Noelle eating Cheerios

We are experimenting with fingerfoods now, as the doctor gave us the green light. I cut up some sweetpotatoes for her, but those were more fun mashing, so nothing actually entered her mouth. We gave her cheerios, and she was able to put four in her mouth. However, when we started filming she got nothing, but you'll see her figuring her motor skills out.

San Francisco

Derek had to work in San Francisco for a couple of days, so Noelle and I decided to go and visit him too. It was a long day of travel, since we picked days that weren't the greatest. Noelle did wonderfully though, and she made a lot of people smile. One lady even got to hold her, since I saw her fingers itching so much to get a little squeeze out of her. I am usually very reluctant to letting strangers hold her, but I had chatted with them for so long I thought it was ok. Besides her husband was pilot for United, so obviously they were good people, as that is the nature of United Airlines...
When Derek was working, Noelle and I walked along the shore, looked at the birds and the ocean. Noelle slept comfortably with the ocean breeze in the background, and I got to read my book. Once Derek was done with work, we drove down to Half Moon Bay and stayed at a bed and breakfast, which was lovely. We also did a hike and saw some redwood. Noelle was in the Baby Bjorn and loving it. We also walked along the beach.
Going back was kind of rough. It was another long day of travel, but once again Noelle proved to be a trooper. She makes so many people smile, it's incredible!!

I just realized that we used a different camera for San Francisco, so I am posting some random pictures instead. I will update when Derek brings that camera home from work.

Happy girl!

Noelle is on the move! She is no longer staying put on the blankets that I have for her.

Experiencing the swing. Noelle: Hmm, what are these crazy toys, and what are they doing on my feet? I wonder if they are chewable... (this is actually from San Fran)

Derek took Noelle on a litte ride on the slide.

First experience of sitting in the grass. She was mesmerized by it.

San Francisco! Right by the ocean. Noelle is wearing my old shoes that I had as a baby. Talk about quality wear... 29 years and still going strong!

Isn't she the cutest?

Baby on the move!

Noelle is moving and we can't leave her unattended for a second. Not even the cribs is safe as she pulled herself to standing position the other day!

Finally back!

It's been a while and a lot has happened since Noelle's last blog. She is kind of crawling, thought not quite a "professional" crawl. She has one tooth showing, and the other one you can feel. She is as charming as ever!

We met Derek's cousin Travis when he was in town for some basketball.

Noelle and Milla playing a duet on the piano.

This is what I would look like if I had twins. These two girls are born 23 hours apart, Noelle on the third of October, and Milla on the fourth.

She must take after her father, and grandfather who very seldom you will see without food around their mouths.

Playing in her play area - she has now taken over one bedroom, the livingroom, part of the diningroom, and she sleeps in our room. Derek and I don't know where to go...

Back to Work

Today, Friday April 3, Noelle is 6 months old and I returned to work. This was very hard, and I cried as soon as I dropped Noelle off. It was funny going back, almost as if I hadn't left at all...
Anyways, I told Susan that I wouldn't call, as I think that might be annoying to her and hard for me. She said she'd e-mail me with how the day was going.
I got the e-mail at 12, all was well. Noelle had been napping and happy. She was playing with Lilly (the other 6 month old baby), and laughing and not missing mom at all - except... the teet of course. We have been giving Noelle the bottle and she has been very reluctant to it. She is not a big fan of formula. Apparently, she did not eat pretty much all day, except a few drops here and there . She said no thanks to the oatmeal cereal with the applesauce (which I had prepared for her the previous evening), she said no gracias to the carrots, and she said nej tack to the breastmilk by itself. I guess she was on hungerstrike until the teet, that would be me, got home.
Nervous as I am, Derek said that he could go home earlier, and he finally got her to eat my applesauce with rice. Nine hours with out eating!! Talk about being stubborn. Apparently this can happen to breastfed babies. I, of course, had to call her pediatrician, who said not to woory after only one day. She may not get used to it for a few days. We'll see what happens. When I got home, I cried again, and gave her the teet. And she even took the bottle from me, which she had seconds ago, rejected from Derek.
Oh, and by the way, we still don't have our computer back, so pictures will have to wait even more. Don't worry though, we got somegood ones!