Some weekend footage to round-out Friday’s “Fork” post.

We’ve moved and are loving the new house! We took this video before we left but didn’t get a chance to share it before we had to pack up the computer. We wanted to remember Nora’s confidence on elevators. I think if she could have reached the buttons, she would have been more than happy to ride on that thing all by herself. It’s interesting to me that she just accepts that this is how we get outside. We go into this room, wait, and come out right where we wanted to be.

This is a fun video only because of Nora’s reaction after each block she places on the “tower”. So proud!

It’s been a little while since we’ve had a Nora & Remy video. So without further adieu…

We’ve challenged ourselves to see if we can do a movie a day this week. So here’s one of Nora playing the classic game, “Where did it go?”

She really picked this up during our last trip to Atlanta (where she also learned to crawl), but has since perfected it. Enjoy!

Nora’s on her feet now and a full time walker! (Video to come soon, we hope.)
She’s also dancing on her feet now, too. Which made us want to take a look back at the dancing styles of Nora through the past year or so….

I feel like if I don’t write all of the fun things down that Nora is doing, I’m going to forget all about them. And while I have tried several times to start an actual scrapbook for her, this blog seems to have turned into a virtual scrapbook. As long as the memories are being recorded somewhere, right? So here’s some stories and little things she’s up to.

• She loves shoes. Josh started a little daily morning routine where she hands him each sock and shoe to put on. She gets really excited and starts speed crawling towards him when she seems him coming with socks and shoes in hand.

• If she sees a shoe on the floor, she tries to find the owner and give it to him/her to put on. I was humoring her this morning in the kitchen and ended up wearing one sneaker (sans socks) for half an hour. It felt weird at first, then I forgot about it.
• If Nora finds a sock in the laundry basket, she holds it up and says, “Nanan!” which is her word for pretty much anything. In this case, it means “put this sock on.” And just in case that isn’t clear enough, she’ll hold up a foot. One time she found three socks. I put one on each foot but she still wanted to wear the third.
• Speaking of laundry- Nora’s actually pretty helpful with it. She kneels near the full basket and hands me one piece of clean laundry at a time. Only she’s really fast and I have to speed up to keep pace with her. So I do my laundry folding faster now.
• Nora’s become a watcher and a copier lately. The other day she was shaking a washcloth that she was ‘helping me fold.’ I couldn’t figure out what she was doing until I realized that I was shaking the wrinkles out of each towel before I folded it. She also copies us brushing our teeth by rubbing her fingers over her lips. My favorite was during Poppy and Panzy’s visit. She was watching Poppy eat with chopsticks. She used her own set to touch a plate, then her mouth, over and over, following along.
• We think “nanan” started from her trying to repeat after us when we ask her “Do you want a….” She just shortened “want a” to ‘nanan.’ This is our current theory.
• She L O V E S to be read to. (Which we love that she loves.) She used to be happy flipping through books herself, but now she brings them over to whoever is nearby. You hear her coming, too. She gets very serious and starts saying “nanana” as she does the three limb crawl, chosen book in hand. Her current favorites include “My Dog’s the Best” (dogda!) and “Booboo.” I think Josh and I have read Booboo about 100 times. Each. She loves that book and we both have it memorized by now. “This is Booboo. Booboo is a gosling. A small blue gosling who likes to eat. Booboo likes to eat from morning til night. Every day….”
• Anything that beeps, has buttons, and is small enough to hold up to her ear is a phone. “Hi.” Including- actual cell phones, the remote, our keyless car entries and most recently, a digital thermometer.
• She hates motorcyles and anything that has a siren. I blame the siren hating on Remy. If she hears one (which happens a lot since we live near a fire station and often have our windows open) she looks at me with terror. And right as she scampers toward me so I can pick her up, what does Remy do but start howling along? She looses it every time. Once it happened at a park while she was swinging and Remy was tied up nearby. I was so embarrassed to be the one with the wailing child and howling dog.
• If I give her some kind of food she doesn’t want, she promptly picks it off her tray and hands it right back to me.
• Like all 15 month olds, she knows the word no and what it means. But she likes to pretend that she wasn’t going to do whatever she’s being warned not to do. She reaches to touch the stereo and when we say, “No, Nora” her hand veers away at the last second to land on a DVD that clearly she was going for the whole time. Or last week, I saw her reaching for what seemed to be the humidifier. “No, Nora” I may have imagined this, but she went for a book behind the humidifier and I believe actually held it up for me to see. As if to say, “It’s cool, Mom, I wasn’t going to touch the humidifier. I was just getting this book. No worries.”
• Still obsessed with doggies. Now she sees one and says “dogda!” (newest pronunciation, up from ‘doggeegee’) and then opens her mouth and says “Ahhhh.” Which is how she asks for a kiss. Not from us, no. She only asks for kisses from dogs. And yes, she’s received a few before we could prevent it happening.
• She also likes to kiss illustrations of dogs in books. It’s amazing how she spots every illustration of a dog. The other day we were in the check out line and she said, “Dogda!” I could not figure out what dog she was seeing until I realized it was on a balloon two aisles over. She also loves to look at the DVD for You’ve Got Mail because there’s a 1 cm illustration of Barkley on the bottom corner of the cover.
• Nora’s going through a very affectionate phase. Sometimes we’re the blessed recipients (“She hugged me! Sob.”) but mostly it’s inanimate objects, such as stuffed dogs. She holds them close and rocks them like they’re babies.
• She likes to stare and say “Hi!” to other kids. She notices other kids almost as much as she notices dogs. In both cases, she completely zones in until she either gets a reaction or the child/dog moves out of sight.
• She loves watching home movies. Anything animated doesn’t interest her (Sorry, Veggie Tales. Your day will come.) But she watched the video Aunt Annie made from our beach trip over and over while she was sick. And on mute during plane trips.
• Nora likes to explore and find new things to figure out. Just when I think she’s explored all she can in our apartment, she comes across something new and exciting. Like the guest room clock radio…

