Norah,
you are almost two! Thinking about you turning two doesn't make me as
sad as thinking about you turning one. It's sad to see your baby days
go, but it is so much fun to watch you grow up. You are turning in to
such a big girl! Watching your communication and understanding grow
is amazing. You are the sweetest girl and we are so glad you are
ours! The other night, I had to go to a church meeting, and you gave
me a big hug, kiss, and told me you loved me!
Schedule/Eating-
Basically the same. Norah still
sleeps great, though sometimes wakes up earlier, so is only sleeping
about 10.5 hours a night instead of 11. We added a pillow to her crib
to try to slowly get her ready for moving to a big bed; she likes it!
She occasionally throws it out onto the floor, but usually keeps it
in. She sometimes falls asleep on it, but never stays on it the whole
night. I guess she likes sleeping flat. She still naps well (goes
down about 1:15-1:30 still), which I love! Usually she naps for 2-2.5
hours, but could be 1.5 on a short day or 3 on a long day.
Norah
has gotten so much better with feeding herself! She even ate yogurt
all by herself the other night and only spilled a couple drips on her
belly. She still doesn't eat a ton, but eats enough I guess! We try
not to do snacks often to try to help her eat better meals. She still
doesn't like to eat much for breakfast. It's funny how back and forth
kids go sometimes, like she used to love fruit snacks, but now
doesn't anymore. Or she used to love bananas and grapes, then didn't
like them for a couple months, and now likes them again. Funny girl!
Her current favorite foods are chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese,
cheese, and oreos.
Words-
Many people say that Norah
speaks quite well for her age, and we agree! Norah is shy in new/some
public settings, but talks a lot to people she knows. She sometimes
mixes words up, and it's pretty adorable. She says “morning” for
mowing, and for some reason she says “purple” when she wants to
sit up on the counter. I have no idea where she got that from, and
she knows how to say counter and says it in different contexts. She
often mixes up you and me, like saying, “carry you” when she
means, “carry me.” Mostly, though, she uses words accurately, but
it's just fun to remember what they mix up because it's cute and
won't last forever! Norah likes to say, “Mmm, like it!” when she
likes something she's eating.
Developments-
Norah's memory is amazing. She
remembers many things and will tell stories or bring up things that
happened awhile ago. She can remember and answer questions about
things that happened awhile ago too, not just about immediate things
like before. She is just so smart! Grandparents say that nothing gets
past you! You are in tune with what's happening around you and love
to take the world in.
Norah
has started singing so much more this month and it's one of my
favorites! She loves to sing Praise Ye the Lord, Itsy Bitsy Spider,
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Jesus Loves Me most. She likes to do
Ring Around the Rosie too, but when she sings it, all she sings is,
“ashes, ashes” in the most nasal sound. It's funny! Babygarten
and her Kindermusik class have started again in the fall and she is
enjoying them! She loves to talk about going to “class” and gets
excited to go. We went to story time at the library, which we don't
usually go to, and they sat on their own carpet squares, and Norah
just walked up and sat down, and turned around and smiled at me and
said, “class” like she was so happy to be there. She still
doesn't like being away from us (the nursery still is a no go!), but
she will venture farther away from me during these classes than she
used to.
Norah
loves to help with things. She is so sweet and will almost help with
anything. She loves to help get the vacuum out and plug it in, put
things in the recycling, take the garbage or recycling to the curb,
wipe counters, sweep, and put clothes in the laundry. I really think
physical touch is her love language. She loves to give people hugs,
and wants to give her friends kisses. When she's upset, she's started
to ask for hugs to help her calm down. She'll also ask for a Kleenex
when she's crying. I don't think time outs will be an effective
discipline for her later, which is okay with me. I love her sweet
heart and it's neat to figure out what works best for her own
personality. She has also started patting people's backs when hugging
them and saying, “Pals.” It's adorable!
Norah
is doing great on the potty! She poops consistently, which is
awesome! Sometimes we still have to watch her for signs if we are
out, because she doesn't like to say she needs to go when we aren't
at home, but I think she pooped in the potty every time this last
month. She's also started peeing in the potty a few more times too.
She has started realizing the difference between the two, and will
sometimes ask to go potty vs. poopy. Sometimes she says she has to go
potty and she sits down and never goes, but at least something is
starting to click.
We
have been practicing letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. She is
getting better about remembering! She still says most things are red,
but just yesterday she pointed to a dog and said it was white. She
doesn't have long term recall of them yet, but is starting to
remember more at the end of the week, because we practice one of each
per week, so by the end of the week she usually knows most. She
spells her name ORH and likes to practice “writing” it. She is
getting better at counting- we've heard her count 123, 567, and 9,
10, 11, 12 before, so she's learning the order.
Favorites-
Norah loves to watch a video on
our phones whenever she gets the chance, especially ones about farms.
We try to limit it, but she loves to watch a few minutes when daddy
gets home from work. We went apple picking at a friends farm earlier
this month, and Norah loved it and has brought it up numerous times
since then. Norah loves to play outside, and specifically go to the
park. She loves to play the piano, sing, read books, and play with
her baby. She is so sweet with her baby! One of her new favorite toys
is legos and she loves to build towers. She usually picks a favorite
book and wants to read that one a lot for awhile. She loves animals-
books, songs, saying their sounds, pointing out animals, etc. But she
doesn't love to get to close to them in person! Norah has also gotten
really into coloring this month, which I am so happy about. I always
dreamed of coloring with my daughter!
(She was eating a candy corn!)
This was such a fun update! Norah is so smart!!
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