Visit From Oma!

And by Oma, I mean my mom.  We are going to test out this name for Grandma for a while and see how we like it.  I learned it in German class and have always liked it, and I figure that since Nora will probably learn to say Oscar fairly quickly, Oma might be easy enough for her to say.  We'll see if it sticks.

In any case, it was great to have my mom visit this week while I was technically on Spring Break!  Last time she saw Nora, our little lady looked like this:

Now we can hardly believe she was ever that tiny or quiet, so it was a lot of fun to have Mom visit and see how much she has grown and developed.  Nora cooperated during a whole slew of activities outside our everyday routine.  We took a trip to Canton to visit Mom and Vickie.  Mom watched Nora for a few hours, giving me the chance to grab lunch with my friend Anne-Marie for the first time since Nora was born.  We had Chuck, Patti, and Vickie over to the house for dinner before Nora's bedtime.  Yesterday, Mom, Billy, Nora, and I managed to enjoy two meals together out of the house, including dinner at Billy's new favorite Mexican restaurant.  I had my first margarita in ages!  But the biggest adventure, by far, was taking Mom and Nora into DC on the Metro to see the cherry blossom trees in almost full bloom.  I couldn't believe Nora endured the whole thing with barely more than a whimper!  This girl needs her naps, so luckily she was able to sneak in a few quick ones in her carrier before crashing in her carseat on the trip home.

All of those activities were a lot of fun, but I think my favorite thing about Mom's visit was having her around to participate in our everyday routine.  She got to see how cheerful Nora is when she wakes up in the morning, how good she is with her hands, and how curious she is about everything around her.  It was nice to have Mom here to help us out when Nora was first born, but I was so new at motherhood then, and so overwhelmed by everything, that I didn't get much of a chance to talk to Mom about what being a new mom was like for her.  This time I got to hear a lot about her experiences when each of us was little, and it was nice to hear her repeated assurances about how well I am learning to find my way as a mom.  It was clear that she adores Nora, and Nora had such a good overall demeanor throughout the week that I know she was glad to have her Oma around, as well!  Of all the new skills Mom got to see, I think Nora did the best job of showing off her smile!

We also made sure to take plenty of photos to document Mom's visit, so I wanted to share those, as well.

Thanks for the visit, Mom!  We hope we'll get to see you again soon!