Nora's Napping

Breakfast

2010-11-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

This morning, right after getting up, Eleanor mumbled that she was hungry. Granddad asked her what she wanted and she told him "I'm only talking to Mommy." After chiding her, I asked her what she wanted. She waited a minute and told me she wanted a Blue Bell Popsicle. I told her no way, to which she replied "I'm only talking to Granddad!"

Eleanor Sayings and Doings

2010-11-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Eleanor had a small accident in her panties. She's been taking herself to the bathroom for a few weeks now, so I didn't know until I went to see what she was doing in her room. She told me about her accident and I asked her where her panties were. She giggled and told me "They're invisible!" She had hidden them in a basket!

Just now she found the pencil she put in the refrigerator yesterday.

Last night Eleanor was standing in the middle on her room with her blanket over her head. She was being invisible. She stood there for a minute before my dad gently touched her foot. She jumped and the blanket fell off. Later she told me "Granddad touched my foot and my heart was bumping!"

At dinner last night she informed me that when I was little I liked to dress up as a picture frame. The best part is the way she pronounces picture, with a drawn out emphasis on the ict.

Flap Your Arms Like A Chicken ......

2010-10-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

She only looks like she's doing the chicken dance!

This isn't her Halloween costume. She was just playing dress-up in the backyard.

I'm Back

2010-10-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't give up on this blog! I was actually planning too and (as you can tell) haven't posted in forever. But I started rereading all the posts I'd written and I realized how much of that stuff I'd already forgotten. I don't journal, so this is where a lot of my memories ended up. So, even if now one else reads this, I've decided I'm going to try to keep it up.

Deciding

2010-07-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

You have probably noticed the huge lack of posts lately. There have been many reasons for this. Eleanor is busy all the time and wants me to help her/play with her/read to her all the time. And blogger isn't always the easiest program to work with. Pictures, especially, are a pain in the butt and take forever to put in a post. It wasn't so bad when Nora took two naps a day and I had a tiny house to take care of, but now it's hard to find the time to fool with pictures and write long posts.

On the other hand, Facebook, as much as I don't always like it, is quick and easy to use.

So I'm thinking about shutting down the blog.

Do you Believe in Magic?

2010-06-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Nora came up with a trick! She came to me this morning and asked me to come see her magic trick. She told me she was going to make her bracelet disappear. She put it on her bed, said "Zappa" and swiped it off her bed with a foam sword. She has since repeated her performance for Granddad and Daddy and has added a "Tada!" and a bow to the end of the performance. Best part? She came up with this all on her own.

Not Much Going On

2010-06-15T12:57:00.001-07:00

That about sums it up. Nora's taking swimming lessons. She's getting better about clinging to me in the water, but she's still far from being a little fish. I think the best thing about them is that they are right before lunch, so she eats and then is wiped out for a good, long nap.

It's been so hot that we haven't been able to play outside much. We've been working on the alphabet and doing some workbooks instead. Yesterday she could identify all but three of her capital letters! On the other hand, coloring is just not her thing. I don't think she'll be an artist.

Smart Girl

2010-05-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

Mommy: "Eleanor, go tell daddy I'm starting dinner."

Eleanor: "Daddy, Mommy said she's making dinner."

Daddy: "Tell Mommy she's cooking too slow."

Eleanor: "Uh - uh!"

Changes and More Changes

2010-05-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Right around the time that Jack and Amanda left we caught Eleanor trying to climb out of her crib. Twice. So we decided to change her crib into a toddler bed. We had gotten her a convertible crib and it came with side rails to use as a toddler bed. So a few minutes of work and we had a toddler bed. Nora loved it and would play on it all the time.

Until ... About a week or so later I found out that her crib had just been recalled. And that the company had been sold. And that the company that had bought it had gone out of business. Luckily we had bought the crib at Target and they would give us a cash refund if we brought the crib to them. Here is what we ended up getting her instead.

She absolutely loves it! It's her big girl bed and she helps me make it every morning. Here are some other new additions to her "big-girl" room.

I made the curtains and I got the rocker at an antique mall. We've caught her many times sitting in it and singing lullabies to her dolls or reading them a bible story.

Today

2010-04-29T12:47:00.001-07:00

Nora and I went grocery shopping today. As usual, she started the trip in one of those carts with a little car in front for the kids to ride in. She got a cookie at the bakery and looked at the toys on the cereal aisle. Then she wanted to help me grocery shop. She would walk next to the cart and put the items I pointed to in it. Every time she did she would say "I'm a mommy just like you, mommy!"

More Catch Up

2010-04-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

We left Savannah on a Friday and stayed the night at Aunt Scotty's condo in Perdido. Matt loved it (he had never been before). He fell asleep on the balcony listening to the ocean! It would have been nice to stay longer but we wanted to get home on Saturday so he could rest before having to be back at work on Monday. By Saturday we were all tired, cranky and ready to be home. This was all topped off when Nora threw up in her car seat!

It was great to be home for the few days we were. That Thursday Mom and Dad went to the airport to pick up Travis, Amanda and Jack and from there went straight to Houma, LA for Easter with Aunt Scotty. We left that afternoon to join them.

She got way too much candy, but loved having her older cousin around. Travis had to leave on Monday, but Jack and Amanda stayed for another week and a half. We took them to the children's museum, Chucky Cheese's, the park and they both went fishing for the first time.
After Jack and Amanda left Eleanor got sick with a bad cold. Then Matt and I caught it as well and we are just getting over it.

