On the happy, wonderful days when both girls have successful naps at the same time, Nora is usually the first one to wake up.

But oh, the fun we have when Quinn gets to “knock” on Nora’s door and Nora hurries to answer her pint sized summoner.

I was thrilled that I got this post nap reunion on record as it was particularly joyful. It’s a little shaky since I was trying to film with one hand and support Quinny in a standing position with the other. But I think you will still be able to feel the love.

I guess Nora doesn’t see the actual backpack part of a backpack too often. Therefore, if she wants to recreate those oh so cool backpack straps, all she needs is a long necklace.

What an amazing year it has been! Nora turned two, Quinny arrived, and now we have two girls that are starting to realize they are sisters. I love how they can crack each other up. It’s usually on a level that Josh and I don’t really understand.

Which is where I’ll start with the latest little things they are up to —

• Making each other laugh. The other night, Nora was making random, rather loud nonsense exclamations at dinner. “Aaaaaaannnnnnnnaaaaaa….Dadddddddddddddaaaaaaa…” Right when I was inhaling the air for a declaration that she was being too loud and a little silly, Quinn looked right at her and started giggling. Which egged Nora on more and then it all ended up being pretty funny in the end. Who knew?

• Nora made up a saying — “Uncle Beau-coo” that will consistently, and I mean has a 100% success rate, make Quinny laugh. We don’t get it, have no idea how she came up with adding a coo to Uncle Beau’s name, or what about it is so hi lar i ous to Quinn, but it’s become totally normal for me to say, “Quick, Nora, make Quinn laugh.” “Quinn! Uncle Beau-Coo! Uncle Beau-coo!” And Quinn’s cries turn to giggles. Just like that. Why didn’t we think of it?

• We are up to our necks in Princess dress up, figurines, and dolls. Nora’s favorites are Belle and Cinderella, mainly because those are the only movies we think she’s ready to watch. (I didn’t remember so many of them being so scary at times. I mean, Snow White has a stepmother Queen who sends someone to kill her and then the trees grow claws and eyes and then the Queen becomes a super ugly old lady who is struck by lightning and then falls to her death?!? Calm down, Disney.) Cinderella, by contrast, is such a cute little story with the mice and whatnot. Although she hasn’t asked about the missing mom yet and sorta thinks the dad is “sick” throughout the whole movie. I didn’t want to tell her that the story killed him off.

Anyway, some of Nora’s favorite princess things to do:

• Wear a fancy dress and walk down the stairs to see it trailing behind her.
• Dropping a shoe on purpose. I could NOT find the matching shoe I wanted to wear to Josh’s Google party and finally found it at the bottom of the stairs. Of course.
• Randomly yell, “You can go ahead and STARVE!” like the Beast yells at Belle. It’s one of her all time favorite lines. Such great writing.
• Sing along to the songs. The one that always gets me is when she sings along to the reprise of Beauty and the Beast when a choir joins in with an “Ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhh, AHHHHHHH!” She’s right there with them. (I don’t know how to write music or choir singing parts, so I hope that “AHH” translates. It’s probably supposed to be an extended b flat or tenor or something. But I’m going with Ahh.)
• Say, “Mommy, I’m going to LOCK YOU IN HERE!” then closing the door and running away as fast as she can.

If you aren’t into those movies, all references are lost and I’m sorry. But Nora will be happy to give you a full rundown of both stories.

Meanwhile, Quinny has experienced a renaissance era of learning little tricks.

