Hicks Happenings

Bryan’s 28th Birthday

2012-02-11T14:01:00.001-05:00

Last year we went all out for Bryan’s birthday: surprise party, piñata the works – but I didn’t take any pictures. Bryan couldn’t even remember what we did last year to celebrate which just goes to show that if you don’t take a picture and blog about it, it didn’t happen. This year was much more low key but better documented.

Here is the the birthday nymph doing a special birthday dance around the apartment for good luckThe birthday breakfast table pre-French toast and cake. Bryan made his own birthday breakfast while I finished up the cake. Lets be honest – even if the cake had been done he would likely have made breakfast because he does all things breakfast just as he does all things grilled We wanted to have some people over to celebrate but it was tough deciding who we were willing to risk getting sick. In the end we decided that we didn’t mind if these people got sick and it turned out that they felt the same about us because they were already sick. Stacy’s birthday is tomorrow so we were also celebrating her – sigh – we love Stacy. What would we do without her? Notice the mini lint rollers on the table. They were a birthday present that Norah couldn’t resist opening. She must have been so disappointed.Bryan with his carrot cake

Norah was very impressed when Bryan blew out all 8 candles and told him “good job.”

Just Because

2012-02-10T19:26:00.001-05:00

We haven’t been up to a lot lately because everyone is sick right now (thank you YMCA childcare) so this post is just because there are grandparents out there who like pictures.
Notice that Norah’s sleeves are pushed up on her jammies – she cannot stand to have sleeves past her elbows lately. No matter how tight her jammy shirts are the first thing she does is push up those sleeves.Being sick hasn’t stopped Alice from hanging out at the gym. She is so smiley.

Alice is 2 Months

2012-02-01T21:55:00.001-05:00

Today at Target some ladies were oohing and awing at Alice and when they asked me how old she was I said “2 months” without hesitation. *sigh* I can’t believe I’m done responding in weeks. She had her two month appointment today and she weighed 12 pounds 13 ounces and supposedly she was 24 inches long. I’m a little skeptical because measuring a baby is not an exact science and I’m not sure if the nurse counted her hair. If she really is 24 inches that would mean she has grown a whopping 2 inches per month. Who does that?! Apparently babies. I really wanted to post a picture of Alice smiling. I was holding a mirror over her head and waiting for her to grin at herself and then trying to move it out of the way and take her picture before it faded but I wasn’t fast enough and after a while it just made her cry. I tried to get Norah to help me . . . Then Bryan came home and I enlisted his help but as you can see she was tired of having her emotions toyed with.Look at this face – she was thinking “seriously people? I am the best baby ever: All I want is to do sleep and you are both so ungrateful.”

She really is a smiley baby though and has been in good spirits despite having a cold this past week.

The Era of Coordinating Dresses Begins!

2012-01-26T14:38:00.001-05:00

It actually began last year with Christmas dresses but now it is in full swing. Thanks to their generous clothing benefactor (Mimi) there will be more pictures like this to come.
I’m so glad Norah enjoys dressing like Alice and I intend to take advantage while I can. I even was able to get Norah to wear a bow long enough to take this picture – after which she took off both her bow and Alice’s.
In other news: We spent Alice’s Christmas money on a baby gym. The rest of us have been devotedly exercising at the Y so we thought it only right Alice should also have a workout facility.Here she is doing some push upsShe loves it, I love it and Norah loves it. Actually, Norah has some baby gym envy – so I set up her tent today as a consolation.
I love my little Norah girl but January is just not her month – nor mine. We need more outside time. I’ve got my hopes set on an early spring this year.

Studying with Daddy

2012-01-15T13:56:00.001-05:00

Six Weeks and Smiling

2012-01-09T16:41:00.001-05:00

Oh our sweet baby Alice is just getting sweeter
And bless her heart she still does lots of this:
These are Alice’s thoughts on waking up after being unwrapped from the above pictured swaddle (BTW: I imagine she thought all these comments with a British accent because she and I have been watching Downton Abbey together)
Oh dear. How long did I sleep?
Really? That long?!
Well time to get going then – err get this arm up there
and the other one too. Yes, much better.
Oh my. Hello there – where did you come from? Yes your quite right I “woke up.” I was just stretching and if you’ll excuse me a moment I’ll just throw on some jammies and then perhaps we could talk over a blanket in the living room.

Snow Day with Daddy

2012-01-05T22:08:00.001-05:00

Norah is one of the few people I’ve met that enjoys having snowballs thrown at them. She would puff out her chest and say, “Daddy, throw the snowball at my soup(suit)”. By the way, Norah did not make either of the snowballs featured in this blog post.

Posed shot of Norah “making” a snowballNorah admiring “her” handicraftNorah found who she first thought was Jesus but when I told her it was Mary she was even more excited

We spent a lot of time with Mary. Norah had a hard time leaving. She may have felt a special bond after playing Mary in the Branch nativity.

Finishing up a great snow day playing on the see saw.

Christmas comes in 2s

2012-01-05T14:14:00.001-05:00

Grandpa Guy and Norah: Perfect playmates. Norah easily persuaded Grandpa Guy into almost any kind of playtime except for getting him to go to the pool with her.Mimi and Alice: Perfect opposites. While Mimi worked overtime to make Christmas magical for all of us vacationers, Alice just lazed about and slept the holiday away. Mimi was happy to accommodate this.Kimball and Bryan: Christmas Connoisseurs. Enjoying the best of what the holiday has to offer (orange rolls)Kelsey and Alice: Two very cuddly girlsNorah and Greg: Kindred spirits. Greg generously shared his stickers with NorahCourtney and Norah: BFF’s. Norah worships Courtney and loved exploring her bedroom (with and without Courtney’s supervision) to learn more about her.

Just Like Old Times!

2011-12-29T20:42:00.001-05:00

The Monday before Christmas we met up with Hillary and Lincoln for a play date.

Christmas

2011-12-29T20:23:00.001-05:00

Christmas is more and more fun every year for us thanks to Norah. We tried really hard to explain to Norah the true meaning of Christmas in terms she could understand. We talked about how Christmas was Jesus’s birthday but this alarmed her because she feared all the presents under the tree were not for her so she started insisting “No, Norah’s birthday.” Eventually we gave up on it and just enjoyed the secondary meaning of Christmas: Presents. We even had Norah put out Oreos and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

Santa was very good to Norah – here she is wearing her princess dress, apron and chef hatGrandpa Guy giving Norah a beat to dance to in her princess dressCourtney with her two nieces in their Christmas dresses from MimiWe had church at 1:00 and by the time we were home and giving Norah lunch she was completely exhausted and fell asleep

Alice’s Blessing

2011-12-29T19:23:00.001-05:00

Bryan blessed Alice with his dad and Kimball on December 23rd at his parents home. Alice wore her Aunt Courtney’s blessing dress Ahhh, life with a big sister.Norah gave Alice lots of kisses once she realized how much attention she’d get for it. When we were done taking pictures of her with Alice she promptly pushed her off her lap. Fortunately we were all near by to catch Alice.Ashley, Matt and Louis came down for the blessing.Norah with Baby Louis. He is soooooo cute.

Norah's Nutcracker

2011-12-18T21:02:00.001-05:00

Norah decided that she couldn't let Courtney take all the limelight and decided to do her own performance of the nutcracker.

The Nutcracker

2011-12-18T19:14:00.001-05:00

Bryan’s little sister Courtney was the Sugar Plum Fairy in her ballet academy’s performance of the Nutcracker. She has been in the Nutcracker every Christmas as long as I have known her but we’ve never made it down to Virginia in time to see it. Since she is her academy’s prima ballerina this year and a senior in High School we decided we wouldn’t miss it for anything – not even a two week old baby could stop us! She did a fantastic job. Her choreography was extremely difficult and her dance teachers said that she was their first Sugar Plum Fairy to completely nail the routine. She was absolutely lovely and I’m so glad we were able to see her perform.

Norah fell asleep in the car on the way and slept through most of the first half but didn’t miss any of Courtney’s numbersNorah handing Courtney a bouquet after the performanceCourtney posing with some of her friends after the showThis is Norah very seriously imitating the ballerinasAnd this is Susan with sweet little Alice after the Nutcracker

Alice’s Newborn Pictures

2011-12-18T11:18:00.001-05:00

My friend Stacy Hutchison is building a portfolio and kindly offered to take pictures of baby Alice. These are my favorites:

Sleeping on the Job

2011-12-11T18:04:00.001-05:00

I put an awake Alice on her brand new baby quilt from Mimi today for some tummy time and she promptly fell back asleep. She had a rough night last night so I guess she was making up for it. This is Alice having tummy time after her nap under the tutelage of her big sister.Norah showing Alice advanced tummy time moves – notice Norah AND the dog are doing downward dog

Branch Christmas Party

2011-12-11T11:18:00.001-05:00

Friday was our Branch Christmas Party and we had a great time. My mom stayed home with Alice so we could focus on Norah and enjoy talking to friends. Norah loved running around the gym with her pals.And she enjoyed “playing baby Jesus” as Mary in the Nursery’s nativity
It was a little like herding cats, but darling none the less. Graham was Joseph, Ellie and baby Callie were angels, Drew and Ethan were sheep and J.J. was a shepherd.Norah and Dad

Jammies and Stuff

2011-12-07T21:16:00.001-05:00

Norah has been particular about her pajamas for a long long time but it has gotten ridiculous lately. She has this one Christmas nightgown (featured below) that she wants to wear every single night – because it is a “dress.”But we have to wash it at some point and since we don’t have a washer and dryer sometimes she just needs to wear other jammies. She dug in her heels tonight so I told her she had to stay in her room until she was ready to put on other jammies. When she came out of her room she was dressed like this:She came out marching and said “I got all my stuff. I got my hat, my doctor bag, my pack pack and my dresses.” Please note that both dresses are inside out and one is backwards. Also, you can’t see it but she is wearing a tutu under her dresses.

Alice at One Week

2011-12-05T19:46:00.001-05:00

Alice is a sweet little baby at one week. She is sleeping and eating like a champ and as of Friday she was almost back to her birth weight. We all love to snuggle this sleepy baby and watch the funny faces she makes in her sleep. I wasn’t able to capture it in a picture, but Alice has a big dimple on her left cheek just like her Aunt Natalie and Great Grandma Hyer.

Fohawk

2011-12-01T14:40:00.001-05:00

Alice's First Day

2011-11-28T20:26:00.001-05:00

Alice Winnifred Hicks was born today at 1:45 am. She was 8 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long.

Katie, my midwife, holding Alice after delivery


Norah Checking Alice's vitals

Holding both little girls

Grandma Lorraine with Alice

First family photo

40 weeks, 5 days and counting

2011-11-25T17:15:00.001-05:00

But at least I’m in good company: Emily Hales is also impatiently waiting for an overdue baby. We took advantage of the exceptional weather we had on Thanksgiving and took Norah to a park near the Hales’ apartment and decided to do our own study on the effectiveness of swinging as a natural way to induce labor. So far it seems to be ineffective.

