Nora Update ~ July 14th

I realize you get to see Nora growing right in front of you all the time, but I don't always take the time to share about her progress. At 32 months, we're can now say that we've had Nora for over 2/3 of her life with us. Mind you, it's still that first 1/3 that you really wonder what went on, but that'll always be a big mystery. We feel like we know our girl pretty well, although that doesn't mean we can explain her often irrational behaviours. She is definitely NOT a morning person. Yes, she'll wake up singing, which is quite lovely, but within minutes of not getting her demands met about what to wear, what to do first (read a book, change or not etc...) she will quickly resort to yelling, screaming, crying, lying on the floor... you get the idea. Not all the time, but just finishing breakfast in under an hour is a major accomplishment. Milk is still a challenge to encourage her to drink, although she'll ask for it when we're driving in the van... getting angry that we don't have a fridge in there with milk. Makes no sense...

Typical post-breakfast scenario... cleaning up smeared prunes is not exactly delightful.

Once we survive breakfast, things generally improve with Nora at my constant side. Either trying to help with laundry or tidying up my room, she just loves to be around Mommy. We had been concerned about her slow start with speech, but we're happy to report that she has caught up to the normal range for her age. The speech therapist that we saw every few months is happy with her progress and so we closed her file. Using up to 6 word phrases at times, we generally know what she is trying to tell us. Especially as she repeats herself continually until you acknowledge her. So yes, sometimes we wish we were still using baby sign language! :)

Left too long,
 she'll be practicing trampoline.

Nora's still in the crib,
 so we can contain her.

Daddy remains Nora's favourite person to attempt to control, often throwing books at him to read to her. With correction, she's learning about asking nicely, saying "please", but still is prone to anger if it's not on her timetable. The concept of waiting is still a challenge. However, it is nice to see her interest in books... 

Her other new passion is watching "Elmo". We only own one DVD of favourite songs from Sesame Street, so we are all memorizing them as it's on frequently. I anticipate our upcoming vacation to be a daily routine of hearing that as we travel in the van. Yikes!

This summer we have started toilet training, which is going quite well... just a bit more laundry to do. She's into the concept, can communicate with us about her needs and so I'm pretty sure we'll be good to go for Preschool in September. (2.5 hours, twice weekly.) That is something we're both looking forward to! It's hard to imagine life without this little feisty bundle of energy and inquisitiveness... we feel blessed. :)