Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Not to worry, we’re doing well, quite well! Apologies for the service interruption — but c’mon, we bought a house and lots of other fun stuff!

The Good Stuff

Enough excuses, on to the good stuff. And there’s a LOT of good stuff! As usual, Nora’s constantly keeping us on our toes. Whether it’s coloring with crayons on things that she shouldn’t be coloring on (more on this later) or jumping on her trampoline (yes, we have a trampoline now) while clutching to her piggie asking for big jumps there’s never a dull moment in our lives.

This is Nora’s first time behind the wheel of a fire truck! She got right down to business hitting switches and trying to beep beep the horn.

What’s New

Firstly, Nora talks. A lot. It’s still a surprise to hear her repeat something I haven’t said in a month. Instead of sitting in the back of the car flipping through a book and occasionally making a peep she’ll often point out the buses on the road and the planes and helicopters in the sky and the puppies walking down the sidewalk and the stars on the Star Market signs. There’s actual conversation, too. Talking about what we just did, what we did last week, what we’re going to do when we get home. It’s not just reactive, either. She’ll often suggest, “How about…milky?!” (often said as I handed her a sippy cup full of water and as she and Mimi started to leave the park one day). She’s starting to be able to tell us what’s bothering her now, a nice change of pace from simply whining ;-) “I helpa you, okay!” (actually her asking US for help). Oi — so much fun!

Nora DOES a lot. She, among other things, sings, draws and jumps on trampolines. She bakes cookies (pretend cookies, of course). She goes down slides like it’s something she’s always done. She shares, she plays with blocks, she reads, she cracks up at funny situations in movies or cartoons. We build spooky houses, draw happies, suns, trees, kitties and fishies. Suffice to say that she’s full of ideas for things to do inside on a rainy day.

Intrsts

For better or for worse Nora’s been watching a handful of movies including Finding Nemo and a few others. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we could probably quote nearly the entire movie. Like most intrsts, though, it waxes and wanes as time ticks on. These days she’s more likely to happily coax me to come play in the kitchen (her word for the play room) where we’ll read books or jump on the trampoline or play with piranhas. Yes, real piranhas. Real piranhas that have been stuffed inside of a marble ;-)

Speaking of books, she’s still quite the reader. It’s interesting to observe the pattern of books that become favorites for a while and then slowly fade from intrst. I can’t think of a better way to spend my weekend mornings than reading to her, but what’s even more fun is watching Nora decide what book we’re going to read next. It’s fascinating to watch the decision making process! For the parents, the icing on the cake will always be the fond memories we have of sitting there with her on the floor as she turns the pages like a big girl and, occasionally, helps us read a sentence or two.

Noraffiti

Enough said. Keep your colorable valuables off of the floor and, preferably, out of Nora’s reach. Nothing is safe.

On The Horizon

It still sounds surreal — pre-school! Nora’s now officially registered to start next Fall. Admittedly, we were on the fence about it. In the end we decided that it’s going to be better for her to start then rather than wait a full year and be nearly 4 years old. That’s all we have to say about it as we’re still dealing with the enormity of our little baby girl going to school :-(

Walk in the woods!

Daddy and Nora recently went for a super fun walk in the woods! We didn’t see the diverse array of wildlife that had been promised, but we did get some fresh air, some good exercise and an appreciation for just how big (read: heavy) Nora is these days. We didn’t go it alone, we had great company in the Sherson family (sans matriarch) including the Emma, the dog. Nora seems to long for her time spent in the wilderness recalling, “Oooooh a walk in the wooooodsss”. Needless to say I think (hope) we’ll be spending more time in the woods!

I’ll Leave You With One Thought

That’s right, Nora dressed up as Princess Leia for Halloween this year :-D