Norah is our happy little girl. I know research says babies don't smile socially until about 6 weeks, but Norah, whether reflex or not, started smiling around 2 weeks old and hasn't stopped since (she's currently smiling in my arms right now). And we're not just talking about sleepy smiles and random grins. These are in response to people and are full-faced and mouth-lifting where she squints her eyes like her daddy. Rich is the best at getting her smiles.
Norah is very social. She loves to be held and will only fall asleep at night if someone is cuddling her (for about half an hour). The same goes for after nighttime feedings. She can chill in her bouncy seat for a while but gets bored with it and wants to be held. I might have created a monster by holding her all the time, but I don't care that much. Things won't always be this way, so I know I should enjoy her cuddling while I can.
Norah had her 2-month checkup yesterday. Her stats basically told us what we already knew - she is long and skinny. She is 23 3/4" long (90th percentile) and 11 pounds 1/2 ounce (50th percentile) and has a head circumference of 15 1/2" (80th percentile). At her two-week appointment, Norah was in the 75th percentile for weight, meaning she hasn't advanced in the weight like we thought she would. Nothing to worry about as long as she keeps eating well; she just might be smaller than we originally thought. The nurse and PA kept telling her how smiley she was, and then they jabbed her with the vaccine needles, instantly ending the smiles and starting the screaming. I almost started crying with her. It's so hard because you can't explain that you let those mean people poke her because it's for her own good. She was pretty crabby for the rest of the day, but what can you expect?
Norah sleeps pretty well, usually about 4 or 5 hours between feedings. This week I got lucky and had a seven-hour night, followed by an eight-hour one. That was great, but I don't think it's going to last (we sure didn't have that last night). The PA said she probably needs the calories from nighttime feedings anyway since she's such a skinny minny, so I don't mind if it means putting a little meat on those bones. We swaddled her from the beginning, which worked great, but then I tried to stop once the hot weather finally hit Spokane. That worked for about a week, but then Norah decided one sleepless night that she'd only sleep for about thirty minutes at a time without it. Now we're back to swaddling, and I can get a little more rest. There are currently no plans to stop it again in the near future.
I have no idea who Norah looks like, but we hear that she looks like both of us. We're still trying to figure out what color her eyes and hair are going to be. Her eyes were rather brown when she was born, but a lot of these pictures make them look blue. I think we'll end up with some sort of hazel color. She had very fine, short, dark hair when she was born, but now when I look at her roots I see quite a bit of blond there. I don't think we'll really know her hair color until she's like a year old. She is also super active, a little crazy at times. If she gets going, she will kick and kick for hours on end. That's probably the main reason she's skinny - she burns so many calories moving around all the time.
We love our little Norah Kate. It hasn't always been easy (definitely not), but it's more than worth it. It's so fun getting to know her better and getting to know ourselves as parents. I love when I figure out something new about her.One of the biggest things Rich and I have learned is patience because now things cannot happen on our schedule. But most importantly, we've learned even more about love. It is so wonderful feeling how much our love for each other has grown and how completely this little girl has captured our hearts.
Heavenly Father really has blessed us with this special, beautiful, happy little girl.
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