• After she learned crawling, she focused on that for about, oh, two months. And she has crawled everywhere. And has dismantled everything she can. All very, very quietly. When I go back and look at Nora’s videos at this age, she was all about the babble but didn’t crawl until much later. Quinn has been the quiet type who’s more interested in being on the move. But it seems she’s suddenly decided that she’s officially mastered crawling/exploring and is ready to branch out into other areas. Which now include clapping, waving, and high fiving. I think Nora is as proud as we are.
• Quinn also LOVES her new baby dolls. Give her anything with a face and she lights up like a little Christmas tree.
• Quinn is starting to tune in to what Nora is doing and the toys she’s playing with. She’s been doing her own thing with her own toys but now she starting to crawl towards Nora to play with whatever she has. It’s not exactly Nora’s favorite development. “Mommy, can you move her?” All those times Nora has taken Quinn’s toys away…we thought Quinny had forgotten…but she’s ready to even the score…(I’ve seen too many movie trailers lately….)
• And one thing that Quinn has definitely moved into is the Separation Anxiety Stage. By “Separation Anxiety,” I mean she cries so hard she hyperventilates when I drop her off at the church nursery. And it takes her a while to warm up when we go somewhere or have people over. It’s so sad because up until now she’s been in the stage where anyone could hold her and she didn’t seem to notice or care. So everyone expects that same laid back attitude but are instead greeted with a quivering lip warning that will quickly dissolve to tears and a red face if she isn’t returned to Mommy ASAP. But I’d be totally lying if I said it didn’t make me feel a teeny bit special. I feel sad for everyone else but it’s still touching in a very selfish way. I know she’ll grow out of it soon. Probably before I’m ready for her to.
• Somewhere along the line, Nora decided Quinn is her best friend. Josh pointed out that Quinn hasn’t really done anything to earn that status. They haven’t really played together and Quinn doesn’t even talk yet. But for reasons only she knows, Nora consistently says her best friend is Quinny. “Quinny, you my beeeeeest friend.”
• And lastly, it seems that Quinn is suddenly aware that she can get Nora to react to her if she does something to her. She’s started to tug on Nora’s clothes or hair. Sometimes Nora laughs and plays along.
  “Quinny, are you teasing Nora?”
  “I want her to tease me, Mommy!”
  Sometimes I have to intervene. But it’s fun because they’re starting to experience that special sister relationship. You live in quarters that sometimes seem too close, you have to share your toys and parents’ attention, and sometimes your hair gets pulled. But there’s someone who is always there who knows how to make you laugh. A best friend.

We are so, so, so thankful for the blessings God has given us this year and that we have our own set of little best friends running/crawling around our home.

A few weeks ago, we rolled up our sleeves to attempt Potty Training for a second time. We talked some different strategies and approaches and asked for lots of input. One idea we heard was to have a toy at the toy store that we would go and visit. But we couldn’t take the toy home until Nora was using the potty.

So we took Nora to Target (Is there any other store?) and found a Belle doll. We explained before we even set foot in the store that Belle would NOT becoming home today. We were just going for a visit. So we let her see it, hold the box a moment, and then went home. And stayed home for several days. We put a picture of the doll on the wall and kept pointing to it. “Don’t you want the Belle doll?!?!?” We even had a whole story about how Belle had to use the potties in her castle. Princesses have to live in clean, dry castles and can’t have wet floors. Desperate.

Nora slowly earned pink sticker after pink sticker. One evening around 6:30pm, she earned the last one. Despite the fact that it was nearing bedtime for her and Quinn, we immediately packed everyone up and shipped out to Target.

Heading into the store…

At the end where she’s saying, “Run, run!” it sounds like she was super excited and eager to get into the store. While that was true, it was more because she was very nervous that an approaching car was getting too close for comfort. While I applaud her caution, I promise it was plenty far enough away.

As you can tell, Nora was thrilled to be out of the house. She’d been quarantined for almost a week. FREEDOM IN THE WIDE, WHITE AISLES OF TARGET!!!!!

To the Pink Aisle!

At last!

That night, she proudly tucked Belle in next to her. Under the covers and everything. Best friends.

Of course, after all that, Belle has been taking a nap for a long, long time (as in days) in a doll bed in the playroom . . . I can’t resist- Who does she think she is, Sleeping Beauty? Ba dum ding!

It’s fall! It’s fall! I forgot how much fun fall is. Last year at this time, I was so preoccupied with packing and getting us ready to move back across the country that I feel like fall passed us by. And it’s such a great season. The leaves are so pretty and the weather is cooler and I start seriously craving cinnamon. Our little munchkins are growing into slightly bigger munchkins.

Nora Praise:

~ She still pronounces her name “Nah Nah” and since she is the person with whom I spend the most hours conversing, guess what? I sometimes call her Nah Nah now too. I’m not sure I can stop. So if you hear that one slip out, whoops. (She pronounces her full name as Nah Nah Pays Teague.)

~ She leaves out the preposition ‘for.’ “Here go, Mommy, this you.” “Wait me, Daddy!”

