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. 

Kisses

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. 

Apple Picking

We took Norah to Little Tree Orchard to pick some apples on Labor Day.  She liked picking berries this summer so I thought she’d enjoy this outing.  Well enjoy doesn’t even begin to describe her experience. 

Norah is obsessed with balls and never believes she has enough of them.  To her, Little Tree was ball paradise.  Imagine her excitement when she entered this orchard where “balls” literally grow on trees and even cover the ground.  When she discovered that they were also edible she was truly amazed.  She tried to taste them all and carry more than what was reasonable.  It must have seemed magical to her to be able to pull these balls off trees (or pick them up off the ground) and taste them.  Bryan and I were too entertained by watching her lug around our apple sack to pick many apples ourselves.  Norah makes me realize how many simple treasures I take for granted.  It is a joy to accompany her as she explores this world and finds beauty every where she goes.  She kept falling behind and we would urge her to keep coming and she’d show us one of her apples as if to say “Hey, I’m doing serious work here and I don’t see you guys with any apples so stop rushing me”

Norah’s Sailor Skirt

I finished this sailor skirt for Norah the other day and I’m very happy with how it turned out – even if it is a bit big around the waist.  Who knows?  Maybe it will still fit this spring.  If anything it seems Norah’s waist is shrinking as she grows.  She just had her 15 month check up Friday and she is only in the 14th percentile for weight and 33rd for height.  It will be a sad day for me when that round belly disappears.  I love it.  I love patting it and I love how her perfect posture shows it off. 

The only picture I could get of her holding still was when she paused to put a rock in her mouth.  Seriously.  What is the appeal?   You’d think we didn’t feed her.

I love kick pleats.  So classy.

Is Norah Profiling?

Norah is smitten with the Alpha Phi’s.  Since they have moved back in Norah has not missed an opportunity to send them off with a wave and a “Bye Bye”– an honor which was previously reserved for very few individuals.  She even walks with them out the door, and down sidewalk to the corner holding their hand, at which point I carry her kicking and screaming back to the front yard.  What’s more, she rushes to greet them with a wave and a “hi” when they come home.  I had never heard her say hi before this pledge class moved in.

Perhaps you have also received smiles and waves from Norah indicating your mutual friendship.  Did you have to earn this trust and appreciation or did she willingly bestow it?  New research (parental observation) suggests that she may actually profile the people she meets, deciding whether they can be approved for inner circle friendship status immediately or if they must earn it.  Norah and I often play outside between the tennis courts and Risley Hall.  It is a convenient location because she can’t run up the hill and into the street before I can catch her and there is continuous student pedestrian traffic to interest Norah.  While she is interested in everyone that walks by, she is very discriminating in who she approaches, waves to and greets.   Wouldn’t you like to know if you’d make Norah’s cut for instant friendship?  Take the quiz to find out.

Norah’s Instant Friendship Quiz:

1. Are you female?  y/n
2. Are you, or could you pass for being between the ages of 18 and 22? y/n
3. Do you have long hair?  y/n

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, your friendship status with Norah is also in question.  But don’t give up yet.  If you answer yes to two of the three extra credit questions you can make up for one wrong answer.

Extra Credit:

1. Do you dress in the spirit of Forever 21 and H&M?  y/n
2. Do you accessorize – preferably with bangles?  y/n
3. Are you currently and visibly in the possession of a snack, or an interesting toy?  y/n

How did you do on the quiz? 

I at first found the results a bit troubling.  It isn’t that I want her running up to strangers smiling, waving and saying “Hi” all the time but there are many people who are dear to Norah who do not fit the sorority girl profile – why would she be so exclusive in who she befriends?   The answer came to me as I was studying the composite trying to learn names of the new pledge class:  Norah has no idea who lives in the house but is trying to play it off like she does. 

