Smiley Boy and A-ME-NA!

Wow. I've been rather busy and exhausted lately, so I've not really taken many photos/videos or had time to blog. Sorry about that, those of you who actually read this thing.

Henry started cooing in the last few days. He's gotten really social, and it's so neat! I tried to catch it on video today, but all I got were a few smiles. He does a lot more than what this video shows. He does seem to be a really happy baby (most of the time).

Nora still says a bunch of new words everyday. She has a default word that she always says when she's freaking out about something that she wants (or wants to do). It sounds like, "A-ME-NA!"

I think the translation from Nora's toddler gibberish to English might be something like, "Give that to me, now!"

Whenever she gets on tangents where she only screams that word over and over (which makes anyone a bit nutty), we always say, "Nora! Listen. I don't understand, 'A-ME-NA.' You need to use words. What are you saying?"

Then, when she calms down (and, believe it or not, she typically does when we say those things to her), she finally will say something like, "Juice," or, "Milk."

Sometimes, she'll say, "Beebee?"

That usually happens when she can't reach her penguin because he's still in her crib.

The main point here is that she does eventually explain herself once we can get her to stop yelling, "A-ME-NA!"

So weird.

We can also get her to ask politely for things once she's calm, too. So, we're working on it. Toddlers are a bit tricky.

Nora also still has an obsession with hats, and she always likes to wear as many as possible. For example:

I'm surprised she's limited herself to two here. Also, aren't those pajamas fabulous?

When I get an opportunity, I intend to do another lunch interview with Nora (or, maybe I'll even do a dinner interview that involves Daddy, too). She does a lot of her chit-chatting and gut-spilling during those times. It's fun.

In the meantime, I'm living off of the fumes of the high that came from finally finishing my church's directory project today. I have been dying to get that done since the summer (long before Henry was born). So, I'm doing a little jig over here, and I'm basking in the lack of clutter that is consuming my office. I haven't said this for real in a few years, but I'll say it now with gusto, "Hoot!"

I win.

Oh, and Henry is clocking in at 12 pounds, 8 ounces and 24 inches in length. He's truckin' right through his babyhood. Doggone it.

Gotta peel.