The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Norah and I are loving having BVZ around so much these days and are taking advantage of being able to go out to dinner (I love going out to dinner on weeknights). Usually we just walk up the street, but tonight it was raining, so we drove to get Chinese food. After stuffing ourselves with fried tofu, we found ourselves in a torrential downpour. We were parked kind of far away, so I ran to the car and Norah and BVZ walked about a block (under an overhang) to a place where I could pull up and throw them both in.

When we met up again they were both kind of shaken up. Apparently, while walking BVZ ran into a spider web, which got on his face. Then he looked down and there was a spider on his shirt. Now, BVZ hates spiders. HATES them. He has been known to cower in his 6'3 glory and make his 5'5 wife climb on a chair to get any that happen to be in the house. This is how the conversations went:

Me: What happened to you guys?
BVZ: Dude, I ran into a freaking spider. A SPIDER! A FREAKING SPIDER!
Me: Are you okay?
BVZ: What do you mean am I okay? Of course I am not okay. I RAN INTO A SPIDER.
Me: Did you scream?
BVZ: Um.
Me: Did you scream?
BVZ: OF COURSE I SCREAMED.
Me: Like a little girl?
BVZ: LIKE A LITTLE GIRL.

Apparently he startled some old lady walking behind them. As I was buckling Norah into her car seat I asked her what Daddy did and she did what is quite possibly the funniest thing she has ever done. I made her do it again as soon as we got home. It wasn't as good. But still freaking funny.

Boo-Boo

Lately, Norah has been really, really into having her boo-boos kissed. To the point where the littlest, most insignificant incidents become a big deal where she yells 'Norah Boo-Boo' and demands a big kiss and lots of attention. This was more apparent then ever when we were on the walk home from the park this morning and she licked a dandelion. Apparently dandelion tastes like burning (I sure hope they aren't poisonous....) and she insisted on getting a kiss on her tongue boo-boo. I have a pretty high tolerance for kid schmutz (I don't freak out when she wipes her nose on my leg, I will share my water even though she is the worst back-washer, and I love her sloppy kisses), but even I draw the line somewhere.

Both BVZ and I agreed that something has to be done before she becomes a cutter, so we told her that anything under a 5 on the 1-10 boo-boo scale will only get a 'shake it off' or 'cowboy up' and kisses were reserved for 6 and above. She seemed to take the news well and proceeded to touch a potato bug.

Funny Faces

This is not a great video because Norah lunges for the camera every time I get it out, but her new rotation of four faces is beyond hilarious.

Update on BVZ

Thanks to everyone for all of your kind thoughts and support over the past couple of days. BVZ had surgery on the herniation of his L5-S1 vertebrae on Monday and it was a success. The surgery took almost an hour longer than anticipated because the herniation was much older than they thought and was embedded in the inflamed tissue of his back. The best way I understand it is that when a disk herniates it leaks out gunk that is the consistency of caulking material. This is what has been pressing on his sciatic nerve and generally making all of our lives miserable. Usually, the surgeon can pull all the gunk out at the same time because it is still in basically one piece. But, in BVZ's case the gunk had kind of splintered out and the surgeon had to 'chip' away at it piece by piece to get it out. The surgeon suspected that the actual herniation happened many months, or even years, ago. Check out this post from back in May of 2008. I suspect this is when the herniation originally happened.

He was in recovery for about an hour and a half and got to have some ice chips. He made the mistake of telling a nurse that he felt a little nauseous because it had been so long since he had eaten* and she promptly took away his ice chips and gave him a shot of Fentanyl, a pretty strong narcotic that made him fall asleep immediately. When he woke up from that they took him to his room and I got to see him for the first time. He was extremely disoriented and VERY agitated and on the verge of a serious panic attack. He was stuck in an uncomfortable position on the bed and had on compression boots (standard for post-op to prevent blood clots) and an oxygen tube in his nose. Those things, plus the IV, made him extremely claustrophobic and he started trying to rip them all out. I tried to soothe and reassure him but all he could say was 'I just want a fucking mocha' over and over again (which in retrospect is quite hilarious. You know that when I use the f word, it's oh, a Monday, but when BVZ does you know he is in a bad, bad place). He snapped and cursed at a nurse, which is so uncharacteristic of him that I knew he was losing it. His blood pressure spiked WAY up, almost certainly a result of his state of mind, and so everyone was on high alert to calm him down quickly.

