I've underestimated the intelligence of a 1 year old!

It just creeped up on me I suppose... all of a sudden Norah is responding to us like a little girl instead of like the tiny baby I once knew. I say "let's take off your shoes" and she lifts up her feet for me one at a time. She happily shells out hugs and kisses at our request. I ask "where is your belly?" and she lifts up her shirt so I can tickle her! I hear her say new words one right after another: "hi kitty", "doggie", "duckie", "book" and "ball". She already has two favorite songs; "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "A Little Love" by Meghan Smith ;o) She askes us to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider by wiggling her little fingers together (the crawling spider) about 4,000 times a day, and at daycare they put that song on repeat just for her. If she is fussing in the car, I will play her fav Meghan Smith song, and all is well with the world again. Where did my baby go? This little girl snuck up on me... but she sure is cute!


Doesn't she look so grown-up in this picure?!

Love ~ Renee

Things that make me smile...

~ Norah has recently become a snugglebug, and she lovingly pats your back when she gives you a hug.

~ The way she pants when she opens her mouth for her next bite of food if she really likes it. Her current fav is veggie booty puffs, avocado and blueberries!

~ Her crazy fake laugh... all of a sudden there is a loud "HAHAHAHA HAHA HA HA HEEHEEHE" from the backseat of the car, and when I turn to look at her, she has the biggest wide open grin you've ever seen on such a little face.

~ When she claps for me after every song I sing to her ;o)

~ The way Norah looooves to read! She will go through an entire book pointing out all the kids and animals, all while "talking" with her head bobbing up and down. (I think I even heard her say "Doggie" once!)

~ Her wave. Norah waves to everyone, even cars driving by, and with each wave is the sweetest smile to go with it.

~ When she sees something exciting, she shoots her arm straight up in the air and looks around to see who else saw it!

Excitement at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

Love ~ Renee

And we have a walker!!! Norah took her first steps tonight... a day after she turned one! Nothing is more exciting! Nothing.

Happy 1st Birthday Miss Norah Scarlett!

I hope you had a wonderful day... Wearing your birthday dress with your party shoes and sharing cupcakes with the kids at daycare! I hear everyone sang Happy Birthday to you and made you a crown! It really is the cutest crown I have ever seen.

I had the most fun with you and Daddy eating ice cream this afternoon at the Grand Ole Creamery and taking thousands of pictures (I could have taken more!). Your love of ice cream is too cute, and so are your shoes ;o)

And tonight, when it was time to open the presents from Mommy & Daddy, you knew exactly how to tear the paper right off! The excitement on your face when you opened your laughing, jiggly Elmo/Cookie Monster head and your "Busy Zoo" was priceless.

Love you always and forever ~ Mommy

Firsts...

I had thought Norah would have been a liiiitle bit older when she had her first kiss, but boy was I wrong! On Wednesday when we picked her up from her beloved daycare, the teacher informed us that there is a new boy in her room. Apparently he has quite the crush on Miss Norah because he walked right up to her and gave her a kiss! Then the teacher went on to tell us that Norah sat and watched him as he walked away. How sweet is that?! I just hope this doesn't happen again until she is 28.

Norah also had her 1st Birthday Party this past weekend!! We rented out a pavilion at Wolfe Park, decorated it to the hilt, and had a blast! Almost all of our family and friends were there and it was so much fun to celebrate her birthday with everyone. The only tiny glitch was the birthday girl's cake. She absolutely LOVED her 4-tier pink ruffle cake that mommy made her, so much so that she only wanted to gently touch the cake and admire it from afar. When I took her hand and demonstrated what a girl ought to do with her cake on her 1st birthday, she cried in protest! Mommy had ruined her beautiful cake!!!

So... I thought a taste of this delicious cake might cheer her up. I popped a little piece in her mouth and next thing I know she has broken out in hives! She quickly had purple splotches of hives spreading all over her poor little face. They spread to her ears, neck, chest & back in just minutes and it was all I could do not to panic! Luckily my Aunt is a nurse and she kept a close eye on her while Daddy ran to the store to get some baby Benadryl. Norah ended up being fine after we gave her a dose of that miracle drug (that stuff works FAST!) and we proceeded to open gifts, albeit a little sleepily.

Thank you to everyone who celebrated Norah's day with us. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

Here are the Before and After photos courtesy of cousin Jim...

Before Mommy destroyed her cake

After Mommy destroyed her cake

Love ~ Renee