~ Oh, Little Bear. I could probably write a whole post on ways Little Bear has influenced Nora’s vernacular. Whenever we go for a walk, she will pause every few steps to ask “Are we still going the right way?” It’s something Little Bear asked Cat when they were on a walk and she loved it. How ironic that she’s inadvertently asking a very valid question, given my Superhero Power?

~Another LB: One character on LB uses a walking stick. So now, in any natural setting, Nora selects a walking stick which she proudly holds in her hand and generally prizes as a beloved, precious object for the entire walk. However, there are two problems with her walking sticks: one- she generally chooses very small sticks which are incredibly fragile. The other- she brings the walking sticks home, forgets about them, casts them aside for other playthings, only to remember her highly regarded twig after finding it in decimated pieces on the floor. Then she sobs and wails, “Oh, REMY! That was my WALKING STICK!” This has happened twice now and almost a third time before I remembered to hide her latest stick from our oh-so-eager-to-chew dog.

~ Anytime we are driving and point something or a place out to her, her immediate question is, “Can I go see it?” Every. Single. Time. On our drive to Savannah, she must have requested to see 50 different objects/places.

~ Anytime we are see an interesting place on tv or in a book, she asks, “Can I go there?” It can be Cinderella’s castle, San Francisco, the moon. Doesn’t matter if it’s near, far, real or imaginary. She wants to go there.

~ She’s started writing scribbles. When asked, “What does that say?” she almost always answers “I love you, Quinny.”

~ Read carefully, people, this one is important. All of us are now divided into two groups. There are “Very Nice” People and “Not Very Nice” people. You do not, I repeat, do NOT want to find yourself on the wrong side of that line. It is hard going to find your way back. “Mommy, is she very nice?” “Daddy, those guys not very nice.”

~ The bonus is, if you are deemed “Very Nice,” then you are decidedly not a Scary Monster. “Mommy, is that girl nice?” “Yes, she’s very nice.” “She’s very nice? She’s not a Scary Monster.”

~Nora is not one to think long and hard about a name. All of her small stuff animals/dolls are Baby ____. Baby Panda Bear, Baby Polar Bear, Baby, Other Baby (She has two baby dolls.) We recently got her two tiny frogs that she absolutely insisted on calling Baby Frogs. Collectively. Trying to explain to her that there are two frogs and we can name one frog Baby and the other one a n y t h i n g else did not work. “Their name Baby Frogs.”

~ She has this filler word that I can’t quite pronounce. It’s like, zeh zeh zeh or stha stha stha or something. It’s the equivalent of “um.” If you go back and listen to her singing Old MacDonald on the Sing Along with Nora video (you know, in all your free time) you can hear it.

~ She is going through a serious nature phase here. She LOVES collecting anything from outside. She brings in twigs, leaves- both green and shriveled brown, flower petals, pinestraw- if it’s in our yard, it’s been in the house. It’s also her way of showing she likes you. So if she brings you a dead, crumpled leaf, you’ve been accepted.

Quinn Abigail

~ Quinn is most likely the most pleasant person I have ever woken up. She will be in a deep sleep that we will have to interrupt to take her somewhere and all she does is squint, cover her eyes, and break out into a grin.

~ If she’s already awake and ready in her crib, she starts kicking with excitement as soon as she discovers you are headed her way. “THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME, EVER!”

~ She is super interested in anything that is playing on the television. She pays equal attention to Barney, Toy Story, and CNN. Should your head be in the way, she leans way over to the side to get a better view.

~ Quinny’s really into touching faces.If you are within arm’s length of her, she holds up her little padded hand and starts stroking your cheek. It makes you feel cherished.

~ Along with a better grasp using those tiny hands has come the Klepto phase. This morning I opened a sock drawer and she somehow swiped a pair of socks out before I could. She’s getting very fast, that one. It’s a little stressful when she gets a good hold of anything containing liquid. I have to figure out how to get it out of her little Kung Fu grip without spilling everywhere.

~ She just figured out how to go from a sprawling position to a sitting position. But late at night, she can’t remember how to lay back down. Last night I went to check on her after hearing her whimpering for a few minutes. I found her sitting in bed, sniffling, half asleep and slightly swaying in exhaustion.

~ Quinn’s a Remy fan, just like her sister was. She giggles uncontrollably whenever she gets to pet him.

~ She’s also a huge Nora fan. I don’t know if anyone can make her laugh like Nora can.

