Toilet Paper

We had run out of toilet paper in our household so Nora Lee and I went to the store to buy some more. As we were walking in I told her that we were going to be buying toilet paper. I walked in first and she trailed behind me. As she entered the store she looked around for a moment and then held up her arms and said in a loud voice "paper, poo-poo, butt!"

Nora Lee's 2nd Birthday

We had a small birthday party for Nora Lee here at home after returning from Iowa for Christmas. We celebrated quite a few birthdays in the last few months and birthdays have become a focus for Nora Lee. She sings "Happy Birthday" at least a few times each day. She says, "Birth-day you, Mama" or "Birth-day you Nono" (that's what she calls herself). Sometimes she sings happy birthday to an object that she doesn't know the name of, so she sings "Birthday you, this". She loves cake and pie and is excited for any occasion where they will be served. Who isn't though, really?

Christmas in Iowa

Matt's brother and his family live in Iowa City and this Christmas Matt's mom, stepdad, father and stepmom met us there as well. It snowed (I had hoped for a white xmas) and was beautiful. We cooked and talked and watched movies and ate. What better way to celebrate the holiday!

Nora Lee had four cousins there and was in heaven having all those kids to play with every moment of the day. Xmas was the first time she got to experience so many presents! Ripping off all that paper was delightful!

We also celebrated her birthday in Iowa and went to the Children's Museum to play. There was a small grocery store where kids got to shop and pay for groceries. There was a hospital where they could be doctors and nurses, a puppet kingdom and a small house and a play television news station. I think Nora could have happily moved in.

Oak Glen

Oak Glen is a wonderful little town about two hours outside of Los Angeles. It's known for its apple orchards and each year during apple season you can go and pick apples on many of the farms. We took Nora Lee last year but she was too little to pick apples. This year was different!

We went up for the day and ate apple doughnuts and apple pie and just poked around the beautiful little town.

October and Halloween

A few days before Halloween we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a few pumpkins. On Halloween Matt carved while Nora Lee and I watched.

That night we took Nora Lee trick-or-treating and we all had a blast. No one trick-or-treats in our neighborhood so we went to a nearby one where tons of kids go. The houses were all decorated and there were children running everywhere! At first Nora Lee didn't understand what was going on, although she loved that there were so many kids around.

She was in her little pirate costume and carried a tiny metal bucket. We walked up to the first house and said "trick or treat" and they put candy in her bucket. It took a few houses but Nora got the hang of it and was really into it. We had to protect her a bit from the older kids running frantically from house to house, but it was a lot of fun.

21 Months

Matt and I are blown away every day by how capable
Nora Lee has become. She loves doing things for herself and is quite
helpful. For the last several months she has been helping me with
chores around the house such as unloading the dishwasher and doing the
laundry. But now her skills are even more helpful. She is in charge of
putting the silverware away in the drawer. For the longest time placed
each piece in the drawer randomly. As of the last few days she has
successfully learned to put the right silverware in the right place -
the spoons together, the forks together, etc. She is also understanding
the difference now between clean and dirty. For a while she knew we
would unload the dishes from the dishwasher but would start to unload
them even when they were dirty. Now she understands when they are dirty
and we put them in the dishwasher and when we take them out. She helps
me put the soap in and can close, lock, and start the dishwasher.

She knows how to cook things like oatmeal and can gather the necessary
tools to make it happen. She knows we boil water and then get the
measuring cups out. She loveshard boiled eggs and can peel them and slice them in the egg slicer.

She helps me with the laundry and knows where many of the clothes get put
away. Nora Lee really likes order and likes to put things away in their
proper place. If she ever comes to you saying "Uh, Oh" you know
something has fallen down or gotten out of place somehow.

Nora Lee and I still spend lots of time outdoors digging in the dirt and
playing with bugs. She LOVES bugs (or buggies as she calls them for
some reason). She always wants them to crawl on her foot. We watch the
squirrels and now she alerts me when they are in the yard and may be
eating our vegetables!

The potty is very interesting to Nora Lee and she has pooped twice in her toilet. She tells us when she has pooped and runs to get the changing pad and a fresh diaper.

Her language is exploding and its really exciting. She repeats most things we say and probably has about 60 words that she says and can understand everything we say.
She just started putting a few words together like this morning she
said "mama, egg, one". I always repeat what she said "you want one
egg?" so she can tell me if I understood her correctly.

She is still enjoying dress up and dancing.

Nora Lee is quite sensitive and becomes upset when other people are
emotional. She cries if another child is in distress but can stay calm
when there is emotion that's not intense. I was crying the other day
(happy tears) and she came and sat on my lap and touched my face and
said "tears". She is very affectionate and loves hugging and kissing.
She loves other kids and follows them around to give them hugs.

She has quite a lot of stamina. I go hiking with her several times a week
up a mountain near our house. She rides on my back most of the way but
lately I have been letting her get down and walk some of it. Ive been
amzed at how far she can walk without getting tired!

She is a dream come true and a blessing each day.

Sara

Our Boozer

Nora Lee LOVES food. Its a huge part of every hour of every day. So when the refrigerator opens she is right there waiting to see what delicious things comes out for her to snack on. Recently as I was grabbing food and putting it on the counter I turned around to see her with a beer can up to her mouth. It cracked me up so much that I ran for the camera. Its even more perfect that she is wearing her Johnny Cash Folsom Prison outfit.