So now we are all caught up. I promise I will try to keep this updated better.

Catch Up

2010-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Let's play catch-up on the last month and half. Okay, ready?

We went to Savannah, came home for four days, went to Houma for a long weekend, came back and had Jack and Amanda stay with us for almost two weeks, then Eleanor got sick and is just now getting better, even though Matt and I are just getting sick.

There, all caught up!

We drove to Savannah, stopping first in Mississippi to stay with my grandparents, and then in Atlanta for a few days to spend time with Tom and Sue and the girls. Eleanor loved playing with the kids and thought the babies were the best thing ever. When we asked her if she wanted a baby she pointed at Thomas and said she wanted that one! Here are a few pictures from this leg of the trip.

After we left Atlanta we went and stayed a few days with Matt's sister Sara. While we were there we got to spend time with the rest of Matt's family including his niece and nephews. Eleanor tickled everyone's funny bones one morning when she asked her Aunt Sara for a cookie for breakfast. Sara told Matt she asked and he called Eleanor. He asked her if she asked for a cookie. She looked at the floor, ran her foot along and announced that "These socks are slippery." She really enjoyed Sara's house, especially the playroom.

After Sara's house we went to stay with Matt's mom for a few days. She loved it there, too, because there was a playroom and Emily stayed over for much of the time we were there. We tried to get pictures of the whole gang together, but that was easier said than done. Emily and Samuel were very cooperative (he just kept saying cheese the whole time) and Eleanor and Tanner were less so. This is one of my favorite shots.

After Nana's house we stayed in a "Show and Tell" for a night before stayed a few nights at our friends Will and Jill's. Eleanor loved it there because they three new kittens. So, all in all, she had a great trip. I think two weeks was too long to be gone, though and we stay at a few too many places for her taste, I think. One day we had to turn around in some one's drive way. When she saw the house she asked who lived there and was this where we were sleeping that night.

To be continued .....

I Can't Say I Disagree

2010-03-01T10:31:00.001-08:00

When Granddad came home for lunch today Eleanor, who had left some of her Hungry Hippos pieces in his room yesterday, ran up to him and yelled "I lost my marbles!"

When the girl is right, she's right.

Show and Tell

2010-03-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

Matt, Eleanor, Mom and Dad went to Many over the weekend to Dad's dad before he went back up to Montana for the spring. Since I had to work on Saturday I had two wonderful, quiet ... I mean lonely and boring days alone at home.

Eleanor was so excited to go on the trip and even more excited for "show and tell". This one had me stumped for a while. Show and tell? Show and tell, she'd repeat. Then she asked me what show and tell was and I told. Then it dawned on me. She was excited about the "hotel"!

From all I hear she had a blast! She fed catfish, played ball, ate breakfast in a "school bus" (RV) and ran around the hotel room repeating, over and over, the she was excited.

Who Dat?

2010-02-08T11:54:00.001-08:00

Good Dreams?

2010-02-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

Last night Matt and I were awakened by a call of "I want ice cream!" from a still sleeping Nora.

Um .... Sorta

2010-01-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

Everyday, before she takes a nap, we read Eleanor a bible story and a page from her children's bible. The other day, while I was at work, Nora wanted to read a particular story. She told her daddy she wanted the one where "God told Noah to leave the land of Egypt and take two animals because Adam and Eve can go home now."

That would be a very interesting story to read.

Spotty, Spotty, Polka-Dotty

2010-01-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

That sums up Nora right now. On Tuesday morning we noticed a few spots on her arm and face and at first thought it was just from her rubbing when she sucks her thumb. But then my mom lifted up her shirt and had some on her belly and back, too. By the time the doctor looked at her an hour later they were everywhere!

It's a hand, foot and mouth virus and it should go away it a few more days. There is nothing to do for it but wait, but it is contagious. So she's had to miss her first dance class and the story time at the library on Tuesday that I got her all excited about before she became speckled. And, as of right now, it looks like she'll miss her toddler activities class on Friday, too. So to sum up I have a sick kid who can't go anywhere but who feels fine and dandy and wants to go to her classes. It's been real fun.

FYI

2010-01-10T18:08:00.001-08:00

According to Eleanor some apples are nocturnal.

Just thought you should know.

That Explains It

2010-01-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

Nora went to the doctor yesterday to get her 2nd H1N1 shot. The doc was checking her to make sure she could get the shot and he found out she has an ear infection. That came as a surprise to us, but it did help to explain why she's been waking up so many times at night. It's just a tad infected, with no fever, so she was able to get the shot and she's on antibiotics now. We'll go back in ten days to have them checked out again.

In other news her Nanny was in town over the weekend for a wedding and came by to see Eleanor. Nora really enjoyed having her Nanny around and can't wait to see her again.

Checking out Uncle Jerry's new plane.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-12-31T06:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I've been super busy getting ready for (and recovering from) Christmas. I handmade a lot of gifts this year and that, plus a certain two year old, kept me busy. I took pictues of all the gifts I made, but since most of them haven't been received yet, I can't post them.

We all had a great Christmas. Santa Claus brought Eleanor way too much stuff this year!

She asked for (and got) the games Hungry Hippos and Elefun. She also got a fully furnished dollhouse and a tricycle. The dollhouse and games came from Santa via Matt and I. We bought the dollhouse off of Craigslist in July for $7.50. After a few coats of paint and new flooring it looked great. The bike and dollhouse furniture came from Santa by way of Granny and Grandad.

