Emerson is 9 months old!

Wow, this has been a busy month for Emerson! He started the month out taking steps between furniture and ended the month an official walker. He has been so interested in everything we do, watching carefully and sometimes imitating. He is very determined as well - when there is something he wants he goes after it - every way he can think of. Emerson has really been keeping us busy!

Norah, the Pi Phi in training

I didn't realize that Norah knew this song till she came to pick me up from the airport after a Pi Phi trip. Ryan said that she kept singing a Pi Phi song over and over again on the car ride over - turns out it was this one. Yay, Norah!

Old Spaghetti Factory

After taking grandpa for quick doctor appt in the new south waterfront OHSU offices, we stopped at the nearby Spaghetti Factory. I was amazed at how well Norah and Emerson did, as they both missed naptime. They had fun and really entertained their great-grandparents!

yes, Emerson is enjoying the heel of a sourdough loaf - nothing but the best for my boy!

The Zoo Train!

Emerson had his first trip on the Oregon Zoo train and loved it! He is also showing off his two bottom teeth...not showing are the four that popped in on top...all at the same time!

Robbins' Anniversary

This weekend was my grandparent's anniversary. We weren't able to make it to their anniversary brunch, so we took them to dinner a few nights later. Dinner was delicious and the company was fabulous!

Great Grandpa Lee, Norah, Emerson and Great Grandma Dolores

Norah was exceptionally fond of the fondue...even radishes taste good dipped in cheese.

The kids were up waaay past their bedtime! Emerson was a sport, but he was VERY sleepy. :-)

Grandma Carmen strikes again...

We are SOOOO LUCKY to have Grandma Carmen! For many reasons - one of them being the beautiful sweaters that she sends to Norah and Emerson...

We put out the Halloween decorations a bit (a lot) early this year. :-)

When I asked Norah to smile for the camera she began maniacally laughing...which startled Emerson quite a bit, as you can see.

Storytime Begins

Storytime began for the fall - Emerson and Norah are in different groups, so for this week Grandma Peggy watched one of them while I took the other for the first time. It worked out well - we now know the ropes and can all go next week!

Emerson's group is on Thursday and he had a great time at his first event. He was all over the place, checking the toys and people out. He really enjoyed the singing but was a little distracted when the books came out. He wanted to go from person to person and visit. :-)

Norah's Friday storytime also includes a craft. She is so antsy for craft time to begin - this class was all about frogs, hence the nametag and fancy hat.
Picking up Norah from Grandma's house - Norah and Emerson were actually playing together!

Conrad Benson Widing

Conrad and his beautiful mama~

The Widing family welcomed little Conrad this week! Kristin was very gracious to welcome us at the hospital for our first visit with Conrad - Norah and I were REALLY excited to see him. He is one of the most beautiful babies I have seen, just perfect. We can't wait to see him grow. Congratulations!!

Caramel Apples

Norah adn I made caramel apples - it seemed perfect in our fall-like weather. Emerson enjoyed apple juice, as close as we could get to apples for him. :-)

Hitchin' a ride with Great-Grandpa

This is Norah's favorite mode of transportation!

If you are in to sideways videos, check this out...we visited the greats after Norah's ballet class today...

Norah Ballerina

Today was Norah's very first day in ballet/tap class. She has been thrilled since we registered last month - waiting till the big day was really hard! We found a wonderful studio that is AAB accredited so if she decides this is a passion (although we'll give her a week or two before we ask her to commit to a career in dance) she can stay with this studio as she grows older. Her teacher is a kind and PATIENT woman who is wonderful with the children. Norah really likes her! All dressed up for her first day

Norah - center, in purple -practicing tap. 45 minutes of the class is ballet and the last 15 minutes the student put on tap shoes and get their wiggles out!
Norah off to the right in pink - she really likes to admire her dancing in the mirror, so often leaves the group to get a closer look. :-) Her teacher is very patient (ha, have I mentioned that yet????) and gently pulls her back into the group. She has an English accent and I can hear her calling "Miss Norah" back to her many times throughout the class. The class is for 3-4 year olds and Norah is the youngest by a few months. I was relieved when I found out some of the other children had already been to classes and experienced some of the same wiggles when they first began. There are a couple of large windows to peer into the class and its hard for me to not run in and over-parent her. I guess this is a learning experience for both of us!
For those exceptionally dedicated FON (fans of Norah) here are a couple of video clips from her classes. The first is in her purple outfit and you can see her in the mirror. The second is a tap song the kids do and she is in the middle.