our door to meet Nora before they got down to the business of unpacking the RV. They had left the day we arrived home...

Sharon is a natural with babies.. she had Nora making "rasperries" in no time..

See how red Nora's ear is? I ended up taking her to the walk-in clinic this evening as I feared an ear infection. Turns out it is eczema, and it's slightly oozing. Very uncomfortable for Nora, but at least now I know what it is. Didn't stop her from being friendly, just not a happy camper with taking her bottle...

Mike did well to hold Nora, as he considers himself not to be a "baby" person. Didn't matter to Nora, she still reached out to him to be held. She must know he's a very sweet Grandpa already. Glad you two are home!

Post-shower Fun!

After the baby shower, Lori and I had some fun showing Nora her new gifts. (All very lovely, thank you!) We found out that she's not too fond of hats or hair accessories yet... not that that will prevent me from putting them on her when needed. :)

Next up was the wooden sushi set from Auntie Ann... very fun, but I wasn't sure about the cleaver... Hmmm.

Did you notice that she managed to keep the barrette in her hair for more than 2 minutes? There's just not much hair for it too hang onto yet, but she's definitely making progress. Loved this smile!

After the barrette fell out, we tried out this very cool headband. I think it'll have to wait until she has long enough hair to hide the back part of it underneath. Our own karate kid...

 Nora somehow reached around to pull it to the front...

Lori thought Nora was hilarious... "Just like me!" (Since she has known me since I was 9 years old, I reminded her that I was never particularly "humourous", rather more of a "spaz".) Regardless, Nora is very fun, and definitely a good sport!

Nora gets showered!

Yesterday afternoon was a wonderful time enjoying Nora's baby shower hosted by my lovely sister, Ann, with help from her MIL Betty, my Mom and family friends Karin and Carol. It was so enjoyable to see friends and family meeting Nora, and "showering" her with hugs, kisses, special gifts, and kind words of blessing. The sunny weather was an added bonus, as many of the children could play outside with the "Dads".

Cousin Abby entertains Nora before the party starts...

Darlene surprised us all with the beautiful cake she made for Nora... one of her many talents. Darlene used to have a side business of decorating cakes, "Darlene's Delights". It definitely was... Thank you so much!

My niece, Kieren, was checking out the cake...

Nora meeting close family friend, Kim, and her sweet little boy Ansen. Hopefully Kim can teach me some Cantonese, as she and her hubby speak it at home with their boys.

Nora had a quick cuddle with the best neighbour/friend ever, from our first neighbourhood, before we came to the party. Suzette's seen all the boys as babies and now Nora!...

Tricia, my "cousin-in-law", is a great source of wisdom and help to us as she's been in the mothering stage for a few years. She keeps me well-stocked with formula coupons! :)

Karin, a great family friend, and inspiring nurse mentor for me, is always there to help our family out.  Was so nice to see you, and Carol too!

Another beautiful blonde friend of mine for Nora to check out... Heather and I survived nursing school together, and she definitely encouraged me to slug it out again the last couple of years. Now she better tell me everything she knows about girls... :)

I'm missing some "Nora" photos with some of you... send them to me if you have them! :) These beautiful girls are Julie, Betty and Erin... so great to have you there. Thanks for the tasty treats, Betty... you're amazing! :)

So fun to see Kelly again in just a week's time. (So much better than our track record of every 6 months!) Kelly and Nora are going to be good friends, we just know it! :)

At some point, Nora spent some time snacking in the highchair to contain her in the room. She kept crawling for the exit doors to enjoy the sunshine outside. Thomas and Abby kept a watchful eye on her. (Hi, Auntie Kellie!)

Everyone spoiled us with lovely gifts. Surprisingly, pink was a very popular colour for some reason...  Lewis agreed to help open gifts with me, with the condition that he not have to smile for pictures. :)

We received a very special gift from Margaret K. from our church, which was only her second cross-stitch ever, complete with beadwork as well. Her translation of the Chinese characters are "People are like a floating boat on the ocean, and don't know where to go. And a loving home is her final destination." When Margaret began this amazing project, she didn't have anyone in mind. But when she found out the Nora was coming to our home, she knew this was for her. "That God had found her a loving home, a dock where she will be protected and loved." How very special... they were definitely a few teary eyes in the room! Thank you so much Margaret... wish you could have been here. Now to find the right place for such a meaningful gift. :)

Such a gorgeous cake, it seemed too pretty to cut. (But the chocolate cake inside was definitely worth the sacrifice of cutting it up...)

I could tell Nora was starting to get sleepy, as she got going with her right thumb in her mouth, complete with the left arm holding it in there. So sweet... She was able to stay awake until the end of the party.