We got him shifted in position, the boots and nose tube removed and he normalized very quickly. It took about an hour for his blood pressure to become stable again, but eventually it did and so there wasn't any more cause for concern. I got permission to get him a mocha and all was right with the world again. He spent the night in the hospital and with the exception of an unfortunate incident involving a bedpan that I won't share because I don't want to get divorced, there were no further complications.

He got home about 1:00 pm yesterday and we've all been settling into the new routine where he can't do anything for two weeks except watch movies and take short walks. He can't pick up Norah for FOUR weeks, which you can imagine she is thrilled about. She keeps saying 'Up, please' and we keep explaining to her why he can't pick her up and she sighs and says, 'Daddy, owie. Back, back, back' and points to her back. It's pretty cute.

But the good news is that his pain is virtually completely gone and he slept through the night last night for the first time in a really long time. BVZ is already going a little stir crazy though, so it should be an interesting couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed.

(*All in all he went without food or water for about 18 hours. Which totally sucked. When I had Norah, I was forced to go without food for about 60 hours (48 hours of labor with pitocin and then 12 hours post surgery). And I had to have a baby. And then nurse her. Without any prompting from me, BVZ finally understood how much that suuuuuucked. I was very compassionate and told him it was all relative, even though I really wanted to say something else....)

It Takes A Village

I have bragged before how lucky we were to meet a fabulous group of moms when our babies were itty bitties. Every day I think I wouldn't survive parenthood without them. I have always joked that the kids are screwed if they grow up not liking each other because we are going to make them hang out anyway. Thankfully, that doesn't look like it will be a problem.

The girls are dressed in matching dresses that Caleb brought them from Hawaii because they were throwing a little party for Caleb in celebration of his soon-to-be baby brother (Caleb wasn't there yet.) The ladies love him--he's so going to have 3 dates to the prom.

The Inevitable

This afternoon I was putting groceries away in the kitchen and BVZ and Norah were doing an alphabet puzzle in the living room. And it happened. I dropped a butternut squash on my foot and said the F word (in the kitchen). Between identifying the letter O as 'O' and the letter T as 'Tiger' followed by a roar, Norah also said the F word (in the living room). We didn't even flinch and she had no idea she had just made Grammy's worst fear come true.

I am trying. I swear (no pun intended).

The Mohawk

I am so happy that Norah finally has enough hair for the bathtub Mohawk.

The Box

A few weeks ago, Norah became enamored by a box from Diapers.com. She played hide and seek in it, trapped the cat in it, read books in it, drank milk in it, and made her friends get in as well. We finally had to recycle it because it literally fell apart. I don't know why I bother to buy her actual toys.

After Dinner Walks

As soon as I get home Monday through Thursday it is a Mom and Norah love-fest. I have to pack in a full day into two and a half short hours and we take advantage of every second. Since spring seems to officially have sprung, we've been taking walks around the block after dinner every night. Walking around the block with Norah takes about a half hour because we stop to smell every flower, touch every tree, say hello to every rock. We see the same people out every evening (the bike rider, our neighbor Ronnie walking her little dog, and the man who lives up the street who has three gigantic Siberian Huskies). They are all thrilled to see her and she's pretty stoked to see them (okay, really, the only thing she cares about is those Siberian Huskies). She loves exploring the neighborhood and I can't get enough of her. It's win-win.

New Hobby

Norah's latest obsession is taking pictures with my phone. I think she is getting really good and has quite the artistic flair.

Catch-Up

It's been awhile. We've been busy. BVZ is having back surgery next week. We've had a handful of amazingly beautiful days, so we've been spending as much time as possible outside. I'm trying my best.

Check out the pig-tails!

