I am 6 months old!

Wow, I am a HALF!! It feels pretty great and life it getting more fun everyday. I have officially entered the vertical world. Although I topple a lot, sitting up is really cool and I can see things a lot better! I love keep tracking of everybody and everything that is going on. Sometimes if i am in the carrier facing in, I get mad and arch my back so I can see. Bella moves around a lot, so I get pretty tired keeping her in my sights. Mommy and Daddy say that they need to enjoy me staying in one place because I can't crawl yet. But according to my calculations, that won't be long.
I had my 6 month check up yesterday and here are my stats: I am 2'3" and 17.4#. I am the 85% for height and 75% for weight. My Dad thinks I have a good shot at being the first female Vietnamese basketball star (shhh, don't tell mom, but that is why he married her- to be sure I would be tall.) He often mentions something about me playing basketball and him driving a porsche.
The biggest change in my life is that I am going to daycare three days a week now. Wow, talk about a lot to keep track of! I wear myself out watching the other kids and playing with all the cool toys. There are big kids in my class too. Sometimes I don't nap well there, and then when Mommy picks me up she is sad that I look so tired. I am going to try to do better napping but I don't want to miss anything!! Mommy says daycare is really hard for her still, but she says she has gone from being 40% okay with it to being 60% okay with it. I will keep praying for her.
I am eating more solids now, avocado is my favorite. Mommy is making homemade food for me, but I don't like any of it except the rice cereal and avocado. Daddy says I need some McDonalds, but Mommy gives him a mean look when he says that.
I took a trip to the country last weekend to visit Nana and Pappy and all my cousins. It was awesome!! It was REALLY dark at night and there were LOTS of stars. We got to pick blueberries and have a campfire. Pappy had the coolest swing and Nana gave me THREE new toys. But the funnest part was cheering for Mommy when she ran her first triathlon. She kicked butt.
I got to hang with Daddy's side of the family a few weeks ago when everyone came over for a wedding. I loved being spoiled by Grandma and being passed around. If the basketball thing falls through, I think I may go into politics, I love schmoozing and hamming it up for the camera.
I saw the plastic surgeon and he says my face is perfect! I don't need any botox or a nose job, but he did suggest getting this itchy patch off around my ear. The surgery is scheduled for October 1st and I don't even have to spend the night! Mommy and Daddy say they are going to spoil me when I have the surgery.
I am sleeping great at night! I wake up once to eat and say hi to Mommy. Mommy was trying to cut me off from the night feeding, but thankfully Dr. Cady saved the day. He told her yesterday that the night feeding is important if she wants to breastfeed for awhile longer. Whew.

180 Days of Nori

6 month Tribute by Daddy Huynh

Someone's Mother

I am someone’s mother.

Surprised, I find myself here
With overwhelming power
To create your world
I have never felt so weak

Peaceful or anxious
Safe or scary
Rules or rewards
Smiles or sighs
How will I color your world?

I decide what will you see, taste, touch, smell today
Today is humongous in your short precious life
And today will I hurry or complain
And if I don’t-
Can I really hide the unsettledness that may pass through my heart?

You live so close, you will surely feel it
My distracted thoughts, my racing pulse or
My hands not as tender as I hope
Nursing from my breast, only inches from my heart
I cannot hide

I grew you strong and steady
Unafraid, I pushed you out
Where now I tremble
Craving the womb that protected you from my mistakes.

As mother I am again a child
Someone mother me!
Make me enough, forgive my wrongs
Teach me
Please.

More intimate than a lover, I am yours
Your stage-the lights, the sound, the set- that you live on
Yet you will never realize the me that is your walls
Until someday
You become someone’s mother

Triathlon

Here is me and Mommy after the race. I yelled really loud "Gooooooooooooo Mama!" It was really fun to watch her swim, bike and run! I can't wait to do all those things with her soon!

Bella and Nori Playing!

Click here for video!

July 4th Swim!

My first swim! Me and Chloe had to compete for little London's attention with our two piece swimsuits. Chloe was getting too close, so I had to compete with showing off my thunder thigh kicking. I think he was impressed. Mommy's friend was calling Chloe and I cougars.

Jumping Nori Bean

 
 

Wedding Weekend

 
 
 
 

The "D" Word

Day Care. We have looked to this week with dread over the past several months since Nori was born. It was a comfort in the beginning, knowing that it was far, far away, when she turned 6 months old -that she would start day care. It was a "good idea" that would work for our schedules and in theory we liked the facility. But as the weeks went by the "D" word started to turn my stomach and there was lots of underlying anxiety. Why on earth were we going to pay to leave her with someone that we don't even know? I went to visit about a month ago, supposedly to make me feel better, and after being in a room of 15 snotty kids I came running home telling Nori (or more accurately myself) that we don't have to go back there.
Side note: why is it that other kids' snot and drool is so gross and Nori's isn't?!
In the meantime, we found out that the rates went up more than 10% from what we agreed to when we signed up, and that we had to pay an extra insurance fee. Was it really worth it? I called current parents at the center for references and I heard nothing but rave reviews, one parent actually sent their second and third kids there at a younger age than the first because of the benefits to their development. This guy talked my ear off for an hour about how much he liked the place. I just needed someone, even perfect strangers, to tell us that we were doing the right thing. I kept thinking, in a few years I will be one of these parents raving to a new mom about the daycare, but I just couldn't imagine it. Last week I started looking desperately for other day cares- why? because I wanted every excuse or distraction from the reality that she was starting this week.
So, June 28th came at last and my prayer was "God, tell me we are making the right decision, but only if we really are, not just because I want to feel okay, but I do want to feel okay." The stomach butterflies didn't go away. . .It felt like the I was five and going to kindergarten for the first time (my sister can vouch for how that went.)
But today, Friday, the last day of her "transition week" I can happily report the butterflies are all but gone. Peace is near! The transition week started with Pete and I going with her for two days, then slowly increasing the hours. This helped Nori I think, but the real transition is for us. I can almost feel myself transition, from the first day of only seeing snot, strangers, and lack of attention to now smiling at the caregivers (instead of glaring the mama bear "don't touch my baby" look) and not feeling like I will throw up. I know most of the other kids' names and getting to know a few parents. The smell is becoming familiar as well as the noise level. Hmmm, I am having flashbacks to my kindergarten room again.
My biggest anxiety was whether she would nap well with all the noise. She has gone from a 5 minute nap the first day to two hours yesterday! I am so proud of her you would think she just got into Harvard. And I am pretty proud of us, too.