There are so many Phi’s (40 live in and girls from the previous class come to visit) that she has had to learn to profile as a toddler survival skill.  The Alpha Phi’s are flattered when Norah greets them because they assume she recognizes them and so they reward her with all the attention she craves.  What if she didn’t profile and innocently ignored one of them assuming they were a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma?  They might not see her because she is so short and thus she would miss out on attention.  On the other hand, if she approaches a young lady who is not an Alpha Phi she doesn’t have a lot to lose.  They won’t know her name, hold her hand, or pick her up but they generally at least smile and wave back.  

Outer Banks Revisited

We just returned from a week long trip to the Outer Banks with Bryan’s family.  We hadn’t planned on going because of our obligations at Alpha Phi but as the trip approached we felt more and more sorry for ourselves until Bryan called our House Corp Board and asked for permission to leave the house in the care of some friends so we could go.  Norah and I are so glad he did.  The trip was well worth one scary phone call.  We stayed at the same house in Corolla that we stayed in two years ago with them before we had Norah.  I thought it was fun to return to the same spot and it brought back memories.  We did miss Bryan’s youngest brother Taylor who is on his mission, but not enough for it to ruin the trip. 

Norah slept fabulously while we were there – better than she ever has.  She consistently slept from 7:30 to a little after 5 and went back to sleep for another hour or hour and a half.  Bryan and I were disciplined about not staying up too late to miss out on her long stretches of sleep and consequently were well rested ourselves.  I can’t remember feeling so well rested but I’m sure the last time was before she was born.  To add to the bliss of a good night’s sleep, Bryan’s parents were extremely proactive in taking Norah off our hands.  Not that we don’t treasure her, but it was nice to have a break.  We were able to swim and play in the ocean for few hours at a time worry free.  When we decided we’d had our fill of waves we came back to a baby with reapplied sunscreen and a bucket a seashells.  Norah was very well cared for and managed to leave the beach almost as white as when she arrived.  She was aided in this by her full coverage, Donald Duck style swimsuit.  One little boy approached Susan and asked her about Norah’s unusual swimwear.  When Susan explained that it kept her from getting sunburns the boy commented “I think it looks like Jammies.”  To that I say “ Why not swim in Jammies?”  We are on vacation after all!

Norah will never have enough balls.  There were several beach balls to play with and she persisted in trying to carry them all at the same time.  Unfortunately this particular one kept her hands too full for any others. This is a picture of Norah and her Uncle Kimball watching TV together.  If you look closely you might notice Elmo’s eyes on her shirt.  This is her very favorite Elmo outfit.  Norah has lately been throwing tantrums when we decide to dress her in anything else.  We just about took her to church in it yesterday rather than fight the issue.  Norah is such a devoted Elmo fan that when she spotted an Elmo towel at a beach shop she went over to it and made it clear to her Grandpa that he needed to buy it for her.Oh the luxury of the beach chair!  Norah was not about to miss out when she noticed the rest of us lounging in them.  She was not content to share and sit on our laps and spent a good amount of time inspecting and comparing the identical chairs.Norah and Mimi collecting shells

Wild Horse Adventure

We took a guided tour of the wild horses on the beaches of the Outer banks.  Norah slept through the tour but did enjoy this rocking horse in front of the office. Courtney and her bff Emily in the back of the Jeep From L to R: Susan(aka Mimi), Emily, Courtney, Greg, Guy (aka Grandpa), Kimball, BryanAunt Courtney and Norah sharing a snuggleKimball, Norah and Courtney look at the canal that locals use to ferry their kids to school because of their remote locationL to R front:  Guy, Norah, Courtney, Lindsey, Susan

L to R back:  Emily, Bryan, Kimball, GregNorah and Grandpa Guy

End of Summer Cramming

Even though Bryan has been working pretty much all summer and his schedule won’t change much with the start of the school year I still feel like summer is going to end when school starts.  It will likely still be warm all through September but I feel this rush to cram all kinds of summer activities in before August is over.  Here are some miscellaneous things we’ve been up to since the beach. 

Norah has been playing with Benjamin Davis a lot this summer.   Here they are at Stewart Park.We’ve been hiking the gorges whenever possiblePicking and eating berries with the Jones familyAnd we’ve been visiting friends.  Here is Norah, Benny and Tale.  We definitely need to get these three together one more time