Norah--one whole year! (and then some)

weight: 19 lbs 15.5 oz (55%)
height: 29 inches (51%)
teeth: 5

What a wonderful year it has been with this sweet Norah Beth in our life!  This post is just a little bit late coming, so it includes some 13.5 month descriptions of Norah too.  
It's almost shocking how quickly this girl turned from baby to toddler.  She started taking frequent steps around 11.5 months and while we were in Utah in July she fully converted to walking and hasn't looked back.  Nowadays she's working on converting her speed-walking into a run!  In addition to her increased mobility, there is a difference in how she plays and communicates that takes her out of the baby category.

*photo shoot took place in June--just before her birthday

What I'm loving:
• Her dance moves.  She's got some really great hands-in-the-air side bend moves that make me laugh so hard.  She's quick to move any time upbeat music is playing.
• The way she backs up into my lap with a book to read or when it's time for family prayer.
• Her folded arms for prayer.  She's probably my most reverent child right now.
• The way she plays with baby dolls.  She lights up when you hand her one and loves to feed them bottles or with a spoon.  It's super adorable.
• How excited she is to see mom.  It's nice to have at least one kid who runs up to you with outstretched arms.
• The way she pushes around the Little People Fisher Price bus bent over with two locked arms. She loves and is pretty cute playing with Little People toys.
• Her toothy, cheesy, scrunched-nose grin.
• The way she nods her head up and down.  So. dang. cute.

What she's up to:
• At 12 months she really, really didn't like cows milk.  At 13 months, she still didn't.  Finally, at 13.5 months, she has decided it's not so bad.  She doesn't use bottles and has just recently stopped nursing.
• Wakes up at 6:30 am, takes 1 or 2 naps during the day, goes to bed at 7:00 pm.
• Is a pretty good eater.  Doesn't drop or throw food much.  Definitely has a taste for milkshakes, donuts and other treats. She does tend to get food in her hair as she often grabs her hair to pull out clips.
• Does her best to keep up with her siblings.  She's learning their wild ways, loves to follow them outdoors to play on bikes, loves to wrestle dad.
• Throws impressive fits.  How do kids learn to drop "boneless" at such a young age?! She definitely has the wails and the side-to-side body rolling down.
• Knows what a bird and a cow say.  She says "momma" and "nono" along with "uh-oh"
• Big Sis continues to be Norah's biggest aggravator with all the lifting, carrying and "helping."
• Loves her pacifier but knows to put it back in her crib after naps.
• Is a stinker at church.  She finds a church aisle and her legs go double speed up to the stand.

Her birthday celebration:
We got to be in Utah this year for Norah's birthday which meant that we had the powers of Pop Pop and Grandma to help.  Pop Pop made sour dough biscuits for our sourdough breakfast sandwich bar.  They were scrumptious!  Grandma helped with decorations and I made a coconut cornbread strawberry shortcake.  It was fun to have Grayson & Emilie, Stephen & Rachel and Quinton there to celebrate too. The morning brunch celebration was lovely and yummy and fun until busy mom trying to make sure everything was just right for singing and cake turned her back just long enough for Norah to touch the candle flame.  Poor baby.  She wanted nothing to do with the cake for the rest of the day.  Not the best end to this sweet girlie's birthday. Hopefully we can make up for it next year.  :)

Norah--11 months

weight: 19.5 pounds
teeth count: 3 (bottom)

Little Miss Norah is too quickly turning from baby to toddler.  She pulls herself up and walks along just about everything.  She's started experimenting with letting go and standing for a few seconds at a time. She climbs stairs and sometimes manages to climb onto furniture.  She waves, signs "all done", gives high fives, does "toss it in the oven" and is kind of learning to give kisses.  She loves to play and tease.  She throws cute little tantrums and has started to throw food off her high chair tray.  She has the best smiles, gives great snuggles and always makes us laugh when she does her "dance, dance."

