Instead there was a lot of tentative touching of the water.
And a LOT of drinking of the water.
But I think her favorite part had to be when the water was turned off and she got to splash in the puddles that were created.
Next up... slip and slide!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Sprinkler
On Sunday morning we all had a serious party hangover. BVZ had to go into the office (boo!) so Norah, GG, and I took advantage of the sunshine to try out Norah's new lady bug sprinkler (courtesy of GG). She wasn't too sure about it at first-granted, the water was cold-so there was no jumping through the water.
Instead there was a lot of tentative touching of the water.
And a LOT of drinking of the water.
But I think her favorite part had to be when the water was turned off and she got to splash in the puddles that were created.
Next up... slip and slide!
Instead there was a lot of tentative touching of the water.
And a LOT of drinking of the water.But I think her favorite part had to be when the water was turned off and she got to splash in the puddles that were created.Next up... slip and slide!
The Stats
Norah had her TWO year well-child visit yesterday. Here are her stats:
Height: 34 1/4 inches (67%)
Weight: 26.25 (43%)
Head: Still in the 90% (I don't even bother to pay attention to the number)
This was the most in proportion she's been in height and weight since birth. Usually her height is way higher than her weight, so it's nice to see that she's evening out. I was thrilled she was over 26 lbs. I was especially thrilled that she waited to take a giant poop in the doctor's office until after she was weighed.
In all other respects she looks perfect. Her pediatrician is very impressed with her verbal ability (while we were there she said 'Daddy gave me Buzz (Lightyear) for Nanor's special day!); her gross motor skills (she demonstrated her excellent jumping); and her fine motor skills (the child can put on any pair of shoes-usually on the right feet-and buckle them).
I can't adequately describe with words how extraordinary she is. She's funny and kind and compassionate and loving. She's smart and curious and devious and stubborn. She has entered the 'what's this?' and 'what's that?' stage. I imagine I will regret saying so in a few months, but I love, love, love it.
Norah celebrated her actual birthday by getting taken to a fancy big girl lunch by Pamma, and then by watching Monsters, Inc. and snuggling on the couch with us. The day couldn't have been better.
Height: 34 1/4 inches (67%)
Weight: 26.25 (43%)
Head: Still in the 90% (I don't even bother to pay attention to the number)
This was the most in proportion she's been in height and weight since birth. Usually her height is way higher than her weight, so it's nice to see that she's evening out. I was thrilled she was over 26 lbs. I was especially thrilled that she waited to take a giant poop in the doctor's office until after she was weighed.
In all other respects she looks perfect. Her pediatrician is very impressed with her verbal ability (while we were there she said 'Daddy gave me Buzz (Lightyear) for Nanor's special day!); her gross motor skills (she demonstrated her excellent jumping); and her fine motor skills (the child can put on any pair of shoes-usually on the right feet-and buckle them).
I can't adequately describe with words how extraordinary she is. She's funny and kind and compassionate and loving. She's smart and curious and devious and stubborn. She has entered the 'what's this?' and 'what's that?' stage. I imagine I will regret saying so in a few months, but I love, love, love it.
Norah celebrated her actual birthday by getting taken to a fancy big girl lunch by Pamma, and then by watching Monsters, Inc. and snuggling on the couch with us. The day couldn't have been better.
The Party
I have a lot of birthday related posts, but thought I would start with Norah's Buggy Birthday Bash, which took place on Saturday. A couple of months ago, during a particularly bad bout with insomnia, I decided Norah needed to have a big birthday party. We didn't do anything huge for her first birthday since we did a massive celebration with all of the Day One folks, so I wanted to do something special just for her. I tried to take as many pictures as possible, but I have come to realize that 1) my camera sucks, and 2) I kind of suck at taking pictures. Check out the pics my friend Angela took. She has a good camera and she doesn't suck.
Anyway, since Norah is currently obsessed with bugs, that seemed like the perfect theme. I found an awesome retailer on Etsy who did the invitations (if I could figure out our scanner I would scan one, but I can't, so alas. No invitation. But, believe me, they were cute); address labels; and stickers for the favor bags.
