Norah Lately

I haven’t managed to keep up with monthly posts on the girls but I do want to record some of my observations of their development so far into 2014. Norah has been such a good girl. Most mornings she gets herself dressed all by herself and she’s very cooperative about getting ready and out the door on preschool days. I can ask her to brush her teeth, put on shoes and get in the car and she’ll do it all on her own.

She chatters away constantly. Once she literally narrated everything she saw out her window, with some added commentary, the entire 18 minute drive to preschool! She is still super friendly and makes friends with kids on the spot wherever we go.

Norah is super imaginative right now (she has been for a long time but she seems to have kicked it up a notch) and tells us elaborate pretend stories. She loves to pretend play that she is an animal, princess, mom, or veterinarian. Most recently she’s been pretending to be a “howl dog” which is a creature of her own invention with a complex, yet consistent set of behaviors unique to its species. Howl dogs specialize in taking care of and protecting children. They are big and strong with sharp claws and teeth that retract so that they can hold kids without hurting them.

Norah is very animated and enthusiastic when she talks about her day or things she’s looking forward to doing. She makes us laugh constantly because of this but you really have to hear her to appreciate it – writing it out just isn’t the same. However she did have a few funny exchanges with my dad during our visit. One was after he complained about a seatbelt design being stupid. She said: “uh, Grandpa, you shouldn't use that word. Stupid isn't good word to say." My dad said "But what if it is stupid? What if that is the right word to describe it?" "Well Grandpa I think you're a little bit right, but I'm a little more right." On another day when he asked her if she wanted Honey Bunches of Oats for breakfast she said “I want honey bunches but no oats."

Norah wants to be an artist or a veterinarian when she grows up. The children’s museum in Denver actually had a Veterinarian exhibit which was a lot of fun for Norah (or so I heard, my parents took her).While in Denver, Norah played “pets” with my sister Natalie’s beanie baby collection and took good care of them. She made daily arrangements of her menagerie and hated to leave them behind when we went on outings. I snapped a picture of one of one of her Beanie Baby pet shops – this was after Alice removed a few. She still spends a lot of time coloring. Here is a sampling of some of her recent drawings: