Week 7 - Getting Out n' About -

Kara was changing Nora yesterday and said, "well it looks like she's getting enough to eat." I retorted, "was there ever a question? Look at those ham hocks she calls legs."

Nora is definitely a-growing. We measured her height at 22 inches yesterday and we both feel like she's at least 20 lbs. Alright, she's at least 10lbs.

Nora likes to be on the move, whether it's a morning walk with Daddy or hunting buffalo in Golden Gate Park, she starts to stir the moment we stop walking or driving or just moving.





Our lil elf child.








Mommy, my tummy doesn't feel so good...


The calm before the spit-up.





Mutual respect.

Mutual dependence.

Mutual love.


Toga!


Toga!



In search of the elusive Golden Gate Buffalo.






What's that Kara???

Tatanka?

Where?



Tatanka.

Really. In Golden Gate Park.

Hippies can do good things too.


Nora's first beach outing.

This is as close as she got.


Nora's first visit to
Haight Ashbury.

You can tell from the hair profile alone, that she's mine.



Daddy cutting in on tummy time.



Extreme baby close-up.

Week 6 - Wonder of Wonder

Miracle of Miracles...

As you may recall last week was a week of fuss. Nora did not do much but eat and cry during daytime hours last week. Seeing a pending downward spiral on the horizon, Eric took matters into his own hands Monday. He called his sister-in-law Krista. Due to Nora's almost instantaneous tranistions from serene to wail during her fussy times, Kara and I suspected something might not be right in the tummy/bowels arena. Krista didn't hesitant in recommending gripe water; the clouds parted and the sun broke through. Baby's Bliss gripe water in fact. (I won't mention here that Kara has now been banned from eating chocolate because it's still a sore subject in our household.)

So gripe water has changed our lives. It's all natural and Nora is a new baby. As long as we're endorsing baby products, I want to pitch Dreft. There are many benefits of nursing your baby; stains that are easy to get out of clothing is not one of them. Dreft is great at getting out baby stains for nursing babies. We haven't tried the detergent, but the spray is the only thing we've tried that really gets out Nora's "messes."




The kick is up... it's good.



She's working on her year's supply of food storage... in her cheeks.



Here's our new awake and happy baby. As opposed to our awake and not-so-happy baby.





The gripe water has no apparent soothing affect during bathing. Click on the link below to hear the wailing and gnashing of gums during this traumatic bath experience.

Grandpa Johnston came for a visit today and Nora took right to him.




Hopefully next week I'll try to put up a nVideo (Nora Video).

Week 5 - Mother's Day Edition

This week's edition is dedicated to all the mothers in our lives. Without you... we wouldn't be here.

Kara and I used to joke about how all the parents we knew would always say that their kids were in the 90th percentile of this and 90% of that. Little did I know that just because several women in our ward have had 10 lb babies, it doesn't mean that it's common. Anyway, as far as Nora goes, she's been average as average can be. She's been 50% and 60% in height and weight, but recently we found her strength. She's in the 90th percentile of head size. That's something to be proud of; and we are. 'Ead! Move!

In the words of my mom, Nora's been a bit of a stinker this week. She sleeps well during the night, but isn't playing mommy's little daytime nap game. So she's been getting a good lung and vocal workout which has pushed Kara to try implementing Baby Whisperer techniques with a modicum of success.

So though this was supposed to me my first full week back at work, I took my last paternity day off on Thursday to help lighten the load for Kara.

As many of you know we live in Marin County. But what you may not know is that we live about a mile from the Marin Civic Center which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (also featured in Gattaca). So we decided to take a trip to the Civic Center park.



Ready to hit the park sleeping. That's a good girl.

Here's Kara and our nifty stroller.








You may not notice, but Kara is fully utilizing all of the modeling skills she's been picking up watching America's Next Top Model. And I thought that show was just a waste of time.




Kara and Nora with the Civic Center in the back-ground.





I travel to the Orient fairly often for my job. There is a running joke at work that there is an oriental look-a-like for every American person. Little did I know that this also holds for the animal kingdom, as witnessed by our 'Don King' Duck that we frequently see at the Civic Center pond.









Okay back to Nora.




Nora did her first "trick" as we refer to it. During her awake time this week daddy was doting over her and noticed that she was following him with her eyes fairly well. So daddy then began to test her limits, by moving back his head back and forth to the extreme sides of Nora's view for a few minutes. Very exciting parental stuff.


