Norah recently 2/10/17.

We have been trying hard to treasure up these moments as just the three of us before we very soon become the five of us- can't believe it! I had an inner bucket list in my head of wanting to do all these fun things with Norah before the twins come, and I think we've done a pretty good job. In the last few months we have visited our local Kid's Gym, the bakery for donuts, Chuck E. Cheese's, the indoor pool (including going once at night so Daddy could come and take Norah down the big waterslides!), and had lots of playdates and trips to her regular favorites like Kindermusik class and the Babygarten class at the library.

I mentioned that Norah transitioned to her big girl room/bed in my last update, and that is still going very well! She likes her room and enjoys showing it off to anyone who will look. She sleeps well in it and stays put, which we are so thankful for. Her latest big change was potty training! She has now been potty trained for about a month. It was exhausting for a few days, but so worth it and we are proud of how well she is doing! We started off naked, then loose pants, then added underwear last, and I'd recommend that method. She is now in full time underwear, even for naps. She still wears a diaper to bed at night, but has been dry about half the time now and sometimes wakes up in the night to go to the bathroom. She does pretty well with saying when she needs to go, but still needs reminders sometimes (because when she says she needs to go she needs to get there quickly!). We are very glad she picked up on it rather quickly and that we got it done before the twins arrival. She has Minnie underwear and loves them!

Norah is excited for the twins to come and understands that there are two babies in my belly, as much as a two year old can. She has enjoyed getting baby things out and will say hello to them in my belly and says that she wants them to come out so she can rock them. She's still learning about genders, so when people ask if she wants sisters or brothers, she usually just offers a blank stare. She doesn't really understand naming yet either (she still calls all of her dolls "baby"), but her suggestions so far have been, "mama and daddy," "Kley and Kelsey," "sister and brother," and "Samuel," who is a boy in her music class.

Norah is getting really good at retelling stories and remembers quite a bit of detail. She sings many songs and can "read" several of her favorite books pretty accurately. She still counts to 13 and then keeps repeating, and still spells her name NORH. We have been working on tracing some letters and learning a letter each week. She is getting better with colors, but still mixes them up. She used to say that everything was red, and now says most things are blue, but will occasionally throw in other colors. Her favorite color is blue and she almost always chooses blue when coloring/painting. She knows a good amount of shapes- circle, oval, square, diamond, star, and heart. She would never do this in public, but at home she likes to sing into Kley's microphones and will sing quite loudly. Kley has taught her a lot about music, and she can identify several different instruments, even by their sound on the radio.

She recently went to the dentist and did very well! She was scared but handled it bravely and didn't cry. All of her two year old molars are in now. For awhile, three were coming in and the fourth one was slow. A few months ago, she complained for a couple days about her mouth hurting before they ever popped, but that was it and she's never complained again.

A new favorite game is hide and seek, and she's understanding the two different roles and thinks it's so funny. She now smiles on command for the camera and even looks, though not every single time. It's a fake, cheesy smile, but still adorable. She says that her best friend is Ainsley (a friend we babysit a few days a week). Just recently they've started to fight a bit more, but for the most part they get along really well and she loves it when she comes over. She understands/repeats so much- you really have to be careful what you say in front of her, both in good ways and bad. She will repeat you, and also you can't talk about anything fun or exciting unless it's going to happen, because she remembers. Like when we went swimming with Daddy, I had commented at the pool a couple weeks before that it would be fun to come back sometime with him, and she brought it up numerous times for weeks about wanting to do that. She remembers things from weeks/months ago and will bring it up in conversation. She is an excellent communicator, and many people have commented on that. She usually speaks pretty clearly and I very rarely have times I don't know what she is saying. She regularly speaks in 5+ word sentences, and I've even counted a few 7 word sentences.

She doesn't throw a huge amount of tantrums, but when she does she gets pretty upset. Thankfully, they are usually fairly short lived and at home just for us, and she will bring it up matter of factly latter like, "I was crying about ___" with a funny look on her face like she doesn't know what got into her. For the most part, she is a great listener and follows directions well. She loves to help with things (literally even scrubbing toilets; she likes to clean), and is good at cleaning up her toys. Her favorite things are her doctor kit, Bitty Babies, making eggs and coffee/tea in her play kitchen, brushing her hair and mine, Kindermusik, Kid's Gym, trampoline, watching youtube videos on the Ipad, watercolor painting, and helping me bake/cook (especially mixing things). She's sneaky and cute about what she wants and when she wants to jump on the trampoline or watch the Ipad she will ask "for just a couple minutes." She does this with stalling her bedtime routine too when asking for her "you make me happy when skies are gray" song again, a prayer from each of us (in addition to the one we already said when reading her Bible story), a hug, kiss, back rub, and massage (yes, both a back rub AND a massage). It's pretty cute though, and how can we say no to extra prayers and kisses?

Norah, you are a light in our lives and we love you so much!