Here are the favor bags. I just got yellow bags from the party supply store and stuck on a personalized sticker. It is hard to read but it says something like 'Thanks for coming to my buggy bash' and I think had her name. The bags contained a bottle of bubbles (with a picture of a bug), a giant bug sticker, a rubber bug that was kind of like a finger puppet, and several bug temporary tattoos.
The cupcakes were my masterpiece. I used Amy Sedaris' recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes and Buttercream Frosting (which I obviously colored green). The bug toppers were purchased online-I can't remember where-and were totally edible (made out of sugar). I did the grass with a generic frosting tip and could be as messy as I needed to be, which was a very good thing. I ended up with some serious carpal tunnel, but I couldn't have been happier with how they turned out.
I figured a bunch of two year olds didn't need quite that much sugar, so I made several dozen mini cakes that just had a spot of frosting on the top and some green sugar crystal glitter.
Grandma Geri (who Norah calls GG) came down for the party and brought with her a ladybug tent that we set up in the living room. Norah and the other kids went bananas for it. BVZ went to the grocery store to get ice that morning and came home with 3 giant mylar balloons (I told him I didn't even want to know what they cost). They were the hit of the party. The kids all took turns carrying them around. Sadly, Bee met an unfortunate demise when he was swept up in a gust of wind and carried over the house. Norah still asks about him every morning.
The food spread. I figured that I had the time, energy, and inclination to do one big thing (cupcakes) and everything else needed to be from Costco. I was very right.
All the food was set up in the sunroom and the backyard had beer, wine, water, and juice.
We put Norah's yellow bee table under the big canopy and it was the 'make your own buggy picture' table with paper, crayons, bug sticker, and bug stamps. If you look at Angela's pictures you will see a few where I appear to be holding Norah's mouth open. That would be because she ate one of the ink pads.
I ordered about 60 little rubber bugs and spread them throughout the grass. We gave each kid a plastic cup and told them to go bug hunting. The best part was that once a kid abandoned their cup, a thoughtful parent would toss the bugs into the grass and the fun would start all over again.
Ruby made an excellent bug picture.
We have some good friends who have a two year old as well as ten year old twin boys. The twins love the little kids and set up a face painting station.
Norah's ladybug. I was impressed! (Of course, 10 minutes later it was in her hair, her eye, and all over my pants).
Some random shots of the day:
(I did at one point catch her carrying around a (unopened) beer...)
As things started to wind down, a group of girls had a dog pile on the dragonfly balloon. It was awesome (note that in these pictures, Ruby is wearing Norah's hat, Norah is wearing Ava's sunglasses, and Ava is wearing Norah's sunglasses).
All in all we had about 60 people-16 toddlers and their parents and a handful of other special guests. I was completely taken aback by how amazing and wonderful the day was. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate and love our friends and their awesome kids. There was not a single scuffle, tantrum, or melt down among them. The backyard was just a big, giant, pile of love and we enjoyed every second of it.
In lieu of gifts, we asked people to bring a new children's book to be donated to our local shelter network. I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our guests (Norah also got some very special things just for her) and we plan to take the books to the shelter on Friday (sorry for the picture-I forgot to rotate it correctly).
I can't wait to start planning next year's party!
Anyway, since Norah is currently obsessed with bugs, that seemed like the perfect theme. I found an awesome retailer on Etsy who did the invitations (if I could figure out our scanner I would scan one, but I can't, so alas. No invitation. But, believe me, they were cute); address labels; and stickers for the favor bags.
Here are the favor bags. I just got yellow bags from the party supply store and stuck on a personalized sticker. It is hard to read but it says something like 'Thanks for coming to my buggy bash' and I think had her name. The bags contained a bottle of bubbles (with a picture of a bug), a giant bug sticker, a rubber bug that was kind of like a finger puppet, and several bug temporary tattoos.
The cupcakes were my masterpiece. I used Amy Sedaris' recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes and Buttercream Frosting (which I obviously colored green). The bug toppers were purchased online-I can't remember where-and were totally edible (made out of sugar). I did the grass with a generic frosting tip and could be as messy as I needed to be, which was a very good thing. I ended up with some serious carpal tunnel, but I couldn't have been happier with how they turned out.
