High Heel Training

Norah loves shoes. Not just since the tile incident. She's a big-time girly-girl when it comes to accessories...so when I saw her new use for her rings, my first thought was, "High Heel Training?" She pranced all around the living room with her green and yellow pumps with surprising grace. (Not too sure where she got that gene--it surely wasn't me and I really don't think Jason would want credit for this particular skill)

Give the Girl an Inch...

Norah has always been intrigued by our fireplace. From the time she was big enough to pull up, she's been trying to climb up there, perhaps in an effort to unearth the contents of the mysterious trunk, thereon. (Which I'm sure she'd be disappointed to know, only contains throw blankets). So, it was no surprise that she posed proudly for me when she managed to climb up and take a seat there. Now, Jason and I don't normally let Norah play around the fire place (brick is just so hard to fall and hit your head on), but since she was sitting so quietly, I decided to give her an inch. I'm sure you can imagine what ensued, but for my own pleasure, I'll bore you with the details.

First, there was a lively game of "Up/Down". I'd say that lasted for about 5 minutes, and no, I'm not exaggerating. Up until now, Norah's really had a hard time getting up and down onto the fireplace (probably because we haven't given her much time to practice). But yesterday, she figured out the finesse of turning herself around and slowly lowering her legs until her feet can almost hit the floor, then letting go. That opened her eyes to a whole new world! She was extremely proud of this accomplishment.

Next, came a celebratory round of "Weeee!", which though at first glance may look like a frightened attempt at choreographing "Surfin' Safari", was actually just Norah performing squats on the fireplace ledge, while shouting, "Weee!" This particular game was short-lived, because it was just a little too stressful to watch and mean Mommy pulled the plug.



So, finally, before making her get down, I gave her instructions to "Smile Pretty" and this is the picture we came up with. Cutie pie. Of course, she wasn't smiling like this later last night when she attempted to summit Mt. Fireplace again, without permission, and she got into big trouble with Daddy. Uh-oh. It was truly all my fault for letting her bend the rules during the day. Guess I'd better stick to more consistent parenting, or the poor girl wont know what she's allowed to do!

Play Date H20

This morning I took Norah to a play date with our good friends Bonnie & Kellen, Cal & Patti, and Shelby. It was our first play date of the summer, so of course, there had to be some good, old-fashioned water-play!

Erin opened her backyard to let the kids come play in the sand and water. When we arrived, all of the other kids were in the pool, but Norah didn't want anything to do with the water. She cried when I tried to put her in, so instead, she checked out the sandbox.



After a while, the other kids joined her, and everyone did really well sharing toys and playing together.






Here's a shot of Norah and her Bible Class buddy, Bonnie. Bonnie and Norah are only a week apart in age--it's so nice to have sweet church friends to play with!



As soon as she thought it was "her" idea, Norah loved the pool. I think it was probably her favorite part of the play date, because every time I'd pull her out to play with the other kids, she'd go up to one of the other moms and raise her arms, as if to say, "Pool, please". Here she is "swimming" with Shelby.





I thought this was a fun picture of Bonnie and Norah. At the time they were saying "Splaaasssssh!" (yet another Bible class song lyric that we often sing at bath time, so it probably seemed very appropriate)









I loved her expression in this picture. It just seems to say, "What are you looking at?"









Here she is playing with brother and sister team, Bonnie & Kellen. It looks like she's asking him, "So, what do you like to do in this pool, for fun?"





Jenny brought out a big, inflated ball that squirted water from several spouts. It was definitely a crowd pleaser!








More water fun with Bonnie & Kellen...












Of course, the two boys had to engage in a little friendly water warfare. (Norah narrowly escaped the ambush, but was well-armed with a Louisville Slugger, just in case)











And of course, Norah (like most of the kids) couldn't leave until she had sampled her fair shar of the pool water mmmmm.....

It was a fun morning. Thanks, Erin for having us over! I have to admit, I was a little jealous. I wouldn't have minded going for a dip, myself! Maybe next time we can schedule a mommy play date?

Uh-Oh and Another Cake

So, its been a rough week for Norah. First the tile monster, now this. This morning, instead of the usual "Hiiiiiiii!" which normally calls down the hall, letting me know she's awake, I heard wails. I have to admit, when I walked into Norah's room and found her this way, my first reaction was to try really hard not to laugh. It just wasn't what I expected. I should explain that she was not stuck. She had plenty of wiggle room for her legs, she just couldn't figure out how to get her legs back out. I snapped a quick picture (please don't think I'm a mean mom), then came to her aid. She was immediately ok, and resumed her typical "morning person" routine.



Also this week, I had an order for a "turquoise and brown chocolate cake with swirls" that said, "Happy Birthday, Kammi". I really wasn't 100% sure how I was going to decorate it until I sat down and started, but I think it turned out pretty ok. I really enjoyed decorating this one (it was the same person who ordered the orange and lime green floral cake a few weeks back). She picked it up tonight and seemed really pleased with it---that's always so good to hear!

Hurry Up and Dance

These are just a couple other pictures I snapped of Norah yesterday. She had found one of my bandannas and decided that since her bow fell out at nap time, she needed some other type of head ornament, so she slipped it on. It didn't exactly match her outfit, but she still managed to pull it off rather nicely, I thought. Of course, I am horribly partial.

