Carousel Birthday Party

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.