Norah recently.

Norah is getting so grown up. Sometimes it seems like she's older than she is with her language, understanding, memory, and reasoning skills, but the occasional sassiness or tantrum keeps us in check that she is still three, and we are happy about that and content where we are! It's so much fun to be blessed with the front seat to watching her learn and develop.

Norah starts three-year-old preschool this fall two mornings a week. She is very excited about it and points out the building every time we pass it. She already picked out a dark blue backpack with rainbow colored hearts. I think she will do great and I will probably have a harder time than her! I think she will get nervous as it gets closer, but it will be good for her once she gets used to it. She knows all of her colors, shapes, knows that each letter has an uppercase and lowercase, knows some letters and a few sounds, and can name some words that start with certain letters. She loves to ask what words start with. She is practicing writing her name- she can write an individual mark for each letter, and is really good at writing an N and o. She knows her full name, is learning the difference between cities/states/countries, knows her birthday and my phone number, and so many things it's hard to write them all. Reading books with her is so much fun, as she's getting older and can read a bit longer books and can absorb more. Reading before bed with her is one of my favorite things. She sometimes prays on her own and sometimes says she doesn't want to, and her favorite things to thank God for are baby dolls and bounce houses.

Norah is a wonderful big sister. She has her moments, of course, of typical things like not wanting them to ruin her creations or being a little too rough when she forgets she's still a lot bigger than them, but for the most part they interact really positively together. Hearing them laugh together is my favorite! Norah is very protective of them, especially outside with being so sensitive about Lucy and Ellory getting too close to the road. She loves to get in their cribs with them when they wake up and frequently says that she loves them.

Norah definitely eats the least of the three of them, and her favorite food is macaroni and cheese. She also loves granola bars, snack foods like pretzels or goldfish, oreos, and chips (though we try to moderate those things!). I wouldn't say she's a picky eater, she just doesn't eat a lot. She recently likes to make her own sandwiches. Norah hasn't had an accident in a very long time, like a full year. Occasionally she still asks for help in the bathroom, but I think that's just for attention, because she's very capable of going independently and does often. She had another yeast infection a few months back and that really threw her for about a month (with lots of trips to the bathroom), but thankfully she's back to normal now. She is even sleeping through the night a lot more! (She used to wake up almost every single night at least once to go to the bathroom.) We are trying to go to bed earlier to get ready for preschool (like (9-9:30 instead of 10-10:30), but we are still a night owl family. She sometimes wants to do things independently, like get dressed or put her shoes on, but sometimes still wants help too. She's just starting to transition to not napping, but it's going well. She still sleeps most days, but even when she doesn't she still has quiet time in her room and just plays with her books/animals/babies. If she does nap, she takes awhile to fall asleep at night, but if she doesn't she falls asleep quickly. Currently she naps about 75% and doesn't 25%.

Norah loves to color and paint, play with dolls, help with cooking/baking/doing dishes, watch PBS kids on her iPad for her screen time, and play outside. She loves anything outside- walks, bike rides (on her own bike and the tandem bike with dad), sand box, chalk, park, swings, and loves to play with her neighbor friend Elizabeth. The girls got their first cousin in June and Norah loves to hold her and does so well! Norah got a short haircut a couple months ago and it's super cute. She did swim lessons this summer and did so well. She was learning beginning strokes and gained a lot of confidence in the water. She was willingly putting her head under at the end! She also went to the dentist and they did more intensive things like use the scraper/cleaner and tried to get x-rays and Norah was so brave! Norah, you bring so much love and joy to our family. We are so thankful you are ours!