A Month Already

I can't believe that it was a whole month ago that our sweet baby girl joined our family; how is that possible? It's been a wonderful month, and really everything has been easier and more enjoyable than we expected. Every day Nora seems more alert and interested in what's going on around her, and every day the little rolls on her thighs and arms seem to get just a little bit bigger. She's been sleeping for about a six hour stretch at night recently, which, while surely temporary, is fantastic. She weighed in at 10 pounds 8 ounces when we visited our midwife on Friday, and measured 22 inches long. That's a three pound nine ounce gain (more than half of her birth weight!) in four-and-a-half weeks. It's so odd that she already doesn't seem to be as much like a newborn anymore, but I guess in light of that significant growth, it's a little more understandable. She reminds us a lot of her brother so much of the time, more, I think, as the days go by.

Nora Lorraine at one month:

Andrew James at one month (and a few days):

Our girl:

Even the toughest moments of this past month have been so wonderful, with this tiny little person in our lives. The coming months will pass much too quickly, I'm sure, so I'm trying to soak in her littleness as much as I can, in hopes that I might remember her being small a bit better than I do AJ. We're in no rush for you to grow up, baby girl.

December 24th

Our big plans this Christmas Eve were to take the bus to the Honolulu Zoo, and boy did it make for a memorable day. We had gone in April for AJ's second birthday, and I never would have guessed that eight months would make such a difference in how much AJ would enjoy it; I think this was the most obvious example of how much he's grown up that we've had in quite awhile. He was so much more into all of the animals, asked so many questions, and just had the best time. It was a fantastic way to spend the day, and having Mimi and Papa there made it all the more special.

That's how you know it was a good day. Ha!

A Day at the Beach

Trolley Time

A couple of Fridays ago, we took a trolley ride to see the Christmas lights downtown. We went last year, too, and were really excited to continue the tradition this year - but with Mimi and Papa along for the ride this time.

Not sure what these guys had to do with Christmas, but they were there:

Mele Kalikimaka!

The night flew by, but we're already looking forward to going again next year!

Mimi and Papa are here!

Last Wednesday evening, we waited as patiently as we could at the Honolulu International Airport for a very special arrival...

Mimi and Papa came to visit us! (And by us, I mean AJ and Nora, of course. Ha!)

AJ introduced Mimi and Papa to his little sister:

Somebody had been talking for weeks about helping with the suitcases, as in "Only AJ help, not Mimi. Mimi just walk." Well then.

Once we got home, everybody got settled pretty quickly: The girl got snuggled, and the boy curled up on the couch with Mimi, a book, and her Tic Tacs. All the ingredients for a perfect evening.