Posts tagged Nora
Just like her sister.
Aug 23rd
Raising two daughters is truly an amazing thing. My girls are 2 years and 8 months apart. They annoy the crap out of each other yet love each other so much. The dynamic is both heartwarming and nerve wracking at the same time. From the moment Nora was capable, she has made it a priority to do exactly what her big sister is doing. She mimics Brinley to a T. If Brinley is reading a book, Nora is reading a book. If Brinley is coloring, Nora is coloring. When Brinley brushes her teeth, Nora wants to brush hers. If Brinley is having a drink, Nora needs a drink. If Brinely has to go potty, Nora has to go potty. And it’s not just the activity that she has to copy, it has to be done the same way – sitting in the same chair, coloring the same picture, going through the same motions, using the same cup.
It’s crazy how much she wants to be just like her big sister. Last night, Nora really proved just how much she wants to be like her big sister. You see, a little less than two years ago, Brinley had her first visit to the ER. She fell and hit her head on a wrought iron fire place basket and wound up with six stitches right in her hairline on her forehead. Nora wasn’t yet born back then, but she was with us through it. She was a mere 8 weeks along in gestation. I know she was taking note of it all.
How do I know this? Well yesterday we had a BBQ. It was raining so it turned into an indoor event. After we had enjoyed our food we headed down to the family room to play some Guitar Hero. The kids were making a phenomenal mess with the toys and the adults were taking turns playing Wii and supervising the kiddos. It was just about 7pm and we were getting ready to call it a night when we heard a loud thud. We all turned toward the direction of the sound and saw Nora face down on the brick fireplace hearth. I ran over to her and turned her over and she had a gash on her forehead that was bleeding a lot. I picked her up, brought her upstairs and put pressure on the wound. It just so happened that we had both a doctor and a nurse in the house. Once the bleeding stopped, both doctor and nurse had taken a quick look and Scott stopped vomiting (he has a weak stomach at the sight of blood), we got in the car and headed to the hospital. We left Brinley home in good hands with our friends.
Now I am not a fan of Emergency Rooms at all (not that I can imagine anyone is). The wait is always very long and it’s no fun to see all of these sick/hurt people waiting for care. But I have to say, it was as good of an experience as a visit to the ER could possibly be. We were in and out of there in less than an hour and a half. Nora, unlike her sister, did not require stitches. The doctor was able to use Derma-Bond glue to close the wound. Though both girls hurt themselves on or around a fireplace and had their wound on the same side of their forehead, Brinley’s was up much higher near her hairline while Nora’s is more right in the front of her forehead. It fits her personality. She’s a bruiser.
She will not be out done by her big sister!
Minus one child.
Aug 16th
I completely forgot how easy it was to have just one child. I’m not trying to belittle the job that any of you parents of one do, but having just one child is cake compared to having two (or more, I’m sure).
You see, on Thursday Brinley asked me if she could have a sleep over at Mimi’s (my mom’s) house. I’m not sure if the idea originated in Brinley’s mind or Mimi’s but that’s a moot point. She’s slept there a few times before when Mimi was babysitting but this was the first time she had asked to sleep over just for fun. After running the idea by Scott, I said that it was ok. We were already out shopping with Mimi when the idea came about and it made no sense for me to go back home and get her an overnight bag so we did what any bargain shopping mom would do – we went to the clearance rack at Kohls. After picking out some princess pajamas and an outfit for the next day we made a pit stop at the car to get her some underwear (I always keep a few spare pairs there in case of an accident). And Mimi has a toothbrush for Brinley at her house.
So we left the store and I took Nora while Brinley went with Mimi in her car (she has a carseat in Mimi’s car too) and off we went our separate ways. When I got home, Nora was ready for a nap. I put her in her crib and felt almost at a loss for what to do. Usually when she’s napping I spend alone time with Brinley playing games or doing things that Nora makes impossible. But I didn’t have to do any of that. So what did I do? I cleaned the kitchen and swept the floors and did some laundry – boooooooring! Then I caught up on some blog reading while waiting for Scott to get home from work.
When Nora woke up from her nap, we played and I made her dinner. She was a joy. She never whined or cried or screamed. When Scott got home from work we hung out, just the three of us. Now of course we missed Brinley but it was really nice to spend some quality alone time with just Nora. We put her to bed and then watched some TV. She slept until 8:45am! When she woke up we brought her in to bed with us. Then we all got up and had breakfast. She was a peach the entire time.
