Sunday, February 26, 2006

Greenlake Park

This morning we went for a walk around Greenlake Park, on the north side of Seattle. We were impressed by the number of joggers and walkers on the trail on a Sunday morning in February. Nora had lots of fun checking out the ducks and made sure to say hi to all of the dogs that we passed during our trek around the lake. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, February 25, 2006

The final product

Nora is posing for Daddy (blue bow and all) at the outdoor shopping center in Redmond where she had her haircut. Posted by Picasa

Haircut in progress

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Time for a haircut!

This afternoon we took Nora in for a haircut. The place specializes in haircuts for young children, so she got to sit and play in her own little truck the whole time. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Nora the Architect


Nora the architect
Originally uploaded by binmke.
Inspired by the architectural wonders of the city that we saw today, Nora returned home to render her own vision for the next addition to the Seattle skyline...in Duplo blocks.

Weekend wanderings

Nora came down with another series of ear infections and the croup on Wednesday…Mommy has been keeping her company this whole time so we decided it was time to get out and do something fun this weekend. We’re hoping that Nora will be feeling better tomorrow…it has been a while since she slept through the night, and Mommy and Daddy are starting to feel the effects.

Today we got to do lots of fun things…we had a great dim sum lunch at a Chinese place in Bellevue, then headed to West Seattle to do some sightseeing and exploring. Nora charmed the woman working the counter at the Italian bakery we visited and managed to score a free cookie!

We meandered down the hill until we reached Alki Beach, which has a great view of Elliott Bay, the Olympic mountain range, and the Seattle skyline. The view was amazing…without hardly a cloud in the sky! The tide was low, so we got to see some tiny little crabs that scattered when we picked up a rock. Nora got to examine some clam shells, and squealed when she put her hands in the water. The temperature was about 45 degrees but the water was very cold.

She doesn’t quite understand the difference between birds and ducks…every time she saw a pigeon or seagull today, she pointed and excitedly said “duck-ee! duck-ee!”

Monday, February 13, 2006

Another busy weekend

We had another busy (and BEAUTIFUL) weekend. On Saturday, we went with some friends to the Woodland Park Zoo, so that Nora could get some exposure to those animals she keeps reading about in all of her books. The zoo is absolutely amazing, laid out like a park with incredible trees native to the regions represented (Africa, SE Asia, etc.). Nora's favorite animal was the gorilla.

Nora's vocabulary continues to expand every day. Now she makes animal sounds, and can identify almost all of the animals in her book. My personal favorite is the rooster, which comes out sounding something like "ak...dooooooo!"

It was almost 60 degrees and sunny on Sunday, so we went to the store and bought flowers. Nora was very enthusiastic about helping mommy plant them...she loved playing with the potting soil and throwing clods of dirt off the balcony. It was a bit strange for us to be outside planting flowers in February.

Alas, no pictures as our camera seems to be malfunctioning.

Monday, February 06, 2006

What a week!

Nana and Auntie Vanessa were visiting us this week, and did a great job of keeping Nora entertained for hours on end. They played together, read lots of books, went to the aquarium, and had fun talking to Papa on the webcam.

Early Saturday morning we all headed west, to the Pacific coast and the Quinault Rainforest. The trip turned out to be more of an adventure than any of us thought it would be. Nana was in crutches, and there was no electricity in the cabin until late Saturday night...which made for a chilly evening. We had a fire going in the fireplace (Nora's observation: "hot") and made some hot chocolate while we waited for the electricty to come back. Nora waddled around the living room in five layers of clothing and played hide-and-seek with me, having a great time dispite the circumstances. The electricity (and heat!) finally came on around 10:00 PM.

They headed back to Milwaukee yesterday, and today it's back to the routine (and electricity!) of our new home. The city is in a state of mourning after the Seahawks' loss!

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Lake Quinault

Here is Nora checking out our cabin at Lake Quinault. Posted by Picasa

Friday, February 03, 2006

"Do it again, Mommy!"