Comment Schmomment

So, we are apparently so popular over here at the ole' GVZ blogspot that we are getting lots of spam in the comments. I made some adjustments and you will now have to enter a word verification when you post a comment. I hope that won't dissuade those who comment regularly, or infrequently, or NEVER AT ALL (immediate family I am speaking to you!) because I love hearing what you have to say.

Picture is unrelated, but isn't it cute? We were at the young explorer room at the Academy of Arts and Sciences and Norah was not pleased that the wall animals were not actually pettable (like that new word?).

Swoon

Pam just sent this photo of the girls this morning. It is taking everything I have not to run out of here this instant and go scoop up the cuteness.

Ruby may be taller...

but Norah is more flexible...

No Pictures For This One

Norah had her usual Friday play-date today and was exhausted and punchy by the time we got home. She rummaged through my laundry basket on the living room couch and pulled out all of my underwear (don't worry, they were clean). She lined them all up and then proceeded to put on a pair over her jeans. Nothing makes you want to get on the elliptical machine faster than seeing your granny drawers on a toddler. She got very upset that they wouldn't stay up, so I had to tie a knot in the back and the child walked around for the rest of the evening wearing my underwear over her clothes. She then played in her kitchen as I fixed her dinner in the real kitchen. Imagine my surprise when I turned from the stove to talk to her and found her sitting IN HER HIGH CHAIR. She managed to climb up the side, get in the seat, and then buckle the seat belt. I would have been really pissed at her, had I not been so impressed. After dinner she collected and put the following in the bathtub: 4 alphabet puzzle pieces, a crayon, a book, half a kleenex, my right flip flop, Baby Nor Nor, her valentine from Grandma Geri, a cd case, and the DVD remote. She then attempted to put the following in the bathtub: the cat.

At the Park

This is my favorite park. The play structures are awesome and Norah loves it.

All of a sudden, she has no fear of any slide. And BVZ is getting awesome with the iphone video. Win-win for everyone involved.

Babies

Norah is mildly obsessed with babies.* At the mere mention of Baby Kevin's name she launches into 'baby, baby, baby, baby, baaaaaybeeeee' and proceeds to show me how she plans to tickle his feet and kiss his cheeks. Whenever she does see him it is game on.

So, it was no surprise that she was similarly infatuated with the deliciously adorable Baby Wyatt who we got to meet for the first time on Sunday. She kept kissing him right on the mouth and showing us where his eyes were. Whoever was holding Wyatt at any given moment also got to hold Norah.

Congrats, Mike and Maggie. Wyatt is amazing and we look forward to many years of Norah mauling on him (we'll make her stop by high school, we promise....)



*Just in case anyone has any ideas that Norah should get a brother or sister anytime soon, bite your tongue. We have LOTS of sleep to catch up on from her first year of life. For the time being, she is going to have to be satisfied with her baby doll (who she named 'Baby') and her special soft doll (who she named 'Baby Nor Nor'). She is very sweet to Baby, she kisses her and cuddles her; pretends to feed her, change her diaper, and put her to bed. She also walks down the hall holding Baby by the leg and whacking her head against the wall. So yeah, it'll be a while.

Happy VD to Me

BVZ got an iphone a few weeks ago and at the store I begged and pleaded for him to take mine and give me the new one since mine doesn't have video. After all, I think he has taken 3 pictures of Norah since she's been born compared to my 17,685. Needless to say I was totally bummed when he said no. I have been harassing him since he got it to actually USE it when he is out on his adventures with Norah and low and behold, today he came home with a ton of funny pictures and video of their trip to the park.

There is a play structure across the street that they visit frequently. Norah loves the swings and the little slide, but is afraid of the tunnel slide. I go down it all the time to show her how fun it is, but no dice. So, imagine my surprise when I got the report that as soon as they got to the park she marched right up to the tunnel slide and went down (and up) it about 50 times.

Good work, BVZ.