When she saw all the stuff first thing on Christmas morning she didn't know what to go first. Then when told it was time to open presents, she said "I got mine!" and didn't want to stop playing! We took video with the new video camera we got for Christmas, but Blogger is soo slow when it comes to uploading video. I think Dad posted some of the video on Imageevent.

She seemed unfazed by the two still cameras and two video cameras aimed at her the whole time. I think she's gotten used to it.

Later in the afternoon we went to my mom's friend Elia's house. Elia has three young granddaughters who Eleanor calls "my girlies". They played for a while and I think Nora enjoyed that almost as much as her presents!

One Word

2009-12-04T07:58:00.000-08:00

SNOW!

I Stand Corrected

2009-11-25T17:35:00.001-08:00

Eleanor cries.
Me: Did you bump your head?
Eleanor: No, I conked my noggin!

Gee, Thanks!

2009-11-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

Nora had her movement class the other day and they were dancing with scarves. She brought me one and I twirled it. She saw me and yelled "I'm proud of you, Mommy!"

Fashion Sense

2009-11-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

Eleanor found this old bib while we were changing her crib sheet the other day. She then proceeded to wear it around the house all day. I drew the line at letting her wear it to the store. It really went well, in her opinion, with her owl hat.

Bandaids

2009-11-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed band aids on Eleanor's face in a lot of photos recently. While it's true she is a klutz (she takes after Mommy on that one) she usually doesn't fall on her face. What she does like to do is rub every scratch or bite on her face or arm when she gets tired and sucks her thumb. If all else fails she'll just rub her nose. As much as I clip her nails there always seems to be one rough edge that gives her a sore. We try to cover them up with band aids so they will heal. Then she rubs around the band aids and get sores there. It's become a long-term war.

Nora's New Class

2009-11-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

Nora's cooking and tumbling classes have ended and we signed her up for a new class. I can't remember the name of it, but it suits her to a tee. She gets to play with noise makers, run around a large room lined with mirrors and dance to music. But I think her favorite part is that it's on Wednesdays, when Daddy doesn't work, so we both get to go and watch her.

Pictures?

2009-11-08T04:51:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed a lack of pictures on the blog lately. There are two reasons for this. One, putting pictures on blogger is a pain in the you know what. You can upload them in order you want and theoretically move them around the post to where you want them. But that is a big hit and miss thing. Lately I will have spend a bunch of time putting pictures on, writing the post and trying to move the pictures into the right order with no luck. Then I get mad and just delete the whole thing. It's a big pain.

Second, Nora is now two and always on the go. She talks all day long and if she can't think of anything to say she will hum. She runs around the house all day playing mommy to her babies and playing store with the books on the bookcase and her play money. She needs books read to her and things taken off shelves and toys played with. By the time she taking her nap the last thing I have energy for is fighting blogger to put pictures on the blog.

Who?

2009-10-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Eleanor and I went last night to pick Matt up from the airport. After circling the terminal three times I finally heard from Matt that they had landed late. This worked for me, since I needed to change Eleanor's diaper. I told her about the change of plans to which she announced:

"Jessica can't find daddy!"

A Vote of Confidence

2009-10-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

I'm making Eleanor's Halloween costume again this year. Since I got a new sewing machine for my birthday it's a lot more involved than last year's no sew lady bug. Eleanor is going to be Little Red Riding Hood. I'm making it using this pattern. It has some cheats in it because it's just a Halloween costume, so you don't want to look to closely at it. And I'm pretty much done. I just need to hem the dress and fix the ties on the cape.

For the last two weeks Eleanor would tell me I need to finish "Riding Hood" every time she say a Halloween related anything on TV. But ever since I tried the whole thing on her, including the messed up cape and un-hemmed dress, she doesn't shout that any more. Now she tells us all just how much confidence she has in my sewing skills by shouting:

"Mommy can't fix Riding Hood!"

And the really embarrassing part is that I never told her it needed fixing. She could tell just by looking at it. Yikes! A two year old thinks my sewing is bad!

Last Night

2009-10-14T06:02:00.000-07:00

I overheard this from the hall last night just a few minutes after we put Nora down for the night:
Nora: DADDYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt: What? What's wrong?
Nora: I took off my pants.
Matt: What? Why did you do that?
Nora: I want new ones.

A Nora-ism

2009-09-25T12:43:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Eleanor had a visit from her Nanny, my cousin and my cousin's two boys. One night we decided to take the kids to the park to run off some steam and feed the ducks. My cousin was driving us all in her new, huge, Suburban. As Nora was lifted into the back seat, she pointed at the DVD player and uttered excitedly " Look, it's a TVD!

The New Cook

2009-09-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Eleanor has quite the busy schedule these days. She goes to tumbling on Tuesdays and has cooking classes on Fridays. Today was her second class. Her Nanny was visiting for the first class and went with us. The teacher (who looked like she was twelve!) wanted to do something nice and easy for the first class, so they were going to make Kid Salad. Here Eleanor waits, not too happily, to go get her supplies.
The idea was to take a marshmallow, some raisins, part of a cherry, celery, half a canned peach and a piece of lettuce and arrange it on the plate to look like a girl wearing a skirt. Here Eleanor's Nanny starts putting it together.

And that was pretty much as far as it got. Eleanor started eating the "body parts" and we had to stop.

This week, I decided to feed her before class so she could actually finish her dish before it met an untimely end. Today she made "Easy Veggie Squares".