Norah’s Big Sister Angst

2011-11-10T14:54:00.001-05:00

Poor Norah. She thinks having a very pregnant mom is kind of a bummer. She has no idea what she is in for. I admit the last few weeks of this pregnancy have been hard on little Norah. I’m not picking her up when she wants me to and instead I’m asking her to pick up her toys or socks or anything else she has scattered around the apartment. When we attempt to leave the apartment I have to chase and wrestle her to get her dressed and while I used to tolerate this in good humor I’m increasingly inconvenienced and frustrated by it which I’m sure has her feeling equally inconvenienced and frustrated. Instead of carrying her to the car to avoid her running around the building I have to depend on her holding my hand and following directions. It turns out she is undependable and this leaves me to either chase her and then carry her to the car, incentivize her with a treat or sticker (surprisingly ineffective) or threaten to take away some privilege (never works). All in all, she is being asked to follow many more directions and clearly resents it. She has never been more stubborn or contrary (please note her tweet about going to the Sciencenter - one of her FAVORITE places).
I’ve been trying to keep things positive and even got her a calendar to put stickers on every time she follows directions. This has been mostly a failed campaign. Last night she actually earned about half a dozen stickers for picking up toys but generally the stickers don’t have much pull. This morning I had planned to take her to target to pick up a few things and thought it would be a fun outing for her as well. She’d get some free popcorn and get to pick out new stickers to replenish the stash since she’d been such a rock star last night. Well Norah was doing everything she could think of to delay this fun outing. Frustrated, I backed off and ignored her for a bit while she played in her room – or so I thought. When I went in I saw that she had colored with crayons all over her wall and covered it with the stickers I use to reward her. This should have been my tip off that she had learned how to open the desk drawers (where I keep everything that is small and dangerous (pennies, batteries, sharp things, super glue etc) but I guess I thought I had left out the stickers last night and I was probably too mad to think it through anyway. Norah absolutely knows that drawing on walls is bad. We’ve gone over this. When I tried tell her how naughty this was she just laughed at me and I felt like I was rewarding her with all the attention she wanted which made me even angrier so I put myself in timeout in my room to calm down. When I came out Norah greeted me with black Sharpie (from desk drawer) in hand, covered in body art. There was sharpie on my door, the wall, and even the lid to the toilet! But she really took out her angst on the baby room. The door, two walls and crib were sharpied. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. . .
I freaked out, cried and called Bryan who googled a solution for the crib: aquafresh toothpaste and baby wipes (who knew?). This picture was taken after I was able to clean the sharpie off of the crib so it doesn’t really do justice to Norah’s statement. Of course, while I was doing this Norah was trying to climb into the bathroom sink for some reason and stepped onto the toilet paper holder, which then broke off and caused her to fall. Thank heaven she didn’t crack her head open. She didn’t even have a bump. Really – things could have been much much worse in many ways:
-Norah could have chosen to eat batteries or any number of dangerous things in the desk that I have to now find new homes for
-She could have taken the sharpie to the living room chairs (I’m surprised she didn’t)
-Miracle of miracles – she did NOT sharpie the quilt I had made for Baby Alice and left in the crib (it has since been tucked away)

So anyway. We’ll be cleaning out the desk tonight and testing the power of Mr. Clean magic erasers on the walls.

Halloween

2011-10-31T21:47:00.001-04:00

We had a fun, but cold Halloween weekend this year. Norah dressed up as an “octagon.” She has been obsessed with “octagons” ever since she saw Jack Black act like seeing a stop sign was a celebrity sighting in this sesame street segment. It was such a simple costume to make and conveniently fit over her coat.We went to the Branch Halloween party on Friday night which was fabulous and included a murder mystery drama acted out by several branchers. There was also live music which Norah danced to with EllieSaturday we went to Grisamore Farms to see the animals and get some pumpkins which we had great ambitions to carve but never didAnd tonight we took Norah trick or treating around our apt complex and she loved it. She was very good about knocking, holding out her bucket and saying “thank you very much” but was stumped when neighbors tried to let her pick a candy instead of just giving her one.

Norah Takes Manhattan

2011-10-25T15:09:00.001-04:00

Norah and I spent the weekend with friends in NYC. This was Norah’s 3rd trip to the city. What a traveller she is! Back in August Bryan made plans to go to Denver for David and Stacy’s wedding and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go because I would be 36 weeks. I was hoping to go to NYC earlier in the fall to visit Christy and Jace and also to go apartment scouting with Lauren but timing didn’t work out. Then just a little over a week ago Bryan actually had to change his flight from leaving out of Ithaca Thursday morning to leaving out of JFK Thursday night in order to make an interview so our weekend getaway worked out perfectly.

I was a little hesitant to travel this late in my pregnancy but I figured it would actually be much easier to spend the weekend with Christy and Lauren helping me with Norah than fending for myself. Boy was I right. Those girls were such a huge help I felt like I had a vacation from parenting. I can’t thank them enough for carrying Norah and her stroller up and down countless subway steps.

Christy and Jace were generous hosts as always. Christy made Norah and I pumpkin waffles and pancakes (and Norah helped) and Jace made Norah eggs on demand.

Friday morning Christy, Norah and I did some shopping around the upper west side and looked for coats for Norah at Century 21. We found several good options but they were unfortunately not in her size. Mercifully, the coat that Norah really really really wanted was also not in her size.I’m sure she was innocently trying to pick the coat that most resembled a Muppet but Christy and I agreed it made her look like something else.After some shopping we went to Central Park to play on the playground and ride on the carousel. Norah said repeatedly that the carousel was “so fun.” What would I have done without Christy? There is no way I could have gotten up on that horse!In the evening we met up with Lauren to go to the MoMA and dinner. It was free thanks to Target sponsoring free Friday nights. Thank you Target – I love you. These pictures are of Lauren, Christy and Norah walking through a cool interactive piece called “Sum of Day’s.” We had no idea what it was all about as we walked through the elliptical labyrinth with hanging microphones but after we read about it we learned the microphones were recording ambient sounds and replaying a new one each day with with older recordings gradually fading into whispers. Cool concept. It would have been much cooler if the museum hadn’t been so crowded and loud.Saturday morning Norah and I took it easy at the playground next to Christy’s building while Lauren and Christy went running in Central Park. We spent the afternoon at The Cloisters which was the perfect outing for such a beautiful day. The Cloisters are beautifully situated on Fort Tryon Park which is on top of a mountain (by NY standards). Christy and I somehow missed the elevator out of the 190th st. station and exited at the bottom of the mountain and after walking around the mountain lost for a while we started joking that we were going to have to scale this thing. It turned out that we did. I wish I would have taken pictures of all the stairs we climbed up with Norah in her stroller. I even googled images looking for a picture that would do justice to the feat but couldn’t find one. It was ridiculous and yet the Cloisters were still worth the effort. I’m not sure what this bridge is in the background but that is the Hudson river.Lauren and Christy at the base of the CloisterNorah still full of energy despite walking up her share of stairsI’m posting this picture for those of you who want to see the 36 week bumpAfter a nice lunch in a cloister at the Cloisters, we finished the day off with shopping at Columbus Circle. So fun. Thank you Norah for timing your nap so perfectly and thank you Fort Tryon stairs for ensuring it would be such a long nap.

Sunday we went for a walk along the High Line which is a pedestrian park along the old elevated railroad that went through the meat packing district. It was opened in 2009 but some of it was just completed this summer and there are plans to keep expanding it. I think this is the coolest and most effective example I have seen of a community combatting urban decay. The High Line was an eye sore before this project and now it is a treasured park.

Bowling Boogie

2011-10-16T21:22:00.001-04:00

David and Stacy invited us to go bowling with them last night. We weren't quite sure if Norah would like it but it turns out she loves it. This is some great footage that Stacy captured on her iPhone. Oh, to have an iPhone.

Zoo Day

2011-10-15T15:38:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we went to the zoo with Lindsey, Graham and Kari and Avery. I’m so glad we did because it was very good zoo weather in the morning and we got plenty of energy out of the way to make it through the rainy afternoon.Norah running to catch up with AveryThree toddlers watching three tiger cubs – you can see the moms in the reflection taking pictures.

Fall Leaves

2011-10-15T15:29:00.001-04:00

I think this week may have been the peak of fall color for Ithaca. I find myself constantly saying “look how pretty that tree is.” Every fall here has been breathtaking but I’m still caught off guard by it.

Juice and Cheese

2011-10-10T22:24:00.001-04:00

This may surprise you, but the Finger Lakes region is wine country. Supposedly the climate is similar to the Rhineland and the “whites” are top rated. Cornell offers wine tasting classes and going on wine tours along the “wine trail” is one of the main tourist attractions. Being LDS we didn’t expect to experience this aspect of local culture until last fall when some friends of ours introduced us to “juice tasting.” They had been driving up to Fulkerson Winery on Seneca lake several weekends during the grape harvest to buy grape juices that hadn’t been fermented. The winery sells it to local hobbyists who enjoy bottling their own wines. I had no idea there were so many kinds of grapes and it completely blew my mind how different they tasted. One seriously even tasted like lemonade! This taste bud awakening happened at the end of the season last fall so we resolved that we would check out this place for ourselves next year. We went up this last Saturday with friends and made a day of it. We tasted juices, bought juices, and stopped at a nearby “weinery” for hotdogs. Sadly, I didn’t take pictures.
On the way home we saw a sign announcing a stop on the Finger Lakes“cheese trail” so we decided to get some cheese to compliment our snobby grape juice. The place we visited was called Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese and I highly recommend stopping by if you’re in the area.
Norah, Alex and Danya sampling cheese. Norah had to ask for juice samples at that winery but the cheese was all within her reach and she ate A LOT of cheese.The super friendly cheese makers invited us for a tour of their factory. It was seriously straight out of Picture Picture from Mr. Rogers. Definitely the highlight of the day. They can only give tours when they are not producing cheese though so call ahead if you want to check it out – we just got lucky.Check out all these cheese wheels aging! We didn’t dare put Norah down.That evening the two other couples we had gone juice tasting with pooled their purchased juices (and cheeses) with ours to host a juice and cheese tasting party. We had a great time being pseudo juice snobs as we sampled and critiqued the different varieties.

Big Sister Books

2011-10-10T21:48:00.001-04:00

My big sister (she is actually smaller than me) Ashley sent Norah some light reading on how to be a big sister. Norah is fascinated with these big sister books and asks to read them before every nap and bedtime. I’m sure she has no clue how much her little world is about to be rocked but I do think she is starting to understand that some people (like Graham) have a baby sister and that supposedly she will too. Maybe she thinks it is some kind of pretend game we’re playing with her but she is definitely playing along. She has been taking a much more active role in caring for Molly the Dolly and I even caught her “reading” bedtime stories to Molly.