My Funny Valentine

We decided to take our sweet Valentine out for her favorite meal in the entire world--a burger and shake. As we were gearing up to leave, poor BVZ's back and leg seized up (for those who may not have heard, BVZ is currently broken. After months of nagging back and leg pain, about a month ago it got unbearably bad and so he finally went to the doctor. Several visits, a specialist and an MRI later and we now know that he has a severely herniated disk. Last Thursday he got an epidural steroid shot in his spine, and we are waiting to see if it worked). As of this morning it appeared to not only NOT have worked, but actually seemed to be worse. I was set to scrap our burger and shake plan and go to the ER instead, but he insisted we still go. Problem is, he can't ride in the car for more than about 45 seconds, because it is so painful. I was not convinced as he could barely stand, let alone walk, but I was willing to give it a try. So, Norah and I drove to the restaurant and BVZ walked. It is probably 3 miles from our house.

Needless to say, Norah and I got there first. She looked longingly at the tall glasses the shakes came in and was not pleased when the waitress brought hers in a plastic cup with a lid. All was forgiven as soon as she tasted the sweet cherry vanilla goodness.

We then had an awesome lunch of sliders and sweet potato fries. BVZ joined us as we were finishing up and was happy to report that the walk stretched out his leg to the point where he no longer wanted to cry.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Wheels on the Bus

On recommendation from Jams' House, we recently got Norah a Wheels on the Bus DVD. She totally loves it. I think it is a little weird--there is a scary clown; the songs are a little grating; and some people on the bus are real humans, but some are puppets. The driver is a dragon voiced by the lead singer of The Who, so that's pretty cool.

Anyway, Norah loves it and asks me to sing Wheels on the Bus all.the.time. She likes to do the sound effects and hand gestures. This is what happens when we sing 'the wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish' while eating yogurt.*

*Yes, there are peas and carrots in banana yogurt. Norah eats almost anything if it is coated in yogurt.

The Perfect Song

I randomly ran into this song on a blog I accidentally found the other day. I tracked it down and this is the only version I could find on You Tube. Apparently, it is from the Yo Gabba Gabba soundtrack, which I immediately ordered off of Amazon (the song itself is Bedtime Lullaby by Mark Kozelek). I think it is the perfect song. Every time I hear it I get a lump in my throat. Along with the accompanying cartoon about a mouse who goes on a rocket ship adventure, for me it represents everything that is pure, good, and just plain right about childhood.

That's My Kid

*

When I was a kid I loved books more than anything. No toy, no pet, no sister (kidding!) could even come close to how I felt about story books. My mom, being the good elementary school teacher that she is, set us up a library in the garage/playroom with a kid-sized bookcase and plenty of comfy space to lounge and read. I loved the way books felt in my hands, the way they smelled, and how delicious the words could be.

So, imagine my delight when Grammy showed up to meet Norah for the first time with an entire suitcase full of my childhood books (yes, the woman flew from Texas to California with an entire suicase full of children's books). Some times being a hoarder, I mean, saver is a good thing... She brought my absolute favorites, which included all the Sweet Pickles books, Swimmy, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and Ferdinand. She also brought Pierre, a dark and funny story by Maurice Sendak (of Where the Wild Things Are fame), about a little boy who has a very bad attitude until he gets eaten by a lion and discovers that apathy is no good because it will get you eaten by lions. It isn't a short book, there are more words than pictures (the age range on the book is 4 to 8), and there is nothing cute or cuddly about it.

As such, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Norah is absolutely obsessed with it. We read it first thing when she wakes up, multiple times before bed, and any time she catches sight of it (I have started putting it on my dresser, out of her immediate line of vision). She thinks it is hilarious. To her credit, I do give the mom, dad, Pierre, and Lion different voices, which I am pleased to report that she appreciates very much.

I absolutely cannot wait until she discovers all the treasures books have in store for her.

*The picture has no relevance to the subject of this post, I just thought it was cute. We are going to Yosemite in a few months and Norah needed snow clothes. No way was I going to buy her new snow clothes, so we got these second hand from a mom in my neighborhood. She loves to wear the boots. Mainly over her pj's in the morning.

