Day 305- Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween was low-key. Nora dressed up as a puppy dog. I thought it was a perfect costume choice since she loves her dogs so much. She did not share the same affection for actually BEING a dog, though.

It didn't take too long for her to settle down and start enjoying herself. We arrived at Dede and Grandpa's to visit.

Once we got inside, Nora got to eat her first ever piece of candy- a Reese's peanut butter pumpkin, and she loved it. A lot.

She loved it so much that she couldn't resist the urge to go around hugging people!

We made one more quick stop by Auntie Elisabeth's before calling it a night and heading home.

Day 304- Photodump!

Let me outside!

Now that I'm outside, I want to read.

Wheeee!

Sleepy girl.

Watching TV with Momma

Hanging with Dad at the Pumpkin Patch

An oldie! I just found this on Brad's phone a few days ago. Awwwww!

 

 

Day 303- Is She Wearing Lipstick?

This is a real question someone asked me a few days ago. Do I really seem like someone who would put lipstick on my 18 month old? I mean, Toddlers & Tiaras, Honey Boo Boo, and all of tha crazy exists, but really??

Anyway, here is my lovely pink-lipped babe waiting only somewhat patiently for her dinner to be served.

People watching at O'Charleys

Day 302- Baby In A Basket

Nora wanted to get into the laundry basket, so...

Day 301- Worn Out!

We wore Nora out today at the pumpkin carving party I mentioned yesterday, so we didn't make it to Boo at the Zoo. I tried to get a picture of  her with her Jack-O-Lantern when we got home tonight, but she wasn't having it.

Instead, in honor of being tired, I have these sleepy pictures to share.

Here she is snugly tucked into my bed with me early this morning. I love her Curious George PJs!

And a family self-portrait before bedtime.

I think Brad and I look more worn out than Nora does here! Tired, but content. Hopefully, she sleeps well and sleeps in.

Day 300- Pumpkin' Pickin'

Tomorrow we are going to a pumpkin carving party with some friends, and then maybe to "Boo at the Zoo", if the rain holds out. Well, we can't go to a pumpkin party pumpkinless, so tonight we trekked back to the Pumpkin Patch.

So many to choose from...

I'll take this one!

I've got this!

Nora and Daddy

Nora and Mommy

We walked away with our pumpkin for the party, a mini-pumpkin for Nora, and a homemade loaf of pumpkin bread.

Day 299- We All Fall Down!

Nora has been playing a mysterious game. She will grab my hand, and walk around me in a circle, chanting "atcha, atcha". I had no clue what this was about until last night when we were out in the yard. She grabbed both of Brad's hands and started again, "Atcha, atcha!"  We realized at the same moment that what she was actually saying was, "Ashes, ashes!" She was playing "Ring around the roses"!  I texted Ms. Tracy, and sure enough, this is one of the kids' favorite games. Especially the, "We all fall down" part, of course.

I tried to get some pictures of Nora and Brad playing, but it was getting dark, and I had to zoom in from a distance, so the quality isn't great.

I will get Brad to fix the red eye (and crazy doggy green-eye) on this later ha!

Day 298- Piles of Leaves

Our neighbors' yard is covered with pretty orange, crunchy leaves, so we took Nora down thinking she'd have some fun.

She wasn't really sure what to make of it, though. She didn't want to roll in them, jump in them, and she freaked out when I dropped a big pile of them on her head. Whoops!

She got over the leaves quickly, grabbed her book (which she insisted on taking outside with us) and let us know, "No more pictures!"

Once we let her wander back into our yard, she warmed up again, though, and we had some fun "frolicking" in the grass.

 

Day 297- Growing Vocabulary

If you read up on baby and toddler milestones, you might know that there is a supposed expected vocabulary explosion between 18 and 24 months. According to most language development charts, at this point, kids should know "several" single words, and by age 2, they should be starting to string together short 2-4 word sentences.

Nora talks non-stop, but I probably only understand 5% of what she says. Her word list now includes about 15 recognizable words that she uses regularly and unprompted. There are other things she says that may or may not be words. Ms. Tracy and some of my friends swear she is saying more than I am giving her credit for. Perhaps it is the English teacher in me that has set the bar too high for what counts as an actual word.