~ She’s been working on this latest skill for awhile…

A few months ago, right around the start of the Southern summer storms, Nora was getting really nervous about thunderstorms. Seattle rarely experiences thunder, so she wasn’t used to loud storms. One night she was practically trembling with fear as a storm rolled through. The story of Jesus calming the storm came to our minds. We told her about the time Jesus told his friends not to be afraid of a storm because he was with them.

Then we found the illustrated story in her Jesus Storybook Bible. (It’s for kids, technically, but I would seriously recommend it to anyone. I absolutely love the approach this version takes and it has completely changed the way I think about Christmas and Easter. But I digress.)

A few weeks later, as we were driving to Birmingham to visit family, we drove right into a loud, fairly intense thunderstorm. Nora was crying (“I don’t like the rain so much”) so we reminded her of the story and how Jesus was in charge the whole time and he told his friends not to be afraid. Moments after we got to the part where Jesus told the rain to go away, we passed through the last of the rain of our storm. Nora looked out the window with wonder. “Jesus made rain go away?” It was such a grace that she was able to connect the story with a real experience.

And an obsession was born. Nora wanted to read and reread this story in her book. The actual writing is a bit above her head, so we paraphrased. Many a time she retold her version of the story to us. She was overjoyed when she realized a mini illustration from the story was included on the cover. “Mommy! Ook! Thunder booming!”

I was finally able to get one of those retellings on camera and I’m so glad we have it. One of my favorite details is that one of the pages is torn as a result of countless turns.

Without further ado, Nora will now retell her version of Jesus Calming the Storm. (I did my best on the subtitles, but I’m not sure I got them all right. You’ll get the idea.)

Here a song, there a song, everywhere sing a song! Nora has been all about singing songs lately. Sing along to some of her current favorites.

You know how horror/suspense movies often feature a little girl? At least judging from the trailers. (I abhor horror movies.) I think I know why. Little girls are so sweet and cuddly in almost all circumstances. But in certain contexts, they can really unnerve you.

Over the summer we transitioned Nora to a Big Girl Bed. (I promise, there’s a connection here.) At first, she wanted nothing to do with it. But she got the hang of it and started to like it. A big girl bed is fun- you can have a pillow and covers, lots of stuffed animals in the bed, and you can get in and out all by yourself. Especially out.

The first time Nora unexpectedly got out of her bed was early one morning. Josh walked out onto the landing because he had heard a noise and was startled to see Nora there. She was just sitting at the top of the landing, criss crossed legs, staring between the railings.

“Hi, Daddy.” Like she had been calmly expecting him.

“Nora, how long have you been waiting there?”

“About twenty minutes.” (This is her standard answer to anything that lasts awhile. Jonah was in the whale 20 minutes, Quinn is 20 minutes old, etc.)

A few days later, I was in a deep sleep when I heard our door bang open, Nora yell, “MOMMY! THUNDER BOOMING!” and a peal of thunder, simultaneously. I was so out of it, all I could think to do was pull her into the bed. We waited out the storm together. And I think that was the moment an idea creeped into Nora’s conscience. (I can get out of bed…at night…)

Then a few nights later, she opened our door again. This time I was slightly awake when I thought I heard the door latch slide out of place. But when I looked over the foot of the bed, all I could see was the door opening very, very slowly.

My heart was beating a little harder as I said, “Nora?” (Please be Nora, of course it’s Nora, it HAS to be Nora…)

Suddenly she was in my view. “I can get in Mommy Daddy’s bed?” She sounded totally alert.

I, of course, jumped. And took her back to bed as soon as I recovered.

Another time I was in the kitchen around 9pm. Just as I closed the pantry door I thought I heard the echo of a door opening above me.

What happens next is what I like to call the Jack in the Box effect. I had a good idea of what I was expecting to see as I walked to the stairs. Even so, as I glanced up and saw a little figure floating in a white nightgown, I had a complete fight or flight reaction kick in. My brain recognized that it was only Nora as the adrenaline coursed through my veins so my scream turned into “AAHNORAAA!”

“Mommy, read me one more book?” Pause. “What’s wrong, Mommy?”

A few nights later, I was in the kitchen again, washing dishes with music quietly playing. Josh was out for the night and there were occasional rolls of thunder in the background. All in all, a rather creepy setting.

