Her Latest Trick

This picture you see is grainy since it was taken in a dim room with the camera phone, but you can see Nora's looking straight at her Daddy, and has her hand on his goatee. She kept staring at him, and opening and closing her hand on his beard as she started feeling that new sensation of facial hair in her hands.

It's the first time I've noticed her reaching for something she sees, opening her hands over and over again. It may not seem like much to some, but to me, it's amazing.

You see, every week I look at a book my friend Nancy sent me, which says what to expect for your baby at each week of development.

Of course you're supposed to factor in that every kid is different, but naturally as a parent, it's nice to look at the "checklist" of "What your baby might be doing" and see that s/he's keeping up.

Nora continues to amaze me, as I figure that like the doctor told me, I should give her 6 weeks lag time in her development, and yet each week she seems to just squeak in with that milestone before the week is up.

Her smiles are more frequent -- and as they say around 11-12 weeks -- she should respond to people and recognize and differentiate faces.

Sure enough, tonight as my brother Jeff and his wife Judy approached her, she responded -- then she beamed at Bestema (my Mom) as she got close and said "How's my little princess?"

Of course, my daughter might also just like being thought of and referred to as royalty.