I figured a bunch of two year olds didn't need quite that much sugar, so I made several dozen mini cakes that just had a spot of frosting on the top and some green sugar crystal glitter.
Grandma Geri (who Norah calls GG) came down for the party and brought with her a ladybug tent that we set up in the living room. Norah and the other kids went bananas for it. BVZ went to the grocery store to get ice that morning and came home with 3 giant mylar balloons (I told him I didn't even want to know what they cost). They were the hit of the party. The kids all took turns carrying them around. Sadly, Bee met an unfortunate demise when he was swept up in a gust of wind and carried over the house. Norah still asks about him every morning.
The food spread. I figured that I had the time, energy, and inclination to do one big thing (cupcakes) and everything else needed to be from Costco. I was very right.
All the food was set up in the sunroom and the backyard had beer, wine, water, and juice.
We put Norah's yellow bee table under the big canopy and it was the 'make your own buggy picture' table with paper, crayons, bug sticker, and bug stamps. If you look at Angela's pictures you will see a few where I appear to be holding Norah's mouth open. That would be because she ate one of the ink pads.
I ordered about 60 little rubber bugs and spread them throughout the grass. We gave each kid a plastic cup and told them to go bug hunting. The best part was that once a kid abandoned their cup, a thoughtful parent would toss the bugs into the grass and the fun would start all over again.
Ruby made an excellent bug picture.
We have some good friends who have a two year old as well as ten year old twin boys. The twins love the little kids and set up a face painting station.
Norah's ladybug. I was impressed! (Of course, 10 minutes later it was in her hair, her eye, and all over my pants).
Some random shots of the day:
(I did at one point catch her carrying around a (unopened) beer...)
As things started to wind down, a group of girls had a dog pile on the dragonfly balloon. It was awesome (note that in these pictures, Ruby is wearing Norah's hat, Norah is wearing Ava's sunglasses, and Ava is wearing Norah's sunglasses).
All in all we had about 60 people-16 toddlers and their parents and a handful of other special guests. I was completely taken aback by how amazing and wonderful the day was. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate and love our friends and their awesome kids. There was not a single scuffle, tantrum, or melt down among them. The backyard was just a big, giant, pile of love and we enjoyed every second of it.In lieu of gifts, we asked people to bring a new children's book to be donated to our local shelter network. I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our guests (Norah also got some very special things just for her) and we plan to take the books to the shelter on Friday (sorry for the picture-I forgot to rotate it correctly).
I can't wait to start planning next year's party!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Father's Day Misc.
I finally downloaded all the pictures from my camera and here are some cute ones from our Father's Day BBQ in the backyard. Norah chose her own outfit. And she was totally OCD about sweeping.
Making the smile face for dad.
Her new thing is to grab your face before she smooches you.
Norah decided she wanted to take some pictures. She's not too bad.
Bear. Her favorite subject.
Making the smile face for dad.
Her new thing is to grab your face before she smooches you. 
Norah decided she wanted to take some pictures. She's not too bad.
Bear. Her favorite subject.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Norah-isms
Heard this morning when she was eating breakfast and the garbage truck rolled through outside:
Hear it, but don't see it!
Hear it, but don't see it!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Why Do You Wear Pajamas? It's Mad!
Norah and I enjoy You Tube very much. We find little gems there all of the time. Of course, things are not always what they seem-there are lots of parodies out there and while absolutely hilarious, are not always appropriate for little eyes. On more than one occasion we have accidentally clicked on an Elmo gangsta rap. Anyway, there is a great Sesame skit with Elmo and Ricky Gervais where the latter sings the former a bed time song. I love Ricky Gervais something fierce. We are big fans of the original Office and Extras around here. Anyway, the previously mentioned skit linked us to this little piece of hilarity. Pay attention to what Ricky says right around the 38 second mark. It is so true. Why do fictional characters, who are naked all other times, wear pajamas to bed? Check out any Curious George story when he's in bed. Always pajamas. Why??? It's just like the fact that Donald Duck wears a shirt and no pants all of the time. Gross.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Lest I Forget
Let's face it, this is Norah's baby book (there is an actual book somewhere that I think contains one ultrasound picture-nothing else), so I figured there is no better place to document the little stuff I want to remember.
