Visits over Thanksgiving weekend

It's been a "long" weekend with the boys home 5 days, as they had two pro-D days tacked onto the holiday weekend, so we have had lots of activity. Our first visitor was our great friend Kelly, who was so helpful in staying with the boys one weekend when we were in China. She now has some new fan club members...

Nora was happy to check out Kelly's wonderful smile and very cool necklace...  now she has another new friend.

We then headed out to Scott's brother's home for a delicious Thanksgiving meal, where his family had a chance to meet Nora for the first time. Hopefully we didn't bore them too much with our home videos! :)

Having fun with Auntie Louise...

Julie was the only granddaughter on the Karpiuk side for an entire generation... WOW!

Cameron takes a turn with his new cousin.

Nora got spoiled with some lovely gifts...

...but she really liked the gift tag the best. (Thank you!)

Our boys entertained themselves by putting Nora on the pool table... Why? Because it's there, I suppose. :)

The next evening was dinner at our house with my family, which was very enjoyable as well. My sister and I now have girls born in the same year, at opposite ends of it. Cousins Isabelle and Nora are 10 months apart. Neither of us would have ever dreamed of that happening. We have so much to be thankful for!

Visits this week

Nora has had a couple special visitors this week. My lovely friend Christine came by for lunch, although the camera battery died before I could take enough photos. That means another visit will be in order soon!

Our good friend Tom also popped in to say hello, having just returned from a 10 day trip to Beijing and Shanghai. He was given a new Chinese name, Bu Ai Bo... "One who spreads love everywhere." Very fitting.

James' girlfriend Sharon, and her parents Grace and Edmond, also came by to meet Nora also. She enjoyed hearing them speak in Cantonese, as well as giving and receiving many nice baby hugs and smiles. Very fun!

Nora turns 11 months old!

Nora wasn't feeling her best, it would seem that she started onto her third cold or it emerged back in her throat, giving her a very hoarse voice. We stayed close to home, as we were both pretty sleepy from not having had the best night. Yet, Nora was open to trying some baby food, which we've only had success with for the past day. She is enjoying pears, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples now... I wonder why it took so long? I'll get her plumped up in not time! 

 

Every baby needs a picture like this, right?! (The boys think this is disgusting...)

Everywhere Nora goes, it would seem that Rosie is not too far behind. Good thing she is not afraid of the dog! 

 

The bath is becoming a favourite place. Nora can't figure out why water gets in her eyes as she splashes away in the tub. I have to keep a firm grip on her as she's all over the place... 

  

 Playing hard followed by a warm bath makes for a sound sleep... if only it would last all night, but the jetlag is definitely less of a factor now.

 Sweet dreams for a sweet girl...

Nora meets Papa

Another highlight of the weekend was having Scott's parents come over for pizza. Papa held Nora for the first time, where she enjoyed checking out his face and his nice watch. Nora was happy to see Nana again, who's still recovering from her cold that she caught in China. :(

Special Weekend Visits

Nora was very popular this weekend, receiving more visitors than I do in a month! :) Friday evening was very special, as we spent time with friends Julie and Randy. They brought dinner, dessert, flowers and a special dessert over for us, so we felt very spoiled! We had a fun time showing some of our videos from our trip, as they hope to go to China next spring.

 

Lewis had been at his friend's house overnight, so my friend Lori was able to meet Nora when she brought Lewis home. Lori is a natural with kids, so it was fun seeing them together. Everyone Nora meets, she pretty much wants to touch their face after giving them the once-over with a very intense, serious gaze. 

 

Sunday afternoon, we all had the pleasure of having friends Sherrie and Marissa come by, with Sherrie's Mom, Irene, who is visitng from Singapore. Nora responded immediately to all of them in a very animated way. Hearing Cantonese and seeing people that are more familiar than all the strange faces here (with our big noses...) must have resonated with her. It was a very enjoyable time for all of us.

Later that evening, friends Edward, Darlene, and their two boys came by to meet Nora also. They surprised us with a lovely bouqet of pink flowers, compete with an"It's a Girl!" balloon. Nora had fun checking them out also...

 Darlene's  youngest found it quite hilarious to hold a baby...

Getting to know the family...

In between visits from family and friends, Nora has been spending a lot of time in the house and with the boys. Didn't take long until she showed us that she could crawl throughout the entire main floor of the house. This means we need to get on the childproofing sooner than later... up goes the dog's water bowl and toys, time to vacuum all the dog hair off the floor, and let's hide those computer wires... Thomas thought he'd help by putting bear bells onto Nora's ankles, but I didn't let that last long!

Thomas also thought that Nora might enjoy a Duplo pyramid, but when she kept trying to climb it, we put it back downstairs.

Hanging out with the boys on a Friday night... everyone is happy to keep her close by.

Our friends brought over a lovely bouquet of Gerbera daisies on the weekend. Nora got a little too close and plucked off one of those beautiful flowers...

 Her brothers thought the flower looked much better like this...  :)

Nora's a lightweight for riding on Daddy's shoulder's... as long as she doesn't decide to fling backwards as she tends to do.

Having beautiful fall weather, we decided to go for a first walk. Unlike in Beijing, Nora was pretty content in the stroller. Rosie will enjoy any opportunity to get some exercise, so hopefully I can do this on a regular basis.

After busy days of exploring and visiting, crashing with Daddy is the best place to be! (If only she would stay asleep the rest of the night, but we're working on that.) Sweet dreams! :)

Nora meets her first blonde...

Today was another quiet day at home, with Lewis home sick and Nora on her second day of a cold. We had a nice visit from our friend, Kim, who shared her delicious beef barley soup with us. Nora was pretty mellow, but definitely was intrigued by Kim's blonde hair. Every picture we tried to take of them together ended up with Nora staring at her! Was definitely fun for me to see a friend.  :)

Adjusting at home...

Hi all... the days are blurring by as we attempt to get back on our time zone together. The last three nights have been progress in getting away with not giving Nora a bottle in the night. The feeding routine is being more established in the day, so that's good. Doesn't make it any easier when she wakes frequently, and must I say... very cranky! Her fingernails are particularly deadly as she scratches our faces and digs into our arms. Lots of flailing as she's held, and then needing to be held standing up...(How do babies know when you're sitting?) We've been playing tag-team hours with Nora through the night. The twin bed in her room is quite handy, and one of us has ended up there with her in the wee hours of the night. Being close to us is comforting, and banging her head on the wall doesn't seem to bother her! Beats falling out of the queen bed. In the morning, all is forgiven and forgotten as she greets us with a beautiful smile.

On the opposite end of the scale, daytime naps are not a problem... she'll stir briefly when being placed in the crib, give a couple of whimpers and then roll over. Two hours later, she's happy! Sort of like in this photo... ( I guess I should wake her now, it's been that long...)

 This is more rare... but so delightful!

 Rosie's following us around frequently. May be a little jealous, but is not threatening at all. She's figuring out that good things land on the floor near the high chair...

Nora's made two brief appearances after school to the Primary and Middle School. James really doesn't want me to pace the halls of his high school with a baby, which I threatened to do... :) Everyone is very happy to meet her, and we so appreciate everyone's welcoming support. Thank you!