Basically, this is a piece of flattened crescent roll dough baked and topped with Ragu and veggies. It was actually pretty good. Eleanor, carb conscious as always, ate the Ragu off the bread and all of the broccoli and cauliflower.

While she likes the class okay, she really enjoys running around the run with the other kids during down time. The teacher obviously hasn't worked with little kids a whole lot. She expected a bunch of 2-4 year olds to patiently wait for 15 minutes while the dough baked. With nothing to do. And a lot of open, empty space. Yikes!

Tumbling

2009-09-16T08:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Eleanor's very first tumbling class. She loved the trampoline and the foam blocks, but she was a little timid. She wouldn't grab, much less swing from, the bars. She crawled off of all the equipment instead of climbing or jumping. All in all, I think it went pretty well for her first visit.

A Conversation (Sort Of)

2009-08-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Me: Eleanor, what are you doing?
Eleanor (Spinning in a circle) : I bizzy! (Translation: I'm dizzy!)
Me: You're a goof ball.
Eleanor: No I not. I a coconut!

Number 2!

2009-08-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

A Day at the Beach

2009-08-11T18:12:00.001-07:00

We went to Galveston over the weekend. Before hitting the beach we stopped for a bite to eat.

Here Eleanor waits patiently for her food.

Apparently, it was well worth the wait.

Then we changed Nora's clothes and let her play. She really enjoyed to water and the sand.

And then the ice cream man came and all thoughts except those of "Dora Ice Cream" were gone.

It was yummy!

While it lasted!

Here was the end result.

A quick dip cleaned her up and it was back to playing!

I'm Speechless

2009-08-09T17:29:00.001-07:00

"I hold you, mommy!"

2009-08-07T13:53:00.001-07:00

This does not mean that Eleanor is holding me or wants to hold me. It means she wants me to hold her.

I love that she says it this way and I'd be thrilled if she never said it any other way.

Craft

2009-07-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

We made ornaments out of bakeable art dough last week and yesterday we painted them. We'll put magnets on the back of them. She's very proud of them.

She made such a mess I took her outside and hosed her down!

She had such a good time I think we'll make some Christmas ornaments soon.

A Conversation

2009-07-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

The other day Eleanor was playing with my purse. Once she finished picking through it she slung it over her shoulder and started to the door.

"Bye, Mommy." she said.

"Bye. Where are you going?" I asked.

"Chips. I get chips." came the reply.

"Oh." I said. A few seconds pass.

"Stuck! Mommy, stuck! Door stuck!" she shouts when she can't reach the door knob.

I think I'm in for it when she gets her driver's license.

Jabber

2009-07-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

A switch somewhere in Eleanor's brain switched on a few weeks ago and she has realized she can talk. And boy, does she enjoy it. While she still doesn't make sense all the time, she does a lot of the time. Here are a few of her favorite things to say:

"I full, Mommy." - This is always accompanied with a pat on her chest before she goes right back to eating.

"I want Mommy sit." - This always means in the exact spot she is pointing to and no other.

"Eleanor read Einstein book." - Pretty self explanatory.

"I want to play in Eleanor room." - Translation - Drop what you're doing and let me in my room now!

"It's hot." - We do live in Texas.

"Baby sad." - Crying babies in stores get a lot of sympathy from Eleanor.

"I can't reach!" - M&M's on the the counter are a tough prey to catch.

And finally, Matt's favorite "Too, Daddy." which is how she replies when he says he loves her.

A Quick Catch-Up

2009-06-26T13:35:00.001-07:00

** This post was going to have pictures, but Blogger doesn't want to cooperate. I'll try to post them later today. **

It's been super hot the last week or so and a few days ago the temperature has topped out at over 100. This has meant that we haven't been able to go outside to play. The splash-pad has become populated with pre-teens since school is out, so we haven't been there in about a week or so. Eleanor's pool was set up in the backyard for a few days, but it's really been too hot for that, as well. So we've had to find entertainment where's it cool. We've been enjoying Eleanor's room lately and yesterday we baked cookies.

I hope to take her to the indoor bounce house place next week, but I have a feeling that will be packed.

We did go to the zoo on the Saturday before Father's Day. My dad's company handed out free tickets, so we figured if we got there when in opened and left before the afternoon it wouldn't be to hot. Hah! It was blazing! Most of the animals were hiding anywhere they could find shade and I really can't blame them. A few of the animals even had misters in their pens to cool off. I can honestly say I've never envied a grizzley bear more than I did then.

Eleanor (and Matt, too, I think) really enjoyed the splash-pad at the zoo. After that she brushed some goats and rather leery about the snake house. But it was super hot so we left soon after that.

What's up with the band-aids, you ask? The one on her check covered a mosiquito bite and the one on her nose covered a small cut. Neither would heal because she would stroke and rub at them when she was tired. So we kept them covered for a few days. The cut is just about healed now and the bite is starting to fade.

Other than that, not much else is happening. Eleanor (by the way, that's what she calls herself, not Nora, so we've gotten in the habit of calling her that more and more) is going to a birthday party at Chucke Cheese tonight. I'll post pictures later!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

2009-06-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Nora hates eggs. Everyone knows this. She just doesn't like them. She can find the tiniest bite of egg in anything and spit it out. But today she saw me taking out eggs for my lunch and asked for some! And she even ate two bites!

