Since giving up her nuks (see previous posts), Norah's naps have become more brief, and it takes her much longer to fall asleep. She has time to get up and put practically everything she owns in her bed before actually going to sleep. This is how I found her yesterday during her nap. Not much room for a little girl on this bed!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!
Norah has been into hearing fairy tales lately. She really likes "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Goldiyocks and the Three Bears"
She knows them pretty much by heart, so when I am telling her the story of the three little pigs, she wants to say this part:
WOLF: Yittle Pig, Yittle Pig, yet [let] me come in!
PIG: Not by chin chin chinny chinny chin chin chin! I won't yet [let] you in!
WOLF: Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll BLOW your house in!
I know I am biased, but I think it's pretty darn cute to hear her say this!
Last night at dinner, she told Grandpa and Oma the WHOLE story of "Goldiyocks"--with different voices for the Daddy, Mommy, and Baby Bear--it was really impressive, if I do say so myself!
She knows them pretty much by heart, so when I am telling her the story of the three little pigs, she wants to say this part:
WOLF: Yittle Pig, Yittle Pig, yet [let] me come in!
PIG: Not by chin chin chinny chinny chin chin chin! I won't yet [let] you in!
WOLF: Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll BLOW your house in!
I know I am biased, but I think it's pretty darn cute to hear her say this!
Last night at dinner, she told Grandpa and Oma the WHOLE story of "Goldiyocks"--with different voices for the Daddy, Mommy, and Baby Bear--it was really impressive, if I do say so myself!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Got to get this written down!
Today, we were driving around town with Grandpa and Oma, and we heard Norah repeatedly singing a song. I tuned in to see what she was singing, and here are the lyrics:
Cheer up!
Cheer up!
Said the little blue bird in the apple tree.
Cheer up!
Cheer up!
For God loves (yoves) you and
God yoves me!
She could exchange the color of the bird for any color we wanted. It was really sweet.
Now, she is in her room (hasn't fallen asleep yet) singing the same tune. I asked her who taught her the song, and she says she made it up herself.
Cheer up!
Cheer up!
Said the little blue bird in the apple tree.
Cheer up!
Cheer up!
For God loves (yoves) you and
God yoves me!
She could exchange the color of the bird for any color we wanted. It was really sweet.
Now, she is in her room (hasn't fallen asleep yet) singing the same tune. I asked her who taught her the song, and she says she made it up herself.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Niabi Zoo
James and I decided it was finally time to get rid of Norah's pacifiers (nuks). Yes, she STILL was using a nuk for sleeping until just recently. We got the idea from my mom to bring her to a fun place and leave have HER leave the nuks there at that place. Then, she knows they are gone, and she knows it was her doing, and she should (in theory) get over it more quickly.
So, we set a date for Saturday, the 1st of May to go to Niabi Zoo and give the nuks to the animals at the zoo. Whenever we would bring it up before the date, she would say, "That's so silly (siyi)! Animals don't need nuks!" But, she went along with it and was very excited when the big day actually came.
We had had 70 degree sunny days leading up to May 1st, but on May 1st, it was 43 degrees, windy and cloudy. We couldn't back down. We had to go regardless. That is why Norah and James are so bundled up in the photo. So, we walked around the zoo, saw all the animals that they allowed outside in the COLD weather, and then I hunted down a worker while James distracted Norah. I asked the worker to play along and accept the baggie of nuks, and could she also ask which animals they were for? The worker was happy to help, and Norah sadly gave her nuks to the worker, specifying they were for the wolves, the yamas (llamas), elephants, baby giraffes, and zebras. We left the zoo, and prepared to spend the next few days struggling with Norah over sleeping.
When we got home, she barely asked about them! She asked if we could go back and get them, but we said, No, we couldn't. She was fine with that.
Aftermath: shorter (or non-existent) naps, and she wakes up at the crack of dawn shouting "The sun is awake! Let's have breakfast!" I can live with that!
Would you believe me?
...if I told you she wrote that herself? Well, she didn't, but she DOES know all the letters in her name!
Norah makes her contribution
We scrounged around for some chalk and Norah found a clean bit of sidewalk on which to draw her W's and rainbows. She had a lot of fun!
One of my favorites
I liked the really saturated colors on this one. The artists were two college girls, and they were covered from head to toe in chalk. They were just finishing it up when we got there.
Chalk the Walk 2010
Norah and I took our friend Shuhui to Mount Vernon, IA for the Chalk the Walk festival. They cordon off the main street, and artists from all walks and age groups get to use chalk to create beautiful scenes on the street. They also hire in one feature artist from CA each year, and here is her work (not yet finished). It didn't look like chalk at all...so realistic.
A fairy catching butterflies 2
Oh, and she loves to wear her fairy wings while catching the butterflies. Maybe they will think she is just one of them....