So I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination or not that I kept hearing things. I would think that I would hear a noise, turn off the water and lower the volume on the music. I would listen for a few moments, wouldn’t hear anything, and go back to work. The process repeated itself for about 20 minutes. (Literally, not in a Nora way.)

Finally, just when I was convinced I really had heard something and it was getting closer to me, Nora worked up the courage to hop into the kitchen. She then giggled at my very surprised, sharp inhale reaction. When I asked why she was up, she used the thunder excuse again.

And then there was last week. I thought we had made some progress about the whole staying in bed (and not freaking Mommy and Daddy out) thing. I was having a bizarre dream that we were on vacation and a monkey had just thrown up on our deck. Trying to get the ill monkey to leave, I kicked rocks at him. One hit him square on the eye. As he held his hand to his eye and stumbled away, he started vowing to get his revenge. (This was probably a result of seeing trailers for Planet of the Apes and Contagion.)

Anyway, I was already a little freaked as I was roused out of the dream. As I was waking I heard someone sneeze. Practically blind without my contacts/glasses, I couldn’t see anything at first. I sat up and tried to figure out where the noise had come from or if it had been part of the Sick Talking Monkey dream. I thought I saw Remy on the floor near us. It was only when he moved a really long leg that I realized it was actually Nora half asleep in a fetal position on the floor. I’m not quite sure how long she had been there or what she was doing before I woke up. I can tell you she had some thread from my sewing area caught around her leg.

As much as I love and enjoy that little girl, sometimes she unknowingly scares me out of my senses.

This one’s for all the Twitterers out there…Tweeters….for everyone who is on Twitter.
Want FSI updates in 140 characters or less? Then you will want to add @noraquotes to your Twitter Feed.

If you’re not on Twitter, we (and by “we” I, of course, mean Josh) are planning to have Nora’s quotes show up on the blog as well.

There are so many moments during the day that I think, “This! I want to remember that Nora/Quinn said/did this!” (Maybe not so much the “Quinn said” combo just yet, but you get the idea.) Here’s an attempt to mash a bunch of that together.

First, a totally random story that I meant to tell… wow, a year ago, now that I think about it. Better late than never?
So back when I was in my first trimester with Quinn, I was still in the “Oh, that scent is way more overwhelming than it has a right to be” phase. One thing in particular that I had a really hard time with was Josh’s deodorant. Let me be absolutely clear: no, he did not smell. It was simply his deodorant. He could have just showered and put it on and smell fresh as a daisy to everyone else, but it made my stomach absolutely churn. Add in the fact that he started sleeping with his arms behind his head at night and there was simply no safe haven for me. I would be half asleep and suddenly suppress a gag.
I finally told him about it and asked him to make a switch. Good man that he is, he agreed to. I kept meaning to thank him for it and tell him that the new one was easier for my overactive nose to handle, but it always slipped my mind. Baby Brain. Finally, it occurred to me as we were getting in the car after church one Sunday morning. Wanting to make up for lost time, with way too much excitement I exclaimed, “Hey, I keep meaning to tell you- your new deodorant is working much better!” Josh turned absolutely red.
“What?” I knew he knew what I meant. What was he embarrassed about?
“Ssh…” he indictated to our right. Where a couple was getting into the car next to us and obviously suppressing a laugh.
It’s all about timing. And volume.

Now onto the current time period.

Nora prefers to walk in stores these days. She’s been pretty good about keeping up with me and it’s easier than trying to fit both of them into a cart. The two of us have perfected a brief script. She’ll pick up a random item (such as a pair of workout shorts) and say, “Oooh, look at these, Mommy!”
To which I respond, “Oh, those are cute, Nora!”
“Thank you, Mommy!” and puts the item back where she got it. We do this every five minutes or so throughout the trip.

Quinn has a little ritual at bed and nap time. She grabs her paci, wraps her whole body around it, and turns onto her side. Like she’s wrangling it to sleep.

Speaking of naptime, who knew it could be the subject matter for one of Nora’s favorite games? She spends 20 minutes laying various dolls down on different sleeping surfaces. Her bed, the doll bed, our bed, her rocking chair. She will periodically say, “I hear my baby crying. Coming, Baby!” After holding said baby for a minute, she’ll say, “Okay, Baby, time for your nap, okay? Okay.” And she starts the whole process over. It’s completely routine to walk into a room and find a doll facedown. This morning I walked into Quinn’s room to change her diaper. Nora was less than thrilled as she warned me, “Ssh, doggie sleeping.” Sure enough, there was Poppy Dog in the crib.