If that wasn't enough she ate two slices of bread. She doesn't hate bread, but she usually only eats a bite or two. Then she took a three hour nap.

Just out of curiosity, I wonder where the real Nora went?

Mayonnaise

2009-06-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

That's right. Mayonnaise.

Nora was playing with her pool and dumped a cup of water on the patio. She looked at it, annoyed, and said "Mayonnaise!" It's my favorite new exclamation.

Give it a try.

Summer Begins

2009-05-29T18:22:00.001-07:00

A Success

2009-05-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

As I posted a few weeks ago we got Nora potty seat and have been letting her sit on it every now and then. We tell her to pee and she says "peeeeeee, peeeeeeee, wipe" and we tell her poop and she says "peeeeee, pooooooop, wipe".

Lately she's become much more aware of herself and even told me one day that she was pooping. So I decided to up the potty training. I decided to give her plenty of juice and put her on the toilet every hour or so, hoping to catch her at a time for a pee. I had "treats" (small chocolate chip cookies) on hand to reward her if she managed to get something in the toilet.

This plan worked well for about a day. Nora loved the extra juice and sitting on the potty. She even requested a book to read (her father's daughter). The problem was me. I kept forgetting to take her to the bathroom.

Well yesterday I noticed she was pooping and rushed her to the bathroom just in time! She was very proud of herself and got two treats (one for each hand)! We called Daddy to let him know and everyone made a huge deal of it when they got home.

And then later, when we put her on the toilet before her bath. Matt told her to pee. And she did!

Now we have to wait and see if these times were just a fluke. Wish us luck!

Playing in Nora's Room

2009-05-14T15:09:00.001-07:00

The Eight P's of Nora

2009-05-12T18:26:00.001-07:00

Park: We ate lunch at the park on Saturday and played.

Potty: No picture of that! Nora has a new potty seat and we will be actively potty training soon. Right now she likes to sit on it and say "pee-pee" before wiping herself. She still hasn't done anything yet, but she likes to sit there!

Panties: Here is the "hat" Nora sported Sunday. It's a terribly blurry picture,but it's the only one I could get before she took it off. I think it dawned on her that we might show that kind of picture to her future prom date.

Puke: Ewww!! Nora had a fever all day Sunday. It was pretty much gone on Monday but instead of napping she decided to throw up in bed instead. You can thank me for not taking a picture. She was much better today.

Presents: Sunday was Mother's Day and full of presents. Nora picked out some flowers to give me and helped mommy make silhouettes for Granny.

Play: Nora's Nana gave her a Little People Castle before we moved and it is Nora's favorite toy now. Here she is playing with the Little People she has named "Mommy" and "Daddy".

Pratfalls: Today we went to lunch at Denny's. Nora was supposed to be sitting in the booth next to her Granny. Instead she was standing up and looking at the (empty) booth behind us. Before any of us knew what was happening Nora went head first into the other booth. She was stunned, but otherwise okay. Who knew we were raising the next Jerry Lewis?

Pooped: That's what the kid is after all of this!

At Last ...

2009-05-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

A new post! We are finally here in Houston and are pretty much settled in at my parents house. All of our things are unpacked and the stuff that made it to Texas is in storage. I won't go into the whole story but we weren't able to bring all of our things here. The rest is in storage with Matt's dad and we'll get it later

Nora and I spent about three days in Florida with my Aunt Scotty before we headed on to Houma and then Houston. On the way Nora managed to come down with both eye and ear infections. The kid has never had an ear infection before and waited until we were eight hours from her pediatrician to get one. In related news, Matt got a sinus infection at around the same time and I got sick, too. Doctor bills cost more than the move did. It was windy most of the time we were there. I have some beach pictures, though, which I'll post later.

I've gotten some great pictures of the kid since we've been here, but they are on my parents computer. I'll have to post them later. They are especially good since my dad showed me that my camera was not focusing in the center but on the left. Oops. Of course, in my defense, I only had the French and Spanish instructions.

I'll leave you with some pictures of Nora's first crawfish boil. She loved them, but would only eat the ones peeled by her granddad.

Granddad hides his secret ingredient.

Pictures

2009-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Easter

2009-04-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

Nora had a great Easter. The Easter bunny brought her a bunch of books, some crayons (yummy ones, judging by how she was eating them), a baby dressed as a bunny, some bubbles and a few (very few) pieces of candy. She was insanely proud of her dress. If someone at church failed to comment on it she would pat it and pull out it, just in case they hadn't seen it yet. Because that could really be the only reason an 80 year old man would not comment on her dress.

I know I haven't been updating a lot recently but I've been swamped with packing. The new plan is that my Aunt Scotty will fly out here on the 21st and she, Nora and I will drive to her condo in Florida on the 22nd. We'll spend a few days on the beach before I bring her back to Houma. Nora and I will head to Houston from there. This will break up the trip for Nora and give her some time with her Nanny on the beach. It's a sacrifice, I know, but one I'm willing to make! In the meantime her Daddy will work his last day here on the 23rd. Then he will go to Atlanta to spend a long weekend with his best friend, Tom. After that he'll bum around and mooch off of his friends for a few days since everything in the house will be packed. He, his dad and his friend, Canadian Dave, will leave with our stuff on the 1st of May.

Here are a few more Easter pics. They're pretty bad, since they were taken with a disposable camera, but I'm getting a new one in a few days! Yay! Thanks Dad!

