Here are some of the little things Nora’s doing now.
She’s taken on a Mommy role with her baby doll. She sets the doll on the floor and lifts up her shirt to “change her diaper.” She also tries to give the baby doll a pacifier and likes to tickle her feet. (“Tick, tick, tick!”)
She has started to realize that things belong to people. For example, her friend Savannah left a toy at our house during the last visit. I had to hide it because every time she saw it, she’d hold the toy up to me and repeat, “Na na! Na na!” As in, “Mom! This does not belong here. We have to give it back NOW.”
Ra ra is her word for airplane and she can spot one when it’s only a speck in the sky. If she hears a “ra ra,” she points in the direction of the noise and says “Ra ra! Ra ra!” until I (or someone, anyone) acknowledges that yes, there is an airplane somewhere up there. Then she’s free to return to her normal activities.
She is obsessed with buses. She has a similar quark for buses as she does for airplanes, where she really wants someone to confirm that yes, there is indeed a bus in our line of vision. She points with her whole body, like a bloodhound, in the direction of the said bus and says, “Buh! Buh! Buh!”
Nora’s starting to reach out both arms to give hugs and it melts our hearts every time.
She’s learned that people think it’s cute when she gives kisses. When we’re talking over video chat to my mom and sisters, she’ll randomly plant one on my check and then look right at them to make sure they saw it and to receive the expected accolades. (They, of course, accomodate and “aww” every time.)
Trying on a new outfit for the first time, she’ll bend over and inspect her tummy and legs. Then she seems to completely forget about whatever she’s wearing. Case in point: she was fascinated by her bathing suit for about two seconds tonight. (She hasn’t worn it since we went to Atlanta. We don’t swim much up here.) After a failed attempt to show her the joys of the sprinkler (“Nononono, UP!”), she wore her totally dry bathing suit until bedtime. Didn’t faze her at all.
She thinks it’s fun to walk around with no shirt. She pats her chest with a big smile.
We posted a video of her playing the Where Did It Go? game. Now anytime she sees one of us leave or she can’t find us (or Remy) she’ll put her hands up and repeatedly ask herself, “Whanago?” The morning after Gran left town, Nora meandered into her playroom (Gran would spend a few hours in there playing with her while Mommy slept in. A win for everyone!) and came back out. “Whanago?” It was sweet but sad.
Nora identifies animals by the sounds they make. A cat is a “MAAAOWW!” A cow is a “Mmmm!” When we went to Josh’s company picnic on a farm, she stared at the horses and just kept squealing, “NAAAYYYY!”
The fascination with dogs continues. If she sees a dog or a picture of a dog, she puts both hands to her chest, rocks, and says, “Mmmm!” like she wishes she could hold and hug the dog.
She’s also developed a sudden interest in babies (probably connected with her newfound affection for her baby doll). She’ll see a stroller and start pointing and saying, “Bah ba! Bah ba!” Since several parents were rolling their sleeping infants away at a rapid pace, I tried to show her how we have to be quiet around bah bas. While she still shrieks, “Bah ba!” she now follows up with a point to the bridge of her nose and says, “Ssh.” (Trying to imitate my “ssh” finger-on-nose position.)
When given food that she suspects is “ha” (hot), she delicately taps each piece until she’s convinced it’s safe to eat.
If you ask her a question and she wants to reply in the affirmative, she responds with one extremely high pitched “hmm!”
I have a hard time believing that her birthday was six months ago! Looking back on pictures from her party, she looks so little! Of course, in six more months, I’ll see the pictures from now and say the same thing. :)
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