Just before all the happiness above, a bird surprise-landed on my shoulder. Yah!!

Nora has been impersonating the gorilla’s eating style ever since.

More antics at the Birmingham Zoo. And more to come…

Probably the only time in their lives that they’ll be able to successfully slip their hands up the fish food dispenser.

Onto the ladder and under the leg, to dry land we go!

More antics from the company picnic… And yes, all four of us had matching shirts!

I told Josh that I think I will always look back on this summer as being such a special season for us. We have loved reconnecting with family and friends and doing all the summer things, like going to the “big pool,” grilling out, putting some finishing touches on the playroom, and breaking out the baby toys all over again. Nora is at such a fun age where she’s really starting to talk and reveal what’s going on in her head. Quinn is a happy little camper who has charmed all of us.

Some of the things I want to remember:

• Quinn has become “Quinny.” I think Ally, her two year old cousin, is the one who really picked up this one and started running with it. Nora followed and it’s reached the point where today I said, “Good morning, Quinn!” and Nora helpfully added, “Ny.”
• Nora wants to include Quinn(y) in everything. She brings her books, necklaces and dress up clothes. The other day Nora tried on a new dress up outfit. After hearing our accolades of her beauty and princesslike appearance, she said, “Go show Quinny!” and flitted out of the room. She ran all the way to Quinn’s swing and proudly showed her outfit with a “See, Quinny?” to her baby sister who was completely asleep and motionless the whole time.
• Speaking of beautiful princesses, Nora and I watched some of the Royal Wedding highlights. So now all brides are Princess Brides. I’ve decided not to correct this misnomer. All brides should feel like princesses. Also, since Nora was a flower girl (along with cousin Faith!) in Uncle Kemble and Aunt Ashley’s wedding, all princesses are flower girls, the epitome of being girly and fancy. So brides=princess brides and actual princesses= flower girls. Hope that’s clear. =)
• Quinn likes to kick her legs up as she falls asleep. In unison, like a mermaid, a few times and then she’s good to go drift off.
• Nora hands us things and says, “Here go, phone, Mommy.” If she doesn’t know the word for what she’s giving us, she says, “Here go, Daddy, this.”
• Nora has started telling us she loves us! It melts our hearts every time. The especially fun thing is that since she’s said it as a returned statement so often, she adds “too.” So without me saying it first, she’ll come up and give me a hug and say, “I love ya, too, Mommy.” The fact that we love her is assumed- rightly so. =)
• Nora has watched Little Bear almost exclusively for months. When we were in the hospital after Quinn was born, my mom said she wasn’t quite herself unti she’d gotten her Little Bear fix in the morning. Josh and I have enjoyed pointing out the Canadian accents on the show when they say words like “soary” instead of “sorry” and “abowt.” I was a little concerned that these would also become Nora’s pronunciations.
• One day last week, Nora was watching Caillou. I tivo’d a few shows. (In the past, she might watch a different show a few times but always goes back to Little Bear. Well, she’s been on a Caillou kick the last few days. Hooray! A break from Little Bear, of which I have seen every. single. episode! Then I heard it. “Mommy, can I go to Cementine’s howse?” What? What?! A quick Google search (you know it!) and yes, it seems that Caillou is also produced in Canada. So there you go- Nora wishes she was Canadian.
• Quinn has started gumming her hands. It makes her look like she’s concentrating really hard.
• Nora doesn’t like it when Quinn is sleeping. If Quinn is sleeping in the room, Nora drifts over and starts saying hello to her or swings her swing with a little too much pizazz to guarantee she’ll wake up. “Nora, don’t wake up Quinn.” I’m usually too late by the time I notice this is happening. “Quinny wake now!” she will inform me happily. Well, yes, now she is.
• Which is part of the reason for why we moved Quinn into her own room for naps and at bedtime. Although I must say, Josh and I were both a little sad for this milestone. (“She doesn’t need us anymore!” We may have exaggerated.) So now Nora looks for reasons to go into Quinn’s room. Today’s excuse was to put a toy where it belongs. Not just any toy- the xylophone. I heard Quinn’s door open, started to tell Nora no, then heard a thump followed by several off key notes. Nora realized the mission failed as Quinn continued to snooze and shut the door with dignified resignation.
• As soon as we leave someone’s house, we are not in the car before Nora asks when we will see them again. “More Tiffany, Rex?” Same if someone comes to visit us. Including the plumber who installed our sink. She couldn’t remember his name, so she sadly watched as he left asking, “More guy?”
• Nora loves it when Quinn is on the floor and in reachable space. “Tummy time!” she’ll say happily. (Although I’m really bad about following through with Tummy Time and she’s usually on her back. But if she’s on the floor= Tummy Time to Nora.) She’ll flop right down next to her and hold her hand and curl up alongside her.

• Nora has just started singing along to songs. She only knows key words, usually the ones that are the most drawn out. But I love it. My favorite lyric of hers is to the Quinn song Annie included on the video she made for us. Nora sings “Maaaaake it!” during the chorus.
• Quinn has just started to chuckle. It may only be an extreme form of cooing, but for now we’re going with calling it her laugh.

And finally, should you end up babysitting Nora and she asks to watch something, allow me to provide a list of her frequent requests and their translations:

• “Woody Andy Andy” – Toy Story 2. In one of the first scenes, Woody has a nightmare that Andy is throwing him away. “No, Andy, no! Andy! Andy!”
• “Woody Choo Choo” – Toy Story 3. The opening action sequence takes place on a train.
• “Woody Stuck” – The outtakes on Toy Story 2, including one where Woody sits on a roll of tape and gets stuck.
• “Brr” – Little Bear
• “Tistmas New” – the most recent Christmas home movie, a la Aunt Annie
• “See See See” (accompanied with a gesture of holding her two hands up and pushing them out) – Grandpa’s Magical Toys, where they sing A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea while playing patty cake

And most recently, today, my new favorite request- Nora wanted to watch Barney. To help me understand her request, she held both her arms in at the elbow and flapped her arms around, to help recreate Barney’s little T Rex arms. I tried to recapture this impression with this video:

Trying to stay cool in front of a misting fan at Lake Lanier Islands for the annual company picnic.
Amazing how much difference 1 year makes!

And as we all found out this weekend, pregnant with twin boys!