Fun Weekend!

Norah has been busy the last couple of weeks getting used to not one, but two new schools! Obviously this is not an ideal situation to be throwing at her, especially since she was really starting to make some friends in the Fresno State childcare program (where she spent the summer). However, their schedule and ours just weren't meshing, so we started over. Actually, one of the new schools is not so new- she was there in the winter and spring a couple of days a week- so that seems to be making the transition a bit easier. Hopefully we'll be all settled in within the next couple of weeks and ready for the rest of the school year.

First day of school

She's had some good Norah-isms lately, though I know she's picking some of them up from school, and not from Dan or me. The term "real bad" has now entered her vocabulary, as in, "I real bad want the ice cream." She also told my mom that "I'm just watching," when asked to help pick up her toys. Of course, she also continues to use some old favorites: "cheese hops" are her cheddar bunny crackers and "Bamabampa" (in the singular) are Grandma and Grandpa.

We spent a fun Labor Day weekend at the beach house/in San Francisco. Laura flew in for a short, but well-deserved, vacation, and Mom, Dad, Maggie, Dan, Norah, and I will never turn down an opportunity to head to the coast. We spent a pretty relaxing (and kind of foggy) few days hanging out, eating, watching Notre Dame lose, going to the park, etc. On Sunday, we headed to San Francisco to meet up with Dan's Aunt Linda, Uncle Scott, cousins Sara and Kate, and Bob, and Matt. We took a very fun tour through Muir Woods and on to Sonoma wine country. Norah enjoyed her first real bus ride (after spending many a car ride pointing out all the buses that we passed), and we all had fun seeing the sites, tasting some wine (Norah had to sit this part out), and catching up with family.

Seeing the trees in Muir Woods (I can't figure out how to rotate the last image!)

Thanks to Linda and Scott for including us in their family vacation! We also got a chance to have a (short) visit with Aunt Sue, Lee, and Grandma Nell. Thanks to Lee for making Norah a beautiful toy box. Eventually we'll get to fill it up with toys, but right now Norah is having fun putting herself in the box.

Norah's new toy box (made by Lee, with embellishments by Aunt Sue!)

Norah perfecting her "cheese" face

Fun at the beach house

Now it's back to the real world of work and school. Even though it still feels like summer here in Fresno, happy September to all!

I love you, too

Two cute, Daddy-related Norah-isms:

Norah and I were riding in the car and singing "The Wheels on the Bus." Sometimes, when we run out of verses that we know, we make up new ones. We had just finished the verse about the mommies on the bus, when Norah added, "The daddies on the bus say 'I love you, too." Very sweet.

Later that day we were in the pool. While Dan was inside getting changed, I pointed out a spider to Norah. She yelled out, "Dan, come and get the spider!" Hmm, I think she might have heard me say that a time or two...

Sick Day

Norah was home sick for a couple days. Don't worry. It was nothing too bad, just a low fever and some sniffles. It did mean that she couldn't go to school though. This mean that Kristin and I had to alternate half-days taking care of her. I think it's pretty obvious from this video how bad she was feeling.

Poor little girl...

We had to find creative ways to keep her amused. Luckily, couch cushions are very versatile. I never hope for Norah to be sick, but we did make the best of the time off.

Fort Living Room

Amen!

Norah hamming it up at the ballgame

Every night when we say our prayers before dinner, Norah adds her short prayer at the end. She started our by saying, "Thank-you Jesus..." and then choosing her favorite food on her plate that night. Sometimes she had to pause a minute to look things over to see if she could find anything she was thankful to be eating. She slowly started adding items, and now says thank-you for everything on her plate, plus the plate itself, the placemat, napkin, fork, and cup. Tonight it was "Thank-you Jesus for my hamburger and my corn and my topatoes and my ketchup and my plate and my fork and my placemat and my napkin and my milk. Amen!" Dan and I think it's very cute, and a lot of times we have to try very hard not to giggle at her very serious prayers. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

ABCDEFG...

Norah loves to sing- Ring Around the Rosie, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, etc. Here she sings her ABC's- pretty cute!

Norah-isms

My favorite Norah-ism for this week:

Me: Did Daddy put lots of cinnamon in your oatmeal?
Dan: Oh, I forgot to put it in.
Norah: How about we do it now?

Wait a minute, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, I said it to her a couple of nights ago when I asked her to help me pick up her books and she told me, "Maybe tomorrow." She really listens to everything she hears and carefully files it away for later (and always perfectly relevant) use. Consider this your warning, dear family and friends, no more bad language around the baby!

Going to the Airport

Ever since Norah and I dropped Dan off at the airport a couple of weeks ago for his trip to Festus, Norah has been talking about going to the airport to take an airplane ride.