Norah at 6

I was picking up Norah from school one afternoon with Freya and Alice in tow and Ms. Dominguez said “She is changing so fast!” and I said “Norah? I know!” and Ms. Dominguez said “Oh I meant your baby but yes Norah is changing too.” When Norah was a baby it seemed like every other week she had learned some new skill or reached a milestone. I remember one of the sorority girls saying “Norah is growing up right before our very eyes.” That is really how it feels having a baby and I still feel that way about Norah. Kids grow so fast they are like chia pets! Maybe I’ve said this every year – I’ll have to review old birthday posts to check – but this year has been very eventful for Norah:

• Right after turning 5 I started teaching Norah to read and now a year later she can read books by herself
• Norah learned to swim last July
• She became a big sister of two little sisters July 25th
• Norah started Kindergarten at Alex Sanger Elementary and was named student of the month in September
• She lost her first two baby teeth in December
• She was nominated for and tested into the gifted and talented program in January
• She learned to ride a bike in April
• She learned soooooo much Spanish by being friendly and eager to practice

On Norah’s actual birthday I was able to take cupcakes to her class. I think these are the only pictures I have of her in her classroom Tuesday Norah had a kindergarten graduation. Here is a link to a poor quality video of her walking across the stage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbPOGRCd-vU Her principal noted that these kids were the class of 2031 – because he expects them all to finish college in 2031. Each student was recognized for kindergarten success and her teacher recognized some students for specific subject areas. Norah was recognized for excelling in Spanish. Then at the end after I stopped filming she was singled out to receive the presidential award for academic academic achievement and received a certificate “signed” by President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. I am philosophically opposed to the idea of awards in kindergarten. I don’t believe children should be labeled and distinguished at this age. Norah is motivated to learn without awards and I’d love to keep her that way as long as possible. Yet here I am documenting these awards for her on the blog. I can’t deny that I felt very very proud of her and I notified grandparents promptly after the awards ceremony.

Norah has worked so hard this year and her success is her own. This was a stressful year for us as a family. We had a new baby and spent pretty much her entire school year thinking we may or may not be moving soon. Bryan travelled quite a bit in the fall attending conferences and was looking for jobs. We had a lot of distractions and it felt like we were spread thin as parents with a new baby, a moody threenager craving extra attention and a kindergartener with a LOT of homework. Norah amazed us this year with her maturity. She made daily compromises with Alice to keep the peace. She patiently waited for help on her homework when we were busy with dinner or the baby. When we felt that Alice needed to go to bed early, Norah would help by “pretending” to also go to bed and wait till Alice was asleep to get up again. With few exceptions, Norah woke up on her own every school day, dressed herself and reminded us to comb her hair. Sometimes Norah would wake up painfully early. If Bryan and I were exhausted from being up with the baby Norah would tip toe in our room and whisper “I’m just going to go color in the kitchen.” Many of these early morning works of art were gifts for her wonderful teacher. If there is anyone else to credit for Norah’s fantastic year, it is Ms. Dominguez, Norah’s strict but inspiring teacher. Bryan and I have both observed Ms. Dominguez in action and she is nothing short of an extraordinary teacher. Norah was so lucky to have her this year. Norah produced a prolific amount of art this year. She came home from school with a journal for every subject plus one just for writing and they were all filled with illustrations. Her “Diario de Escritura” was truly a diary with entries about playing with Alice, holidays, outings and birthday parties she attended. I was really blown away when I flipped through it. I think I will have to take it to kinkos to be scanned but in the mean time here are few pieces of art from her back pack:

Self Portrait on manila paper, cut out and glued onto an illustrated frame. Dallas Skyline: Note the inclusion of Reunion Tower, Pegasus on top of the Magnolia Hotel, and a very very large robin flying over the city Patterns