A Social Experiment

BVZ had to go into the office today so Norah and I went to the mall (on a Saturday, no less--clearly I was in the mood for pain). Lately, whenever Norah is in the stroller for more than about 10 minutes she demands to get out and walk and then after about 10 more minutes, demands that I pick her up and let her push the stroller herself. It is so annoying. So, I made a bold move and didn't take the stroller in at all.

We were only there to buy her some shoes and weren't in a hurry at all, so we did a lot of wandering. Norah browsed around and tried on all the Stride Rites at Nordstrom's and discovered her new most favorite thing in the entire history of the world--the escalator. She is getting her incisors and has a mild head cold right now (ie, she is back to eating like a bird), so I did what any good mom would do and got her some full-fat vanilla ice cream.


After that we walked around and I let her go into any store that suited her fancy. She was into: Victoria's Secret (there were these stuffed dogs in the window and at the front of the store that she petted and kissed); the Hallmark card shop (all of their Valentine stuffed animals were on display); 2 shoe stores; the watch store; Ann Taylor; The Body Shop; and wait for it... wait for it... The Disney Store.

I don't think I have actually ever been into a Disney Store before, so I thought this would be an excellent social experiment to see what items she was most drawn to. I didn't say a word to her, didn't point out anything or direct her anywhere, I just let her take the lead and followed her around.

As anyone who knows me is aware, when we first found out we were having a girl I was ecstatic, but then had a moment of panic--what the hell would I do if she liked The Princesses? It's hard to escape The Princesses these days, they are everywhere. On clothes, and toys, and DVD's, and lunch boxes, and luggage, and...you get the idea. It's not that I am morally opposed to The Princesses (okay, I kind of am), but I feel like it's kind of a Pandora's Box. Once it's opened, you are screwed.

So, imagine my relief that immediately upon entering the store Norah made a beeline for the display of balls (yay!) and chose the pink one with The Princesses (doh!). But then she threw the ball as if it were a softball (yay!), but then ran and picked it up, gave it a kiss, tucked it under her arm, and carried it around the rest of the store.

Thankfully, that was our only encounter with any of The Princesses. She was really interested in the wall of stuffed animals:

And REALLY into Buzz Lightyear:

She got ahold of a pink Minnie Mouse golf bag with wheels and lugged that around for a while.

She then found a pink plastic shopping cart and was thrilled to walk around picking stuff off of the shelves and putting it in the cart (she was not so thrilled when I walked around putting it all back). We probably spent a good 45 minutes in the Disney store today. Believe me, I am just as surprised as you are.

If Norah ends up loving The Princesses, I will love her just the same. I have no problem with anything she ever wants to do and will support whoever she wants to be. Except a cheerleader. Or a Republican.

Afternoon Bagel

Pam sent me this picture about an hour ago. They were on their way to story time at the library and stopped for a bagel. I haven't stopped smiling since I saw it.

S-E-S-A-M-E

I have to preface this post with an explanation that I LOVE television. Love, love, love, love it. I like just about everything--from witty comedies, to cutting edge HBO dramas, to quasi-science programs (ie, 'Man Without a Face' and 'Half-Ton Mom'), to every single one of the Real Housewives. I don't discriminate too much (well, I can't watch crime shows--occupational hazard I guess--but PEOPLE come on! There isn't a magic computer with all the DNA that will spit out the name of the killer in 32 seconds....and I can't watch crap like 'Two and a Half Men'--I do have some standards).

So, it surprised even me that I would be such a hard ass when it comes to Norah watching tv. I read quite a bit about it before she was born, and as it turns out when kids are really young their teeny tiny brains can't process the fast moving images they see on the tube. While it isn't necessarily going to cause damage, they don't get any value from the language or images. As a result of my neuroticism, Norah remained tv free for the first year of her life (I say that with a slight hesitation, as I would bet $100 she watched either football or baseball with BVZ on more than one occasion).

When she turned one, however, we introduced her to the joy and wonder that is Sesame Street. She loves it. Loves it so much that we have to spell S-E-S-A-M-E when we talk about it, because if she hears the actual words she looks at us with those big, blue, pleading eyes, climbs up on the big chair and says 'Elmo' about 9,000 times. She and Ruby watch together during their snack and are in seventh heaven.

