Frosting her own cake with the dress she clearly put on herself (backward).
Dear Norah,
You dressed yourself and pick our a good expression when I asked for a photo :-)
First up, independent. You know what you like and you just make it happen. From what clothes you want to wear to what naptime story I should read you, you have an opinion. For your birthday you wanted a chocolate cake in the shape of a heart. But you wanted to frost it yourself (frosting on the top but not on the sides!) and put the candles in their places as well. The whole week before your birthday you practiced singing the Happy Birthday song and were on the verge of a meltdown when you and Jonah got into an argument about whether someone is allowed to sing their own song. I finally convinced him that you could sing along and you calmed down.
Three years old is also the big switch from nursery to staying in the service for the first half and then attending children's church with the "big" kids during the sermon (3 yrs old to first grade - in your eyes that includes some pretty big kids!) and I told you about it a few weeks in advance - at which point you were instantaneously done with nursery. It was definitely a "I'm outta here, move me up!" kinda moment. Luckily no one seemed to mind you joining in a bit early.
You can definitely stand up for yourself with your siblings. And you try your hardest to keep up with their play times too. You're a whiz on a bike or scooter and while you can't climb as high as them in a tree, you do give it a good try and it probably won't be long before your right up there.
You are quite opinionated about how you want your hair done. A simple request for a ponytail is fine. Demands for a bun like Lucy are a bit harder! But no matter what Lucy or I end up doing to it, you run over, ask for a picture and tell us how cute you look and then within 10 minutes you've taken it out.
This past year you've swallowed a penny, gotten stuck in a tree, covered in poison ivy and somehow got caught hanging upside down from the side of your bed (that's still had three crib-like sides so when I say stuck upside down, I mean 2 feet up in the air with your foot between the wall and the side. I don't even know how you did that but I got there fast and saved you). You also cut MY hair. I feel pretty proud of myself for keeping you intact this year. I'll try my best this next year as well. We recently listened to a couple Ramona audiobooks and I could see my future ahead of me!
Covered in Poison Ivy, waiting in the ER for the x-ray results of the penny late on a Saturday night.
But while you're energetic and curious and a bit of a wild child, you're also my hugger. You love to get and give hugs and kisses and poor Jude is now your most common victim. You call him "Your favorite Jude" or today it was "my Jud-ee" and you tell me you picked him out (hmm, not sure how that would have worked but I'm not gonna argue with you) and just love to make him smile. Sometimes you cry when he cries and I pick him up because you say you wanted to pick him up. I don't even try to explain that you aren't big enough because that has never been a fruitful conversation, I just distract you by asking you to pick our his outfit or fetch me a diaper. You are an excellent helper with him. You announce (loudly) when he starts to wake up "He's opening his eyes! He's awake"...sometimes I'm not sure if he was before you yell but he certainly is afterwards. You also like to cheer him on when he poops. It guess it's nice that someone is so thrilled about poopy diapers as the thrill has kinda worn off for me.
I knew you'd love him though. You're such a little mama. You have 6 dolls that you tend to regularly, all with very descriptive names like Girl doll and Boy doll and Baby doll and Yellow doll (it's blonde) and brown doll (it's a brunette, otherwise a match with yellow). Only one doll has a name and its our little African American doll and she's got the same name as the foster girl we had so she's special. But you tuck them in your bed or push them around in your cart and I love it all. Sometimes you try to fall asleep and there really isn't room for you in bed with the dolls and a few stuffed animals thrown in for good measure.
You love Lucy and Jonah too and I have really enjoyed watching each of those relationships blossom this year as you've grown up. Just today you and Jonah spent over an hour setting up a big road of books and building cars together. You also love to play games like sneaky snacky squirrel with him. Lucy is your go to when my hands are full and you know she can always be counted on for when you need someone to spin you around or read you a book. And the worst possible thing that could happen to you is being left behind or not being able to do something they can.
Happiest in the middle of it all!
You make as all laugh and have discovered that trick and have started to become a real clown. You call yourself a "silly sister" and sometimes we don't know why we are laughing but it's a genuine laugh for sure.
I still probably think of you as littler than you are and you keep amazing me with the things you know that I haven't ever taught you. Like your numbers or letters. And you're so confident. Sometimes you're so confidently wrong but that's pretty fun too. Lucy knows just to smile at your attempts to read to yourself or count past 15 but Jonah likes to inform you of your mistakes - but you just take that at all. You came up to me a few days ago with a book and this sad look on your face saying "I just can't read this book. It's too hard" and the week before that you asked me how to spell monkey. I get asked to spell things a lot so without evening thinking I start off "M..." and you say "But I don't know how to write!" and when I try to fix it by suggesting you just draw a picture of a monkey you say "No, that's too hard too. I can only draw circles and lines" so in the end Lucy drew you a picture of a monkey. It was so funny but we both had to keep our faces flat because your heartache was so real.
This week when I asked you if you wanted to start doing some "school" with me you said "Oh yes, when I'm older I will do school" but I clarified that I meant now you got so excited. "Now, let's go!" and we ran off to do very academic things like sew a fall banner and read about apples, wash some and make fresh apple juice and you just had a blast this week. So your officially not just a trouble maker but a real preschooler now. I think your going to enjoy yourself.
Perhaps you like having Jude around because it means you aren't the littlest.
A conversation from yesterday:
Norah: I can do lots of things. Jude's just a baby. He can't do anything but drink milk.
Jonah: Yes he can. He can smile and.... and blink!
Norah: rolls eyes clearly indicating that she can do more than blink. I wish I had a video tape of that face.
But yes, Norah, you can do more than blink! It's hard to be smaller but your impact on our family is much bigger than your physical size. It just wouldn't be the same without you. But I'll always think of you as my baby girl.
Oh, one more fun thing about you - you like to speak in complete sentences as you might notice from the answers below. Almost anytime we ask you a question you respond with the full reply. "Did you eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch?" doesn't get a yes or no but a "I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.
Norah's Birthday Interview:
What is your favorite color? Purple (Normally she says Violet so Jonah askes her if she really means Violet. No, Purple she replies)
What is your favorite toy? I like my puppy toys.
What is your favorite game? I like Hoot Owl Hoot.
What is your favorite song? I like the Happy Birthday Song.
What is your favorite animal? I like a pig.
What is your favorite book? I like a Bible.
What do you like to snuggle with at night? I like a snuggle with a baby doll.
What is your favorite movie? I like Winnie the Pooh.
What is your favorite thing to eat? I like eggs.
Where is your favorite place to go? I like Mastadon (our local state park)
What is your favorite outfit?I like my big sister shirt.
What do you like to learn about? I like to learn about more God things.
What have you learned in the last year? I don't know.
What is hard for you? A tricky things are hard for me.
What is your favorite thing to do as a family? Hug the baby. That's a family. I like a go to (our local state park).
What do you like about Mommy? I like to hug and kiss you.
What do you like about Daddy? I like to kiss daddy when he comes home. I like his hugs and kisses. I am upside down. (Not sure where she was going with that upside thing)
What do you like about Lucy? I like about Lucy, kissing Lucy. I like that she snuggles with me.
What do you like about Jonah? I like to kiss Jonah. (He runs over and kisses her). I like to light saber with him.
What do you yourself? I like when I'm silly. Like I like to kiss myself (kisses her hand) and laughs.
What do you like about Jude? I like to kiss Jude. He's little. I like when he smiles.
No comments :
Post a Comment