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Pigtails

The kids played dress up at daycare this afternoon and somehow a few of the girls ended up with pigtails in their hair. We couldn't get over how grown up Nora looked! Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Jabber Jabber

Nora is constantly talking now. Her new found words include, but are not limited to: apple, dog, milk, blanket, bath (this was new tonight), shoe, and Elmo (what is with kids and this little red creature?). More has morphed into Ma Ma but still includes the sign.

It is quite amazing how much she is able to communicate verbally. It sure makes our lives easier knowing exactly what she wants when she is standing next to the fridge saying, "Milk? Milk?"

Monday, January 30, 2006

Visitors!

This afternoon we had some special visitors arrive from "back east". Nana and Auntie Vanessa will be spending the week out here with us. Nora loving all the attention...I haven't seen her this wound up in weeks.

The highlight of their visit is coming up this weekend, when we venture out to the Quinault Rainforest! Stay tuned!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Nora and Daddy at Gas Works Park

Here we are, checking out the view of the Seattle skyline and the sailboats from Gas Works Park. Posted by Picasa

Daddy - Look at his nose!

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Nora in the City

Today we hit some of the not-so-well-known tourist spots in Seattle. We spent the rainy morning exploring the northern neighborhoods of Ballard and Fremont. This sculpture is the Fremont Troll. He protects the north end of the Aurora Bridge and even has a street named after him. Nora really liked his big nose, and made sure to point it out to us in case we did not notice. Posted by Picasa

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Nora visits Bainbridge Island

We spent the day today exploring the west side of Puget Sound. The trip was around 120 miles of great scenery, including the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, lunch in the Norwegian immigrant town of Poulsbo, a two-hour hike through the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, and finally a ferry ride across Elliot Bay back to Seattle.

Normally we would post lots of photos...but the battery in the camera decided to die as soon as we left home this morning. @(#&$@#!

The Bloedel Reserve is a nature preserve--formerly a private estate--that is now open to the public. The trees and gardens there were incredibly beautiful, even moreso because we got our first good dose of sunshine today for the first time in several weeks. The moss garden and the Japanese zen garden were really fun to explore. Nora had a good time riding in the carrier on my back and touching the tree branches while we walked.

The highlight for Nora was seeing the swans and ducks in the pond. It didn't take her long before she started saying her favorite new word: duc-k (she hasn't quite been able to reduce it down to one syllable yet). This joins boo-k and gac-k (sock) as her new vocabulary for the week.

New Words

This weekend has blessed Nora with an expanded vocabulary. She has begun saying book, sock (gock) and bike all the time!

Friday, January 20, 2006

I Love Chocolate Chip Cookies!

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It's in the Ears

Welp, we've found the emergency room! Nora has another double ear infection. We had to go last night around 5:30 when her fever started to spike and I thought she was getting a kidney infection. Luckily there was nothing wrong with her urine, but her ears looked like hell. After two hours of pacing the waiting room and waiting for the doctors, we were on our way home with a HUGE dose of antibiotics and a prescription for more.

This little girl has one crazy pain tolerance because she never once made a dig at her ears. Wednesday night was horrible and that should have been our first indication. She was up at 3:00 AM and only took cat naps until 5:30 when Brian got up so I could try to sleep an hour before work. She was thrashing around and nothing would make her feel better. After a long tired day, it all came to a head (or should we say ear?)

Thankfully, Nora is on the mend and starting to act more like herself. At the moment, she is occupying herself with putting CDs into and out of a wicker basket. My guess is that she has been doing that for about 15 minutes. I'm not sure what the appeal is, but in a 15 month old brain, it must be amazing!

I had the opportunity to learn the new online substitute request system for my district so I could stay home with her. You better believe that I will be taking naps right along with her today.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Seattle Chic

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Getting Big

Nora is officially a toddler and doing everything according to her new status. She is still pretty skinny (20.5 lbs) but already 32 inches long. This makes it quite difficult to find pants that are long enough but aren't loose at the waist. Her vocabulary is increasing by the minute. She can now say 'more' (she throws the sign in there every once in a while when her words are getting the point across), apple, hat, hot, mama, dada, nana, papa, up, down, done and a few others that slip out of her mouth on accident during her babbling. She is also able to point to her nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and head pretty consistently. Belly button is also something that she can point to, although it seems just on the changing table.