Norah Explores the Cinema

2011-09-30T16:33:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Norah hit a new milestone: Her first movie. Her friend Graham invited her to escape the rain and see The Lion King in 3D. She was amazed by the big theater and seemed to understand that this was a special privilege. We walked in during the previews and Norah, instead of charging fearlessly ahead of me as she usually does, quietly held my hand and observed the two other children in the theater sitting quietly in their seats. She was completely surprised to see Graham there and thrilled that he had not only saved her a seat next to him but was prepared with goldfish, capri –suns and m&m’s. They were both excellent audience members and sat contentedly in their seats for at least half of the movie and were really only slightly disruptive during the second half. I had forgotten what a great movie The Lion King is and it was fun to watch Norah enjoy it. She loved all the animals and was excited every time she saw one she recognized. She’d point and say “a giraffe, a giraffe” with such urgency like she was worried we were going to miss it. However, I don’t think 3D is the best idea for a kids movie --they can’t keep their hands off those glasses and it turns out they are less effective when smudged with peanut butter.

Hair Bows

2011-09-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

Norah and I stayed home while Lindsey and Lindsey went to RS conference this evening. At about 9pm Norah was starting to lose it. I asked her if she wanted to put 2 bows in her hair to make her feel better. Apparently she was feeling quite lousy because she decided that she needed all of her bows in her hair.You can see that she’s getting tired here because she’s trying to rub her eyes.Norah actually insisted on sleeping with all of these bows in her hair even though it was pretty obvious it wasn’t very comfortable.

Indian Creek Apple Picking

2011-09-22T15:50:00.001-04:00

Fall is my favorite season and Ithaca has so much to offer in the fall. This past Saturday we took Norah apple picking at Indian Creek Farm. We have never picked there before and it is probably the closest U-pick farm to us so we thought we should give it a go. I think I prefer both Little Tree Orchards and Grisamore Farm to Indian Creek. Click Here if you want to compare last year’s apple picking pictures to see how much Norah has grown.The trees we were supposed to pick from were already picked pretty bare so it was hard to find low hanging fruit for Norah to pick. Norah was incredibly patient and obedient as we looked for apples she could reach and she didn’t pick any fruit from the heavy laden trees (such as below) that were not ready for picking. She really was in a great mood and such a sport – singing to herself and asking us questions about the apples.Maybe she was so content because she always had an apple in her hand to eat.We also picked some perfectly ripe pears which were incredible The highlight of the morning for Norah was seeing and hearing a rooster crow. I would have taken a picture but the rooster was hanging out by the clotheslines and it seemed a little too personal for pictures.

Insane Rain

2011-09-08T09:06:00.001-04:00

We have had so so SO much rain this week. The Tompkins county sheriff closed all the roads until further notice because of flooding. That means Cornell is closed as well. Bryan doesn’t have class till 3 so he might not escape any work but it is fun to have him work from home today. We had a nice leisurely pancake breakfast this morning.

It is actually not raining right now but it poured all day yesterday and all through the night. Last night Norah had a melt down from being cooped up so Bryan asked her if she wanted to go outside and she sobbed “yeah, outside” so they went outside in the dark, in the midst of a downpour to play on the swing set. And what was she wearing? A sundress! Norah will only wear the same 3 or 4 sundresses lately (basically the last two months). She did have a raincoat on over it at least. When they came back in she was totally soaked and much happier.

My friend Lindsey took this picture of Norah and Graham yesterday while we did laundry. It was quite the challenge to get 4 large laundry baskets, 3 kids and 2 big jugs of detergent in and out of the car between the 2 of us while it was pouring. We had planned to let the kids play at a nearby playground during laundry cycles but that obviously didn’t happen. We went to Target for free popcorn instead. We were all soaked by the time we were done.

Cornell Branch Opening Social

2011-09-07T19:51:00.001-04:00

Last Friday our student branch had its annual opening social. I love it when everyone (well, not everyone sniff sniff) comes back from their summer internships – it was a lonely summer. Norah had a blast running around and being totally crazy with Ellie and Graham. These three kids couldn’t have been cuter together Friday. Our branch doesn’t have a primary program so new student families moving in with two year olds usually opt to go to the ward to avoid having to switch midway through their programs. Thus as Norah gets older her peer group shrinks but what a great group it is!

Our Branch Pres. has a few apple trees and they had this big bucket of apples sitting on their porch. Since the kids were quietly entertaining themselves we weren’t paying attention to them and by the time I started taking pictures they had taken exactly one bite out of probably a quarter of the apples. Notice that Graham and Ellie have swapped shoesHow cute is this? Ellie tries to hand Norah an appleBut then drops itNorah returns it and Graham puts back the apple he was working on and reaches for a fresh oneAnd we’re back to eating Running around giggling hystericallyNorah sharing. I’m so glad I had a camera.

New Apartment: Bedroom

2011-09-03T17:57:00.001-04:00

Our bedroom isn’t as cute at Norah’s but we did get a new quilt like her.I started this quilt a year and a half ago and but got bored of working on it and took a very long break. I don’t think my attention span is big enough for queen size quilts. I finally got around to finishing it this summer.

New Apartment: Living Room and Kitchen

2011-09-03T11:05:00.001-04:00

New Apartment: Norah’s Room

2011-09-03T10:58:00.001-04:00

We moved into a new apartment a month ago and are loving it. It is so so nice to have a living room and kitchen again after two years of sorority living. We feel like grown ups again! There are lots of families with kids in this complex so whenever we go outside there is someone for Norah to play with.

When we moved in we switched Norah from her crib to twin bed. The transition couldn’t have been easier. She was so excited about having a big girl bed that she took right to it. This picture is of a random day when she insisted on napping with a package of straws.I just finished this strawberry quilt for Norah this week. I was hoping she would be just as excited about it as she was about her big girl bed but no such luck. She told me several times “no like it” and tried to pull it off her bed. I think she just really doesn’t like anyone messing with her stuff.Since not using the quilt was clearly not an option after laboring over it all summer I launched a PR campaign which included me playing with her stuffed animals and feeding them strawberries from the quiltAs well as making a coordinating doll quilt for Molly the Dolly to use It seems to have helped because I left Norah napping with my friend Ashley while I got my hair cut the other day and I guess when Norah woke up she was very happy about the quilt (she was very unhappy about having it on her bed when she went down for her nap) and showed it off to Ashley saying “look, strawberry blanket. So beautiful.” She has been happy to have it on her bed since. Success!

Hicks Family Beach Trip

2011-09-02T15:57:00.001-04:00

Bryan’s parents rented a beautiful house on the Outer Banks for a family reunion during the last full week of August. We had a great time and I’ve been dying to post about it except that I’m mourning how few pictures I took. This always happens at the beach. It is just a pain to take a camera to the beach with all that sand. And who wants their picture taken when they are in their swimsuit, post swim / pre shower and have just gotten to a good part in their book? Alas, I have realized that waiting will not make more pictures materialize and have resolved to make up for it during Christmas break when we will see Bryan’s family again.

Beach Trip Highlights:

- Norah flying a kite for the first time

- Getting texts and emails from family and friends asking about / informing us of the DC earthquake

- Lamenting as a family that missed out on earthquake stories and then (in the case of Susan and Kelsey only) celebrating that we did in fact feel the earthquake only attributed it to Kimball shaking beach chairs

- Endless ice cream sandwiches

- Beating the beach traffic both on the way there and on the way back to VA (thanks to Guy’s foresight in predicting the evacuation schedule)

- Pool Party complete with brats and Beach Boys music

- Family Tennis matches

- Spotting Octagons on walks. Norah has suddenly become obsessed with stop signs (due to a sesame street segment on octagons with Jack Black) and wanted nothing more than to find octagons. One night at bedtime I was asking her what she wanted to do the next day and if she wanted to put more sea shells in the bucket and she said quietly “yeah. Sea shells in the bucket.” and then after a pause she excitedly asked “octagons?”

- Morning walks on the beach

- Seeing a live soft shell blue crab with a big barnacle on the beach

I loved walking on the beach in the morning because it was so empty and beautiful.This is Norah running as fast as she can away from the water. I don’t know what her deal was but she was absolutely against ocean. We couldn’t bribe her to swim with us. Norah never backed down on her decision to not swim in the ocean but she took advantage of the pool every day. We were in the pool before 8am one day!Hot-tubbers L to R: Kimball, Kelsey, Susan, Courtney, BryanNorah with Grandpa Guy in her Jammies.

Rainy Days

2011-08-15T18:32:00.001-04:00

We’ve had rainy days lately so we’ve been busting out the play house Bryan’s mom made Norah. She loves tending to her indoor garden.

Cayuga Nature Center

2011-08-14T14:25:00.001-04:00

Norah and I had a play date this past Wednesday with two of my former coworkers from IHS and their kids. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

This nature center has a six story tree house that was built in a community effort. It is super cool. I don’t think Norah is old enough to fully appreciate its awesomeness but we’ll be back when she is 3 for sure. We also enjoyed spotting butterflies and caterpillars in the butterfly house

Norah’s first Campout

2011-08-14T14:10:00.003-04:00

Last weekend a friend of Bryan’s hosted a big party / campout on his property to celebrate his retirement from the Air Force, finishing his PhD and his daughter’s HS graduation. He lives way out in the countryside near Rome NY– as in there was no internet or cell phone service! It was a great party complete with a bbq, bonfire, bouncy house, swing set, trampoline, blueberry picking, swimming in a nearby creek and lots of kids and lots of dogs. Needless to say Norah had the time of her toddlerhood and declared “I like it camping!”

Norah LOVED this collie named Sadie May and even prompted us to include Sadie in our family prayers days later.A major diversion for the men was trying to set this tree on fire using strategic chain sawing and lots and lots of lighter fluid. The little girl pulling this wagon showered Norah with attention and made sure she had a good time

Farewell Lincoln

2011-08-10T15:34:00.001-04:00

Norah’s very first friend, Lincoln, moved away from Ithaca at the end of July. Norah and I are still in denial that they are gone. Hillary and I were pregnant together and Norah was born exactly three months after Lincoln so she doesn’t know life without him. This blog is full of Lincoln and Norah pictures and it makes me very sad that the Era of Lincoln and Norah is coming to a close. Fortunately Lincoln’s family moved less than a half hour away from Bryan’s family so we will be able to visit them when we go down to Virginia.

Hillary took these endearing pictures of Lincoln and Norah together the night before they moved.

I loved what Hillary wrote on her blog about the evening and I can’t think of a better way to document this sweet memory so I’m going to repost her post here:

“Even though they didn’t understand that we were about to leave forever, Lincoln and Norah sure seemed like they were trying to make the most of their remaining time together. They spent about 30 minutes running toward each other with open arms (I wish it had been lighter so I could have gotten some action shots) and hugging tightly, only to release and repeat.”

Thank you Hillary, Jonathan and Lincoln for three years of great memories and Kodak moments! We will miss you.

