Dog Days of Summer

I'm not sure why it got the nickname "Dog Days", but the mid-summer days have heated up and the highs are anywhere between 80s and 90s lately...which means we've mostly been camped out in the AC over here.  We went to the pool one day, but I think there was just too much going on and girlfriend was not a fan of the swimming, take one.  One might think that would mean I'd have had plenty of time to sit down and write up a blog post or two, but somehow it always ends up being the end of the day before I know it and there's dinner to make/eat, bathtime to do, stories to read, and then we all crash.  Not that any of us have been up to anything spectacular lately, either, but I know this blog is really all for the photos for some of you anyway ;) So, here's how Norah celebrated the 4th of July:

Norah is now 11 weeks old, and she (accidentally, I believe) rolled over from belly to back twice last weekend.  We haven't had an encore performance of that yet, but she is getting stronger and more determined to move every day.  She now rocks tummy time with fewer tears, at least for a little bit longer than she had been, and she's able to push up on her elbows.   See?

She has also started to do this back arch thing on the floor, and she can wiggle herself quite a distance by arching, then scooting with her feet to catch up to her head, then doing it again.  She is thisclose to rolling from back to front, but her bottom arm is in the way of completing the task, and she hasn't figured out how to conquer it just yet.  It does tire her out, though, and this is what I came in to find after laying her down for a minute so I could get dressed today:

But one thing is for sure, sister loves to dance and music with a definite beat is her thang! A few times lately, the only thing that will calm her down is to throw an impromptu dance party, and so today I decided to put her in the swing and try giving a little Zumba a spin...it worked!  She calmed down and then fell asleep.  Girlfriend liked watching mama dance, mama got a workout, and everyone was refreshed and energized when we were done! She does have one particular song that seems to be the magic trick, though, and that is "Hey Mama" by Mat Kearney - it can quiet even the strongest of temper tantrums within just the first few beats of starting the song.  At least it's a catchy one, since we hear it many, many times a day!

Even though it's been miserably hot, Norah and I are enjoying our summer together, and the time is flying past.  I have a few things to work out regarding benefits etc., but I am planning to return to work the week before  Labor Day or so.  I am doing my best to soak it all up and enjoy these moments, even the crazy ones, because too soon I will be somewhere else while my baby is growing and that just makes me sad to think about.  At least I will have plenty of pictures like this to look at while I'm there :) 

Happy Dog Days, all!

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Edited to Add: Breaking News!!

Just after posting, Norah made a little liar out of me and did this: