Norah recently.

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!