Last week, she started answering "Whaaa?" (in a sing-song voice) if we call her name from the other side of the house (as she's saying "whaa?" she's also in-route to find whoever called for her). Of course, eventually we hope to work our way up to "Yes, sir" or "Yes Ma'am", but for now, it's just nice to hear her reply so that we know she's ok, and can track her down a little faster than searching room-by-room.



This second picture is of her playing with one of her favorites--a toy laptop that Grandpa Gilmore gave her for Christmas. The reason I took this picture was because Norah was doing my new favorite dance move (note the two fingers pointed up to the sky--now picture them moving alternately up and down, always pointing "up"). The laptop was playing "Old MacDonald" at the time, so she was cutting a rug. Another newly honed dance skill is the "spin around". Not sure where she picked this move up, but it's so funny to watch (she gets dizzy pretty fast).

One other funny thing that happened today--I called Norah to come eat lunch. She was very caught up in playing with her toys at the moment, so she was dragging her feet. I told her, "Hurry, hurry!" and she replied, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" as her little legs just about took off without the rest of her body she was hurrying so fast. I guess she's got that word down.

5 Things I'm Loving Right Now

I spotted this little meme on my cousin-in-law, Tara's blog, and thought to myself, "Hey, I can think of at least five things that I'm loving right now", so I thought I'd give it a shot. Granted, it's a lot like 5 mini-commercials that I'm not being paid for endorsing, but seeing as how you're all friends, I thought the least I could do would be to impart some of my consumer wisdom.

1. Claussen Dill Pickles. Bring on the pregnant lady jokes. I don't care. I love my Claussen pickles--no other brand can compare. I love them on sandwiches, hamburgers, even hot dogs. (And for the record, I did so long before I was expecting...but maybe a little more so now than before)
   
2. Hair bows. In case you haven't noticed, Norah has a lot of them. Unfortunately, those little boutique bows are not cheap, and just like shoes, kids go through bow sizes fast--but I think I've found a remedy. Girly Things is a great little website that offers tons of free how-to's, including a plethora of step-by-step hair bow making instructions (with great photos). I'm in the process of making my first batch, so I'll let you know how things go.
   
3. Wishbone Romano Basil Vinaigrette Dressing with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Yeah, it's a mouth-full to say, but thankfully, I don't have to, because its right there in my fridge. I used to be a Hidden Valley Ranch girl, through and through, but I've gotten adventuresome in my old age, and I love this new dressing. (Oh yeah, it's low-fat too!)
   
4. Brown Mary Jane Crocs. Spare me the lectures. I know they're tacky, but they're so insanely comfortable! They slip on just as fast as my trusty flip flops, and stay on even better. I can get them nasty-dirty and they rinse perfectly clean with a little bleach and water. Plus, they don't pick up foot odor (not that I have a problem with that, ahem) like other shoes are prone to do. Don't get me wrong, I don't plan on wearing them to a wedding anytime soon, but they are pretty great to wear around the house, and anyplace casual.
5. "Loving God with All Your Mind" by Elizabeth George. I read this a few years ago, but recently picked it back up and am loving it all over again. It is amazing how much better your days can be when you consciously decide to only think on thoughts that are "true" and not speculation. Awesome book. I highly recommend it to any woman.
   

A Nap, a Birthday, and the Rise of the Great Tile Monster

Norah's naps have been scarce over the past few days. Jason had a 3-day weekend, for Memorial Day, and Norah could hardly stand to sleep when there was someone as cool and super-fun as Daddy to play with at home! Thankfully, today things seem to be back on schedule, with only boring Mommy at home. She went down without a fight for her morning nap, and she was sleeping so peacefully I just couldn't help but take her picture. (And for the record, she didn't wake up with the flash...she's a pretty sound sleeper)




Over the weekend, we celebrated Uncle Grant's birthday. Paige asked if I would mind making a "tractor cake", so this is what I came up with. Now, Andrea and Lyneil, before you go getting all excited that I didn't go with a big, green tractor, let me explain. Grant's tractor is a Kubota, so if I had made his cake look like a John Deere, I never would have heard the end of it!


One other noteworthy occurance over the past week, is the emergence of what Jason and I have come to refer to as the "Tile Monster". Norah has developed a serious fear to walking barefoot on our tile floors. (There she is pictured at left, "toeing the line" as Jason and I stand in the kitchen, encouraging her to come hither) I should also add, it is only our tile that she's afraid of. She had no problem walking around Grammy and Grandpa's tile floors this weekend.

For a couple of days, she was especially whiny before we finally caught on that it was only when she was barefoot in the kitchen or hallway.
We have discovered that if she's wearing shoes, she can traverse the entire house, regardless of flooring medium. She's also willing to walk barefoot on the tile if she is holding one of our hands. I trace this fear back to earlier last week, when I was mopping the kitchen. I removed Norah from the kitchen 3-4 times while the floors were wet, but she just kept coming back to them, which finally resulted in a cartoon character-esque slip and fall that left her lying flat on her back.
Sometimes she seems to forget her fear and walks into a tiled room, then when the sudden realization of where she's standing rushes over her, she starts shaking and crying out for rescue. She grabs onto the nearest wall or cabinet door, and will not budge until someone comes for her. We're still working on a home remedy for this one. We've tried walking with her on the tile, but as soon as we leave her on her own, she reverts back to crying. So weird. I didn't even think she had fallen very hard...there were no bruises, and she didn't cry for long. I guess no matter how much it physically hurt, it left an emotional scar of sorts.