Happy Thanksgiving

Tori's first Thanksgiving was pretty laid back.  She went for lunch at Horton Plaza, where Kris's grandparents live, and then joined Auntie Bree, Nana (Kris's mom Sue), Mike, Dad and Mom for an early Thanksgiving dinner.  Lately, she especially loves to watch people eat, and look at colorful food on everyone's plate, so Thanksgiving dinner was a real extravaganza for her eyes.  Then she visited Mama at work for one last feeding and then back home to bed.   One of the biggest surprises of the day was she started rolling over from her tummy to her back!  It is so cute to watch because she seems to surprise herself every time she does it.  She wore her new lavender sweater dress, because the blue one I was planning on having her wear was too small!  Little Torrance is growing by leaps and bounds.

6 Months of Growing!

Today is Tori's 6 month birthday!  These pictures show just how far she has come in terms of her strength.  She used to hate tummy time and I was lucky if she would be on her tummy for a minute without screaming.  But now as she gets stronger, she likes it and has been moving her arms and legs around like she wants to crawl.  The top picture is the most recent one, taken a few days ago.  The bottom picture was one of her first tummy times after leaving the hospital.  What a difference!  And my favorite kind of tummy time is when she is laying on my stomach and will lift her head up so nicely to look up at me and smile..... she is growing so quickly!  While Tori is actually 6 months old today, she also has an "adjusted age" which is based on her due date, August 3.  So Tori's adjusted age is about 4 months, and the doctor looks for her to be acting more like a 4 month old baby at this point.  They use the adjusted age for milestones in preemies until their 2nd birthday.  I think Tori is doing pretty well!

Tori and the Pups

Tori has 2 older "siblings"- Bella (the Jack Russell) and Diablo (the American Eskimo).  Bringing a preemie baby into a home with dogs caused me some concern in the beginning, because I didn't know how the dogs would react to a baby.  There were a few "moments", like when Bella jumped into the pack and play because Tori was crying and she wanted to help, that gave me a scare, but overall each one is getting used to the other.  Bella has been very motherly toward Tori ever since we brought her home.  She is always the first one by Tori's crib when she cries and she stays close to the stroller when we take them on walks together.  Diablo has just recently taken an interest in Tori, because he loves to be pet, and Tori is just now reaching out and grabbing things.  Like Diablo's fur.  Now he will come over and try to nuzzle his head under her hand so she will pet him.  Tori is very interested in both dogs now.  She loves watching them run around and play, or do tricks, and she loves Diablo's soft fur.  Also Tori has started making growling noises..... I'm pretty sure she is imitating the dogs!  I am glad that Tori will be able to grow up learning the love and responsibility that pets can bring to your life.  As long as we include the pups in daily outings and in the things we do with Tori, everyone seems to be getting along alright.  We'll see how things progress as Tori gets more mobile!

All in the Family

Torrance gets to see her Dad's side of the family more often, since they live in Medford.  So it was pretty special when everyone came for a visit in September to see how Tori was growing and getting along.  Grammy Z arrived first, to spend a few weeks with her first grandbaby before everyone else arrived, and Kris and I were so grateful to have another pair of willing hands in the house.  Once the others had arrived,  Tori got to meet her Uncle Jon, Auntie Joanna and Grampa Z.  She will get to visit with Auntie Jenn at Christmas when we take Torrance on her first visit to .....Torrance!

Our Day at Crater Lake

  We took Tori to Crater Lake in mid-October.  The park was technically "closed" but because there wasn't any snow yet we were allowed to go anywhere in the park.  Diablo and Bella were happy to come along on our first family outing!  It was a gorgeous day, but very windy, so the pictures of Tori aren't the best because we kept her bundled up, as she didn't like the wind in her face.  Luckily she spent most of her time in the Snugli, warm and protected against Dad.  This was her first long car trip as well, and she did great, until about the last hour when she was tired of being in her car seat.  This was my first trip to Crater Lake as well!

Tori's First Halloween

  Happy Halloween!  Tori flashes a grin for the camera, and they have been hard to capture on film!  And here she is in her peapod costume, which keeps her very warm and she often falls asleep while wearing it.  Being too little to trick or treat, Mom and Dad took her around to auntie's, grandpa's, grandma's and great-grandparents (all on Kris's side) to show off her costume.  She did really well being shuttled around all afternoon, but got tired of not being able to move her legs in her costume.  And then it was back home to pass out candy to the neighborhood kids.   A pretty full day for Little Miss Tori!