So I think we all know about how Josh and I do a voice for Remy, right? It’s deep and speaks in a way that is enthusiastic, naive, trying to be dignified and just a little too eager.
Here’s another story from the past- this one goes back two years or so. Back in our apartment in Kirkland I was about to take Remy for a walk. While waiting for the elevator, some of the maintenance guys arrived. One extended a hand to Remy, which he sniffed and then backed away. Feeling bad that my dog rejected him and without considering the ramifications, I said in Remy’s voice, “Not so fast.”
Then it was the maintenance guy’s turn to back away slowly. I realized in a wave of horror that he wasn’t in on our joke and what was I going to do? Explain that sometimes I talk on behalf of my dog?
It was a super awkward elevator ride.

Anyway, so we still do this all the time. Now Nora has picked up on it and will answer for Remy. “How are you doing, boy?” “Good!” She’ll say in a deep voice. The other day while we were driving, we saw a man walking his dog. Nora went into Remy voice and said, “Hi. I going on walk.” I was so proud. Talking for random dogs! There’s even more fun to be had! Dog park, here we come!

We also have a voice for Quinn. It’s very high pitched and ladylike. Nora’s in on this one, too. I’ll ask, “How are my girls?” “Good,” Nora answers in her normal voice. “Good!” She’ll answer in a really high voice. Sometimes she laughs at herself and adds, “Quinny say that.”

This is gross. Sorry. But I’m telling it anyway. I had just cleaned out Quinn’s nose and Nora was staring at it. Teasing her, I asked, “Nora, would you like a boogie?” In all seriousness: “No thank you, I have some in my nose.”

Nora still wants to include Quinn most of the time. Last night when we were out on a walk, Nora saw a plane overhead. “Quinny! Ook! A airplane!” with an attempt to force Quinn’s head to face the appropriate direction. Sweet, but yikes.

Nora’s obsessed with Caillou. If you don’t know about it, it’s actually a great show. It follows a four year old boy dealing with everyday things like going down the big slide or figuring out what to bring to show and tell. I think the network only shows episodes from the current season because we’ve seen the same thirteen episodes over and over. So Nora’s had a chance to memorize some phrases.

We were talking about the exterminator coming over and Nora turned around at the word “bugs.”
“Bugs are icky. Have eight legs.” Along with wiggling her fingers like little legs. We both stopped and stared. We have never told her that. Was our child a genius!? (Yes, hush, bugs have six legs and spiders have eight. I mean a genius for a toddler.) But when we asked her where she heard that, she said, “Caillou say that.” Oh. Well, he’s four (and written by adults), so that’s not as impressive. Too bad.

Another time we were driving in the car and she kept saying, “My tummy feels funny.” She’d been to Sunday School recently so I kept trying to deduce exactly what she meant. “Are you hungry? Full?” (About to throw up….) A few days later I discovered that episode-as it turns out, his tummy felt funny when he went up in an elevator. We’ve hadn’t had an occasion for that, so she improvised during a car ride.

Some of the random stuff she’s picked up from shows is actually helpful. She knew exactly how to sleep in a big girl bed- head on pillow, covers pulled up to chin- because that’s how Little Bear sleeps in his bed. Nevermind that it took us a few weeks to convince her to stay in bed- she at least knew how to assume the position.

Also, being the picky eater that she is, I was floored when she loved broccoli soup that my mom made. She calls it Birthday Soup from an episode about LB’s birthday. So now everyone call it that, okay? Seriously, it’s the only green vegetable she eats. Just call it birthday soup, I beg of you.

And I’ll end with a Quinn story. Yesterday morning I heard her start talking/fussing to herself but thought she might go back to sleep if she could find her paci. Her cries escalated until I ran up there and found her on her tummy. Rolling is still a relatively new skill for her so when she’s half awake, she forgets how to roll back onto her side. But this time she was seriously stuck with her little legs through the bars. Poor thing. Read this in your head as a high pitch voice; “Why? Why won’t my legs do what I want? Rolling is so hard!” (See, isn’t it amusing to talk in dog and baby voices?)