Just some background... Darlene and I tag-teamed teaching Sunday School for 4 years... the kids always got us mixed up for some reason! :)  We had a lot of fun working together...

Ann finally got to hold Nora as her youngest daughter wasn't around to get jealous! Thank you, Ann, for the beautiful shower... so many thoughtful details. Everyone had such a great time, but then according to Ann, I have such nice friends... I would have to agree. :)

Nora did well to last through the afternoon beyond her nap-time, but was definitely out for a sleep once she succumbed to it. She was certainly a social butterfly today!

A very social day...

Friday was Nora's most social day yet, and she made out fantastically! Our first visit was to my workplace to say "Hello" to the staff and residents. (Miss you all!) I didn't take any pictures, but I think I will always remember the expressions of joy on several of the women's faces as they were able to see a baby up close, touching her soft skin and enjoying Nora's expressions of engagement. Children mean so much to older adults, especially those with Alzheimer's disease. It was precious to see, and such special moments definitely motivate me to want to visit again soon . Seeing all of my co-workers was especially sweet, as they are all such caring and encouraging individuals. I laughed watching them interact with Nora, in the way that babies bring out squeals and mutual "babbling" in adults. So fun. Nora was incredibly extroverted visiting with the staff, being held and then reaching back to the same person to be held again,  as well as smiling, waving and clapping her hands. I wondered if being around so many animated women brought to mind her time in the orphanage with the Nannies (Ayis) that cared for her. It would seem that Nora enjoys being around people, as I haven't had such flirting at home! I'll have to make more of an effort to get out or become more exciting in my daily life. :)

My close friend, Lori, was able to come over for the weekend from Vancouver Island to attend Nora's shower on Saturday. In celebration of her visit, we met at Lynn's place in the evening for Nora's first "Girls Night Out". I hadn't been sure of how Nora would handle two big outings in one day, but after her success at my workplace, I was willing to try it. I just love getting together with my girlfriends from back in highschool, and Lori's visits always are a great reason to get together.

Meeting Lynn, who knows way too many stories about me as we were childhood friends from age ten... we always have a great time together.

Enjoying Nora in her "onesie", where we could see how flexible she is, and admire the "chubb" on her thighs!

Cathy, who's known Lori since they were three years old, does for Lori what Lynn does for me... keeping the stories alive.

Cathy gets to see Nora suck on her toes up close... Great smiles, Cathy! :)

Lisa, with a great smile as well,  gets checked out by Nora...

Next, is Andrea, also from Junior High days... she speaks the language of children naturally.

I love how Nora studies everyone's face... I wish we knew what she was thinking!

Not to age her prematurely, sweet Anna is much younger than all of us and puts up with our flashbacks to high school!

Anna totally enjoys little ones as well. 

It was so great to see each of you this evening, to have you finally meet Nora after the years of talking about this with you. I so appreciate all the support you've given me, and for sharing in our joy with us. Hugs all around...

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa's house

After a busy day on Thursday, it was very relaxing to be able to drop by my parents' home with Nora and the younger boys for a short evening visit. (There's no place like home...) Watching Nora get to know her grandparents brings me a lot of joy. They waited for her almost as long as we did! :)

Grandma is always quick to pull out a basket of toys to entertain the grandchildren. (Another reason it's hard to downsize, hey?!) Was definitely nice for us to get out the house.

A month of knowing Nora...

It's already starting to feel like we've always known Nora, but each day she is showing us more and more of her charming personality and desire to explore her world.

We've seen so many changes in these 4 short weeks. Here are a few of those milestones and new adjustments Nora has experienced...

-living 15 hours "behind" the time zone she was used to.

-responding positively to her family members, reaching out to be picked up.

-socializing with visitors.

-crawling all around the house.

-pulling herself up on furniture.

-walking when her hands are held up by others.

-waving and clapping her hands in response.

-enjoying tub baths with toys.

-going for rides in the van in her carseat without complaining.

-strolling in the neighbourhood and the mall.

-cutting two more upper teeth this week.

-eating all kinds of solid foods.

-falling asleep within 2 minutes of being put in her crib.

-generally sleeping most of the night.

Other family members have adjusted over this time. Lewis has finally consented to having a picture with Nora, and has been entertaining her more frequently afterschool.  :) We are all enjoying Nora's fuzzy sleepers, especially this over-sized pink one...

A memorable day in many ways, we couldn't stop watching the rescue of the Chilean miners. So glad they were brough out safely. This is what we'll recall when we think about what was going on in the world when Nora joined our family.

Thomas having fun with Nora... isn't this what laundry baskets are for?!

We'll see what changes Nora will reveal to us in the next month. Sweet dreams, Nora!