Join Nora on her latest adventure as she uses her newest skills to acquire her most treasured possession.

If you’ve ever wanted to play “Get You!” with Nora, here’s your chance!

Nora finally got to meet my Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul. It was a great trip! They are fantastic hosts. The only sad part was that the trip was a short one.

It worked out so well that we were able to go at all. Josh had business meetings in Mountain View, which is about an hour and a half away from Carmel, home of Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul. They were available to spend the time with us, so he booked a ticket for me and away we went!

The flight out there was amazing. The flight attendant managed to find us our own row on a full flight! After landing, we got our rental car and car seat, dropped Josh off at his office, and drove down to Carmel.

And then Nora finally got to meet Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul! She loved them right away and started giving them her flirty, squinched up face grins. She also loved exploring their kitchen as we ate lunch. (So many drawers! And cabinets!)

After lunch we went for a walk in downtown Carmel. There were so many doggies. And birds. Aunt Barb and I went from shop to shop and were always able to find Uncle Paul and Nora by listening for the cry of “Hey! Dog gee!” Uncle Paul was very kind and pushed Nora’s stroller while she exclaimed over all the dogs. She also liked to touch the potted flowers. (And maybe even snatched a few during drive-by flower pickings.) She was totally comfortable and didn’t even care that I kept walking away. Instant trust and love for Uncle Paul.

The next day we went to this amazing park (the wildlife kind) where you can look over cliffs and see seals. We even got to see a mother with her baby seal! It was so adorable. The baby swam right next to the mom and sometimes they touched noses like they were kissing! We named them “Mommy” and “Nora.”

Next up — the Dennis the Menace Park. Um. Wow. I really wish every kid could go to a park like this one. It was huge with these gigantic bridges and swings and climbing equipment. Nora loved it when Uncle Paul carried her across the wobbly bridge. Then Mommy took her down the long, bumpy slide.

And Nora’s world came crashing down. She absolutely lost it. She sobbed and wailed and let the tears flow.

So we took her to the swings where she cheered up and loved every minute of it.

Then I thought, “Let’s go to the baby slides. So she doesn’t have a fear of all slides.”

Too late. I held her on my lap and tried going down the 3 ft slide with her, and she was still hysterical. Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul even tried to hold her while she watched me go down the slide. (“Look at me, Nora! Whee!! This is so fun!!!”) Nope. Forget it. It was all too horrible for words.

Back to the swings. Because you can’t leave a park sad.

After she recovered, we headed back to the house. It was time to pack up and leave to drive back to Mountain View. It was sad to leave Nora’s new friends.

Then we went to pick up Josh from work. Uncle Kemble was there so we could all go to dinner. We went to In N Out, because we were in CA and you have to go at least once. (Them’s the rules.) Kemble was making Nora giggle pretty hard, which was impressive given how exhausted she was.

Time for bed. This promised to be interesting because we haven’t attempted to sleep in the same room with Nora since she was an infant. We put her pack n play next to our bed, turned out the light, and hoped she’d go to sleep. Sure enough, I heard the sound I thought I would hear; little hands struggling to find a grip on nylon netting. I saw one hand, then the other, grasp the rail. Finally, a little head popped up and there was Nora, ready to play the “You’re Pretending to Sleep and I’m Going to Get You” Game. She was giggling as she repeatedly tapped my head.

After trying to lay her back down a few times, we decided to try co-sleeping for the first time ever. First she just wanted to play with our noses and hair. Then she would sit up and flop onto one of us. Only to sit up again and flop down on the other one. And there were spontaneous bursts of giggles as she continued to attempt the Wake Up Mommy and Daddy Game.

Back to the pack n play, only this time we moved it as far from our bed as we could. She must have been totally wiped out because she didn’t even make a peep. (I was expecting some major protests.) A few hours later, we were waking up to get on another airplane and back to Seattle we flew.

Nora had such a GREAT time with her (great?) Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul. They took wonderful care of us! They had toys for her, her favorite foods ready to go, and lots and lots of love and attention.

Thanks Aunt Barb and Uncle Paul! We’d love to have you visit Seattle anytime!!

