Norah is
4.5! She's growing up into a delightful and beautiful girl. She only
has a few preschool sessions left before summer break- the year went
so quickly! We couldn't be happier with how it went. We thought it
would be harder for her than it was, but she has enjoyed it a lot and
is eager to go each time. Her teachers say she has grown a lot
socially, in engaging with others and interacting
peacefully/cooperatively, which is awesome and the main reason why we
wanted to send her to preschool. Her teachers have been very sweet.
She has also done 3 year old Sunday school again this year (to be in
with her grade level; she is old for her class) and Kindermusik, and
both of those have been great too. Kindermusik is 35 minutes alone
and the parents join in for the last 10- it's a wonderful class and
she's learned a lot about music!
Norah is
a protective sister and always makes sure they are safe outside.
Overall they play quite well together as sisters. Occasionally Norah
is a pest, as older siblings can be sometimes as the bigger/older
one, but it's so sweet to watch them together having fun. She goes
back and forth between who she plays with more, and it's fun to watch
her capitalize on their interests, like she reads more books to
Ellory and chases more with Lucy, which is what they like! Norah can
have some sass when she wants and very occasionally throws a big
tantrum or has a time out, but overall she is well behaved and a good
listener.
Norah is
a pretty good eater, but sometimes needs encouragement to eat more,
and definitely needs encouragement to take her vitamins! She loves
noodles most, and often requests a turkey and cheese sandwich for
lunch. She would eat way too many chips if we let her. We try to have
limited screen time and we monitor what she watches (mainly just the
PBS app), but she likes her screen time (also just to have down
time), and I'm amazed at how much she learns/retains. She'll spout
things sometimes that she learns, like Celsius and Fahrenheit. Norah
loves to play outside and wants to be out often, especially playing
with our neighbor friend Elizabeth. She loves to swing, go to the
park, ride bike, scooter, chalk, and sand box. She has been really
into rhyming words. She used to ask a lot what rhymes with something,
but now will tell us her own words that rhyme. She can make pretty
extensive towns, cities, buildings, etc. She can identify 1-10 and
some teens, and can count to 29 (and then usually goes 2011, 2012,
etc.), knows all her shapes and colors, writes her name (still
practicing writing N the correct way instead of backwards), and loves
to pretend write (like scribble notes, but goes from top to bottom
and left to right). She has had good pencil grip for a long time. She
can identify about half the alphabet and knows that letters make
sounds, but doesn't connect which sound goes with which letter yet.
It's fun to watch her drawing advancement as she draws people, but
she usually only draws one at a time- I can't wait for her to draw a
family picture! She has an excellent memory and is very good at
retelling stories.
Norah's
favorite toys are baby dolls for sure. She also loves to color and do
crafts, which usually involves creating something with paper, colors,
scissors, and a glue stick. Norah's night terrors and waking to go to
the bathroom have lessoned a lot, though still occasionally happen.
Norah rarely naps anymore, but does great with having a rest time in
her room. If she does nap (a couple times a month), it takes her
awhile to fall asleep at night. Sometimes she still calls us by our
first names (still don't know why she ever started that), but
encouraging her to call us mom and dad. She says funny things
sometimes, like she said one day that Troy Bolton was her boyfriend,
asked why Ellory had an eye mustache (referring to her eyebrows), and
said that Heaven would be better if it had Tulip Festival. She's
really excited for that coming up in a couple weeks! Norah enjoys the
activities she's involved in, but she also is a homebody and says she
misses her bed every time we sleep away from home. She also loves to
have pajama days when we don't have to go anywhere!
Norah,
being your parents is the best. It's stretching at times, but the
greatest thing we've done and brings so much joy and light. We love
you so!