Whenever she falls, bonks, or otherwise injures herself she yells, 'Don't worry Mommy, Nanor is O-KAY!'
She is speeding towards potty training much faster than we are (ugh, diapers are so convenient! What do you do at the park with the nasty toilets when they have to go????). Before her bath every night she strips off her clothes, pulls of her diaper, announces, 'NANOR IS NAKED!' and then tears through the house. She does a couple of laps, runs into the bathroom, sits on the potty and continues to yell, 'NANOR IS PEEING.' She takes the reservoir out, dumps the pee in the big toilet and then climbs up on her stool to rinse it out in the sink. I am only so-so with being okay that she rinses it in the sink-I am just glad she has yet to poop in her potty....
When she does something like a puzzle by herself she claps her hands and says, 'Mommy, please look!'
When we are putting her pajamas on she picks the number of books to read before bed. Usually it is 5, sometimes 3. She then selects the correct number of books, always a different group. After the books are read she will sigh and say, 'Nanor sad, but no more!'
This morning she was hugging on Bear and I said, 'Norah, you give Bear the best hugs. I wish I got a hug like Bear.' She patted me on the arm and said, 'Mommy is big, Bear is little.' Then she laughed and gave me a huge hug.
She has started doing some imaginative play. She had her little dinosaur out the other day and she was having him 'march in trees and go on the swing.'
If you ask her what music she wants to listen to she will say 'Lady Gaga' or 'Cash.'
I thought of at least 10 more today and now they escape me. Ugh.
Whenever she falls, bonks, or otherwise injures herself she yells, 'Don't worry Mommy, Nanor is O-KAY!'
She is speeding towards potty training much faster than we are (ugh, diapers are so convenient! What do you do at the park with the nasty toilets when they have to go????). Before her bath every night she strips off her clothes, pulls of her diaper, announces, 'NANOR IS NAKED!' and then tears through the house. She does a couple of laps, runs into the bathroom, sits on the potty and continues to yell, 'NANOR IS PEEING.' She takes the reservoir out, dumps the pee in the big toilet and then climbs up on her stool to rinse it out in the sink. I am only so-so with being okay that she rinses it in the sink-I am just glad she has yet to poop in her potty....
When she does something like a puzzle by herself she claps her hands and says, 'Mommy, please look!'
When we are putting her pajamas on she picks the number of books to read before bed. Usually it is 5, sometimes 3. She then selects the correct number of books, always a different group. After the books are read she will sigh and say, 'Nanor sad, but no more!'
This morning she was hugging on Bear and I said, 'Norah, you give Bear the best hugs. I wish I got a hug like Bear.' She patted me on the arm and said, 'Mommy is big, Bear is little.' Then she laughed and gave me a huge hug.
She has started doing some imaginative play. She had her little dinosaur out the other day and she was having him 'march in trees and go on the swing.'
If you ask her what music she wants to listen to she will say 'Lady Gaga' or 'Cash.'
I thought of at least 10 more today and now they escape me. Ugh.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Happy Father's Day, BVZ!
In order to show BVZ how awesome we think he is we gave him a frame for his desk at work with these three photos (thanks, JKR for taking them).
Today is all about BVZ. We have already had a big breakfast, taken a trike ride to the park (more on that later), and played soccer in the backyard--and it is only 10:15. On the agenda for the rest of the day is a backyard bbq with chicken kabobs and corn on the cob, naps, a hike, and a picnic dinner at an outdoor play with friends. I may not make it through all the celebrating.
We love you BVZ! You are a great husband and an amazing dad and I couldn't imagine doing this for a single second without you.
Today is all about BVZ. We have already had a big breakfast, taken a trike ride to the park (more on that later), and played soccer in the backyard--and it is only 10:15. On the agenda for the rest of the day is a backyard bbq with chicken kabobs and corn on the cob, naps, a hike, and a picnic dinner at an outdoor play with friends. I may not make it through all the celebrating.We love you BVZ! You are a great husband and an amazing dad and I couldn't imagine doing this for a single second without you.