Norah- Twenty Three Months.

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!)