As we’ve mentioned, Nora has reached the age where she’s really starting to talk more. She’s also mimicking and paying very close attention to what we say. Sometimes we understand, sometimes we’re not sure what she’s trying to say. And sometimes she misunderstands what we say. It all makes for some stories:

A few weeks ago, we went to Birmingham to visit newlyweds Ashley and Kemble and also Uncle John, Aunt Katie, and their kids. Aunt Katie had suggested taking all the kids to the zoo. To get Nora excited about this, I explained that a zoo is kinda like Noah’s ark. There are all kinds of animals everywhere to look at. That was my main point. But I didn’t realize what Nora had pictured until it was almost time to leave and she kept asking, “Go see Noah’s ark, Mommy?”
“Well, the zoo is like Noah’s ark. There are a lot of animals.”
“Go see Noah’s ark?”
“Um, there isn’t actually an ark. There’s no big boat. Just all the animals.”
“Noah’s ark, Mommy?”
“Um…Hey, look at that bird over there!” (Sometimes it’s best to simply distract. I have a 50% success rate.)

Nora has a very hard time remembering the name of the color orange. She almost always guesses that something orange is yellow. So now if she sees something orange and I ask her what color it is, she says, “It’s not yellow.”

When I’m driving and have to make a sudden stop, Nora says, “Oh, gosh!” Oops. My bad….

The other day we were in the car and she said, “Go to pack, Mommy?”
“You want to pack?”
“No, go to pack.”
“You want something back?”
“No, pack.”
“You want to do what now?”
I think she actually sighed and said, “Playground, Mommy!”
“Oh, you want to go to the park.”
Head nod. With an expression of “What have I been saying for the past minute?”

Driving in the car on a hot day.
“Mommy, rocks hot.”
Rack the brain, rack the brain….
“The rocks are hot?”
An unconvincing “Yes…”
“Yes, the rocks are hot. You have to be careful when it’s so hot outside. That’s why we wear shoes.”
“Mommy, at pool. Rocks hot.”
“OH. At the pool, Uncle Rex was hot?”
“Yes!”
It’s true. Uncle Rex and Aunt Tiffany said they had to leave soon. Uncle Rex had stated that he was, indeed, hot.

“Mommy, can I have bowny?”
“You want to watch Barney?”
“No, a bowny.”
(Think, think…Toy Story 3?) “Bonnie?”
Run and point to a filled tupperware container on the counter. “A bowny!”
“Oh!” (Pause to word carefully so that it doesn’t sound like an offer…) “You are asking for a brownie, but it’s breakfast time.”
Communication successful.

We were in the driveway when Josh pulled in from work the other night. Nora ran up to him.
“Daddy, at! At!”
“Hat?”
“No, Daddy, at!” Then she put her hands up around her face, hunched her shoulders and said, “Meow!”
“Oh, you saw the cat!” (Our neighbors have a black cat. Nora’s a huge fan.)

At some point, I must have told Nora she had to wear shoes so the bugs wouldn’t bite her feet. She brings this up every. single. time I tell her we are putting her shoes on. “So the bugs won’t get my feet.” Even when we are going somewhere indoors. It doesn’t even make sense that I said that – she’s been wearing sandals all summer. Oh, well.

Remember how Nora used to say “nana” when she wanted something? (We think she was saying ‘want a.’ and got it from when we would ask her, “Do you want a _____?”) Lately I’ve noticed “nana” creeping back in very subtly. She puts a n’ in front of whatever she wants. If she wants Josh, she’ll cry “Naddy!” Yogurt is “nogurt!” and Caillou is “Naillou!”

Similarly, but in an opposite kind of way – Nora has started saying “Ina” when she actually means “I don’t want to.” You have to listen very carefully or everyone gets frustrated.
“What would you like for a snack? Some yogurt?”
“Ina yogurt, Mommy.”
“Ok, here’s the yogurt.”
“Ina yogurt, Mommy.”
“I know. Here it is.”
“Ina yogurt, Mommy!”
And so on until I finally remember she has actually been saying, “I don’t want a yogurt,” the whole time.

As I continue to become versed in Toddler Talk, it’s nice to know there’s at least one person around here who gets it and is right there with Nora.

(Also, since I think I would be a little concerned if I saw this video, know that originally, Quinn was in her bumbo on the floor. When she started laughing at Nora, I moved it up to the table to make it easier to catch the moment on camera. I don’t usually let her hang out on top of furniture. So if that helps you enjoy the video a little more- there you go.) =)

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: