Thankful

I will admit, there are days. Right now, for example, Nora has piled about two dozen books, ten stuffed animals, a stroller, probably 50 pens, a box of pictures, a backpack, some kitchen utensils, two blankets and a pillow on the couch. I have been instructed not to touch anything. From here I can also see a crown. And a pair of scissors. One thing I am grateful for (to remain in the spirit of things) is that she has not--yet--overturned her basket of shoes onto the couch.

It is the rare morning that I don't find some oddity crammed in a corner on her bed. A rock. A necklace. A playing card. A pair of toilet paper roll binoculars. A framed photograph. A Kentucky Fried Chicken space helmet (admittedly, that is a tough one to sneak into bed).

My kid is a pack rat.

On the other hand, she knows where everything is. She's a finder. For instance, yesterday I was looking for my card reader. I said "Nora, have you seen that silver thing with the cord that I put this [memory card] into to look at the pictures?" "Hmmmm," she said. "Does it plugs into your computer?" She then checked to make sure it was not in the computer (already, she knows). "Yes!" I answered (double-checking myself). "Move the couch" she said. At that moment I became doubtful, but I humored her. After all, on Thanksgiving, when someone's sock went missing, Nora procured TWO PAIRS of socks out from between the cushions of the couch. None belonged to our guest...but one pair did belong to me. So I moved the couch. Low and behold there was my card reader!

So I'm thankful for a child who is, albeit a mess-maker, highly entertaining. And great at finding lost items.

Her favorite passtime is still reading. She sleeps with about ten books every night and is usually up for about an hour past her bedtime reading to herself. I tuck her in, kiss her goodnight, and come downstairs to work, and I can hear her through the baby monitor, walking back and forth between her bookshelf and her bed. She is also very intersted in Geography. She drew a "map" on a small piece of paper last week and pointed out "Oregon", "China" and "Autie Lori's house" on it.

I wish I were better about writing down every little thing--she is talking so much, I can't keep up. Yesterday, she was dancing while John was playing the ukulele and she said "I'm the goodest dancer in the whole life." A few weeks ago, I was lamenting the leaves in the yard and I asked for a leaf-blower and Nora said "You can rake them, and then put them in the compost." When I asked her how she knew about compost she said "I learned it from Handy Manny." So there. I guess you can learn new words from television!

Some other cute things:

Mom: "Is Erica Chinese"
Nora: "yes"
Mom: "What about Ami? Is she Chinese?"
Nora: "No. She's differentest"
Mom: "You mean 'Japanese'"
Nora: "Oh. Sorry! I made a steak. I meant 'Japanese'"

And perhaps my favorite quote of late, when I asked Nora if she had brushed her teeth, she said "I brushed them so fast, you didn't even see me."

See what I mean? Highly entertaining.

PICTURES

Paiting (obviously)


Getting ready for the first day of skiing (she did great, BTW--and you should see her "Dora" ski helmet. Holy cuteness).


Riding her bike at school


This series is from our field trip to the fine arts department on campus. One of the moms helped the kids make felt out of wool. It was very fun. We walked through the woods and gathered lichen to "weave" into the felt. We also sat in on the end of an art class on Persian art (taught by Blake's mom). In case you are wondering, that is a gigantic scrape on Nora's right cheek. She tripped over my foot while we were walking Maia and slid (on her cheek) a few inches on the sidewalk. It broke my heart!









Here are the attempted Christmas card pictures. Attempt aborted due to lack of interest on the part of the subject...and her extreme displeasure with having to wear fancy clothes.