Since my time is so limited with her now that I am back to work 80%, she doesn't watch it too much when I am around, but every once in a while we will snuggle down together and check it out. The show just celebrated its 40th anniversary and I have to say there are a lot of differences in the current show from the one that I remember and love.

There's the good:

1. The celebrity guests are awesome. The show does a great job of throwing out a little something for the adults. For example, the actor Will Arnett guest starred as a hapless magician (you will remember that he played a hapless magician on the best show ever invented--Arrested Development). Sesame even gave him the same theme song. Brilliant.

2. The show does a fabulous job of demonstrating multi-culturalism. The human characters are of different ethnicities and various cultures are routinely celebrated. There are handicapped kids as well.

3. Murray Has a Little Lamb. Murray is a monster and he and his lamb (who only speaks Spanish) go on fabulous adventures together.

4. The musical numbers. There are some great sequences with famous musicians who take one of their recognizable hits and modify the lyrics. Norah and Ruby love a Jason Mraz song, and low and behold, there is a Sesame equivalent. We watch this You Tube video very, very, very often:



But, I also have some complaints about the new show:

1. Abby Cadabby. I LOATHE Abby Cadabby. She is a 'fairy in training' and her voice kills me. She is a crazy popular character, though, so she is on all the time. There is even a segment entitled Abby's Flying Fairy School and it is animated. Animated? On Sesame Street? That totally defeats the purpose of Sesame. They are MUPPETS, not cartoons.

2. Elmo. Don't get me wrong, I like Elmo. He's super cute and Norah goes bananas for him. But he is in almost every scene, it seems. It is definitely the Elmo show.

3. Baby Bear. He's the dumbest muppet ever.

4. Claymation Bert and Ernie. I appreciate the fact that the show is trying to progress technologically, but c'mon. It's the muppets. LET THEM BE MUPPETS.

5. Lack of old school characters. It is very rare that I see Big Bird, Snuffie, Grover, Oscar the Grouch (although he's there more often than the others), Bert and Ernie, or the Count. And remember that awesome dude who used to get frustrated and bang his head against his piano??? He was awesome! And now he's nowhere to be found.

This is another of Norah's favorite videos. You can't imagine what it must be like to hear her boyfriend Elmo say her name over and over again....



So far, Sesame is the only thing that Norah has watched. I have checked out a few other shows, but I am not into any of them at all. Barney is not even an option, I think she's a little young for Yo Gabba Gabba, I am not into the religious message you get from the Veggie Tales (nothing wrong with it, just not for us) and both Dora and the Backyardigans are way too annoying. I am open to suggestions, for sure--would love to hear any ideas in the comments. I did get her a Curious George DVD this past weekend, so we'll see how that goes.

It got me thinking though, that when I was a kid the options were so much more manageable. We never had cable (oh, the injustice of it all!) and so when I was home sick it was PBS or nothing. That meant, Sesame, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, The Electric Company, The Letter People, or that awesome show that I can't for the life of me remember the name of (it was a woman who taught lessons about the human body and health issues. One of the more traumatizing things I ever saw on television was her show on why you should never play in old refrigerators you come across at the dump--you could get caught in one! And die!) And if you didn't happen to catch them when they came on, you lost out. Now, we have On Demand and DVR and Norah will grow up believing that any one of nine million shows will always be at her immediate disposal. I never thought I would say it, but there's something to be said about rabbit ears.

I wonder how old Norah has to be to start watching the Planet Earth series? I could watch those lions take down that elephant again and again and again....

(PS. Thanks to BabyKaboom for posting this great Feist song. We had somehow overlooked that one, but thanks to Lilah it is now in the regular rotation. Norah asks for it by doing the dance Feist does with the four chickens back from the shore).

Jr. Fire Fighters

One of the million reasons Pam is an awesome babysitter is the fact that she takes pictures of the girls during the day and sends them to me by text. It is literally the best part of my day to be at work totally engrossed in something and then hear my phone beep and know I am going to get to see Norah and one of her adventures.

