End of 2014; beginning of 2015

Skiing!!  He didn’t ski at all last year because we were so busy with hockey.  This year hear I convinced him not to do hockey again by saying he could ski or skate, but not both.

He really seems to enjoy skiing a lot.  It was incredible freezing most of the times he skied though, so not many pictures.

A little skating adventure too.  (These are all out of order…)

Wearing some of brother’s old clothes-Phantastic Phillies from Gigi!

A little excursion on to frozen Fern Lake at our camp.

It wasn’t the best skating—but incredibly beautiful.

We loved exploring.  This is on a little island we walked to! (I’m dreaming of being able to swim to it this summer, but it’s probably too far.)

Kindle-ing with friend Kyle.  They love their devices.

And some pokemon card trading.

And some MORE cookie decorating.

And more Christmas cookies!

New Years Joseph and I got creative with all our tons of Christmas candy and chopped it up and put it in melted chocolate to make some amazing bark! 

And our New Years bonfire with friends Ben, Jill, Gabe, and Claire.  We also had fireworks which were apparently so relaxing to Nora that she fells asleep.

Playing with some new toys!

Reading!

First time ice skating!  Well not REALLY skating, since she just had boots on, but don’t tell her that!  She was very proud of herself.

Nora was super into Kitty for awhile.

Here she is giving him her paci.  I just loved this because she is sharing and maybe even thinking about what others would like?  An important developmental milestone according to psych lit.

Cleaning the counters.  This is one of her very favorite things and keeps her entertained for a long time.  Plus maybe my counters get a little cleaner?

Snoozing

Lego challenge hour at the library!  SOOO FUN!

They were making marble runs.

A beautiful winter morning.

Another one of Nora’s favorite past-times!

A small part of a HUGE arcade Joseph made out of cardboard.  It was incredible intricate and he worked on it for along time.  I unfortunately did not document the rest of it.

Clearing the ice for some skating up in Lincoln at Great gram’s pond.

We had a lot of fun!  This was a huge pine that had fallen across the pond.

The start of ski school

Nora at a year and a half

• She has a passion for socks and shoes.  Her socks have to be on just right or she’s yelling “fix it!!”  She can reach her sock drawer from her crib and I often find her in there with a pile of socks trying them all on.
• EVERYTHING hurts according to Nora. She learned the word and concept recently and uses it all the time. Her nose hurts, her ear hurts, her socks hurt. Cream hurts. Kind of funny; kind of weird.
• She’s still adores her Joe-joe and talks about him often.  Though she also isn’t afraid to fight with him either!  She just lights up when they are reunited.
• For a long time her favorite word was, “baby.” It took me a bit to figure out what she meant, then I realized she was talking about herself. Since she didn’t have many words she used “baby” for everything. It could mean, “Baby (I) want that,” or “I’m mad,” or many other things…but it’s hard to remember now because she has TONS of words. She seems like quite a talker to me. We can even have little conversations and a lot of the time I understand what she is saying. It is just the cutest thing ever to me. She tells me when she see’s a truck or a bus when we are driving, she learns Joseph’s friends names and yells them, she tells you what she wants and needs….She is just starting to put words together into basic sentences.
• Apparently she is a Vermonter because, “Yup” and “nope” are her favorite terms.
• Joseph is great with her sometimes, not so great other times.  But I can just leave them to play and it is great.  I especially LOVE sending them outside to play!  I’m in heaven when I kick them out and cook dinner on my own.  Dreams comes true!
• Washing dishes is one of her very favorite activities.  She always wants to “clean.”
• One of my very favorite things about this age: I feel FREE because I can so easily leave her with almost anyone these days.  It’s amazing!  So far (knock on wood it continues) she has done awesome no matter who is taking care of her.  She loves childcare, daddy time, hanging with all three grandpas and of course grandma, and even random friends of mine.  Yay, yay, yay!!!  I think they all enjoy her too ;-)
• Also loves stomping around outside in her boots.  If dad or Joe-joe are outside she gets herself dressed and ready.  She can walk all the way down and up our longggg driveway.  Loves puddles, rocks, balls…
• She has some serious opinions.  Lots of them.  Loud opinions.  Apparently I am two for two with the “spirited” children count.  Good thing I like feisty kids.  Most of the time. 
• Recently started asking to go to her childcare every day (“Becca’s!! Becca’s!!” she hollers every morning when we drive Joseph to school.)
• She’s not one to let others push her around.  If a kid tries to steal her toy or doesn’t giver her a turn, etc… she yells “No!!”  or sometimes “Turn!” “Please!” or “Ask” (ask is because I tell her to ask for a turn) very loudly.  She’s no pushover.  Maybe even a little pushy.
• Oh she also has a passions for, and regularly requests cheese, juice, ketchup, and teeth brushing.
• I have just started taking her to some of the bigger kid activities, such as open gym and playgroup. She really enjoys it. It’s incredibly cute and sleeps well afterwards!  (How many times can I call her cute???  I can’t stop.  Everything she does is so CUTE.  Well everything except waking up too much at night and too early in the morning…..)
• We have settled into one nap a day, usually about 12:30-3 or so. I adore her long naps.  I do not enjoy the day every couple weeks or so when she surprises me with a short nap.  Nighttime she goes to bed around 7…and then it’s a little erratic.  She usually wakes once in the middle of the night to nurse and often nurses again in the early morning (4 or 5) and then goes back to sleep.  Sometimes she just sleeps right through.  Sometimes she is up in the 5:00 hour and doesn’t go back to sleep (not cool).  Embarking on some more sleep training soon!
• I just love dressing Nora in her Joseph’s old clothes.  And both Nora and Joseph seem to really enjoy it too—yesterday she was wearing one of Joseph’s old sweatshirts (camo) and threw a fit when I made her take it off (because it was soaked and she was headed outside—where it is still very chilly these days).

Fun, BUSY, times!