Her favorite toy at the moment is the purple horsey that Auntie Dar gave her. She loves getting off and on the horse and singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. She is still in love with all her books. Taking toys on outings seems to be futile because she always prefers the books.

Thankfully, the tantrums that visited us for our first few days in Seattle have left. Nora is now just doing the stop, drop and flop for a few seconds before getting over what ever it was that upset her. These tantrums may have been exacerbated by the no-more-bottle rule that Mommy put into place. Bottles only come out in dire circumstances (like Mommy and Daddy are so tired they can't see straight and Nora is still awake). There are only two bottles left in the cabinet. Fortunately, Nora's new pediatrician (who did her residency at Children's in Milwaukee!) confirmed that eliminating bottles wasn't so much for the sucking issue, but just to ensure that babies over the age of one don't drink more than 16 to 18 oz. of milk per day. This can mess up the iron levels in the blood. Nora's were checked last week and they are right where they should be.

All is well in the Remfrey household. The empty boxes are being picked up so both cars can be parked in the garage. We have a two car garage!!! What a change from having one indoor space that was shared with about 50 other people;-) Things are finding their rightful place and order has been restore...almost.

You read it right

That says $4.99 a pound!!! Posted by Picasa

Monday, January 09, 2006

Monster seafood


Monster seafood
Originally uploaded by binmke.
This picture doesn't really have much Nora-related content, but I couldn't resist posting it to show the folks back home the monster-sized seafood for sale at the market.

This is where we got the gigantic scallops and shrimp for our New Years Eve dinner. Last night we ended up getting a couple of crabs which were really delicious...although we still haven't learned the trick of opening up the legs with any sort of skill. There were little bits of crab shmag all over the table and floor by the time we were done.

Fruit stand


Fruit stand
Originally uploaded by binmke.
April and Amber stopped to pick up some fruit while Nora and I took pictures.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Nora saw the banannas and started pointing wildly. She scarfed down a whole bananna even after having a big lunch with us at the Russian cafe.

Nora's first Russian meal


Nora's first Russian meal
Originally uploaded by binmke.
Sunday afternoon we decided to take a break from the unpacking and headed out to Pike Place Market with Auntie Pea. We stopped for lunch at Cafe Yarmarka, where Nora got her first taste of Russian food.

She tried golubtsy (cabbage rolls), potato and cheese piroshky (the stuffed calzone-type things), and Daddy's favorite, borshcht (beet soup). She devoured everything with an enthusiastic "MMMMMMMMMMM" and did not show any aversion to the beets...much to our relief.

Tak vkusno! So yummy!

The girls hit the market


The girls hit the market
Originally uploaded by binmke.
Checking out the Pike Place Market on Sunday afternoon.

Boxes, boxes everywhere


Boxes, boxes everywhere
Originally uploaded by binmke.
The truck came with our stuff on Saturday. Here's a glimpse into the chaos that ensued.

Half of our garage is stacked floor-to-ceiling with empty boxes and packing material. Nora had a great time playing with the big balls of paper and leftover packing tape!

It was good for Nora to be able to sleep in her own crib again. She has the coolest bedroom ever...we'll post some pictures once the mess has been cleaned up!

Monday, January 02, 2006

Swimming with Daddy

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How do you like my new swimming suit?

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Lazy day

After our busy morning at the Seattle Children's Museum, we came home and relaxed for a while. Here are Nora and Mommy taking a snooze while watching...you guessed it...a Little Einstein video. Again. Posted by Picasa

Holy Same Profile!

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Thai Music

We all enjoyed the Thai dancers and musicians Posted by Picasa

Restaurant Future?

Nora had a blast working at the Taco Time restaurant in the Children's Museum. Posted by Picasa
Nora had a blast playing in the water table Posted by Picasa