Brooks Family Reunion Part 3

2011-07-28T15:02:00.002-04:00

We made the most of our time while we were all together. It was easy to find motivation to get out of the house with 100 degree weather! We went swimming at Treman, visited the Corning Glass Museum (mostly to have an air conditioned venue) and we even went on a sisters (and husbands) night hike while the grandparents played with Evelyn and Norah in Norah’s air conditioned bedroom. I didn’t take any pictures at any of these events because I was too busy enjoying myself so I’ll have to try to steal some pics from my sisters. I do have this one group shot of all of us before Emily, Mike and Evie had to leave.

We spent our last full day with Ashley, Matt and Natalie at Treman State Park again but this time we did the gorge trail which is stunning. It is a steep hike and 5 1/2 miles round trip and I was a little nervous about doing the whole thing pregnant so Bryan and Matt dropped off a car at the top while the rest of us started hiking. We offered to wait for them but they kept bragging about how they’d catch up (it is probably a 10 min drive one way) and sure enough they did. I think they ran up the trail.

Matt, Bryan, Natalie and Stacy hiked most of the trail in the gorge up and over waterfalls. My dad carried Norah in the back pack.Ashley and I played it safe on the trailI wish I had some pictures of the dramatic Lucifer Falls that this hike leads too. It is really impressive. When we were at the top Ashley, Natalie, Stacy, Norah and I drove down to the swimming hole and my parents, Matt, Bryan, Dean and Lorraine hiked down. They were gone so long we were starting to get nervous. Turns out they hiked almost the entire thing in the water. They went so far down they could hear the diving board at the swimming hole. My poor mom wasn’t in a swimsuit and she was completely soaked. Matt and Bryan said she earned their deepest respect as she scrambled down the waterfalls without the slightest complaint.

Brooks Family Reunion Part 2

2011-07-28T14:21:00.001-04:00

Emily, Mike and Evelyn arrived next and we took them to Taghannook Falls and the Museum of Play.

I think I have a picture of every member of my family by this waterfall except Natalie and Taylor now – and Norah is present in almost all of the pictures – albeit in an Ergo carrier in some.The highlight of the Museum of Play was predictably the Wegmans Grocery store. My pictures are terrible but these girls were on the move and there was no posing them.Another big hit was playing with Grandma. She helped the cousins make a fort of pillows in the center of the living room and played endless rounds of duck, duck, goose with them – or a version of it. My mom kept trying to demonstrate how to properly play duck duck goose by demonstrating how you pat heads using stuffed animals and she even tried showing them youtube tutorials on the game but it was to no avail. Evie and Norah instead just chased Grandma around the pillow fort yelling “duck, duck, goose.” They LOVED it and it was hilarious to watch. They were shrieking with laughter. Another favorite game was crawling inside this tunnel and being pulled around by Grandma.We also took Emily, Mike and Evelyn to beautiful Ithaca Falls. Evie and Norah held hands almost the entire timeI kept getting these sun spots in the pictures so I held up my hand to block the sun and then I couldn’t get the girls to stop holding up their hands.

Brooks Family Reunion 2011 Part 1

2011-07-28T10:03:00.001-04:00

My family had a reunion this past week in Ithaca. Schedules didn’t line up perfectly so we were only all together at once for 2.5 days but since Bryan and I hosted the reunion here in Ithaca I was able to enjoy an 11 day span of family time. My parents came first so they would have time to recover from jet lag before everyone else arrived. I mostly took advantage of their free baby sitting so I could take care of some errands and packing but we did have some quality Sciencenter, Park and Gorge time.

Here are some photos from a hike we did in Watkins Glen:

Girls trip to the Zoo

2011-07-13T19:31:00.002-04:00

Bryan has been pretty tied up with school lately so this past Saturday Norah and I headed up to Syracuse to visit my friend Kari and her two fabulous little girls Bailey and Avery. Kari’s husband is a resident in orthopedic surgery so I can always count on her for some girl time.

L to R: Avery, Bailey and Norah

I can’t believe how fast Bailey is growing up. Kari was pregnant with her at my wedding and now she is a big sister, 5 and headed for kindergarten. Little Avery is still little for pushing 3 but she is growing up too. She has become quite the conversationalist since I saw her in March. It makes me excited about how much Norah will be learning in coming months and seeing these cute girls together makes me so excited to have another little girl:)

Hard to believe that in 4 months Norah will be a big sister with a little sister just like Bailey.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-09T18:16:00.001-04:00

This year we celebrated the 4th of July by going to Canada. Ha ha, we just went to the Canadian side of Niagara Fallsbut it was a nice little adventure. We went with our friends Stacy and David – David is from New Zealand and apparently a suspicious character so we were stopped by unnecessarily rude border patrol guards on our way home. The rest of us were born in the US of A but were considered suspicious by association and had to explain in the office how we new each other and what we were doing in Canada. Even Norah was expected to make an appearance despite being sound asleep in her car seat. I am happy to report that the Canadian border patrol guards were professional, polite and welcoming. Just before we pulled up to the booth Norah had been admiring the stamps in her passport. When we handed the passports over to the Canadian official she said “stamp, stamp” and he said “Does Norah want a stamp?” and stamped her passport even though it wasn’t necessary. I thought that was pretty classy. I am so proud to be an American and live in this wonderful country that has the privilege of sharing such a long border with Canada:)And so is Norah!We went on the Maid of the Mist and had a great time. We were struggling with holding on to a very independent Norah until we figured out that she fit snuggly on the cleat for the rope. She had a little ledge to rest her feet and could look out over the edge of the ship. Bryan of course had his hands on her the whole time to make sure she didn’t fall backwards but it really worked out well. She loved it until she started getting soaked. We finished off the day with a stop at Cayuga Creamery for ice cream and some play time on this awesome trainWe celebrated the actual 4th at a branch BBQ. Norah enjoyed the pre party at the park playing with her friends Lincoln and Camilla.

June DC visit

2011-07-01T23:00:00.001-04:00

Monday June 20th Norah and I drove down to Virginia for to see Bryan’s little sister Courtney dance. The trip would not have been possible without my friend Stacy who accompanied us and attended to Norah’s every need on the drive. We stopped in DC to see Ashley and after a light lunch at Whole Foods we headed to the Natural History Museum and later had dinner at “We the Pizza” on the Hill.

After being in the car for 6+ hours Norah was running around the Natural History Museum like crazy. It took four adults (Myself, Ashley, Matt and Stacy) to keep track of her. She was going up to strangers and telling them what animal they were looking at and grabbing other kids by the hand and trying to have them run/jump with her. We really had to work to keep up with her.Believe it or not, Norah is hugging, not strangling, this statue of a hominidUnfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of Ashley or Matt but I did get a cute pic of Stacy and Norah together on the CarouselAshley took this picture of the rest of usWednesday and Thursday were spent shopping, swimming and watching Courtney dance. Norah LOVES Courtney and LOVES watching her dance. She enjoyed trying imitate dance moves during her rehearsals and would clap and cheer for Courtney when she saw her on stage saying “yay Courtney” over and over again. When Courtney left for her rehearsals Norah would look around the house for her saying “Courtney, where are you? Courtney where are you?” It was pretty funny.

I took about five pictures of Courtney, Susan and Norah in front of this shop in old Leesburg and in everyone of them at least one person looks like they are in agony from the sun in their eyes but at least this one Courtney is laughing about it – or maybe something completely unrelated. I can’t remember already.Norah and Greg both had a fabulous time at the pool. Norah enjoyed pouring cups of water on Greg and he seemed to appreciate it.

Father’s Day Strawberry Picking

2011-06-19T17:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we had a family outing to Grisamore Farm to see the farm animals and pick some berries for Father’s Day. While picking berries we heard a glowing recommendation for Scoops – an ice cream shack by the side of the road so we made a stop there on the way home and it was truly the best soft serve I’ve ever had. We picked lots of strawberries and enjoyed pancakes with strawberries for breakfast this morning and have an angel food cake with strawberries planned for tonight.

Gymnastics Medal Ceremony

2011-06-19T17:09:00.001-04:00

Norah completed her first gymnastics class and each child was presented a medal. How adorable right?Here she is with her friend Maya being triumphant

Lindsey’s 27th Birthday

2011-06-19T16:58:00.001-04:00

I had a really nice birthday this year. It fell over reunion weekend which is pretty stressful for me but my friend Stacy babysat Norah for us on June 11th so we could see a movie (Midnight in Paris) and escape the crowded reception at the house. Then the next day on my actual birthday we invited a bunch of friends over to enjoy the leftovers from reunion weekend! Hillary even made me a cake so it was a true birthday bash. Norah and Lincoln performed a duet in my honorEli turned pages for them

Ithaca festival

2011-06-19T16:50:00.001-04:00

On June third we finally made it to the Ithaca Festival Parade. Ithaca doesn’t have much of a 4th of July celebration but they go all out for Ithaca. Our first summer here we missed it because we were still in the hospital with Norah and our second summer we went on the wrong day. It was definitely a sight to see with plenty of war protesters and promoters of organic living.

We went with our friends Ben and Paige (who were babysitting Lincoln that night) and Kate and Rich (pictured below)This is the group from the organic cooperative grocery store “Greenstar”I can’t remember what this was all aboutThis woman was demonstrating how to compost yourselfI think this group's slogan was “Bring home the drones” and “Graduates honor the UN Charter”And what would a college town be without a Tibetan association? Free Tibet!!

Norah’s Playhouse

2011-06-19T16:25:00.001-04:00

Norah received an incredible playhouse for her second birthday that was made with love by her mimi. It even came with a pet doggie.The back of the house showing the garden and apple tree with produce ready to be picked (Norah has already pulled up the carrots).This view shows the doggie door and a glimpse of the fireplace inside if you look through the window

2 Year Stats

2011-06-08T16:55:00.001-04:00

Norah just had her 2 year appointment with Dr. Snedeker and for those interested she is 33 inches tall and weighs 24 pounds. She is pretty much in the same percentiles as she was a year ago: 25th for height and 17th for weight.

Carousel Birthday Party

2011-05-31T08:20:00.001-04:00

We had Norah’s party at Stewart Park which is right at the bottom of Cayuga Lake and home to an Allan Herschell Carousel.Norah enjoyed playing at the park with her friends and her aunt CourtneySusan and Guy (Mimi and Grandpa Guy) were a huge help with party set up. They drove up all the way from Virginia to celebrate with us. Guy treated all the kids (and some of the adults) to carousel rides.We herded all the kids over to the carousel only to find out that the lady running it was on break. Of course the kids found this to be quite the inconvenience and protested by banging on the fence to be let in. She eventually returned and most of the kiddos were able to ride the carousel a couple of times during the party. L to R: Tucker, Lincoln, Norah, JJ, Tale Norah had a strawberry birthday cake decorated with homemade chocolate lollipop carousel horses, licorice, gumballs and sixlets. My friend Hillary made the delicious butter cream frosting for me.Norah pouted and looked like she was about to cry when we lit the candles and sang to herBut she cheered up when she got to eat a chocolate horseNorah received some great gifts from her friends including several accessories and a purse to put them in. She attempted to wear them all at the same time.

