One Year Old

Happy birthday to Nora. My sweet baby girl, whose unconditional smiles make my day, turns one-year-old today! All this growing up happened in a blink of an eye. I guess as parents we are trapped in some sort of time warp where newborn babies seemingly change overnight.

Since I was not blogging a year ago, I take the liberty of sharing some new arrival photos and memories. During the week before Nora was born, I had very hard contractions. Every night I went to bed thinking that we would have a baby by morning. I had no idea you could have such bad contractions for so long. Finally on the morning of the 9th my water broke and we were off to the hospital. Terry and my sister Callie were there when Nora was born. She was an easy delivery and I didn't even need to push. She was born during my first pre-push inhale. I guess all that labor was not in vain.

Nora Juliet Xanthos and proud mama; Two weeks old


6 and 7 months


11 months; Demonstrating army crawling proficiency, she could move FAST that way!

Now she has six teeth, sleeps like a dream, and is always on the move (but not walking). Her one year stats: weight - 14th percentile, length - 90th percentile, head - 32nd percentile. Tonight we had some fun with cake and presents at home with the boys. We have more celebrating to do this weekend.

The cake before and after. She ate most of it face-first.