Day 335- My Voracious Reader

It's the first thing she wants when she wakes up, and it's almost always the last thing she wants before she goes to bed.

Can a girl not read in peace?

It's a book! Most often, her favorite book, which I wrote about a few days ago. Rarely do we make it through the whole book. She mostly wants to just point at and name letters, but that's alright by me.

Day 334- Daddy?

Aw, not tonight sweetie. But I promise, he misses you.

A little Cookie Monster, or as Nora calls him, Cooookkiiiiiiieeeeee, seemed to cheer her up before bedtime, though.

I'm not sure she could get any closer to the TV. Also, I can not believe how big she looks in this picture.

My big, Sesame Street loving girl, misses her Daddy tonight. (And so do I.)

Day 333- Powerball

Nora spent some time tonight comtemplating what she would do with the $550 million jackpot.

Looks like some winning numbers to me!

Day 332- The Post In Which I Brag

Nora is getting pretty good with her ABCs. She is better with the letters at the end of the alphabet, and I'm pretty sure that's because the alphabet decal stickers closest to her diaper changing station are the later letters.  I've mentioned this before, but she is *obsessed* with letters and print in general. Of all her books, this one is undoubtedly her favorite right now.

I'm not sure if it's ever been said in the 330+ days so far that Nora's bedroom is decorated in a combination of Dr. Seuss ABCs/ABCs in general/primary colors. She has a bed sheet that looks exactly like this book cover. One of the things she loves is for me to point to each letter and say it. Then she points and repeats after me. When we get to X, Y, Z, though, when I point to Y, she finishes up with "Zeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

Tonight, she was watching her beloved Super Why, and at one point, they were looking at XYZ. After the cartoon character said, "X...Y..." once again, Nora gleefully announced, "Zeeeeeeeeeeeee!!" One of the cutest things I heard her say was in the car a few days ago. She kept repeating to herself over and over, "Mommy Daddy ABC Mommy Daddy ABC". It made my heart so happy.

It's a small thing, but I am so proud of her love of the alphabet.

Mommy, put down the camera, and say the ABCs with me!

Day 331- Let There Be Light!

'Tis the season to be jolly falalalalalalalalaaaaaa! I like to decorate for Christmas in December. Brad likes to do it right after Thanksgiving. Our compromise is outdoor lights can go up right after Thanksgiving, but indoor decorations and tree wait for another week or 2.

We are going to try again to get some good pictures of Nora outside of our house with the Christmas lights. Every picture we got this time was either blurry and/or Nora was fussing. That was our mistake for trying to take the picture when she was ready to eat dinner.

Day 330- Snug As A Bug

One of Nora's favorite things to do is to snuggle into our bed under the covers. She will not sleep under blankets in her own crib, but in our bed, she loves it.

Sometime within the next year, I know she'll transition into a "big girl bed". It's almost too much for me to think about her meeting this next milestone, but I know she'll be super cute tucked tightly into her own bed.

Day 329- Our Little Techy

The IPad is Nora's favorite "toy". One of the apps she plays with is called "Doodle Buddy". Here she is with her Daddy doodling away.

Little missy still has a cold, and at one point today, she had a pretty yucky cough. Brad and I are both feeling a little under the weather now, too. Hopefully we'll all be restored to health sooner than later.

Day 328- Shack Happy

Nora has a head cold, plus it was kind of yucky outside today. Add to that the fact that it was Black Friday and I didn't want to take her anywhere near the retail insanity? We didn't leave the house all day.

Our day looked a lot like this:

Too much TV!

Lounging on the couch!

Eating take-out!

Lounging on the couch some more!

I might have been feeling a little stir crazy, but at the same time, I did get to enjoy some quality time and snuggles with my girl, so I really can not complain.

Day 327- For These Things, We Are Thankful

We spent a beautiful Thanksgiving afternoon at Uncle Bo and Aunt Lea's house. We had a delicious feast, which was made up of 2 turkeys, 4 types of potatoes, stuffing, corn bread pudding, fresh green beans, cranberry salad, and several deserts. There were about 30 people there in total, including Nora's cousins, Matthew, Jack, and Adele, which meant she had people to play with!

Nora and the eldest of her 1st cousins, Katy.

Katy and Adele with Nora and me. Nora and Adele are "first cousins once removed".

Kisses!

Sweet girls. Adele is rockin' the Uggs.

Trying to get a four kiddos into one shot was a challenge.

Nora wanted in on the football game.

Matthew tackled Nora into a pile of leaves. Hilarious!

We have so much to be thankful for, and one of the greatest of those things is our family and each other.