Today is Norah’s Birthday

2011-05-26T18:40:00.001-04:00

Our little bean is 2 today. I love this little girl and I love getting to know her. She is full of energy and personality and she makes me laugh every day.
Some of Norah’s favorites at age 2:
Norah loves to jump. She jumps everywhere she goes and loves to announce “Ready, Set, Go” before taking a particularly big jump.
Norah’s favorite fruits are oranges and strawberries and other favorite foods include eggs, rice, and noodles
She still loves Elmo
Her preferred color seems to be red
Her favorite thing to do at a park is swing. She can swing forever.
Random Cute things Norah does at age 2:
She always asks me if I’m okay when I sneeze or cough “Okay? Okay Mama?”
Norah gets super excited whenever she sees her friends at the park. She says “yay, yay (name of friend)” and then runs laughing towards them
As soon as we take her out of the bath she runs around the apartment and laughing as Bryan chases her
She is very polite and says “Thanks, Thank you or Thank you mm much” for every little thing we do for her. Our manners however are sometimes remiss and we neglect to say “your welcome.” When we forget, Norah tilts her head and says “welcome” just like she is a teacher correcting us.
She frequently requests us to “carry you,” “hold you” or “help you”
Here she is with her new Trike from Grandpa and Grandma Brooks. She was very busy and very serious when I tried to take these pictures. I couldn’t get any smiles out of her.

Salem Park

2011-05-25T12:31:00.001-04:00

If it’s not raining, we go to a park.

Usually we meet up with friends and usually we are so busy enjoying the sunshine (or just lack of rain) that we don’t bother to take pictures but pretty soon here the majority of Norah’s nursery friends are going to be gone – a few have already left for summer internships (these toddlers really get around). Monday we met up with J.J., Lincoln, Tucker and baby Maisy and their respective moms for an afternoon at Salem Park.

L to R: JJ, Lincoln, Tucker, NorahLincoln and NorahLincoln and Norah amazed by Tucker’s mad slide climbing skills

Orlando

2011-05-09T14:11:00.001-04:00

Bryan was invited to present a paper at the SPIE conference in Orlando this year on April 25th. The conference was held at the Orlando Marriot World Center and it had some beautiful pools so Norah and I took advantage of the free room and went along with him. We just had 2 and a half days but it was enough time to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine, good Cuban food, and a stroll through Down Town Disney. We decided to not take Norah to Disney World after hearing about horrendous Easter/Spring Break crowds from other parents hanging around the kiddie pool. I don’t think Norah could have possibly enjoyed anything more than she enjoyed the pool anyway. She asked me to take her to the pool every day for a week after we got home and I had to hide her swimsuit and flip flops from her to keep her from getting her hopes up.

Easter

2011-05-09T14:01:00.001-04:00

I’ve been meaning to put up a picture of Norah with her Easter Basket. This past April Norah enjoyed dying Easter eggs with friends as well as an Easter egg hunt. I didn’t take pictures at either of those activities unfortunately but she had a great time. Holidays are so much more fun with a toddler.

Norah enjoyed shaking her candy filled butterflies almost as much as eating the candyThis is what the Easter Bunny brought Norah this year. Her Aunt Emily sent her this pretty green dress and the bunny was from Mimi. She LOVES that Bunny and it is now a member of her crib entourage.

Easter Bunny Surprise

2011-04-28T15:36:00.001-04:00

Today I let Norah watch some Elmo and accidentally fell asleep while she was doing so. When I woke up (because my cell phone rang – thank goodness) Norah was covered in chocolate. She apparently had found her Easter Bunny.

This picture was taken AFTER she wiped her face on our sheets! I think it is pretty funny that Norah gobbled up most of her Easter Bunny while I snoozed but what’s even better is that she had the sense to turn off the computer and be extra quiet so I wouldn’t wake up. This little girl definitely knew she was being sneaky because she HATES it when I fall asleep on the job. If I start to doze off before bedtime (something I’ve been doing a lot recently because I’m pregnant) she yells “MAMA!” to wake me up. When Bryan gets up with Norah in an attempt to let me sleep in past 6 she comes up to me and says “come, come come” to appeal to me to join them for breakfast – or she says “Up Up” until I put her in bed with me at which point she sits on me and bounces up and down – real great for queasiness. Anyhow – she evidently decided she didn’t mind letting me nap as long as there was chocolate. Who can blame her?

Norah’s Pecking Order: Mama, Daddy, Elmo

2011-04-20T21:33:00.001-04:00

This is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while. We have so much trouble getting Norah to bed that we indulge her in some (of her many) ridiculous demands. We’ve said no to many and even put limits on how many books and stuffed animals may accompany her to her crib – but we still sit in her room while she falls asleep. I know it sounds like one of those situations where we just need to bite the bullet – but trust me we’ve come a long way – this really is progress. We try to be tough but her will always outlasts our resolve, so night after night one of us sits in her room waiting the 30+ minutes it takes for her to finally drift off to sleep. Then after a good 10 minutes or so of what sounds like a sleeping Norah, we tip toe out only to hear her sit up and say “chair” commanding us back to our post. I know, I know, it is insane and we seriously do this for over an hour at least half the time. I usually sit in there with her for the first shift but after I get too frustrated from my failed attempts to tip toe out I send in Bryan. Sometimes this is okay with her and sometimes it isn’t. Lately Bryan has been negotiating with her telling her she can either have him sit in the room with her or no one. If she still cries then he leaves. Usually at this point we discuss whether we should just make her tough it out and we always at least try. While we wait Norah cries for me until she finally gives up and then cries “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy” and when she gives up on him she starts to cry “Elmo, Elmo, Elmo” and then she completely loses it. This is very frustrating for us but I can’t help but laugh when she starts crying for Elmo to save her. Tonight hasn’t been a great night, but it hasn’t been a record breaking bad night either. We put Norah to bed a little after 8 and I snuck out at 8:45 only to get caught. Bryan was in there for another 20 minutes or so and she has been crying in her crib alone for about 40 minutes. It is almost 10 pm!! Poor stubborn Norah. I wish I could share my love of sleep with her.

Norah Feeds Geese

2011-04-14T13:14:00.001-04:00

Just when I think we are running out of “firsts” for Norah to experience I think of a few more. It occurred to me the other day that she had never fed ducks. Monday was an exceptionally warm day so Bryan took most of it off (because a warm day here is like holiday that needs to be observed) and we headed down to feed ducks at Cayuga Lake. The ducks were too intimidated by the geese to stick around so we mostly fed geese. I was a little disappointed by this because it seemed unfair and I felt like we were rewarding the bullies, but Norah didn’t mind and had a fabulous time throwing generous handfuls of bread at them.

We started out with just a few But eventually the word got out and we had quite the crowd

Dress Up

2011-04-12T09:20:00.001-04:00

Last Friday Bryan and I were tidying up the apartment while Norah was running around in her diaper fending for herself. I had taken off her jammies with the intent of dressing her but had given up after several resisted attempts. It turned out Norah had her own idea of what she wanted to wear that day.

She didn’t do this completely on her own – she cried out for help when she couldn’t get her shoes on. I found her in distress with twisted socks and the wrong shoe half on each foot so I sorted that out for her.It really doesn’t look that bad. I think the hat pulls the outfit together.

Girls Night

2011-04-02T21:39:00.001-04:00

Norah and I had our own girls night while Bryan was at Priesthood session: I gave her a manicure. She is a little greasy in this pic because it was after her bath and Aquaphor rub down.

Gymnastics

2011-04-02T21:33:00.001-04:00

Because Ithaca’s winters are so ridiculously cold and Norah and I have had to find a variety of indoor activities to keep us sane – yes, even through March and early April. Pretty much every Friday morning Norah and I head down to Finger Lakes Gymnastics for “unstructured playtime” which as the name suggests is basically a free for toddlers. There are only a few rules: one at a time on the trampoline and stay within reach of your kid. Even these rules are very loosely enforced. Sometimes unstructured playtime can get pretty crowded and crazy as swarms of toddlers arrive to release pent up energy. Since their toddler flight patterns can be unpredictable, I am kept on my toes running around the tumbling matt and cheese wedges trying to prevent collisions and have never before managed to take pictures but this Friday Bryan went with me and I was able watch him chase Norah around the gym. Even so it was very difficult to get decent pictures of Norah during “nastics” as she calls it. She just moves too fast.

Norah loves jumping these days. We really need to get a video up of her jumping. It is one of her greatest accomplishments.Norah’s favorite part is when she gets her stamp at the end. Such a brilliant way to get the kids to leave the gym.

When does sharing mean I get something?

2011-03-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

Norah had a day-long lesson on sharing today partly from Lindsey and partly from Elmo. So tonight Norah decided that sharing should be a two way street. I usually sit in Norah's room while she is falling asleep and surf the internet on my iPod. I turn down the brightness to try and keep a low profile but tonight she spotted me using my iPod. It took me a while to figure out what she was saying but eventually I figured out she was saying "share." I felt really bad that I couldn't share with her when she had been forced to share all day. I guess I just completed her teaching about sharing. You only have to share when you're a little kid and adults force you to--once you're older you don't have to share anymore. So sad to have to learn that at such a young age.

Alphabath

2011-03-11T20:54:00.001-05:00

Norah has been developing an interest in the alphabet. It started with this video – a Sesame Street collaboration with Tilly and the Wall. Once Norah discovered that we knew the ABCs song as well (although with less fan fare) she had us sing it to her over and over again. She is slowly learning some of the letters and tries to join in the song when she can. Norah is truly passionate about letters so like any good parent I decided it was time to start manipulating this enthusiasm to serve my own purposes. Norah has been difficult to bathe ever since she learned to stand up on her own. We usually have to start washing her hair while the water is still running and she climbs out of the tub while we are rinsing her. It had gotten ridiculous – as in I am completely soaked from playing bouncer to a wet Norah. So earlier in the week I came across these foam letters and knew Norah would love them. Since the idea is to make bath time appealing I’m only letting her play with them in the bath – this has had the unintended consequence of a few tantrums when it wasn’t bath time - but as far as convincing her to take a bath it has been overwhelmingly successful. Norah has taken a bath per her request every day this week. Tonight we were running short on time and tried to skip it but she refused to put on her jammies (I should say she refused to be put IN jammies) until she had a “bat.” It was no use reminding her she had already taken one after breakfast.

Molly the Dolly

2011-03-06T17:06:00.001-05:00

Santa gave Norah a dolly for her very first Christmas and until very recently this doll was generally neglected. Molly wasn’t even first pick to ride in the doll stroller. I don’t know what has changed but Norah’s maternal instincts have kicked in and she is taking good care of her doll now and giving Molly lots of pats and kisses. She also likes to pat real babies that she meets at church. There is one “baby” that is about a year and a half old and bigger than Norah but he is bald so Norah insists that he is a baby. It is pretty funny to watch this little boy evade Norah while she tries to mother him.

