Happy Birthday Cal & Patti

Two years ago this Wednesday, our good friends Jenny & Daniel welcomed their sweet son and daughter into their family. Happy Birthday Cal & Patti! Last Saturday, we went over to the mini-amusement park that is the Livingston's backyard and to celebrate with the twins' 2nd birthday.

Norah had a blast swinging. (She was saying "Weeee!"at the time that this picture was taken.

The party's theme was "Dirt & Daisies" and Jenny did an awesome job with decorations, party favors, and especially these adorable cakes!

They even had a sandbox filled with shovels and rakes. (Here Norah is with her own improv rendition of the soon-to-be hit, "I Love Yard Implements")

Speaking of birthdays....Daddy's is tomorrow! We're planning a family dinner at the farm (.50 pizza rolls at Buck's...yum!)

My Dirtiest Post Yet

It's been beautiful outside, so I decided to try a little yard work. I've been wanting a cut flower garden in the backyard (so it wont be an eyesore from the street when I cut all the blooms...or if nothing ever grows in it and we're left with a big mud pit). Being the mother of a 1 year-old, I had 2 options: 1)Leave my child inside where I can be certain her finger nails will remain dirt-free (and listen to her pitiful cries brought on by my insensitivity to her love of the great outdoors), or 2)Suck it up and let her come out with me, dirt and all.





As you've probably gathered by the pictures, I went with option 2. I like to call this series of pictures, "Why We Don't Let a 1 Year-Old Garden". Actually, I guess they could also be called, "Why You Should Totally Let Your 1 Year-Old Garden". I mean, look at her. She's having the time of her life in that mud! I'd say a little more than her fingernails got dirty. (And for the record, her clothes came perfectly clean in the wash! Shout rocks!)



The hardest part, by far, of the whole ordeal was getting her clean. I had just cleaned the house spotless the day before (hence my having time to fiddle with gardening). The post-gardening house had a trail of mud-droppings from the backdoor to the bathtub. More dirt rained down from her filthy clothes as I stripped her down for a bath. The water...yeah....pretty well black. We had to drain and start again. But in the end, she was clean. And it was a fun adventure for both of us. Totally worth it.

Happy Belated Easter

Ok, AA, you demanded Easter pictures...so here you go. This was the coldest Easter I can ever remember! I was so glad I had bought Norah a little white sweater to go with her Easter dress. Jason and I both opted out of wearing our Easter duds, in exchange for something a lot warmer.

We tried to get a sweet picture of Norah in her blue Easter dress...this is the best we came up with. We made the mistake of waiting until after her nap, after church, so she was full of energy and in a super silly mood. I know it looks like she's screaming, but in actuality, she's fake laughing. She has this hilarious shrieking laugh that she only does when she's feeling especially cantankerous. Mom R once described to me how funny it is to watch a baby rooster teaching itself how to crow...I have to imagine that it must, in some small way, resemble a baby girl teaching herself how to belly laugh. Somewhat painful looking, but proud, and amused, all at the same time. (Not to mention very entertaining to onlookers)

Norah was certainly spoiled this Easter. Friday, Grammy gave her a sweet necklace with her initials engraved on it. (interesting enough, though her initials in monogram format spell NRA...this was unintentional and the Robinsons currently have no affiliation with the National Rifle Association) Then Saturday, a mysterious FedEx box appeared on our doorstep, containing 4 stuffed (non-edible, and thankfully, non-sticky) Peeps! Norah knew just what they were because she almost immediately started saying, "Peep! Peep!" when we opened the box. (I was glad AA, aka Peep Provider, was on the phone with us at the time to witness this sweet sound). The box the peeps came in had some fun facts. Did you know it originally took 27 hours to make ONE peep!? Crazy. Sounds to me like the guys making the first batch must've really liked peeps. I'll bet they finally got tired of eating the product after 27 hours, so they said, "Ok! They're finally ready. Whew! Those take forever to make!" when their boss showed up to see what was taking so long.

Sunday, we headed out to Uncle Grant and Aunt Paige's house (you wouldn't believe how much the guineas have grown!) for Easter lunch. Grandma (aka Mom R) had a sweet Easter basket chocked full of goodies for Norah...and one for Jason and me too! (Its nice to not have to grow out of all the fun stuff)

In other news, I'm still hard at work hand-quilting on Norah's quilt and it is really coming along. (Hence the less-frequent blog updates...sorry) I can't wait to post that I've finished it...but don't hold your breath! In the mean time, I'll at least try to keep the Norah updates coming.

