"When I was your age . . ."

Well, Chris and I finally did it! We pulled out the old "When I was your age . . ." story with Mira. We have had DVR on our tv for quite some time. (For those of you not in the know, it's a digital video recorder, much like a VCR, except no tapes. And you can pause or rewind live tv . . . awesome!). So Mira is a little pro at using the DVR, pausing the tv whenever she needs to leave the room or eat a meal or go to the bathroom. Chris and I were watching her in action with the remote and had to pipe in: "You know, Mira, when Mommy and Daddy were little kids, we had to get off the couch and actually walk over to the television to turn the channel!" Oh, the horror! It's definitely something Mira can't comprehend. You have to LOVE technology.

And now for the bad news of our weekend, so far. We were at an outdoor wedding reception yesterday. Mira ran over to play at a nearby park, and in the process startled a small dog, who jumped on her and scratched her leg pretty good with his claws. Mira was bleeding pretty good, and for quite a while, we thought the dog had actually bit her. We don't think that's the case now, but it did require a trip to urgent care to determine if she needed stitches. They said it could go either way, so we opted for no stitches. There may be a scar, but I think the trauma of putting her through stitches would have been worse for Mira. So we didn't make it to the fair after the reception, and now Mira can't go in the lake today at her grandpa's. She was really good about everything and is letting us change the bandages when we need to.

On a lighter note, Amelia is officially a walker! She walks about 80 percent of the time now. It's really cute to see. Here is a photo of her in action!


I haven't taken a real recent photo of Mira, so I'll be sure to add one to the next post.
Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Tuckered out in San Fran

My friend (Sarah) and I went to San Francisco for a long weekend. We got back late last night, but not before packing in as much as we could in the time we were there. We stayed at a great hotel near the Fisherman's Wharf. It was a nice walk to the wharf, which we visited every day! Sunday was a busy day. Sarah and I rented bicycles and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. It was such an amazing adventure! The weather was really nice for a ride—cool, but a bit windy. Seeing the bridge from a bike was something to be remembered. Sausalito is a really charming town across the bay with excellent ice cream (and I found the orange purse I wanted to buy on my trip!).


We took the ferry back to San Francisco, too tuckered to ride back, plus we had tickets to a night tour of Alcatraz so we needed to get back for that.

Alcatraz was a wonderful time as well. It was so interesting to take the guided tour and learn all about the workings of the penetentiary. I found it interesting that the guards lived on the island, along with their wives and children! I don't think you could pay me enough to live that close to some of the most dangerous people in the country. If you ever have the chance to visit San Fran, Alcatraz is a must!



Monday was also packed with a cable car ride to Union Station and lots of shopping! Then Sarah and I took the bus to her friend Jessica's house on the northwest side of SF. I think we covered every mode of transportation available to us! Jessica took us on this beautiful hike to The Cliff House, where we had dessert right on the edge of the water. Beautiful views!


A game of Scrabble followed (I won!) and dinner at Houstons, right across from Pier 33. We also saw Robin Williams' house:

This is Sarah's friend, Jessica, who took us on a great hike, and a great drive to Golden Gate Park. Thanks, Jessica! It was so nice meeting you.

AND, if you are curious, Jessica is a fantastic crafter who has an etsy store. Check it out if you have the time! I love the onsies!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5853388


Tuesday brought us home, but not before one more walk to the Wharf to see the seals. Uggh, they smelled so bad! They just hang out there all the time.


I'm really glad to be back home, as great as the trip was. I missed my girls and Chris quite a bit! But it is nice to get away once in a while.

Happenings this week

I've been a bum about blogging lately. Lots going on, none of it super exciting. Here are a few photos from this past week.

Amelia is starting to take steps more and more frequently. While crawling is her preferred way of getting around, she is attempting 3-5 steps more often. It's so cute to see her toddling! We think she was busy learning to talk and growing teeth, so walking took a backseat. Amelia is up to about 20 understandable words, and can repeat a lot of what we say. She added "love you" to her vocabulary recently. So precious!


Here's a photo of me and the girls on the porch. It seems like I forget to get photos of me with them, so that's something we'll have to work on. The matching dresses were birthday gifts from Aunt Debbie. I hadn't gotten pictures of them in the dresses before. Thanks, Deb!


Chris has a business contact who sent us a mushroom playhouse (www.bazoongi.com/, click on "Play Structures"). It is so cute and the girls really love it!



And Amelia's favorite toy is not anything from Christmas or her birthday. Oh no. This little one loves to play with the remote for the television. We've tried to give her a different remote with no batteries, but she wants the one for the television. Fortunately, we can press a button on it and she can't switch the channel, but she's messed up many a viewing session anyway.


Hope you are all well! I leave for sunny (yet chilly!) San Francisco on Saturday until Tuesday. I'm sure Chris would love some homemade meals delivered and cleaning services during my time away. Or maybe just a phone call to see how he's doing with the kids!

We have more steps!

Okay, I picked up the girls at daycare yesterday and Connie told me at Amelia took 12 steps in a row! Chris and I still haven't seen any of this walking yet. At home, Amelia really would rather crawl. So that's why there are no video or photos of this event. Maybe this weekend. I'll try to post more later. Nothing really exciting going on here.

We have steps!

Yesterday at daycare, Amelia took 6 steps . . . twice! Wow! I was shocked to hear that since we've never seen Amelia even stand unsupported. So we took her home and tried to see if she would do it again. We did see her take 3-4 steps a couple of times. We didn't quite get photos, but will try to post some video or photos soon. Great job, Amelia!

Hand, Foot, Mouth, what?

Amelia had her 15-month doctor appointment yesterday. She is growing great! She loves food of all types, is talking more than her age normally does, and is looking into walking someday, but hasn't yet let us know when that will be. Amelia is at 21 pounds, 9 ounces, so she's around 75 percent for weight, and is at 50 percent for height. Amelia also has 6 teeth in, and is in the process of acquiring about 3 molars. The doctor said she looks wonderful.

However, what we thought was a really bad diaper rash is actually Hand Foot Mouth disease. It's not bothering her really, and she's not feverish or crabby, so they don't prescribe anything for it. It will just have to run its course. And it looked much better this morning already. She had a few sores on her feet, a couple on the palms of her hands, and one on her tongue. But it was mostly on her diaper area. I've heard it's going around and that it lasts 3-6 days, but Amelia is already looking much better so we're hoping there are no signs of it in a couple of days.

Here's a Website that explains it:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm#6

Weekend in Lanesboro

It was Buffalo Bill Days this past weekend in Lanesboro so all the Norstad kids (except Kelly, of course) made our way down to Mom and Dad's. We had such a wonderful time! There were horseshoe games, bean bag tosses, campfires, s'mores, plenty of food, a petting zoo, horse rides, bouncy castle, and a great parade. We also had a birthday party for Abby, who turned 5 today! It was a wonderful 2 1/2 days. Thanks, Mom and Dad! We all loved spending the time with you. Oh, and Amelia added a couple more words to her vocabulary this weekend ("down" and "thank you", how polite!). Here are a few photos from the weekend:












And it was Chris's brother's birthday this past weekend, as well as his aunts. We went to a party for them both on our way home from Lanesboro. Amelia loved the sweet corn!