Norah's Turning 2!!

Happy Birthday Norah!!

Could two years really have gone by this quickly? What an amazing year it has been.

A year ago you had just began to sit unsupported. You weren't able to get yourself into a sitting position on your own, but would try hard. You could lay in a crunched position with your head and feet off the floor for 30 seconds at a time. We would tease you about your abs of steel. Now you can pull yourself to stand and are walking with a walker. You are just beginning to stand independently. You tease us with one good 5 to 10 second stand during therapy but as soon as we're home, you refuse. You have taught us that you will do things in your own way and in your own time, so we should be patient.

Last year we were just listening to our first 'mama' and 'dada' being called out with your sweet voice. This morning we woke up at 4:30am to you screaming "Mama. Dada. All done napping. Time for snuggles. Mama! All done napping!!" You have developed amazing language skills. You listen to us speaking and take your time repeating what we are saying. In the last month you have begun singing songs to us. Your favorite songs: You Are My Sunshine and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

You have found a fondness for your baby dolls. You love to feed your baby doll a bottle then sing them Rock a Bye Baby. You are very nurturing in you actions whether it be playing with you dolls or helping soothe you new baby brother, Mason. You crawl up next to him as soon as he begins to cry. You try to give him his pacifier and tell him "I know Mason, it's OK. It's OK Mason. Adododo-oo."

You keep us guessing with that shunt of yours. Since January you have had several episodes of vomiting and tiredness that make us very concerned. We haven't figure out what is causing it and why it comes and goes the way it does, but we will keep working hard to find answers. Eating has proven to also be an area of struggle so we are thankful that you love to drink your Pediasure. You like to tease us with taking a bite of food then spitting it back out 5 minutes later. But we having been working with a speech therapist to improve those chewing skills, sloooowly we have been making progress. You recently began taking bites from your food rather than making us cut it into little pieces.

You have develop your own way of manipulating us to get what you want. Whenever you aren't getting what you want, you turn to one of us and so sweetly and innocently say one simple word: snuggle. We gladly oblige, picking you up with a smile, happy to snuggle up with our sweet baby girl. Within seconds of us picking you up, you begin squirming to get down or over to want you were trying to get to. You leaving us shaking our head, thinking we fell for it again. A smart one you are.

We are proud to be your parents Norah! Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie! Love, Mom & Dad