War Wounds

2009-04-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

Nora has a boo boo. Exactly one week ago today Nora tripped on the sidewalk outside church and skinned both her knees. One knee took more of the impact than the other and it got several small little bruises on it. Now, I know it's hard to believe, but this wasn't the first time Nora has tripped. It was, however, the first time she's tripped while wearing a dress and it was her first skinned knees. All week when she saw a knee she would make a whimpering sound and point. Then she would patiently wait for you to comfort her. Yesterday she learned a new word. "Boo boo". That, combined with wearing her short overalls, led to perfect strangers hearing about the knees. It also led to make-it-better-kisses from mommy and daddy. A lot of them. I wonder how she'll react the first time she gets a scab.

Bits and Pieces

2009-03-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

The last few nights Nora has been waking up every few hours. I think this might be a growth spurt because she's eating a lot, too. She'll wake up, cry until I come in (she keeps crying if Daddy comes in), then half a minute later want to go back to her crib. Basically, it's just enough to really screw up my sleep cycles. Fun.

This morning Nora was leaning on the back door while I made her breakfast. I heard a few toots come from that area and I looked over. Nora reached down and very helpfully patted her diaper to show me where they had come from.

Last night Nora pulled all of her wipes out of the box. This was the second time that day she had done this and her Daddy picked her up to talk to her before she got a spanking. Nora kept making faces at him while he talked and he kept saying, aloud, in the middle of his sentences "Don't laugh" as a caution to himself.

Nora has found her old car seat and has been using it all morning as a seat/rocker.

We went to Walgreen's. I was letting Nora walk around when she saw a stuffed bunny on the floor. She ran over, grabbed it and yelled "Hop! Hop!", nearly giving the elderly lady standing next to it a heart attack.

In other news our mailbox has a new use. We live in an older neighborhood and the mailbox is one the front door. The other day we came home from running errands and playing in the park to find it packed with leaves and sticks. Matt cleaned it out (I wasn't about to stick my hand in there) and this morning I heard a noise at the door. I looked and saw a little bird refilling it. It's a very quick little bird and it's completely full again.

Helper Ant

2009-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Nora has become a big help around the house. She helps me unload the dryer and put the clothes in the living room to be folded. She takes the folded clothes to the bedrooms (although they usually need to be refolded) and loves to push the button to start the dryer. She will put her place mat on the table and choose a plate for dinner. The other day she helped me put away the groceries. This morning she decided to help me with the biggest project we've got. She packed a few of her books in an empty moving box and then climbed in after them. That's one less thing to pack!

My Kingdom For A Camera

2009-03-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

After Matt got off of work today we were packing up in Nora's room (which is where we keep all of Matt's theology books and study type stuff). We closed the door to our bedroom and the bathroom, put up the gate and let Nora have the run of her room and the hallway while we worked. She amused herself for quite a while by pulling her clothes out of her dresser and throwing them over the gate. I would have given anything for a camera, though, when she wandered into her room wearing a sundress around her neck as a cape and Mardi Gras beads. She thought she looked great and wore it for another half hour or so!

TMI

2009-03-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Matt's dad, Gary, came over for dinner. We ate late and Nora had to go to bed soon after. We followed the normal night time routine and gave her a bath before bringing her back to our bed to dress and diaper. Before the diaper was on Nora let go and peed all over my leg. We laughed, dressed her and brought her in to tell her Granddaddy good night. When we walked out I told him about Nora peeing on me. Nora heard and decided to add to the telling. She looked at Gary and pointed to where the pee came out. Such a lady-like little girl we're raising!

Out of Balance

2009-03-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

I started packing for the move today. I started with Nora's closet, since it's a catch all for all sorts of junk. 3 hours later I had 4 boxes packed, labeled and ready to be stored. But I also had 3 boxes of things to give away, 1 of things to shred and a box and bag of trash. That is a really unbalanced ratio. I have a ton of crap to get rid off. I'll be so glad to have everything pared down when we move.

In other out of balance news, Nora has seemed a little out of whack herself lately. Yesterday was the crankiest she has been in a very long time. She's teething and I think something else is bothering her. She used to love having her shirt taken off because it gave her a chance to run around shirtless. But the last few days she's fought it and cried. I'm not sure what's going on, but I kinda wonder if she doesn't feel sore from her flu shot. If she's still like this in a few days I'll probably take her to the doctor.

18 Month Check-Up

2009-03-04T19:06:00.000-08:00

Nora had her 18 month check-up today. In the words of her doctor "She is perfect." She weighed in at 23 pounds, which put her in the 30th percentile. She was in the 74th for height (I have no idea where that's coming from!) and the 90th for head size (no mystery there; that's her Dad's head!). The only thing he noted was that her right foot turned in a little when she walked. He hadn't noticed it at the last check-up. He told us to have her new doctor check it at her 2 year check-up.

She was set to have two shots today, a hepatitis shot and a follow-up flu shot. Unfortunately they had just ran out of the flu shot so they told me to call tomorrow. She got the other shot and we went home. A few hours later, just after she went down for her nap, the nurse called and told me the vaccines had just come in and to bring Nora in. So after her nap she went and got another shot! Poor kid! I felt terrible for the double visit so we went to Wendy's and got fries. She ate the whole thing in no time flat. I think I may be forgiven!

P.S.- There won't be any pictures for a while. My camera has officially been declared dead.

Still Around

2009-03-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post because we all went to Houston to visit my parents. We had a blast there and in Mississippi and Louisiana where we made pit stops. Nora really loved playing with her cousin Jack and getting spoiled by everyone. It's good to be home, even though we've had a mouse problem. Now it's on to packing up for the move!