This made me realize something. Nora gets a bad wrap. And it’s because of Brinley. They’re both amazing, wonderful, smart kids but when they’re together they get on each others nerves and often bring out the bad side in one another. Nora is always getting into Brinley’s projects and Brinley is always touching and taunting Nora unnecessarily. Good ol’ sibling rivalry. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of times when they’re loving on each other and playing really well, but those seem to be overshadowed by the times when they’re annoying each other.
It was really awesome to be able to focus on just one child for a little while. Brinley had our undivided attention for 2 years and 8 months before Nora came into our lives. Nora has never had our undivided attention. I realize that is what happens when you have more than one child but it makes me feel a little bit bad for Nora. It will be nice when Brinley is in school this fall three mornings a week and I get to spend some one-on-one time with Nora. I’m sure she’s going to love it!
Kids do the strangest things.
Jul 22nd
It’s no doubt that kids can be strange. They tend to do things that grown people would never do. They attempt feats that no sane adult would try. I’ve witnessed both of my children perform things that just boggle my mind.
Nora is quite the stunt woman. She thinks that she can defy odds and walk on water. She’ll be sitting on the couch and stand up and think that she can take a step and just be on the floor again. It doesn’t seem to click in her small mind that the couch is 2 feet off of the ground. She tries to climb everything and can’t seem to grasp that certain objects weren’t meant to be stood on. This results in quite a number of boo boos. She has mastered putting her hand on her head and announcing to us “boo boo”.
However, what really drives me crazy lately is her eating behavior. Now maybe her taste buds aren’t fully developed yet or something but the manner in which she consumes food often grosses me out. Case in point: Last night for dinner we had tacos and Mexican rice. She loves this meal. I piled her tray with seasoned beef, shreaded cheese, rice, olives and pieces of taco shell. She shoveled the food in her mouth so fast I doubt she could even taste it (which may have something to do with the following)! She finised her food before anyone else was done. At that point she was twisting and turning in her high chair and exclaiming “uck, uck” (stuck). I kept telling her, “No, you’re not stuck. You’re sitting in your chair while we finish eating.” Realizing that she was just going to keep trying to get out of her chair, I decided to give her something to keep her quiet. Enter popsicle!
I opened up a green apple flavored mini pop and handed it to her. She devoured it in about 2 minutes. Not quite enough time for Scott and I to finish our food. I assumed that she’d go back to trying to get out of her seat and yelling “uck, uck” but instead she did something that sort of grosses me out. She picked up some small pieces of beef and rice off of her try and ate them. Then she asked for more. So I gave it to her. It sort of bothered me that she had just finished eating a cold, sweet, popsicle and was now putting pieces of beef and rice in her mouth. That is something that I’m pretty sure a grown person would never do. This is also not the first time she’s done this. She’ll finish her food and have “dessert” and go right back to eating whatever the meal was. Maybe I’m the strange one, but I can’t stomach eating spaghetti and meatballs then having some ice cream and going back to eating the meatballs. GROSS!
Where’s the sugar and spice?
Mar 30th
Sugar and spice and everything nice. That’s what little girls are made of. Right? Wrong! At least in my case. My soon-to-be eleven month old (how the #%&@ did that happen?) is a bull in a China shop. If something is in her way she will do whatever she can to just barge right through it, this includes her sister. Nothing is safe when she is around. Her favorite thing to do is rip and tear. I have to be careful not to leave important papers or Brinley’s drawings within Nora’s reach because if I do, they will end up in teeny tiny pieces all over the floor.
Another one of her favorite pass times is taking laundry and throwing it all over the room. She loves when I bring up a freshly washed basket of laundry from the dryer. She sits down and empties it at lightening speed. It’s cute to watch but becomes problematic when she does it to fresh laundry that has just been folded. She likes to do the same thing with boxes of tissues. She just keeps pulling and pulling them until they are out of the box. I’m thinking about having her try out for the game show Minute to Win It. Taking all of the tissues out of a box in under a minute is one of the tasks on the show.
I’m not trying to imply that my little Nora is not a sweetie pie. She is. How could I ever say that this little face is not sweet.
But she is totally a devil in disguise. People are always commenting on how adorable she is, usually complete strangers. She’s got the most precious smile, the cutest button nose and makes the most adorable sounds. So when we’re out in public she is quite the attention getter. Little do these strangers know what a handful Nora can be. We’ve fondly nicknamed her “Nora the Destroyer”.
So where’s my sugar and spice? I think I got the snakes and snails instead! At least I’ll never have to wonder what it would have been like to have a boy.
