2012- Epilogue

Seriously? 366 days have come and gone? I have no idea how it is possible.

When I decided this time last year to create a daily photo blog, I had no idea how much of a labor of love it would become. I also had no idea how difficult it would be somedays to find or create a photo opportunity that didn't look exactly like the picture I had taken the day before.

Over the past few days, I have gone back and read every single entry. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, and I shook my head in amazement as I literally watched my beautiful daughter grow before my eyes.

When I started writing on January 1st, 2012, I didn't really think about what an amazing document this would be. Nora's first steps and first words are recorded among these pages. Her friendships have bloomed, her personality has blossomed.

I hope Nora grows to cherish these memories from the point of view of her parents who love her so incredibly much.

 

Elinor Catherine, from sweetheart baby to precious toddler in 365 +1 days.

2012 - Looking Back

Every year we say it... "It's hard to believe another year has come and gone."  It's been fun to look back over posts from the previous year and get little snapshots of our life with a 1/2 to 1 1/2 year old.   Days of being excited when she slept through the night to days of being excited when she "slept in" to 7:00AM to having to wake her up to go to daycare (or sleep past 8:00AM on weekend.)  Days of watching her roll around on the floor to crawling to standing to walking.
But it is true, it is hard to believe that one year has come on gone and that our little baby girl has grown into an energetic (and sometimes mischievous) little toddler who, I promise, does from time to time like to held by her daddy.

Day 366- New Year's Eve

On the last day of 2012, Brad got the itch to de-Christmas the house. Neither Nora nor I were thrilled with this decision at the moment, but I have to admit, now that it's done, our livingroom looks lovely and (somewhat) spacious again.

Once we cleared the house of all things Christmas (except for a sad and wilting poinsettia), we took Nora outside to run around for a while. And run she did.

She ran up and down the yard from our driveway down the the fence to play with the neighbors' dogs, Rita and Baby.

While NYE is kind of a big deal, it was just another day to Nora. By 7:15, she was in the bathtub. By 8:00, she was snuggled into her crib. She has no idea, but when she wakes up, it will be a whole new year.

Happy 2013.

Day 365- Our Precious Love

Precious Love. That's what her Grandpa calls her. It's the sweetest nickname, and I think it suits her perfectly.

Here she is being precious in Dede and Grandpa's yard after our Sunday lunch today.

And here she is being extra precious by giving her Momma some extended snuggle time after waking up from a nap.

Here she is preciously watching Elmo on Daddy's IPod Touch. Heaven help us.

She was hilariously precious when she told me no by saying, "Uh uh night night" and then clinging to her Daddy when I told her it was bed time.

This sweet little girl gets by on being precious.

Day 364- Snow Bunny

It was a chilly day, and some of Knoxville actually got enough snow to cover the grass. Our neighborhood was not among the lucky ones, but it was a little blustery out there, so we dressed Nora up a little bit before taking her out to run some errands.

Are you serious?

Door! Outside!

Snow, you say?

C'mon Mommy, maybe we'll find some snow down here!

Alas, we saw nothing but a few very sparse flurries, but I'm hoping that before this winter is over, Nora will have her first real experience with the fluffy white stuff.


Day 363- Stir Crazy

Until this afternoon, Nora and I hadn't left the house in a couple of days. We were getting a little bit bored and stir crazy. The weather hasn't been the best. It's been rainy and dreary. So, we decided to stop by Dede and Grandpa's house and then to go to Jasons Deli for dinner.

Lately, when we visit her grandparents, the first thing Nora does is head straight for a storage closet in the livingroom where Patsy keeps many old (and some new) toys stored.

Dede says it is a shame that we have no "girl" toys there, but Nora doesn't seem to mind!

Once she was done playing, we got her something to drink, and she wandered back and forth a bit from the livingroom to the kitchen, which was our hint that it was time to go get dinner.

Day 362- So Happy Together

This afternoon, Nora was happy eating her snack at her big girl table. She now refuses to sit in her high chair. She is growing up so fast!

Those are her babies, Eloise Emily and Shayla Krystal hanging out in the puppy chair behind her.

"Happy" is also one of the words I heard both Nora and Amelia say today while they were playing together. And happy they were.

They were happy coloring together.

They were happy to hug, kiss, and high five each other.

They were happy pretending to eat and care for babies together.

They were happy playing in Nora's crib together. (Phone picture!)

They were happy making a mess together.

Nora and Amelia. Happy together since 2011.

Day 361- It's A Wonderful Life

Just chillin' in my chair while someone else holds a book in front of me and reads it for me.

I also wanted to share some pictures from last night at Dede and Grandpa's house where Nora tried egg nog for the first time, which she loved, much to my dismay. She also got lots of hugs and presents.

Day 360- There's Something About Christmastime

Best.Christmas.Ever.

Nora knows nothing of Christmas. There is no anticipation of Santa and his reindeer keeping her from falling asleep or waking her before the crack of dawn. Still, today she had the most fun she's had maybe in her whole short little life so far.

She cheered "yay!" after she opened each present. She squealed with delight, "Baby baby baby!!" when she opened her cabbage patch twins. She played. Hard! And she stayed sweet all day long, giving out random hugs and kisses just because she could.

 

Everyone tells me that it will just keep getting better and better, but I can't imagine what that might be like because today was perfect.

Day 359- 'Twas The Night Before Christmas

And all through the house
Every creature was stirring

STILL

At 2 a.m.

But Brad and I are now ready to go to bed now that we have helped Santa set up for tomorrow morning.

Earlier this evening, we went to church with Elisabeth, Rachel H., Dede, and Grandpa. Nora wore the sweetest little dress. She was well behaved (though squirmy), and she cheered at the end of the first few carols until Mommy had to teach her to stay quiet instead.

After church, we went back to Dede and Grandpa's for dinner before we headed home for the evening. Nora got changed into her new Christmas PJs, and she fed her baby one more bottle before calling it a night.

And so here we are. Still stirring but getting ready to finally call it a night ourselves.

Day 358- The Visiting Begins

We spent a couple of hours at Jessica and Kaitlyn's house, exchanging gifts, snacking, and watching the girls play. Nora got a book called Doggies by one of our favorite authors, Sandra Boynton. She devoured the bacon, ham, and cheese bagel that Jessica made for her, and she discovered her love of Legos.





Day 357- Playtime With Friends

Nora got to visit with 2 different friends today. One was my friend's 11 year old who happens to have a 2 year old brother and a 6 month old sister, so he played exceptionally well with Nora.

The other was Kaitlyn (Kiki to Nora) who was Nora's very first friend. She is 5. They sang and ran around and jumped up and down and even shared a snack nicely, sitting together in a chair.

Do I have something in my teeth??

 She had so much fun playing with each of them today, and the best part is that they wore her out. She slept hard in her car seat while running an errand with her Dad, and then she went to bed right on time and snuggled in quickly with hardly any ruckus.