Saturday morning we spent a little time in San Francisco at Crissy Fields. I don't recall me making any snide remarks to merit this reaction















I'm not sure why some of the close ups come out fuzzy, but they are some of the best shots of the many Nora expressions.

Week 4

Nora Sounds - Besides the wonderful baby cry and baby wailing, Nora has developed a small library of sounds (mostly while she is sleeping) . She whinnies like a horse, trumpets like an elephant, meowing like a cat, and clicks like the aliens from the movie "Signs."

We went to the doctor today for Nora's second doctor's appointment. As we suspected, she's been eating well. She now weighs 9 lbs 2 oz and is 21 inches long. Oh... our little baby is growing. See I wasn't kidding about those chubby legs last week.

Judy and Candi hosted a post-baby-shower on Friday for "old" friends in Alamo. It was a wonderful evening. Not only was the company exquisite, but so was the food. We appreciated the time to catch up with old friends and show off Nora.


On Wed Kara went to Bunco and so it was our first Daddy-Daughter evening. As you can see from this pic she was quite well mannered. It was the first time she took a binky for a sustained amount of time.

Sometimes it takes her a while to get into the rhythm of sucking on the pacifier, but I love it when she finally starts hitting her stride. The pacifier moves swiftly in and out of her mouth to a sound very very reminiscent of Maggie Simpson. And it's so cute how the pacifier is half the size of her face.

Nora found her fist while on Kara's shoulder and was going to town sucking on that for a few moments. She moved onto her forearm before figuring out she wasn't getting any milk. Then the wailing began. It's such a hard life.




Leave it to Kara to take an artsy pic. Being mesmerized by AFV, I was caught completely off guard.













Oh that this scene of tranquility of Nora sleeping with Kara on the phone were more than a fleeting moment.

The doctor said that as she grows she will sleep longer. True words of encouragement.

And if it isn't evident in the pics. Nora is a-lotta Blair. Her hair is even beginning to lighten up. We actually think she looks most like my mother, Corin. Yet we see glimpses of Allison, Brian, and lots o' daddy. I will enjoy it while I can, because I can't imagine those stubborn Johnston genes will be supressed for long.

Nora's Blog - Act I

Hello Family and Friends,

In an attempt to keep all interested partes up to date with our new bundle o' joy, I am going to give a shot at blogging. First and foremost, I'm going to try to catch up on pics.

(Note: As of today, Nora is 3 weeks and 1 day old.)



Bath time for Nora.









It took a while for Dad and Mom (especially) to lose the hospital bracelets. I guess right from the start we were trying to hold back the hands of time.





Mom on burp duty.



She likes to practice giving mommy and daddy the "stink eye."


I love this pic.



My preciousssss.
I call this "Navajo Burrito."
Rollie-Pollie Nora.

The socks that she's wearing are hand-me-downs from her cousins Max and Ian. I guess we're already pushing the tomboy thing by using a lot of clothes that Heidi (Kara's sister) graciously gave to us. I like to think we have little regard for social norms. A lot of other people who know me would say I'm just cheap.













When I see this pic, I think of that song from Mr. Holland's Opus
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful... beautiful girl.




The sweet hair is really starting to come in.

I can't wait for pigtail length.



Lil' daddy time.


Queen Tut.
Nora's first time going to church.

Sunday April 23rd.

We all hung out in the foyer just for Sacrament meeting. Mommy wanted to get out of the house. We arrived a little late and left a little early. But daddy went back because he loves his new calling working in the nursery.



Yes, the hair is still a-coming.
Lest anyone think that our little one is always the paragon of serenity and happiness...

Get your motor running...
duh da-da duh
Gonna throw a tantrum...
duh da-da duh
That lady's come to change my...
duh da-da duh
Diaper again...
Born to Be Wild!!


I was trying to get a good shot of the skin folds in her now chubby legs, but she loves to thrash those legs around during a diaper change. I think I still see a few folds and creases.


This is her paparazzi talk-to-the-hand shot.









We call this her Spiderman pose which she frequently uses. It is akin to her I-have-a-question pose, which usually happens while sleeping. She will slowly lift one arm in the air high above her head. Kara general turns to her and says, "Yes, Nora do you have a question?"



Spidey II












Chillin' on Omi's blanket.




We'd love for her to find her thumb. She won't take a pacifier and has only found her fist and a random finger momentarily. She seems to lack the muscle control to keep her hands in position.