It has been pouring rain all week, but Pam took advantage of a break in the downpour to get the girls out for a walk. The local fire truck was parked around the corner and soon enough, some firefighters were more than happy to chat with the girls and make them official Junior Fire Fighters. (Don't pay any attention to the fact that one of the nice gentlemen has a giant axe right by their heads....)

Norah came home proudly displaying her badge (a sticker) and insisted we put it on the fridge.

Na-nor and U-bee

This is what Ruby and Norah call each other. It's unbearably cute.

Going to the Gym

There's a new place in town for all the yuppies and their kids: U-Me. We checked it out this past weekend for free with our friends the Lahey-Jaffe family (they brought 3 week old Kevin--swoon!) and while we all enjoyed ourselves, there was no way we were going to pony up the $99/per month membership fee.





Blurry picture, but is there anything cuter than grown men jumping on a trampoline with their 18 month old daughters?

New Kicks

Good toddler shoes are shockingly expensive (like $50 a pop). So, Norah gets one pair per size and wears them every day. Any other shoes she has have either been gifts or I get them used. I have been dying to get her a pair of Converse, but I can't break my rule. I was stoked, then, to get an email from a mom in my neighborhood who has a daughter 6 months older than Norah and sells me her clothes on the cheap.

We match! (Don't worry, this is as far as it will ever go...)

The Library

In a feeble attempt to corral all of Norah's stuff, I made her a little 'library corner' in the living room. She has her big chair, and a side table loaded with books. She pulled up her baby stroller before she settled in the other morning. She didn't 'read' anything aloud to baby, so perhaps she and baby have some kind of awesome ESP.

Eighteen Months

Norah turned 18 months right after Christmas and I can't believe we have a kid on her way to two.

At her well-baby check up, she weighed in at a lean 22.7 lbs (which is around, like, um, the 23%). She was almost 34 inches, which puts her in the 78% for height. She still has a big, giant head--I don't even pay attention to the numbers anymore. Less than a week before her appointment she had a touch of a bug (or something) that resulted in 2 days of disgusting diapers and a diminished appetite, so I am thinking were it not for that, she would have been well over 23 lbs. At any rate, I am trying to look at the bright side of things--she can be a supermodel and support me in the life in which I plan to become accustomed to....

But most importantly, she's happy and healthy and we couldn't ask for anything more. (I have come to accept the fact that it is perfectly normal for a toddler to eat like a teenage boy one day, and have 2 molecules of food the next. I get it.)

She's just a big bundle of awesomeness these days. She talks (adds a new word to her vocabulary almost every day), runs, twirls, dances, and demands that her music be played at all times. (And by 'her' music I mean the Dinosaur Song, a Grateful Dead CD that BVZ gave her for Christmas, and the latest Kelly Clarkson. That's her rotation.) She has the best sense of humor--and laughs at stuff that is legitimately funny (like farts). She's very into independently playing these days (thank you, play kitchen), and can entertain herself for hours (okay, 12 minutes).

She can't get enough of books or my iphone, tries to climb in the dryer everytime it is open, and has broken 2 portable CD players. She is so interested in how things work and is mesmorized by anything electronic or mechanical. She loves people watching, and can't get enough of other kids. She gives the best hugs and kisses you could every possibly imagine. She's a complete and total love bug.

She has learned how to take her clothes off, as well as her diaper, and spends many an evening after dinner walking around in the buff. She demands to eat with a spoon and fork although not much food makes it from the plate to the utensil to her mouth. She prefers a real cup to a sippy cup and now knows how to get a towel and clean up what she spills (which is a lot).

I am astounded everyday by what she understands. I was sorting through some stuff in her room last weekend and said 'Ah, Norie. What I really need is that empty box from the living room.' Next thing I knew she was dragging it into her room with a big smile on her face. I can't wait to exploit this.

It would take me hours and hours to describe all the neat things she's doing and how much we love her. She's the best part of my day, the best part of our world.