Cookies

2009-02-17T16:50:00.001-08:00

It's been very cold the last few days (well, cold for Savannah) so we haven't been able to go out and play. So today I decided we would make cookies. By make I mean we broke apart the refrigerated dough and put sprinkles on it. I figured that was about all an 18 month old could handle. She was in a bad mood when we started but she quickly cheered up and enjoyed herself.

Mommy's Helper

2009-02-16T17:09:00.001-08:00

When I was doing laundry today the kid grabbed a kitchen towel and ran into the kitchen. I went after her and found her standing in front of an open kitchen cabinet. I was about to tell her no when I noticed what she was doing. It was the cabinet I keep the towels in and she was putting away the towel for me. What a great little helper!

Sad and Happy

2009-02-11T04:14:00.000-08:00

This makes me sad.

This makes me feel happy.

Caught In the Act

2009-02-10T03:48:00.000-08:00

Somehow Nora was able to knock a box of cereal off the kitchen counter. I heard it and grabbed the camera just in time to snap this.

Shopping Trip

2009-02-07T14:02:00.001-08:00

We went to South Carolina today for triple coupons at a grocery store called Harris Teeter. It's about an hour away and this is the third time we've done this. We didn't do as well as we did the first time we went, when we got over $200 worth of stuff for about $20, but we did pretty well. We got:

2 boxes of Total cereal
4 packages of Johnsonville brats
3 bottle of Frank's Hot Sauce
6 boxes of Beechnut snacks for Nora
4 tubes of Grands biscuits
6 Campbells Soup at Hand
2 boxes of Minute Rice
3 bottles of Powerade
2 tubes of Colgate
2 Sauve deodorants
1 bottle Kraft Mayo
1 bottle of Dawn
1 tube of Blistex
2 boxes of Pop-Tarts
1 bottle of Thai peanut sauce

I didn't have coupons for the Pop-Tarts or the peanut sauce, but Matt wanted them. All in all we spent $23 and saved over a hundred. Not too bad.

Play Date

2009-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

Nora had her first ever play date yesterday. Her friend, Noah, from church came over to our house to play. Noah is a few months younger than Nora and just recently learned to walk. This meant that every time he threw a ball Nora would get it before he had even taken a few steps. They had fun, though. Since they are so little they really just played side by side instead of together, but Nora did talk his head off!

Update

2009-02-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

Since my last post about Nora wanting to use the potty she has asked to go 4 more times. The last couple of times she has grunted and acted like she was trying to go. I guess this is her favorite new game.

Eleanor Coleman, CEO

2009-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

We keep Nora's diapers in a basket in the corner of the living room. I came home from grocery shopping to this:

Nora had made herself a little office in her diaper basket. She sat there, typing on her keyboard, for 15 minutes after I got home. According to Matt, she had been at it for 15 minutes before I got home. Her daddy made her a sign for her office. It's still up, because she loves to point at it and have us read it.

I'm not sure what kind of business she's in, but it's tough to get an appointment with her!

Big Girl

2009-01-29T12:28:00.000-08:00

Today I had to read Nora's A Potty for Me! book another 5 times. Yikes! On the fifth read we got to the end, where the little girl is so proud of herself, and Nora pointed at her and said"Pee-pee." Yep, I said, she went pee-pee. Again, she pointed and said "Pee-pee." I repeated myself. Then she pointed and said "I want pee-pee!" Huh? "I want pee-pee!" she repeated. Grasping for something I said "Do you want to pee in the potty like the little girl?" Nora clapped at that like she does when her daddy or I finally put two and two together and figure out what she wants. So I brought her to the bathroom, took off her pants and diaper and let her sit on the toilet. She didn't pee, but she was thrilled to flush the toilet and thought she was a mighty big girl afterwards. So either Nora is going to be super easy to potty train by pretty much doing it herself and soon, or, with my luck, this is the only interest she'll ever show in the toilet until she's five.

Our Day By The Numbers

2009-01-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

3- The number of times Nora dumped her book basket all over the floor.
12- The number of books I read to her today.
5- The number of times I had to read A Potty For Me!
6- The number of times Nora had to take apart and put together her wooden puzzle.
15- The number of minutes we waited at the park to swing, which we never got to use.
3- The number of times we had to pick up all of the toys.
2- The number of Tylenol Extra Strength I took for my headache.

Finally

2009-01-22T12:24:00.000-08:00

I made this baby sweater and bonnet a while ago to sell in a friend's consignment shop. The shop is closing, so I went to pick it up today. Before I try to sell it on Ebay I thought I should take a picture of it. I had promised mom I would let her see it and I forgot to take a picture before. So here it is.

A Hair-Raising Experience

2009-01-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

Tom and Sue, our friends in Atlanta, gave Nora an elephant tent for Christmas. I set it up in the dining room today to let Nora try it out.

She loved it and climbed in before I was done setting it up. Now, I don't know if it was her pajamas rubbing against the nylon or what but it proved to be a hair-raising adventure for her

I don't think she realized just how electrifying she looked!

Self Discipline

2009-01-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

This morning Nora was throwing toys over the gate into the hallway. I told her not to and she took it upon herself to slap her own naughty little hand. Later, while checking out at Kroger, she reached for the credit card keypad. Now, she has been told many times not to touch it and today, before I could say a word, she pulled her hand back and slapped it. I guess that naughty hand has a mind of its own and needs constant correction.

