Norelmo

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

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

NYC Revisited

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

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

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

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

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.