Here’s the requested birthday cake video! (Only a week and a half late!)
It’s a little long, but here’s Nora slowing warming up to and then dismantling her giant cupcake. It was hard to edit down because she ate it so slowly and the party was still going full swing, and adding background music didn’t do a thing for it.
So we present: Nora’s 1st Birthday Cake! The (Mostly) Uncut Version!

Full set of party pics here.

The Smiths got Nora this awesome rider/walker toy. Here’s her first attempt to use it to walk. Maybe you had be there and hear her panting as she tried her very best. Josh and I were laughing so hard, we could barely cheer her on. We are so proud of Nora for being so dedicated.

It’s been such a fun year with you. You are so smiley and squeezable! And now you’re ONE!

You are doing so many fun things now.

• You love to see other kids so you can wave and smile at them.
• You can sign “please” and show us where your hair is.
• You can stand on tippy toes and reach things that Mommy didn’t think you possibly could. We have to especially careful to keep the remote away from you because you like to hide it in laundry baskets or with your blocks.
• You love to sneak up on Remy when he is napping so you can grab his tail and say, “AH!”
• You can spot dogs from across the street and have starting yelling, “Hey!” to them.
• You have a new purple hat that you wear with a big smile when Mommy says, “Oh, so pretty!”
• You changed your dance style; now you hold your arms out to the side and shake your head so hard, you almost fall over.
• You love seeing your daddy come home from work and crawl across the floor as fast as you to say hello with a big hug.
• There’s a stuffed dog that says your name and you like to wrap your arms and legs around it and fall face down on top of it, sumo style.
• The other day, you crawled up to me laughing because you were carrying one of your shoes in your mouth. I think you were trying to make me laugh, too.

And today Daddy taught you a new thing- he taught you to hold up your hand to Praise the Lord! Just in time for your birthday. You also had your first chocolate chip pancakes!

We love you so much and are so happy that God is letting us take care of you. We have had such a wonderful year with you and can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.

Nora’s almost one! Here’s some of the things she’s doing these days:

She hugs us! The best chance for a Nora hug is immediately after getting her up from a nap. She puts her arms around your neck, buries her face on your shoulder and squeezes. It’s pretty much one of the best feelings ever.

She makes her baby doll give her hugs by pulling the doll’s arms around her neck. A Nora hug to herself.

Nora l o v e s macaroni and cheese. She ate it tonight until she started grunting. I think she must have been way past full.

She continues to love dogs. We know whenever a dog is around because she’ll say, “dog gee gee! dog gee gee!” Sure enough, we’ll turn around and there’s a dog.

Nora’s a starer. She stares at everyone within a ten foot range. I think it makes some of the neighbors uneasy on the elevator.

Poor girl doesn’t know what to make of the sun. When any rays land on her face, she squints and turns her head away like she’s just going to endure it as best she can. (She’ll get used to it during the sunny summer months… surely….right?)

She likes to hang out under the dining room table. Her own personal fort to read or tear apart a used tissue that Mommy didn’t realize she found. Of course, that’s also where Remy’s bed is so she regularly kicks him out. He doesn’t seem to like it, but he forgives her because…

Nora has been caught feeding Remy several times. She’ll hold her hand down to his mouth and giggle as he licks the food off. We are aware that this is very gross and are working on explaining that to both of them.

Speaking of our floor dwellers and their relationship; Nora is slowly gaining authority over Remy. Remy was begging near her high chair, as is his custom, when she looked right at him, said something like, “Ba!” and Remy humbly sat down. Another time Nora realized that her spinning ball toy scared Remy every time she made the balls spin. I could see the gears turning as she played with it and watched Remy scurry away. Her eyes lit up and a smile slowly spread over her face. As soon as he came back she did it again. Poor guy.

She’s still doing her little Nora dance- hands clasped in front, face forward, swinging her elbows from side to side. She’s gradually working a head bob in.

One of her favorite things to do is to put a small toy- or spoon, or sock, anything really- on the seat of a chair, wait to make sure it doesn’t fall, seems satisfied when it doesn’t, only to take the toy back and do it all over again. About 20 times.

Nora’s latest accomplishment is pulling herself up to stand. The other day, she was hanging out under the table (again) when I heard a small bang (aka bonk) followed by crying. Sure enough, she tried to pull herself up on a chair that was tucked in under the table. Turns out the table is just a few inches shorter than she is. She was so confused why she wasn’t able to finish her new trick or what force was pushing on her head.

Josh taught Nora how to do a fake laugh. It’s pretty gratifying- you fake laugh and she’ll join right in. I love that it’s obviously fake and entirely different from her real laugh.

She’s working on saying “uh oh.” It’s more like “eh eh” at this point.

Nora’s moved bath time into the big tub. And she loves it. She’s liked bath time since she was about three months old, but wow. She really loves it now. So many interesting properties of water to explore. (It looks solid, but it’s not! And where does it come from??)

1 month until Nora’s first birthday. We’re pretty excited, but Nora doesn’t seem to care. She’ll change her mind when she has her first taste of that birthday cake, though.