Fun on the Farm

I'm a little behind in posting, but here are the promised photos of Norah's evening at the Robinson Place (which, thanks to the efforts of Uncle Grant and Aunt Paige, is beginning to look more and more like a farm)

This first shot is of Norah and Daddy on Uncle Grant's big, orange tractor.








This is Norah's first glance at real, live goats. Jason is feeding the baby kid, while a wide-eyed Norah looks on.








She got a closer look at the goats a little later, when Uncle Grant and Daddy lured them in with some leafy tree branches. Those goats made short work of every leaf in the amount of time it took me to snap one picture!






Norah loved peering through the slats in the gate. She was mesmerized by all the animals. But her favorite still remained the doggies! She'd look at the chicks and the goats, but she'd always wander back to the dogs.














Daddy let Norah try out the tractor bucket. She thought it was a fun place to play for a few seconds, but then, perhaps sensing potential abandonment, she decided she didn't like it in there.



We even got a 4-generation photo with the tractor. (L-R: Grandma, Great Grandmother, Norah, and Jason)







Daddy devised a clever new way to keep Norah in check. Too bad it only works when she's wearing overalls. (She loved when he picked her up like this!)













She also really liked being hoisted up on Daddy's shoulders. I thought this was a sweet picture of the two of them.










As we headed home, we hadn't even driven a mile before Norah completely zonked out! It was a long, but very fun day. I'm sure we'll make many more good memories at the Robinson Farm, and I hope that Norah will grow-up to appreciate the time we are able to share with our family there.

Found...

Found:
One set of missing car keys. After a thorough search of the entire house and all of the "usual" places, a suburban mother, who shall remain nameless, finally discovered her keys in the left toe of her husband's work boot. It is her assumption that either her husband wished her to stay home today, or her toddler has discovered a fun, new way to torment her. She's leaning toward the latter.

13 Evidences She's Growing Like a Weed

Norah amazes me nearly every day with something new she's figured out. Jason and I spend about 1/3 of our evenings discussing what new thing she's into, and another 1/3 witnessing her latest antics (which still leaves a little time for other stuff). I decided this week I'd devote my 13 to some of the things she's learning/saying/doing that I don't want to forget when she's older and I can't remember a time when these weren't "big feats".

(And I owe Jason credit for the photo idea...he saw Norah plop down by this big dandelion and said, "That'd be great for your blog--to show how she's growing like a weed". Good call, babe!)

1. Paci De-tox. No, we aren't completely off the plug, but it is at least reserved for bed-time only. (Ok, and maybe as an act of desperation if she's a little too chatty in church) Norah seems to understand and be completely ok with this. When I go to get her out of her crib, I tell her, "Put your paci in your bed" and she throws it (with impressive force for a 14-month old) right in. Sometimes she does it without even being asked. I was most impressed when she came into the living room carrying a pacifier that she'd scavenged from some dark corner of our house, and upon my instructing her to "Go put that paci in your bed", she obediently turned around without a fuss, walked straight to her room, and tossed it in her crib. (And yes, there was definitely adequate praise given to her for her act of obedience!)
2. Manners Matter. We're working on our "Pwee" and "Tahk oooo". Right now, I rarely get both in the same sitting, but she does usually say one or the other, so that's at least a start.
   
3. Toothbrush Recall. Norah's always enjoyed brushing her teeth, but I used to have to fight her to give her toothbrush back when it was time to put it away. (We always brush our teeth together, so when I finish brushing, I tell her she's done, to0) When I finish brushing my teeth, I rinse my brush and then tap it three times on the sink (to shake excess water off). Its a habit I've had for most of my life--maybe everyone else does it, I don't know, but its always three taps and into the toothbrush holder. Well, this week, I guess it clicked with Norah that three taps signify time to hand over her toothbrush, because without being prompted, she's been giving hers to me as soon as she hears me tap.
   
4. She's into blowing kisses. This is one of my favorite things to watch her do. She doesn't really pucker much, but she says, "Muah!" really loud, and it melts my heart every time.
5. 2-Word Phrases. So far, we've had 3, to date. The first was, "Bye-bye, Daddy". (Spoken as Jason went into the backyard to practice disc golf putting.) The next was "More Nana". (Which was really funny, considering she hadn't had any bananas with her dinner that night, but you'd better believe we gave her one after she asked for it and pointed to the top of the fridge where I keep them!) The third was a couple of nights ago, when we were heading home from dinner with some friends, she said, "Bye-bye, baby" to her 3-month-old buddy, Carter.
   
6. She knows how to clean-up. From toys to easter eggs, to the uneaten food on her high chair tray (I dont make her clean her plate, but she does have to put the excess food back on it before she can get down), she is really getting the hand of "clean-up time".
7. She knows trash...sort of. When I fold laundry in my room, Norah always wants to help, so we've devised a few things to keep her busy. For one, I always knot the dyer sheet that comes out with my loud of laundry, and hand it to her with instructions to, "Put it in the trash". She complies by throwing it away in the nearby bathroom trashcan, and is always proud to have done her part. This morning, I was making my bed, and she brought me a t-shirt (she knew I was still in my PJs and was trying to help me get dressed). I told her thank you, and then asked her to put it on the table (I have a bench at the foot of my bed). Seeming to understand, she took the shirt from me, turned around, and walked away...but she passed the bench, rounded the corner into the bathroom, and was just about to toss my clean t-shirt into the trash when I intercepted it and realized that to a 14-month old, "table" and "trash" probably do sound a lot alike.
8. She can close most any door. I've had lots of trouble with Norah getting into cabinets all over the house. Thankfully, I discovered a good way to keep her out. She's recently grasped the concept of "close the door". So when she tries to get into the cabinets under the sink, I just tell her "No-no. Close the door" and she proudly does so. This trick also works for when she gets into the open dishwasher that I'm in the process of loading, or if she gets curious about the shower door that was accidentally left ajar.
   
9. Her feet are growing (finally!). After nearly a year of being stuck in size 1, in a month's time, she's moved onto a size 2, and is almost ready for a 3! Its nice to finally grow into some of the great hand-me-down shoes we've been given!
10. She's a good eater. She will try anything we put on her plate, and usually, she'll eat all that she's been given. A few nights ago we showed her how she could eat black olives off her finger tips (and no, we generally don't endorse playing with her food) and she thought that was about the funniest thing she'd ever seen. We are so proud to take her to a restaurant because she is well-behaved and doesn't make much of a mess (and what little mess she makes, we take care of for her).
    
11. She tells us when she's tired. If she gets a little fussy in the day, I can ask her if she wants to go night-night, and if she's tired (which is almost always), she'll reply "Nye nye". (Jason and I love hearing her say this--it is so sweet!) I was so jealous of my friend Jenny, who's sweet little girl, Patti would enter the room at 8pm and announce, "Nye Nye" when she was ready to be put to bed...and finally Norah has grown into it, too!
12. We pray before we eat. 6 months ago I thought we'd never be able to bypass her voracious appetite to pray...but we've been working at it, and she's doing great!
13. She knows her way around the kitchen. There are several things in my kitchen that Norah truly loves-- a giant, red, plastic bowl a metal, collapsible vegetable steamer; and a blue roll of shop paper towels. She knows where all three are kept, and helps herself whenever I'm in the kitchen. (Once again, I think she feels this is her way of doing "her part". After all, if she didn't unroll the blue paper towels, who else would?)
    

Some (Early) Easter Fun

Saturday morning we took Norah to our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt. They had a mini petting zoo with a basket-full of baby chicks and ducks (and you know how Norah loves her dut-tees), as well as a couple of floppy-eared bunnies.











Norah decided within a few moments of arriving that she didn't like the $1 Easter basket that Mommy had provided her with. Instead, she spent much of the duration of the day trying to commandeer another little boy's duck-shaped Easter basket. (Thankfully his mom was a very good sport!)

















When the petting line thinned out, Norah got to pet a little black chick (just like one of Uncle Grant's)















And a bunny....























But we're pretty sure the baby duck was her favorite.














She even gave it a completely un-prompted little kiss!

And then there was the Easter Egg Hunt. Norah was the youngest one in her division (0-3 years old...there weren't any 0-year olds...go figure!) As you can see from the first picture, where she's walking right past a perfectly good egg, we got off to a slow start. However, the second picture is proof that she did get the hang of it. (And I was surprised that she actually knew to put the eggs in the basket that Daddy was holding for her)



We had to laugh though. After hunting about 3 eggs, she decided it was time to sit down, in the middle of the egg-filled grass, to open and inspect her eggs. (Jason's mom said that she inherited this style of hunting 1-egg, then opening, from her daddy) What was even funnier to me, was the fact that when she opened her eggs, she'd throw the "prize" on the ground. All she was interested in was the egg. It was way more entertaining to her than the candy or stickers!

It was an all-around fun morning, but this picture was one of my favorite moments of the day. To the left is just a small portion of the kids and the HUGE group picture that they were trying to take. And then there's Norah, running for her life. This was attempt 2 of 4 to escape the humiliation of the group Easter photo. Thankfully, Janice Garner was close by to corral her, and finally bribed her to stay put, by giving her a push toy to stand with (brilliant!). Oh well..at least she didn't put a bucket on her head.