A fairy catching butterflies
Norah loves to go catch butterflies in the yard. For about a week, there were these very gregarious butterflies that would actually land on her net. As she would inch them toward her to get a better look, they would take off again. Hours of entertainment for her, to say the least.
Here she is calling, "Come down, butterflies!"
I told her I don't think butterflies have ears, but that didn't stop her!
Thank you all!
James and I would like to thank all those who came and helped us with our massive amount of yardwork this year (which I couldn't help with very much since I am so pregnant!). We split over 100 hostas, mulched all around the house and yard, cut shrubs down, bundled sticks, weeded, planted onions, cut tree branches, power-washed the patio, cleaned out the garage, and more! Thank you so much!
Here are our helpers:
Jim, Alessia, Ethan
Nicholas
Sandra
Jeri
Breeana
Here's a photo of the yard post-mulch. It has filled in much more since then!
Sneaky
Norah was singing (loudly) to herself one day on the patio, and I sneaked around the house to snap a photo of her. She saw me at the last second!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Just one week
Norah had a great opportunity to go to California/Nevada with James (he had to go to CA for a business trip). They were able to visit with James' immediate family, his Aunt and Uncle Casarez, his grandma (Ahpah) and cousins. Norah had a great time. Me, I had to stay home because I couldn't get out of work. I think I almost went crazy being alone for 7 days. It was very strange. I called every day, and Norah usually wanted to say hi, but toward the end of the visit, she couldn't be bothered! Every time we talked on the phone or via Skype, she seemed more and more grown up.
She had a blast hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousin Jacob, and Zoe the dog. I am so glad she had the opportunity to spend some time with everyone--it is difficult to see much of each other when we live so far apart.
She also had a blast on the airplane rides there and back. James said she was really a good girl, which is very fortunate for him!
All in all, I am glad she (and James) went. I just missed them a lot, and was so glad to have them back home!
Videos from Norah's adventures in Reno/Sacramento will be uploaded soon!
She had a blast hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousin Jacob, and Zoe the dog. I am so glad she had the opportunity to spend some time with everyone--it is difficult to see much of each other when we live so far apart.
She also had a blast on the airplane rides there and back. James said she was really a good girl, which is very fortunate for him!
All in all, I am glad she (and James) went. I just missed them a lot, and was so glad to have them back home!
Videos from Norah's adventures in Reno/Sacramento will be uploaded soon!
I just had to blog this
I tried to get a family pic of Alessia and Jim and Ethan, but he was struggling the whole time, and the sun was in their eyes. Not the greatest pic, but it proves they were all here!
Two pregnant ladies
Alessia is expecting (a girl!) in late July; she is almost exaclty 10 weeks behind me. It is fun to be visibly pregnant at the same time (but it's not fun having the aches and pains associated with pregnancy....). here we are showing off our baby bellies!
Easter Egg Hunt 2
Ethan took time from his busy day-trading schedule to join in the Easter Egg hunt. He was quite the hunter!
Easter Egg Hunt
Here is Norah with her prized purple egg! At first, whenever she found an egg, if it wasn't purple, she would just throw it back on the ground. We had to convince her that it was worth her while to pick up the other eggs--some of them had candy hidden inside!
Easter Visit 3
Here are Norah and Ethan in their Easter best. Getting them to take a photo is still like herding cats. They just chant "Cheeeeeeeese" and look down at the ground or in different directions! Argh!
Easter Visit 2
Here are Norah and Ethan with all the Easter Eggs they decorated. They had a lot of fun dipping the eggs. The next day we had a hunt for them in the backyard.
Easter Visit 1
Alessia, Jim and Ethan came for a long weekend over Easter. It was really fun to have them come visit. Norah and Ethan have a somewhat tenuous relationship; they laugh and giggle one minute, and then scream and fight the next...it was quite the roller coaster ride!
Here they are enjoying lunch on the patio. Do you like Ethan's bib?
Trip to Minneapolis 6
The best part about Como Park isn't the zoo, it's the Conservatory (seen in background). It is a beautiful glass building with several rooms and galleries. One room was all ferns--it was really neat. Another room had all plants that are used for spices or foods--like a nutmeg tree and an allspice plant.
Here are Norah and I in front of the Conservatory.
Trip to Minneapolis 5
This penguin was very interested in Norah for a while. She was interested in him/her, too!
Trip to Minneapolis 3
Norah and Karen at the less-inspiring Como Park Zoo, where space is clearly an issue and the animals are in much smaller habitats.
Trip to Minneapolis 2
We spent St. Patrick's day at Karen and Mike's. Here is Norah tormenting their very patient cat, Knute.
Trip to Minneapolis 1
Norah and I tagged along with James while he did a training in Minneapolis. We spent a lot of time hanging out with some friends who had recently moved from Iowa City to the Twin Cities, Karen and Mike. Karen and I took Norah to the Minnesota Zoo, where they have large, outdoor enclosures for the many animals. It was a beautiful spring day. Here is Norah checking out some camels (in the background).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)