Day 326- The Wall

Ms. Tracy puts the kids "on the wall" for time out when they are being naughty. Sometimes, Nora puts herself on the wall just for fun.

Thinking...

Checking out the wall

Nora gives herself time-out.

Just kidding. I'm a good girl!

                                  Getting hugs and kisses from Momma after her "time-out".

Day 325- Light On, Light Off

Nora has discovered light switches. Giant exaggerated sigh! If she sees one, she demands to be picked up so she can flick it on and off 1,000,000 times. I had a brilliant idea after bath time last night and let her stand on her ottoman so I didn't have to hold her for those one million switch flicks.

Light on!

Watching the fan spin.

Also, how cute is her little housecoat?

Day 324- Miss Independent

Miss Independent doesn't need anyone to wash her. As a matter of fact, she gets quite angry when you try to wash her.

She's got it all under control.

Day 323- Big Girl

We had lunch today with Nora's Dede and Grandpa, as well as Auntie Elisabeth, Uncle Patrick, and several cousins. Everyone agrees that Nora is turning into such a big girl. She's looking and acting more and more like a "little girl" than a baby all the time.

After lunch, she enjoyed some time sitting with her cousin Kiersten, sitting next to the fireplace and playing with Kiersten's Iphone.

Thanks, Elisabeth, for the adorable pictures!

Day 322- Picture Day

We went downtown with my friend Nita today so she could take some family pictures (and of course, some of just Nora) for our Christmas cards. We decided this year not to dress in Christmas colors. Instead we went with blues and greys for more fo a general "winter" feel.

Nora had a blast running around Krutch Park on such a beautiful afternoon in November.

Here she is in our yard on our way to our "photo shoot".

And here she is afterwards enjoying a mini custard cone from Rita's.

And finally, Nora and Brad with Ayres Hall off in the distance before getting in our car and heading home.

Day 321- Coloring Fun

A great night for Nora- coloring on her belly while watching a new episode of Super Why on TV.

Day 320- In The Kitchen

Nora loves to hang out in the kitchen while Brad or I cook dinner or clean up afterwards. She mostly loves to hang out by one particular cabinet and pull out all of the tupperwear.

I'm sorry, is there a problem?

Also, she's kind of into sticking her finger in her nose and just letting it hang here. Me saying, "Nora, take your finger out of your nose," results in this face.

Day 319- In The Morning

There is about 15-30 minutes each day after I leave for work that Nora and Brad are at home together. I leave the house between 7:10 and 7:15, while Brad leaves with Nora between 7:30 and 7:40. Even though it's rare for Nora to cry when I leave anymore, it's still the suckiest (yes, I said suckiest) moment of my day.

So, what do my 2 favorite people do for that short span of time in between me leaving and them walking out the door?

They feed the dogs.

A little out of focus...

And they catch a few extra minutes of Sesame Street.

Watching Elmo is very serious business.

I am amused by Brad's seemingly serious face in this self-portrait as he and Nora watch Sesame Street. Smile, Daddy!

Day 318- Too Cool For School

A fun "game" that Nora likes to play each morning is to point around her room for random things she wants us to hand to her before she gets out of bed for the day.

This morning, those things were her sunglasses and a book.

 

My kid is so much cooler than I am.

Day 317- Daddy and Me

You love your Daddy SO much. When he walks in the door from work, most days, you greet him with a happy squeal and open arms. And he loves you SO much. He will drop everything pretty quickly when he gets through the door so he can greet you with his open arms as well.

While you truly adore him, you don't really know yet just how lucky you are. Sometimes even I forget just how blessed we are, Nora. Let me tell you some of the things your Daddy does for you.

He dresses you, feeds you, reads to you, plays with you, takes you for rides in the car. He bathes you, rocks you, tickles you, hugs you, kisses you. He watches TV with you. He lets you have the last bite of whatever it is he is eating, if you want it. He even dances with you-- a rare occurrence for him until you decided that dancing daddy is soooo funny.

From early morning wake ups to late night feedings to 3 a.m. walking-the-floor dazes with a teething baby in excruciating pain, he's done it all.

All of these things probably sound ordinary, but you'll just have to trust me that YOUR Daddy is extraordinary.

Today was a dreary day, and we didn't take any pictures, so I'm going to take you for a little walk down memory lane from your first days until just yesterday.

 

These are just a few of the dozens of pictures I could have put here. You and your Daddy have a special relationship that fills my heart with so much joy. I just know you will grow to adore him more and more. There will probably come a time (hopefully it will be short) when you will forget just how awesome he is and how lucky you are, but I am confident that it won't last long before you get back to seeing, as I do, that you were blessed with the best Daddy in the world.