Norah, Cale, and Abby

An Overdue Norah Update

I realized a few days ago that it’s been a while since I’ve given an official update on Norah’s progress into toddlerhood. I’ve been having such fun posting caption-resistant photos every Wednesday and waxing melodramatically about slimy drainage tunnels, that I’ve forgotten that without my willingness to turn the focus away from myself for a few moments…you, my faithful readers, are unable to enjoy the subtle changes that make up day-to-day life with Little Lutine.

The primary change since last we spoke of it is that she’s dramatically increased the speed with which she can reach forbidden objects by rejecting the crawling method of locomotion and charging into walking. She took her first steps about a month ago. Then, in typical Norah fashion, she proceeded to ignore her new ability for about a week or so (just to play it cool) before standing up and toddling across the room. These days…she crawls infrequently and falls to her butt quite often. In fact, the most precise gauge of Norah’s mood these days is her reaction to falling. Giggle or utter lack of concern is the normal response and indicates she is in her typical high-spirited frame of mind. Whining or a few seconds of pouting tells us she’s getting tired or hungry. And rarely, we see a full on meltdown…and this usually means it’s well past her bedtime or that she’s not been napping well.

She’s fascinated with boxes and containers these days. Taking things out of or putting things into boxes is pure joy. We find her toys stacked haphazardly in the basket that holds Arlo’s dog toys. Or stuffed into decorative vases. Or dropped over the gate that leads to our attic bedroom. Or pretty much anywhere else she notices a toy will fit.

She has no words yet, but she has a few signs she will occasionally use. Anything that runs around on four legs gets a slap to her thigh (doggie). And a sudden lack of cereal on her tray will occasionally warrant the tips of all her fingers being bounced together (more). Waving is thrilling and she has been known to wave to the television if a character says “goodbye.” Clapping has also become an exciting past time, but it is usually in response to some one else clapping. Last night, however, she seemed to applaud herself upon rescuing her reindeer puppet from the bottom of the clothes hamper.

She’s slimmed down. Her newly active lifestyle has severely reduced the number of chins she sports. In the last month, she’s gained quite a bit of height and held her weight steady…a sure sign of a more svelte Norah.

She’s become obsessed with stuffed animals. As she makes her ways around the house, she often has a plush friend tucked under her arm. And she giggles more when we animate the animals for her in play. I can only assume that she’s made the connection that the abstract shapes form rough approximations of faces. This clearly delights her.

She’s finally going to sleep easily. After a bit of practice and learning on both sides we can, on the vast majority of nights, bathe her, read her a story, sit with her fir just a minute or two with the light off, lay her (still awake) in her crib, and walk away. It is a glorious, glorious feeling every time it happens. I walk away and pause, still expecting to hear angry wails…but none come. She calmly watches me go as she rolls over to sleep with her little butt in the air.


In short, she’s growing up wonderfully. And though I frequently forget to bring everyone up to speed on her development, the changes from the front lines are just astounding. Almost every day brings some small growth and I’m just in awe watching the process.


The Twins Come Home

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here before (and in retrospect, I’m not sure why), but my cousin Caleb and his wife, Summer, have been expecting twins. Long-time readers will remember Caleb as the guy after which Norah was almost named. The twins finally arrived about two weeks ago, a girl and a boy…Abby and Cale. They were held at the hospital for a while since they were born just a bit early (totally normal for twins), but I just got word this morning that both of the newborns have made the trip home where they can snuggle in with their big brother, Austin.

And while this might not be the most exciting bit of story telling for those of you who don’t know Caleb and his family… I’m quite excited about it all and wanted to do my part to spread what I consider to be wonderful news.

Welcome aboard, Cale and Abby!