She is such a good momma to read to her babyThis is Norah pouting when I stopped taking her picture. She said “again, again.” I suggested she rock her baby for the rest of the photo shoot and she agreed. Norah found that rocking while holding a baby was very difficult and reading to the baby while rocking was impossible. I hope she will have a new appreciation for me now.Question for any relatives on my side: Does anyone else think this picture looks just like Natalie circa 1990?

Rochester

2011-02-24T10:26:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday we braved wind and snow to drive to Rochester to visit our friends the Vogels. We considered canceling the visit because of the weather but Tiffany had promised to make Café Rio salads for us and I was not about to miss out on that. Tiffany and I were both members of the illustrious “Team Aloha” at Ft. Herriman Middle School in Utah along with Leslie Allen. We all taught the same students (they rotated through our classes (I taught S.S., Leslie taught Sci. and Tiffany taught L.A.)) and we had a common prep period to use for weekly team meetings . . . or to go out to lunch at Café Rio together as we usually did. So eating Café Rio with Tiffany again brought back good memories. We both lamented that Leslie wasn’t with us and reminisced about how she used to order her Café Rio salad: Whole wheat tortilla, sans beans and rice. We never could support how she ordered her salad but we loved her anyway and thrived under her leadership.

While in Rochester we toured the Strong Museum of Play and Norah had a blast. We saw Sesame Street We went shopping at Wegmans. Norah took her grocery shopping very seriously but she definitely loved it Bryan scaled some buildingsNorah hung out with the Berenstain BearsAnd then we went to the Vogel’s for lunch and Norah and Sofi played together.

Valentine’s Day 2011

2011-02-16T09:59:00.001-05:00

I meant to post a picture of Norah in this adorable outfit her Mimi (Bryan’s mom) sent on Valentine’s Day but Norah was feeling pretty crummy all day. She must have had a 24-hour stomach bug because she seemed fine the next day – and then I came down with it. Luckily, there is nothing to say that little girls can’t sport red hearts all year round because this outfit is too cute to wear just once.

Norah has figured out what cameras are all about and she happily posed for me in front of her kitchen. She also decided to wave to the camera without any direction from me.

Favorite Parent

2011-02-05T20:43:00.001-05:00

Tonight Bryan and I were trying to figure out who Norah’s favorite parent was and we were each making the case for the other (how precious right?) using specific bits of evidence. Finally I asked Norah if her favorite was Mama or Daddy – without hesitation she said “ELMO!” So there you have it.

Happy and Sad

2011-02-03T19:26:00.001-05:00

Norah’s language improved dramatically over winter break. She easily doubled her vocabulary and it seems like she learns at least one new word every day. Two relatively recent additions to her word bank are happy and sad. The first time she said sad was when we were on the plane another child was crying. Norah kept pointing and saying “sad.” Now when Norah doesn’t get her way, in addition to crying, she tells us she is sad – just to make sure we understand that we are ruining her life by not giving her fruit snacks for breakfast. Fortunately she is just as apt to tell us that she is happy and Norah is very good about appreciating the simple things in life – like popcorn, flexible straws, and singing songs. Lately Bryan has been working long hours to meet a deadline and hasn’t been home before Norah’s bedtime. That has made her “sad” but tonight Bryan came home in time for dinner and Norah was so excited that she exclaimed “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy back Daddy back” and then “happy happy happy happy happy.” She was so loud everyone in the dining room heard her. She loves her daddy very much.

Here are some unrelated pictures:

Just a few More

2011-02-01T08:42:00.001-05:00

Okay – I’m really almost done. Here are just a few more pictures from our trip to Cyprus.

My mom with Norah in her gardenNorah picking oranges in the garden Pretty Kyrenia

Cyprus: Nicosia and the Green Zone

2011-01-28T08:37:00.001-05:00

Nicosia is the last divided European capital. Like Kyrenia and Famagusta, it is a fortified city with the coolest city wall ever:This is a picture my dad took of the north side of the city. Notice the Turkish flag on the side of the mountain and the minarets that have been added to the Christian church.We had to present our passports to go from the North side to the south side. The north side is noticeably poorer than the south side. The south side had nice, modern looking department stores while the shopping district in the north looked like thisIn between is a fenced off “Green Zone” which neither side is allowed to inhabit. The green zone stretches all the way across the island. So here is the vibrant capital city with a strip of vacated, decaying buildings right in the middle. I would have taken pictures of the green zone but it is illegal and there were armed guards around. I did, however take pictures of the green zone when we drove through it to get to Nicosia.

This is a ghost town in the green zone. Everyone who lived here was forced to leave and move into a refugee camp in 1974. My dad says that the day this conflict ends archeologists will be crawling all over this city because it is a perfect time capsule complete with breakfast on the tablesThe Turks have occupied many of the abandoned homes to use as look out stations in the green zone. On the other side of the road the UN has set up dinky look out posts that look like glorified life guard chairs.Back to our day in Nicosia: We ate more Turkish delight, ate lamb kebabs and visited an old fortified inn for caravans. It was fortified so that the travellers could sleep knowing that their livestock would be safe from theft in the center. Norah really wanted to pet this dog and but she was a little nervous so she and this other little girl just walked around it pointing at it while saying “dog” in their respective languages. When the dog’s owner came over to protect her dog from the circling children Norah when right up to her and put her arm around her neck for security. Then she petted the dog. The lady praised Norah for “being so gently”

Cyprus: Famagusta and Salamis

2011-01-28T06:56:00.001-05:00

Famagusta is a city on the Turkish side of Cyprus. This city was passed around from Venetians to the Ottomans to the British and I think I'm missing some in between. It has a wall around the city with a fortified gate that has survived the many conquests (note the cannon ball) and within are a collection of Christian churches representing each phase. Some of them are in ruin from the conquests and some of them have been turned into Mosques (note the minaret). Not exactly a step towards unification but I guess at least they are maintaining them. This picture of my dad with Norah sitting side by side is after we had visited a candy shop that only sold Baklava and Turkish Delight. I had no idea there were so many varieties. We bought a whole lot of each they were tasting. Norah loved both even learned to say "Balala."This picture of the building with a big gash in its side is an abandoned hotel and it is one of many abandoned, decaying hotels in the Varosha section of the city. There This area was the tourist quarter and actually has better beaches than Aqia Napa but all the inhabitants fled in 1974 during the Turkish invasion and never came back. It is just a ghost town now. Since the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not a recognized state(except by Turkey), the tourist industry is pretty much nonexistent in Famagusta now. The pictures of the Greek ruins are in Salamis. My dad carried Norah on his shoulders for a lot of the trip and she would hold onto his ears.

Cyprus: Kourion and Temple of Apollo

2011-01-27T13:05:00.000-05:00

Probably the most picturesque place we visited was the ancient city of Kourion and the nearby Temple of Apollo Hylates. This ancient city actually lies within the boundaries of the British sovereign base.The theater was used mostly for gladiator competitions and is still in use today (but not for gladiators).

These are the ruins of an Early Christian Basilica This is the ruins of the baptismal font -- I always think it is cool to see fonts in early Christian churches. A mosaic of Glaiators from the Gladiators House We were lucky to be able to visit the Temple of Apollo because it was closed when we got there. I think the park ranger there let us in because he was touched when my dad spoke to him in Greek. The Cypriots are used to speaking in English with tourists who make no attempt at Greek. Their English is so good that my dad complains he can’t find people willing to let him practice. This guy really warmed up to us after my dad spoke with him and ended up giving us a tour. Then after hearing about my dad’s interest in the mosaics around the ruins he took us into his office where he showed us several mosaic reproductions he was working on. One of them was a perfect copy of this mosaic which we saw in Kourion

Cyprus: Agia Napa and Cape Greco

2011-01-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

These pictures are from our beach day. It was in the mid 60s and a very windy but Bryan of course was not deterred from swimming and even Norah made it as far as her ankles. I was content to enjoy the sunshine. We went to cave that is usually pretty accessible but the waves were so high from the wind that when they hit they completely blocked the entrance. Bryan and my dad timed it just right and made it in and out with out getting soaked. I decided it was too risky because I was wearing my new boots but then just after my dad took the picture of Bryan and I, from what I thought was a safe distance, a huge wave came up and soaked us. The boots were just fine.

Cyprus: Halla Sultan Tekke

2011-01-27T09:27:00.001-05:00

My parents are really passionate about “touring” as they call it. No matter where we have lived they have always carved out time and money to take our family to see everything within a day's drive (sometimes two). It is my favorite family tradition and I’m so grateful that my parents have kept it up all these years. At one point during our trip I was thanking my dad for driving us all over the island and he said “well people show love in different ways and this my way.” We had a great time and learned so much about the history, culture and current conflict in Cyprus that I feel like I should have earned college credit for the trip.

When my parents picked us up from the airport they asked us if we were hungry and when we said “no” the sightseeing began. We were taken directly to Hala Sultan Tekke, a beautiful mosque located on the shores of the Larnaca Salt Lake. The mosque was built in honor of the Muhammad's nanny. She fell from her mule during a siege and died near the site and her grave became a sacred shrine. Eventually the mosque was built around it in her honor and it is now considered the third most holy site for Muslims. Sadly because Cyprus is divided, and this mosque is on the the Greek side, it is now infrequently visited by pilgrims.

This is a picture of the inside that I got off the internet. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures inside.

After leaving the Mosque we visited St. Lazarus’s Church where supposedly Lazarus was buried for second time. It was interesting to see two places of worship from different religions that were both in honor of the deaths of people who were famous for their connection to someone more famous. It was getting dark and my pictures didn’t turn out well.

London

2011-01-26T18:23:00.001-05:00

Pre Flight Drama:

Bryan and I had about a week long return in Ithaca before heading back to the airport to visit my parents who currently living in Cyprus. Two days before our flight was scheduled I got an email saying that our flight from Ithaca to Newark had been cancelled due to weather. The planes that fly out of the Ithaca are so small that cancel flights days in advance (apparently) because they are positive they have no chance making it. The email offered no alternative but to call a number to rebook. I called that number only to hear a message that due to the high volume of calls they were not taking any calls. Seriously. After the message they automatically hung up on me. I freaked out for a minute and then started calling every other number Continental had listed online anywhere. Finally we were rebooked on a flight out of Ithaca (ahead of the coming snow storm) a day and a half earlier. This was probably around 8 or 9 pm and and we had to be at the airport by 4 am for our 6 am flight the next morning. Fortunately I had already packed and we had a great friend who was willing to take us to the airport at dark o’ clock in the morning but it was a stressful evening. In the end I was glad our flight had changed because it gave us a little more time to explore in London and I think it was probably easier for us to fly during the day than at night.