Lately, she has been repeating a lot more of what we say, and tonight, she picked up her newest word: "apple".  We were walking through the grocery store, and I asked Brad if we needed apples. Nora immediately said "apple".  It really sounded more like "abble", but whatever. I asked her to say it a few more times, and she did. We showed her the apples, and she said it again. When we got home, we gave her an apple, and she said it again.

Abble!

Hooray for new words!

Day 296- Cheat Day

I got a CD from Nora's day care today with pictures that were taken on the field trip (by someone Ms. Tracy paid to take pics for her.) I know I shared a few on Friday that I took with my own camera, but here are a few more.

Pretty.

Oblivious to her friends who are sitting patiently waiting to get their picture taken.

Hey guys, what are you doing?

 

I had to make this one a little bigger so you could see Nora's ridiculous pouty face. Ms. Tracy did not want to have her picture taken, but Nora had to be herded.

 



This picture includes kids from the day care, as well as some friends and helpers.

Day 295- Snuggle Bug

Nora fought her naps today. She finally took one at 3:00 this afternoon. For this reason, she was pretty ready to go to bed tonight. Here she is all snuggled in.

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!

Day 294- Busy Day

Nora and I really missed Brad today. He was in Kentucky working at a football game. When Nora and I are going to have a day all to ourselves, I like to find things to keep us busy because otherwise, she gets stir crazy.

I scheduled her 18 month pictures to be taken at Sears at 10 a.m. Sadly, our favorite Sears photographer doesn't work there anymore, and the new girl wasn't nearly as animated, but we did manage to get a few good shots. Here is a sneak peek!

Just climbing some stairs- did you need something?

Smiling so pretty in her frilly romper.

Reflecting upon the past 18 months.

By the time we placed our photo order and left, Nora was ready for a nap. She was so grumpy when she woke up from her nap, but I managed to get her together, throw her in the car, and meet our friends Allison and Amelia at the park where the girls had fun playing on a jungle gym and stealing our cherry limeaids.

I don't know about this.

Ok, let's just go for it.

Hands off, Moms. OUR drinks.

Cherry limeaid, where have you been all my life?

The absolute best part of my day was when Nora and Amelia had a "laugh-off". They fake-laughed (which turned into real laughing) back and forth at each other for 5 minutes straight, I am sure. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much at these 2 precious little girls.

We capped off the afternoon at McAlisters for dinner before coming home and crashing for the night.

Day 293- 'Tis the Season

Pumpkin season, that is.

Today, Nora made her first trip of the year to the pumpkin patch with her day care. Since I'm on fall break, I got to tag along.

What am I supposed to do with this thing?

I found one!

Go big, or go home!

Momma and her side-kick. <3



Unfortunately, Brad couldn't make it to the field trip today, so we're going to go back as a family to pick out our pumpkin. You can be sure that there will be more pumpkin patch pictures.

 

From here, Nora and I headed to her 18 month doctor appointment where she had 2 immunization shots and her flu shot for the season. I'd like to say that she handled it like a champ, but that would be a lie. She ugly sobbed through the whole appointment. You know the kind of cry that ends with your kid wrapped around you with their head on your shoulder, hyperventilating, while your shirt gets soaked with their tears and snot. Yep, that was us this afternoon. Brad met us for the appoinment (what a great Dad!) but I bet he wishes he hadn't.

 

On the bright side, she got a great report from Dr. Joe. She is perfectly on track with all of her developmental milestones, and she is growing like a weed. Nora is now 26.6 lbs, which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. She is 33.75" tall, which means she is at the 90th percentile for height. And her head? Still in the 95th percentile.

 

She has most likely inherited some of my allergies, and based on her symptoms, it was suggested that we give her a dose of children's claritin or zyrtec daily. She is also ready to move on to chewable vitamins. Nora is officially a "Flintsones kid"!

 

She had such a busy day that she passed out within minutes of being put into bed tonight.

 

Sleep tight, sweet girl.