Foggy Day, Sunny Baby

Nora and I had a really lovely day yesterday, which included a baby massage, lots of smiles and gurgling, a snuggly nap, and the photos below. It was a foggy day, and I used the "available light" setting on the camera, which makes these pictures rather grainy but somehow I like the effect.

Merry Christmas!

Baby Blues

Why is it that when I dress Nora in anything other than pink or purple, people assume she is a boy? Do all the other colors belong to boys? I reject that notion, so until Nora grows some hair or develops secondary sex characteristics, I guess she'll just continue to confound strangers. (Please god let the hair grow in first.)

Other items that apparently belong only on boys' clothing:

• Doggies
• Sailboats
• Vehicles of all kinds
• Sports paraphernalia

Girls, on the other hand, get:

• Kitty cats
• Hearts
• Inappropriately suggestive mottoes such as "Little Flirt!" (always with the exclamation points)
• Phrases that tie self-worth to appearance ("Cutie Pie!" "Butterface!" etc.)

Pootermonkey Quiz: Based on the aforementioned examples suggesting that despite the conventions of the English language, every object has an inherent gender, on which gender's clothing do the following items belong?

• Weather phenomena
• Invertebrates
• Office supplies
• Quotations from Rick Springfield songs
• Fungi
• Rock candy
• Real estate

Nora Speaks Hebrew.

I am 80% sure she just said "L'chayim!"

Now I will spend the rest of the day trying to get it on video.

This Kid Needs to Learn to Relax.

Nora, Smiling

Here's a video of Nora smiling when her daddy comes home (I'll leave it to you to decide whether that's a coincidence or not). Fair warning: you may want to turn down your volume; the dogs break into song about halfway through...

Baby Loves Zombies

Some days, gentle susurration and rocking are not enough to calm Nora when she gets wound up. On those days, after we've checked to see if she's hungry, or cold, or has a dirty diaper, there's only one explanation left for her caterwauling: Baby loves zombies, and she will not rest until we serenade her with the groaning of the undead.

[Gentle reader: I'm entering this video with America's Funniest Videos, and according to the rules a video can't be shown anyplace else... so I submit for your edification Baby Loves Zombies II, Electric Boogaloo.]