The first two days we were able to tour the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Globe Theater and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We also enjoyed walking along the Millennial Bridge and Westminster Bridge to enjoy views of Big Ben and Parliament.

In front of the Tower BridgeTower of LondonNorah loved riding on the Underground and she insisted on standing up and holding on to the pole

On our way back from Cyprus we had one more full day in London which we spent in the British Museum and watching buskers perform in Covent Garden. One of the coolest parts of the British Museum (for us) was stumbling upon an entire gallery devoted to artifacts from Cyprus. We were overwhelmed trying to look at the exhibits on Assyria and Egypt. It was so much more interesting to look at this one small room because we had some context from our trip. Many of the artifacts were from sites we had visited. I really think it is time for Britain to return some of their loot to the countries they took them from. That museum has such a glut of artifacts that they can’t possibly be appreciated. I think they could give away 1/2 of what they have in that museum and it would still be overkill. We probably walked through at least half a dozen galleries in the museum that just displayed amphoras and other Greek pottery. Seriously? Who has time to look at those. Nobody does, they just walk through the rooms so they can get to the mummies! I, as a tourist, would much rather see those artifacts in displayed in museums in the countries where they were discovered.

This was probably Norah’s favorite group of performers in Covent Garden (mine was definitely the unicyclist). We went down stairs after taking this picture and Norah started dancing to their music. Eventually more people in the crowd were watching her dance than the orchestra. I think she was good for business. We also went out to dinner with my cousin Maren who lives in London. I wish I had taken a picture with her but I didn’t think to.

Kelsey and Kimball’s wedding

2011-01-26T10:20:00.001-05:00

After Christmas we flew to Arizona for Kelsey and Kimball’s wedding. I have been to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and driven on Route 66 through AZ before and so I thought I had a decent idea of what the state looked like but I had no idea how different the climate is in Northern AZ compared the rest of the state. I was stunned when I saw all the lemon and orange trees everywhere. They were so beautiful. Even more beautiful was Kelsey in her wedding dress. This picture isn’t really close enough to get a good look at her dress but it was a graceful, vintage inspired, chiffon (?) dress with a cluster crepe looking flowers on one side of her waist. I thought her hair perfectly matched the the loose, flowing feel of her dress. Here is a picture of Courtney and Emma (a cousin on Guy’s side of the family) with Norah (probably taken by Hannah (Emma’s sister) while they waited at the visitor’s center for the the Temple ceremony. I didn’t take any pictures at the reception unfortunately because I was too busy keeping Norah out of the pool and fire pits but it was beautiful. It was outside in a pretty backyard with, as mentioned, a pool and fire pits and there were lots of palm trees with white Christmas lights. The sky was also very clear so the stars were another great decoration. Very romantic!

Christmas 2010 Part IV

2011-01-26T09:55:00.001-05:00

I need to play catch up on the blog so here are some random Christmas highlights:

We went to the new Smithsonian Air and Space museum near Dulles Airport. Pictured here is Bryan’s brother Kimball and his Bride Kelsey

Christmas Day Guy got out his Red Ryder BB Gun (it was a gift he received a couple of Christmases ago from himself (it was from Guy the kid addressed to future Guy)) and he along with his sons took turns shooting in the back yard.Bryan and Courtney made homemade waffle cones for everyone and they were deliciousWatching Guy and Susan spontaneously breaking out in song and dance while we were watching the Sound of Music. I may or may not have promised to not post the following photos but I can’t remember so I going to assume I didn’t. Guy may spend 90% of his life in a suit and tie but he obviously doesn’t take himself too seriously and is full of surprises Not pictured, but definitely a highlight that needs mentioning was the endless assortment of desserts. Susan made a cherry cheesecake, Boston cream pie, orange rolls (delightfully treated as dinner rolls in Hicks Christmas tradition), caramels, cookies and was continually receiving delicious gifts from neighbors.

Christmas 2010 Part III

2011-01-04T21:06:00.001-05:00

Norah was up before anyone else Christmas morning. In Hicks Family protocol children are not allowed to check out what Santa has left until the parents (meaning Guy and Susan) give the go ahead. This was all fine with Norah except that the dog was upstairs in the family room and she was downstairs. She was pressed up against the glass door at the top of the basement stairs pointing and saying “Dog, dog? Dog! Dog? Dog? DOG!!” Bryan called Murphy and was able to get him to join us and that bought us some time but eventually Norah was back at the top of the stairs wanting to break free. By this time Guy and Susan were ready to go but everyone else was still asleep. I guess they were taking advantage of the quiet morning since the last few days they had been woken up early but a noisy Norah who had been unrestrained. After an amusing few minutes of watching Norah struggle to get upstairs, Guy and Susan decided that it would be okay if Christmas started earlier for Norah than everyone else. They got the video camera ready and positioned themselves for the great moment and then . . . Norah marched right past the family room laden with gifts and toys and went straight to the highchair. It caught us all by surprise and gave us a good laugh but I guess it shouldn’t have. It isn’t like anyone really took the time to explain to Norah what was going to happen Christmas morning. I asked Norah what she wanted for breakfast and she very clearly announced “Popcorn!”

So that is what she got.

After a few minutes in her highchair she successfully roused the rest of the household and we moved on to the presents.

Her little Moped from Santa Susan was a HUGE hit. It was the first toy she approached and she was so stunned by its appearance she just stood next to it for a while with her hands on the handles. Elmo was a close second and was treated to rides on the MopedShe was very impressed with the storage space. She would open it and say “Wow” or “Ohhh”Norah’s doting aunt Courtney helped her figure out the concept of the stocking. Courtney is seen here holding Norah’s Blackberry – a small pink calculator from the dollar store – works like a charm.She also scored a hip pair of sunglasses – maybe now she’ll leave her friend Graham’s pair aloneThen she went back to her new kitchen to make a respectable breakfast.Can you tell she is the only grandchild?

Christmas 2010 Part II

2011-01-04T14:25:00.001-05:00

Bryan apprenticed the art of Christmas-Toy-Assembling on Christmas Eve with his expert father. The coming of age experience was complete with a bit of panic and test of true of manhood when a vital piece was discovered broken. For a moment the apprentice felt discouraged at the thought of undoing all the hard work and packing it in a box but the master craftsman explained that in this trade the proper procedure was to buy a new kit, swap out the defective piece for the new one and return the new kit. This way there was no need for the assembling to be undone. Guy took control of the situation and instructed Bryan to go on assembling without him. With his American Express, Guy drove to the nearest Target and vowed not to return home without a new piece until he had stopped at every Target in the county. Just like that Bryan was left to face the project alone. Fortunately the nearest Target did have a kit and Guy was only gone about a half hour. The Kit was soon declared Kitchen and Bryan a real man!

Christmas 2010 Part I

2011-01-04T13:57:00.001-05:00

The annual holiday dress from Mimi is debuted in Ithaca

Other things Norah goes to bed with

2010-12-15T22:47:00.000-05:00

Norah has been slowly expanding her bedtime entourage. It started with only her fishy blanket dating back to her earliest days in the swing. The next addition was Fluffy the dog-rabbit from Kimball's ex-girlfriend. Then Lindsey forced Brennan bear into the crib to try and displace Fluffy after the breakup (but mainly because of a deep-seated hate for Fluffy, like unto her hate for time travel). Well, Norah wouldn't have it. Brennan bear got added to the family. Maybe more like a step child than a full-fledged member. Brennan bear is the one that Norah pats to sleep while we pat her to sleep but he doesn't end up in her arms when all is said and done. What really earned him his place in the crib was when he earned the purple heart by taking a full on attack of Norah vomit during her "cry-it-out" counter measures. The next one was Norah's modified "pacifier" that she started going to bed with. It's an Elmo toothbrush which probably doesn't constitute the safest thing you can put your child to sleep with but whatever works. That started after Lindsey and I were shamed by the hygenist for not brushing Norah's teeth enough. When we realized how much she loved the toothbrush we used it as a bribe to go to bed. Unfortunately, it's effectiveness is wearing off. The latest and greatest addition to her entourage was tonight when Norah chose to go to sleep with a bagel. She laid on top of it so we wouldn't steal it like we do her toothbrush half way through the night. Luckily, unlike Fluffy and Brennan bear it will always be easy to find more bagels.

Shave and a haircut...Two Bits

2010-12-15T22:38:00.000-05:00

Roger Rabbit can't resist finishing this couplet even when it is most inconvenient for him. I have found that Norah has a similar compulsion when it comes to animal sounds. Norah had a particularly difficult time falling asleep the other night so I started reading books to her. One of her favorite books goes over all the animal sounds. As I read the animals that she knew she would stop crying just long enough to wimper through a "moo" for the cow and a "baa" for the sheep and certainly a "neigh" for the horse. I read the book several times because it was amusing and it made for some breaks in the crying. She eventually went to sleep with the book.

Christmas Pageant

2010-12-13T09:33:00.001-05:00

The nursery children in our branch put on a very very short (in every sense) Christmas pageant for our Christmas party on Saturday.

The Cast included:

Madeline: Angel

Jalynn: Mary

Graham: Joseph

Tale: Shepard

Roxy: Shepard

Norah: Sheep

Lincoln: Donkey

Eli: Star

After the pageant all the YSA’s put on a hilarious skit that spoofed the Old Spice commercial with Santa (David Hutchison). Santa then came out and let all the pageant participants sit on his lap. They all cried. It was getting a little late.

First Snow

2010-12-13T09:31:00.001-05:00

Our first snow came this year on December 1st and it has snowed about every other day since. Norah likes the snow but finds her mittens to be very limiting. I’ll have to take some pictures of Alpha Phi with snow. I think the house looks beautiful in the winter.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T22:37:00.001-05:00

We drove down to VA for Thanksgiving to visit Bryan’s family and my sister. We couldn’t leave Alpha Phi until after 5 pm Wednesday so we drove down on Thanksgiving Day. Norah happened to wake up at 3:30 am (shocker) so we put her in her car seat and took off. We made great time and arrived in Ashburn at 10:00 am. Even though we were very tired it was worth it to enjoy the whole day with Bryan’s family. Norah with her Aunt Courtney who played with her all weekendNorah and I wearing our matching, door buster hoodies from Target on Friday. I woke up at 4:00 am to go shopping with my mother in law who is the ultimate bargain shopper. We had forgotten to pack Norah a coat (I know, what kind of parents forget to bring their child a coat right?) so Susan steered me over to these snuggly deals. I did pack a coat for myself but decided I needed a hoodie anyway. Saturday Courtney, Norah and I went to the Zoo with Ashley and Matt. Bryan was super sick and spent most of the day sleeping.Ashley and Matt made us a delicious salad and burritos for lunch and then Norah and Matt talked on the phone for while and Norah tried on some of Matt’s hats. Okay, on the count of three lets both hang up at the same time: 1, 2, . . .naw lets talk some more

Later that evening we listened to Christmas music and decorated the tree together. Norah loved handling all the ornaments and taking them off the tree as put them on.

