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