Weekend Trip

2009-01-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

We went to Atlanta over the weekend to stay with some friends of ours. Nora had a blast playing with their two little girls, ages 4 and 2. It snowed, but she was completely unimpressed. We all had a good time.

Bless You!

2009-01-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

This morning Nora was eating her breakfast when she started sneezing. One, two, three, four, five sneezes came out before she paused then announced "No more!"

Just Another Day

2009-01-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

Not too much to post about. Nora is teething, again. She's not eating much because of it but it doesn't seem to be slowing her down any. "Stop" is a new favorite word, as is "Sit". She loves to say "I want --------" and fill in the blank. Since Matt's been working two jobs lately she's been saying "I want Dad." a lot. We're going to Atlanta this weekend to stay with friends, so that should be fun.

"Cheese, Mommy!"

Random Picture

2009-01-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

A Hummingbird (On Caffine)

2009-01-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

All three of us went to the library tonight. When Nora was younger we were able to put her in the Snugli and she'd fall asleep as we searched the racks. Tonight we decided that one of us would stay in the children's section with her while the other would look for books. Then we'd switch off. Nora just about went into overload. There were books everywhere! And apparently she was determined to look at them all before we left. Unfortunately, she didn't have a systematic plan in place to accomplish this feat, so she ran from one book to another. She's open one, look at two or three pages then run to another shelf. Forget a gym membership. When I need a workout I'll just take her back to the library.

Ordering

2009-01-12T04:28:00.000-08:00

The other night we went to B&D Burgers for dinner. Nora was very excited, especially since they seated us in a section filled with other children. The waitress came over to take our orders and Nora turned towards her and looked up. The waitress, playing along, leaned down like she was going to take her order. Imagine her shock when Nora said, clear as day, "I want cheese!" The little mouse really enjoyed that cheese sandwich.

A Favor

2009-01-09T05:04:00.000-08:00

I'm really curious to see whose reading this. So please leave a comment on this post so I can see whose reading. Thanks!

A Few Quick Blurbs

2009-01-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

- We were playing in the yard today when Nora pointed up into the sky. I looked and thought she was pointing to the moon. "Moon" I said. Nora sighed and said "Tweet, Tweet." She was pointing at the birds flying by. I guess I'm just a little slow.

- Later we were all watching King of the Hill after eating dinner. Hank was at the Gasser Convention and the head of the propane association was the speaker. He said "I haven't seen this much chicken in once place since the last Democratic convention" and there was silence at the convention. Nora, however, started clapping. I guess she's a born Republican.

Fame

2009-01-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

It's not easy keeping up the life of a celeb. The dancing, the phones calls, the paparazzi. Luckily, Nora is well versed in all three. Yes, I know it's sideways. If I can figure out how, I'll turn it.

Now my camera is stuck in movie mode, so there may be no pictures for a while.

Happy

2009-01-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

Nora did not have an afternoon nap today. Nora needs her afternoon nap. Without it she either gets super hyper or super cranky. Today she has chosen to be super hyper. I got home around 5 from grocery shopping to a very happy little girl. In fact, she was so happy she felt the need to say something that sounded exactly like "I'm happy" over and over and over and over again. I think she thought if she could convince us of the truth of that she might not have to go to bed early.

She was only fooling herself.

Baby Mama

2009-01-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

Nora is turning into quite the little mommy. Today she was taking two of her babies for a ride in their stroller when one needed a diaper change. Nora went and got one of her diapers, put her baby on the floor and tried to put it on the doll. After a little help from her mommy, Nora gave the newly diapered baby a bottle before continuing on her walk.

With Help Like This

2009-01-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this yesterday. I would like to embroider it in red and have it made into a quilt for Nora. I say I would like because I have a sixteen month old. A sixteen month old who will happily play by herself until I sit down to sew. Then she must help because she is half Gentry and can do it better than me. With her "help" I could probably get it made in time for her sixteenth birthday.

A Hole in the Market

2008-12-31T04:30:00.000-08:00

Eleanor has a mouth full of teeth. They are huge and there are a bunch of them. It was (literally) a pain when they were coming in, but now she feels better and eats a lot better. In fact, she eats just about anything she can get in her mouth. Here's yesterday fare, just as an example:

A slice and a half of toast spread with salmon cream cheese

Two cups of milk

An (adult) handful of Goldfish

A strawberry and banana cereal bar

A bowl of guacamole

Several spoonfuls of sour cream

Rice and Beans bummed off her grandpa's plate

More goldfish

Another cereal bar

Half a cup of spaghetti rings

A handful of dried corn

Two vanilla wafers

It's great. While still on the small size, she is gaining weight. But all this new found food lovin' has exposed a hole in the toddler product market. Toddler breath mints. Nora's breath has smelled like onions since her guacamole lunch yesterday. She's eaten a snack and two meals since then. She drank two cups of milk and brushed her teeth. She's slept and still she smells like onions. And, since I'm especially tuned in to the smell of onions, she feels the need to give me a huge smack on the lips every time my face is close enough.

So please, someone, get on the ball and invent some toddler breath mints. There's a fortune to be made.

Runaway

2008-12-30T07:55:00.001-08:00

Nora decided this morning that her life is too mundane and she needs more excitement. She grabbed her bag and the keys and took off for parts unknown.

I'd be more worried but there's not too much excitement to be had in the dining room.