Saturday, October 9, 2010

Nora is TWO

So often, I wish I could freeze time with my little people... I remember thinking that when Phoebe turned two, there was nothing terrible about it. Now that Nora has been two for a month or so, I feel the exact same way. I absolutely LOVE having a two-year-old in the house. There is something absolutely delightful - and difficult - about two-year-olds, but I absolutely adore those chubby cheeks, wide eyes, and high pitched ramblings and I wouldn’t trade this season for the world.

It’s so hard to capture the essence of our Norabelle at this age. She quite literally can do nearly anything that her big sister can do. It always amazes me when the ABCs come out of her mouth, or when she counts to fourteen accurately, or when she identifies a letter out of the blue. She converses with ease, and sometimes she makes me forget that she’s only two. Nora loves to pretend, especially with critters; it delights us to hear from the other room her talking to little bunnies or dolls and asking, “What’s wong?” in her special pretending voice. (It took me a long time to realize that she wasn’t talking to Phoebe!)

As big as Nora seems, she’s also still so small. She hates to be separated from us, and she still has a hard time going to Sunday School (one of the only times we are apart), even when her big sister is present. She continues to be comforted by her Wilbur and her nay-nay, and I think she’d hang on to that nay-nay until she turned twelve if we let her. I’ll occasionally catch myself asking something of her, and realizing --
she doesn’t understand this at all. I often forget that her understanding is not as great as her sister’s -- nor should it be! She is now, however, sleeping in a big girl bed with few issues (although she does love turning the lights on and off). She looks so tiny in that big bed, and I suppose that’s because she really is!

Nora is most certainly our spirited, social child. When Nora is sad, she’s
very sad. But when she’s happy, she’s exuberant. She hates to be alone; I am thankful that the Lord saw fit to bless this social child with two adoring sisters and built-in friends so close in age. Blanket time remains a struggle, for no reason other than she just wants to play with Phoebe. Nora especially loves her Daddy, and would remain physically attached to him at all times if it were possible. (She tries.) We are working with her on cheerful obedience (as she loves to protest loudly with a toss of the arms and curls), and Nora remains opinionated and exuberant. We have a really hard time not giving in to her!

Nora loves to pretend and dress up with her sister, read stories, climb trees (I’m a koala, Mommy!), play with dolls both big and small, write and draw, help Mommy cook, swing and slide. Nora also loves long baths with her sister having tea parties, snuggles with Wilbur and Daddy, silly songs, faces drawn on the shower wall, unloading the dishwasher, Max and Ruby, and her pink cowboy boots. She loves olives and feta, sour cream, and anything she can dip in something sticky. She loves to sit on the counter with Mommy, smell Wilbur’s ears, and to run around outside.

Oh, Nora... what a great delight you are, to us, and to all who meet you. I am so thankful God gave me you and your pudgy cheeks and curly hair. I can’t help but smile when I look at you! You’re the most precious, sweetest two year old I know!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ruthie is Seven Months Old


At seven months old, we couldn’t love our little Ruthie Mouse more! Everyone falls more in love with her every day, and it’s easy to see why. She is quite possibly the sweetest, most content little one I’ve ever been around! We had a more difficult month this month after switching formulas (Mama is still oh-so-sad about the Similac recall), but she still remains our little sweet delight!

At seven months old, Roo is...
  • sleeping twelve to thirteen hours at night and taking two two-hour naps each day. She just began to drop her third nap a week or so ago, and she seems to be doing fine with a little fussiness around that usual naptime. I imagine that if her second nap is shorter, she’ll take a third nap -- but we really haven’t gone without it long enough to know.
  • eating about 5 ounces of formula (now Enfamil Soy) four times a day. Her morning and bedtime bottles both have cereal to help control spit-up, and she eats baby food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Ruthie also experiments with table food, and she loves Cheerios. She also loves to suck on green beans and carrot sticks, and she especially loves getting to sit next to Daddy, because he’s pretty willing to share his dinner (and dessert!) with her.
  • spitting up a little less, but I’m always amazed at the amount of Shout I have to use on her laundry basket.
  • still wearing 3-6 month clothes, but she’s busting out of her 6 month jammies in the feet. Now that I’ve done the seasonal swap out, she’s wearing some 6-9 and 6-12 month clothes, but those are all pretty big on her.
  • sitting up with confidence (as in, for as long as she wants, unless she’s toppled by a sister or a dog, and she loves to play in a seated position. She can also scoot backwards while on her bottom (just a few inches or so) and on her tummy (several feet, here, but usually slowly). Ruthie seems to want to crawl, but I’m praying she’ll content herself with her slow scoot for now.
  • starting to jabber and make sweet babbling noises on occasion.
  • scooting all over her crib, and seems to prefer her tummy for sleeping. Just the other day, she had pulled the monitor (which was at that point still in her crib) to her and was laying on it as if it were a pillow. Precious!
  • learning to play in the pack-and-play for longer stretches of time. She is starting to have a little separation anxiety, but I’m hoping this structured time can continue to bless her Mommy in the late afternoons!
  • loves to “fly” when you lay her down, especially for diaper changes. Her little arms and legs just flap at a rapid clip! She is the most exuberant flapper we’ve had yet.
  • is starting to get quite grabby... many times a day, I have to extract her fingers from my hair... I’m reminded now why I don’t have much recent jewelry!
  • loving to play with blocks, soft critters, and anything with a tag. And her sisters. Oh, how she loves her sisters!
  • loving to look at books with real babies, although books make a mighty fine snack, too!
  • letting us know she’s done with her food by blowing raspberries. Not the nicest table manners, but I’m thinking it’ll be a few months before she can master the sign for “all done”.
  • especially happy outside, and she’s loving our cooler fall weather these days. The stroller, the backyard swing, and the grass are all happy places for her.
What a happy seven months we’ve had!
What a happy seven months we’ve had!