Seventeen Months

Ok, ok, she's about seventeen and a half months now, but still. I've got a lot going on here, give me a break! ;) Here are some cute pictures from the last few days, and some vocabulary updates.


Maybe Baby Doll's shirt would fit me.

Well, it makes a good hat!
Nora cooking, with all her tupperware taken out of the kitchen drawer to line up in the living room.
Scooping something delicious out of the ice cube tray.
Crazy girl! And a big grin.
If we don't push the chairs all the way into the table, Nora can now climb up on them herself. This was a preliminary step to getting on top of the table, which I opted to remove her from instead of photographing it!

(My friend Virginia took these last three pictures.) Nora and lots of her friends at a surprise baby shower that their mamas threw for me! It was lovely. l-r: Sebastian, Arlo, Taylor, Madden (top), Ziggy, Nora, Luke. Everyone is Nora's age, except Ziggy's big brother Arlo, who is 4.

Nora and Taylor both love playing in the car.Nora and Ziggy share a hug.
And on to vocabulary - bold means that the words are new in the last month or so since I posted the list last time.

Signs: more, all done, please, dog, hat, milk, food/eat, music, bed/nap, play, brush teeth, push (swing), hi/bye, airplane, Daddy, me, baby, napkin/wash face, hairbrush, banana, telephone, thank you, fly (the bug), Mama, apple, up, you're welcome, book, help, tissue, wind, wash hands, camera, water, shaker (maraca), rain.

Spoken words: yes, no, Mama, Daddy/Dada, switch (turn on the light or fan), fish, shoes, sock, dog, duck, now (only in the context of telling Mica to go somewhere else NOW), tea, dump (to my chagrin, this means poop - we empty her diaper into the toilet before putting it in the pail, and usually tell her it's time to "dump out the poop," but she's only picked up on the first part of that phrase so far, and announces "dump dump dump" whenever she has a dirty dipe), chair.

Sounds: a cow-mmmmooo, a dog-woo woo, and a truck-rrrrrrrrrrarrrrrr, occasionally a motorboat-phhbbt, a bee-bzzzzzzz, a train-chooo.

She can identify her (and your!) foot, bellybutton, tummy, eyes, nose, hair, toes, mouth, and ears.

She knows the motions to a bunch of songs, including The Wheels on the Bus, When You're Happy and You Know It, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat A Cake, and others. She'll ask us to sing a specific song by signing "music please," and then starting into the motions for one of the songs. It's super cute!

Walking Weekend!

This weekend and last were the Last Green Valley's annual Walking Weekends, and though we didn't make it to any walks last weekend while Daddy was in Maine, the whole family attended three walks yesterday and today. Plus, it's finally cooling off and crisping up, and feeling like fall around here. Yay for fall!

A little ragamuffin hanging out around the house.

She prefers to put her hats on herself, which explains why it's a little lopsided!
Our first walk, on Saturday, was a tour of Graywall Farm in Lebanon. We got to walk in the fields where they grow the hay and corn to feed the cows, tour the barns and milking parlor, and even see a baby calf being born!
Nora picks some of the cows' lush clover.
Enjoying the talks.
Nora moos at a brandnew baby calf, who chooses that moment to find his voice for the first time. Yes, she taught him how to moo!
This calf was about one hour old. Because he was a boy, he was going to be sold at an auction on Monday - he can't stay to live on the dairy farm.
This is the baby cow we watched being born. The farmer isn't pulling her out, just supporting her weight while the mama cow pushes. It was amazing to watch! This one turned out to be a girl, so she gets to stay on the farm. They named her Evelyn!
Today we went on two more walks. The first was at Lapsley Orchard in Pomfret. Nora liked all the pumpkins and squash, and particularly enjoyed sampling lots of apples!
There was another little girl on the walk who was about six months older than Nora, and the two of them enjoyed running around together and picking dandelions and clover. Her mama even had her in a ring sling just like Nora's!
The last walk we went on was this afternoon at the Agricultural Extension Center in Brooklyn. This one was a walk through their sustainably managed forest, and a talk about forest management. It was really interesting, but we didn't get any pictures - Nora was on my back in the wrap most of the time while I tried unsuccessfully to get her to nap. Too much conversation going on for that, though! She made it until we got home, and took a nice nap in her crib instead. After our busy weekend, we're looking forward to a nice peaceful week full of our usual activities just to relax!

Wheels!

Nora got a fabulous present from her friends Elise and Jack last week. They've outgrown their Cozy Coupe, so they passed it along to Nora, who is in loooove with her new car.

It's a good place for snacking...
And driving.
She spends a lot of time getting in and out, opening and closing the door each time.
Quick break for some driveway art. (And don't you love her sporty new sneakers? I think they're the cutest thing ever!)
Got to check the gas (and fill it up with rocks). Getting dark out, but still enough light for DANCING!
Back inside for some quiet reading time.I don't know that anyone except for Aunt Abby and Nana will fully appreciate this, but WOW! I found the same bedroom lamp/nightlight that we used to have when we were little at a yard sale for $2. You can have either the balloons on or the small box nightlight on, or both. I was so excited to find it!