Nora's 6 Month Pictures

We hired the same photographer who did Nora's newborn pictures to take 6 months photos of her as well.  The photos were taken by Jill Shadden at In the Moment Photography.  We met her at Blanchette Park in St. Charles and I think the photos turned out great!

Nora's 1st Swim

Nora had her first pool visit on Memorial Day (after we got back from Rochester the day before).  She didn't spend a ton of time in the water, but she did like sitting in the shallow part with me.

 We had a fun day with the neighbors.  After the pool we went back to the Minchers' house for dinner.  Nora and her buddy Lincoln had fun playing.

 And Charlie zonked out on the floor.  I'm telling you, this kid will sleep anywhere!!

It was a nice ending to the long weekend!

Nora at 6 Months

Nora turned 6 months old on June 4!  That 1/2 year flew by, as they always do!  She is getting so big!  At her check-up, we learned she (like her brothers) is rather large for her age.  She weighs 21 lbs (99th percentile!!) and is 27.2 inches long (91st percentile).  She had to get shots and once again she was not a big fan (who can blame her??), but she recovered quickly.

Last month, Nora started really grabbing for things, and now she will grab for anything in sight.  The benefit of all this grabbiness (can we pretend that's a word?) is that she now likes to hold her own bottles.  And one of her favorite positions is grabbing her toes, which we love...

She has really started rolling back to belly a lot now, but after awhile she gets frustrated on her tummy and needs help turning over.  Towards the end of this month, the big girl figured out how to sleep on her side.  She doesn't do it consistently yet, but she has spent a few naps and evenings that way.

This month Nora really started sitting up well.  She will still topple over if left sitting for too long, but she's getting stronger and stronger.  She's started taking a more consistent long nap in the mornings, and most afternoons we can get a longer stretch out of her too.  She still has some days where she chooses to cat nap, but I feel like we're finally getting into more of a nap routine now.

Nora loves both of her big brothers and is always watching everything they do.  One day I plopped her in this chair while Charlie was watching TV and she just sat there and watched right along with him.  Too cute!!

Here is a little video Grandma Clayton took of Jack making Nora laugh:

Another new first: the hand-me-down doorway jumper from Aunt Kelly.  She has fun in it, but only for short periods at a time.

Last month Nora sat in her high chair for the first time, but this month she actually got to eat food!  We started cereal the week before she turned 6 months, and not unlike her brothers, she loved it!

Last month I was a little concerned because she had laid off the talking.  Never fear!  This month, Nora started up with her babbling again.  She still hasn't gotten any teeth, and we think she is just so close!!

Here are some pictures from her 6 month photo shoot:

Here is a comparison of all 3 kids at 6 months.  I'm embarrassed to admit how long I searched for Jack's monthly sticker photos only to (finally!) remember that I didn't do them for him (I didn't know about it then).  I'm so bummed I don't have these for him, but we did get 6 month professional photos of him at least:

Jack, Charlie and Nora at 6 Months

One thing is clear in this comparison: we breed large babies in the Clayton house.

May 2016 Rochester Trip

My mom, the kids and I flew to Rochester to visit the Goforth crew for Memorial Day weekend.  It was a very quick trip (we arrived mid-day Friday and left late Sunday afternoon), but it was still a nice visit.  The kids have so much fun with their cousins!!

We spent the night at my parents' house the night before we left so we'd be closer to the airport.  This is how I found the boys in the morning...

 At the airport, waiting for our flight...

There are no direct flights, so we had a layover each way unfortunately.  Nora didn't do quite as great on the way there as she did on our flights to/from Florida.  At one point the flight attendant asked me if I wanted to try nursing her (I had already tried) and then assured me that letting her cry was just fine.  She said it's not as loud as I fear it is, and a lot of times the crying helps with their ears.  Not easy on Mommy though to just let my babe cry.  She was kind of out of sorts the rest of the day Friday too. Poor baby girl.  She recovered nicely the next day though and was her normal, easy going self the rest of the weekend.

Friday when we got there we just hung out at their house and played outside.  The boys played a lot of catch while we were waiting for Parker and Graham to get home from school...

 Then there was a group art session, some playing on the floor with Nora, some bouncy house time and showers all around.

 Charlie zonked out fairly early.  It had been a long day!!

 When I went to check on the boys (on an air mattress in Parker's room), silly Charlie was again sleeping with his head at the wrong end.

 Saturday morning we played in the yard for awhile (Nora watched from inside), then went to Parker's soccer game, which was fun.  Jack loved that Parker's cousin Collin was there too and he got to play soccer with him.

 After soccer we headed to a park for a picnic.  It was unseasonably warm there (100 degrees!), so we found a nice shaded area to eat.

 Saturday evening we walked into downtown Pittsford for a festival. The kids got to do a hayride and we ate dinner there.  Since it was so hot, we headed out early to get back to the air condition.  Jack had a bathroom emergency, so he ran home alongside Uncle Greg (who was on his bike) while the rest of us walked.  Ha!!

Charlie thought the petting zoo was stinky!

 Back home in the air condition...

Sunday morning we went to the bouncy place to burn some energy and then had a nice lunch outside (it was a little cooler on Sunday).

We had two uneventful flights home, which was such a relief!

Another fun cousin visit is in the books!