Camille Visits Ithaca

2010-11-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

Last weekend (November 19th –21st) my cousin Camille came to visit. I hadn’t seen her since before her mission in 2007 so it was wonderful to finally catch up.

Friday

Camille flew a red eye into Syracuse Friday morning and Norah and I picked her up from the airport and took her straight to Palmyra. We walked around the Temple and then headed to the Smith Family Farm where we had a private tour since we were pretty much the only visitors. Walking up to the beautiful new farm house that Alvin Smith built for his parents

After walking through the Farm and Sacred Grove we visited the print shop where the Book of Mormon was published Then we finished with Hill Cummorah (notice Norah running around in the background)We didn’t have time to visit the Peter Whitmer farm but hopefully Camille will come visit again so we can go together.

Saturday we went to the Farmer’s market, toured Cornell and looked at nearby waterfalls.

Camille and me with windswept hair in front of Ithaca Falls. The coolest part about this waterfall is that it is right in the middle of Ithaca. It is seriously across the street from Ithaca High School. When I taught there I could here this waterfall from my classroom. Standing close enough to feel the sprayCamille standing in front of Buttermilk FallsCamille in Treman State Park. In the summer they place a temporary dam to make this area a large swimming hole. Where Camille is standing the water would probably be up to her shoulders. Doesn’t that make you want to go swimming? If it does maybe you should come visit us. . .

Goodnight Moon

2010-11-12T20:23:00.001-05:00

Norah enjoys picking out books for us to read to her at bedtime. There was a period when she consistently chose There’s a Wocket in my Pocket and she also went through a Mama Do You Love Me? phase and while she still comes back to group of core favorites it isn’t noteworthy if they aren’t chosen either. I’m starting to doubt whether there will ever be a day that we don’t read Goodnight Moon. She never fails to reach for it and usually we read it several times. She is paying close attention too because she points out the “young mouse” on every colored page in the book. If you have copy – I challenge you to find the mouse. I think you’ll be impressed with Norah’s careful eye. Another little detail you may have missed is the large painting on the left side of the great green room. It is a scene from from another treasured Brown/Hurd story. These are very literate bunnies and they even have a copy of the same book on the book shelf as well as their own copy of Goodnight Moon on the nightstand.

Waters Family Visit

2010-11-10T19:04:00.001-05:00

Our friends Mike and Kari drove down from Syracuse with their little girls to visit us Saturday. Even though it is getting chilly in Ithaca we spent our time outside at Taughannock and the Cayuga Nature Center. It is wonderful to have them so close. The trail was very muddy and it looked like the park service was in the midst of clearing away ruble on the trail from a mudslide. Norah thought the mud puddles were great.I’ve never seen the falls with this much water. We felt like we were being rained on standing here.

Norelmo

2010-10-29T10:27:00.001-04:00

We’re celebrating Halloween early this year. Today is Cornell’s Trick or Treat Trail where the kids go trick or treating to all the Greek houses and we also have our Branch Halloween party. It makes me feel like today really is Halloween especially since Halloween is on a Sunday this year. I almost said “Happy Halloween” about 5 times today on our walk. I dressed Norah in her costume this morning so I could take her picture outside before it rains, so without further adieu I give you . . . .NORELMO!

I finished her costume almost two months ago and she has been pulling it out and begging to wear it since. She loves running around in it and looking at herself in the mirror. We will probably never get so much use out of another dress up again! I really hope her Styrofoam eyes last until the party tonight. She loves sinking her teeth into them and she’s on her third pair.

Update: Norah thoroughly enjoyed the Trick or Treat Trail. At first when a sorority girl showed her a big bowl of candy Norah very quietly pick up pieces, looked at them and then put them back but once we showed her she was allowed to take the candy she was very excited. Unfortunately she usually passed up chocolate for peppermint and butterscotch hard candies but we managed to guide her to better candy a few times. Norah loved wearing her costume and would even turn and respond when people called out “Elmo” to her. Here we are on the steps of Alpha Phi with our friends.

From L to R: Lindsey and Graham MacLennan, Lindsey and Norah Hicks, Hillary and Lincoln Jones. Graham was “BatGraham” and Lincoln was James Bond.

Monday in the Park

2010-10-20T13:42:00.001-04:00

Left to Right: Norah, Madeline, Tucker, Lincoln, Tale

NYC Revisited

2010-10-14T20:46:00.001-04:00

The very little girl in this picture spent her Columbus Day weekend exploring a very big city. Norah covered a lot of ground in her two day visit to see Christy and Jace. This is Christy and Jace’s beautiful subway station. And this is a glimpse of the beautiful park that is adjacent to their building. Norah played at three different parks and theirs was the best. This is a picture of Norah on a different playground in Central Park. We chatted with a nanny while we were there. She was pretty cool. I asked her if she had kids and she emphatically said “no, I couldn’t be a nanny if I had my own kids.” I commented to her that the moms must struggle with missing out on all the cute things their kids do and milestones etc and she said “no, they don’t. They have no idea what they are missing so they don’t mind.” She stressed that she loved all of her employers and had nothing but respect for them and just said things like “they just want different things.” It was funny because as we chatted she started to include me a little in her comparisons of nannys to their employers (me being a nanny) and said things like “you and I” or “we (nannies plus me) just don’t care about prep schools.” She even accompanied the family on vacations which she enjoys unless they are going to Colorado on Ski trips. Wouldn’t be so cool if you could nanny your own kid (Moses’s mom did) and go on those vacations? There are seriously nannies everywhere in NYC – and yes you can tell just by looking. Bryan, Christy and Norah riding on the subway. Norah thought the subway was awesome and preferred to stand on the floor (with support of course) like a surfer so she could fully enjoy all the turns and stops. You may notice she has something in her hand – this is a piece of bagel. A few moments before this picture she tried repeatedly to share it with the person sitting next to me. He was wearing a hoodie (hood on) and had his head bent down and didn’t look up the entire time. Norah kept trying to get his attention but he just ignored her. She eventually finished the bagel herself. The Brooklyn Bridge. I’ve always wanted to walk on it and I finally did. It really is impressive. I can’t get over that this bridge was intended for carriages.Norah loved running all over the deck of the bridge and was either “playing peek a boo” or “where’s Norah” in this picture. Norah consulting Christy’s guidebook After walking on the bridge we walked on the promenade, stopped at a park and then headed for Chinatown where we met up with Jace. Jace ordered us a fabulous lunch in Cantonese which we attempted to finish and then walked off. We stopped by the Apple Store on 5th Ave. on our way home.

Norah loved the Natural History museum. There was plenty of space for her to run around and she enjoyed looking at all the animals. Norah attempting to climb up this pyramid to get the ball Christy and Jace in the Roosevelt Rotunda After the Natural History museum we ate at the Shake Shack and Norah attempted to drink Ketchup After playing at the park by Christy and Jace’s building on Sunday and Monday, Norah had a hard time understanding why it was closed to her on Tuesday. Even harder to explain to her was why it was still full of children. Norah watched helplessly as other children played on the slides and swings without her. Still she remained composed as she tried to problem solve. Then these kind little girls came over and told her that she could come and play after 3 when school was over. But it was no use. She was devastated. On the bright side she fell asleep as soon as she was in her car seat and slept half the way home. Oh and I bought that cute handbag on Canal street in New York. I heart NY

Iron Kettle Farm

2010-10-09T17:23:00.001-04:00

From left to right: Lindsey M., Lindsey H., Hillary, EmilyLincoln, Norah and Graham managed to sneak onto the the “ages 3 and up” train. Graham did get yelled at a few times for standing up but loved it anyway. Lincoln, Norah, GrahamThe Bentleys didn’t weren’t able to sneak JJ onto the 3 and up trainChecking out the other kids Lincoln curiously looking at “Norah the kid” Elliot and Emily being ridiculously good looking together Norah enjoyed climbing the piles of pumpkinsNorah and Graham loading the wagon with pumpkins

Canoodling with Elmo

2010-10-09T08:55:00.001-04:00

This morning Norah reached and whined for her Elmo towel so I spread it out on the floor for her to admire. She laid down on it for a bit like she was snuggling with Elmo and then gave Elmo a kiss.

Norah’s Stylish Baby Bob

2010-10-07T20:37:00.001-04:00

I’ve trimmed Norah’s hair a few times but she had her first true Hair style today compliments of the famed Roo. I finally met Roo a few weeks ago at the ward’s playgroup after reading about her on other people’s blogs for the past year. It seems it is part of the Cornell baby’s rite of passage to get a haircut by Roo. Once we were properly acquainted I made Norah an appointment to visit Roo’s kitchen salon and I think I’ll be making one for myself in a month or so.

Norah was very cooperative during the cut thanks to an Elmo DVD and Roo’s toddler taming expertise. She wouldn’t however cooperate with the camera and refused to crack a smile.After the cut Norah played with Tale, Graham and Tucker and I chatted with their moms. Obviously I was chatting more than I was supervising because this is what Norah managed to do to her new style: It has been raining A LOT here so the ground was a little soggy. She didn’t seem to mind the mud so we stayed and she continued playing. I managed to get this great shot of her stacked back:And this close up of her all natural hair product.

Norah and Graham

2010-10-07T20:32:00.001-04:00

Norah recently made a new friend named Graham. Graham also has a gorgeous blond mom named Lindsey so they have a lot in common. Here are some pictures of them from last weekend.

Obviously something went terribly wrong when I took this picture. Wrong setting? None the less it was too cute to leave out of the blog. This is Norah pushing Graham at the Apple Festival. Norah loves pushing strollers but ours is a little big for her to manage. Fortunately just as we were headed for a major tantrum we happened to run into Graham and he allowed Norah to push his stroller. But he kept an eye on things just to be safe.They decided to meet up between conference sessions at the park where Graham could show off his horse trick riding. Graham wasn’t quite as excited about the bucking dinosaur.

Kisses

2010-09-23T20:40:00.001-04:00

Norah recently learned how to kiss and she loves to surprise us with them. When I ask her for a kiss she won’t always give me one but when she is in a kissing mood she plants them on like it is her job. She usually wants to kiss us in the morning when we’re cuddling in bed. Other times it really catches me off guard – we will be reading a book or playing and she’ll just move in really fast and kiss me before I know it. Norah and I bonked heads pretty hard tonight because she lost her balance when she was making her move. The head bonk was followed by a generous bestowal of kisses. Then she grabbed Bryan by the neck and it looked like she was pulling him in for a big wet one but she pulled his face over to mine and made us kiss (we complied). We were so surprised that we laughed and that of course made her laugh and she did it again and then she grabbed both of our necks at the same time to pull us together again, and again until she had her fill of PDA. It was adorable for so many reasons, but I think what I really loved about the experience is just how NORAH it was. Everything is on her terms – even kisses: You don’t just ask Norah for a kiss, she kisses you when she wants to and she expects you to kiss who she wants you to when she wants you to.