Counting??

Um, yeah. Nora counted to four yesterday. Really? Yes, really. Rich was doing a countdown for some reason, from five to one. After he said "Three," Nora piped up with "Two!" Rich and I stared at each other. Rich started up at "One" and Nora said "Two Three Four!"

What??

We've tried to replicate this all weekend, and we've gotten her to say "Two Three Two," which, for an almost-18-month-old, is still pretty darn good.

Boom.

Nora has learned to give The Rock (specifically, The Exploding Rock). This is one of her Daddy's proudest accomplishments.

The other day, Rich and I were discussing how advanced Nora seems to be in comparison with what the baby books say to expect. (Yes, we're proud parents. But our kid really is gifted.) I said, "Nora, you blow other babies out of the water." Nora waited for a count of three, lifted her fist into the air, and whispered "Boom" as she exploded the rock. She knows. Oh, she knows.

Big talker.

So many things to update you on, and to record for posterity. First of all, I've officially stopped trying to keep track of all the words Nora knows; She repeats so much of what we say that it's hard to know which words she truly understands and which ones she's just parroting, but I'm certain she's learning new words every day. What's more, she's starting to put words together into proto-sentences.

It's so interesting to see language evolve: first, she was saying words for objects; then she learned some stock phrases ("Bless you" after someone sneezes, "Excuse me" when she needs to get past, "Oh shoot" when she drops something, etc.); after that, she picked up some verbs-- "fly," "eat." Last night, we heard Baxter trip down a couple of stairs. Later, as I was putting Nora to bed, she said, "Baxter fall." Actually, she said it about two hundred times. Then "Baxter fall" morphed into "Daddy fall." Then this morning, my mom came over for a few minutes; after Nora and I talked about it, she said, "Bamama coming!"

So I'm calling it: Nora has spoken her first sentence.

A Day in the Park with Aunt Patsy

I've been terribly remiss about posting to the blog this month. I blame the fact that Nora's bedtime seems to be pushing back to 8:30 with the extended sunlight, plus the addictive ease of web browsing on the itouch Rich gave me after he upgraded to an iphone. I promise to get back to my laptop this week and post some of Nora's funny stories. In the meantime, enjoy some photos of Nora's trip to the park to hang out with Aunt Patsy.

Nora's Top Four List

Aside from yogurt ("Yogi!") and bananas (now pronounced with the full "ba"), a walkie and a ride on the swing ("Whee!") are Nora's most common requests. A day that contains all four of these items is a good day, indeed.



We're lucky that we have a "neighborhood swing" on our street; when a family moved out of a particular house and some young single guys moved in, a couple of the parents visited and informed them that the swing in their new front yard was communal and not to be taken down. Luckily, the guys don't seem too put out by all the shrieking and "Wheee!"-ing in their front yard.

Happy Spring!

If you're alllergic to cute, get your epi-pen ready. You're about to go into Noraphylactic shock.

New pictures: Watching Formula One with Daddy, wearing a headband, and being cool.

Lolly clearly loves getting her picture taken.

By the way: Rich bought her that "Dad's Racing Buddy" hat while she was still in the womb.

I just think being willing to keep a headband on is such a big-girl milestone! Plus, I mean, she's just so beautiful. And here I think she's consciously smiling "for the camera."

Profile shot.

Yep, I'm cool. Deal with it.