Caroline--3 years

Weight: 29 pounds, 2 ounces (33%)
Height: just shy of 3 ft (24%)

3 year old birthday interview (parent comments in parentheses):
What's your full name?  Caroline Jill Smooch
What's your favorite color?  Pink
What's your favorite food to eat?  Broccoli
   (??? This was news to us!  She does like broccoli fine, but her actual favorite food to eat is more like yogurt or snacks of any kind--especially fruit snacks.  This girl wants to eat ALL the time.)
What's your favorite TV show?  Daniel Tiger
   (and Little Einsteins and Sofia the First.  She loves to watch shows and movies)
What do you like to do outside?  Ride my bike
   (She's getting quite fast and confident on her balance bike!)
Who is your best friend?  Addison
What do you love to do with daddy?  Play a game
   (She can hold her own with Memory, Uno & Candyland)
What do you love to do with mommy?  Have a birthday party
What's your favorite thing to drink?  Milk
   (and soda if it's an option--especially if it's a "daddy soda")
What's your favorite kind of candy?  Chocolate
   (She's not picky. She'll eat any candy!)
What's your favorite thing to do with Emmett?  He doesn't want to do anything with me.
   (That's not always true--they do play outside a lot together...)
What's your favorite thing to do with Norah?  Play with her.
 

The birthday celebration:
This year for Caroline's birthday we were lucky to have Aunt Annie and Khalil in town.  We decorated her cake in the morning, made final party preparations and then headed out to Burlington in the afternoon.  Burlington city park has an area with a handful of inexpensive kiddie amusement rides in addition to a playground.  Caroline, Emmett and Khalil had lots of fun on the boats, cars, airplanes and carousel.
Grandma Schmutz joined us for dinner at Chick-fil-A, then Connie & Chris Hurt met us at the house for cake, ice cream, singing and presents.  The best part of the night was definitely singing Sweet Caroline before we sang the happy birthday song.  Caroline sang out the chorus loud and strong.  It was super darling.
She hit the jackpot on birthday presents.  Grandma and Annie got her a giant stuffed pony and a doctor kit.  She also really loves her back pack and umbrella.  My favorite gift was her new ballet leotard--she looks so cute in it and I can't wait to get her signed up for a little dance class.
After weeks of anticipation, I think this little girl's birthday wishes were fulfilled.  Can't wait to see what adventures await our new 3-year-old!

A few more things about Caroline, newly turned 3:
• She is quite the strong-willed child.  She is stubborn and defiant, yet so eager to be a helper.  In fact, asking her to be in charge of something or help with a grown up task is a great way to distract her from anything she is upset about.  She wants to do all the things on her own--pour her cereal, brush her teeth, get down the snacks, etc.
• She has some fun language things going on right now.  She frequently adds an extra syllable to many one syllable words.  Maybe it's the southerner coming out in her?  It mostly comes out in words with a short "a" sound--iPad (i-pay-ud), dad, grass, snack, at, etc but shows up in others too like there (they-uh) and down (day-own).  My favorite word she says is "eligator" instead of "elevator." Also "twu-wuhl" for "twirl."
• She loves to sleep in mom and dad's bed and always wants someone to lay by her while she falls asleep.  While quiet time happens every afternoon, she rarely naps any more--maybe once a week is all.
• She is physically wild and adventurous.  She is constantly jumping, climbing, rolling and spinning.  Although she has pretty good body control, she has a clumsy streak in her that causes her to fall while doing the simplest of activities.  Consequently, this little girl's body is COVERED in bruises. Seriously.  It's shocking even when you're used to seeing her like this.
• She is great at imaginative play when she's in the tub.  Her dinosaurs and little people can play for a solid hour.  Out of the tub, it is quite a bit harder to get her to play on her own.

Bruises!

Norah--10 months

weight: 19 lbs
teeth: 2 bottom
At ten months old, Norah pulls herself to standing with anything--the coffee table, the couch, mom's leg, the front window, her crib--to name a few.  She loves playing toys--particularly toys that make noise or respond in some way.  She likes the xylophone, the play computer, the pop up animals, her interactive play table. She's good at getting into cupboards and emptying laundry baskets.  She frequently looks out the windows by the front door where she enviously watches her siblings playing around outside.  She zooms toward the open dishwasher, the open front door and the open bathroom door. She's a good eater if she likes what she's offered.  If not, she's content to just let it sit forever on her tray.  She also frequently rubs her eyes and pulls at her hair when she's eating which makes meal time quite the mess!  She's tormented by her sister who wants to touch and hold and move her all the time.  She complains about her naps more than she used to and is getting more busy (difficult) at church.  She's quick to laugh for Emmett and Caroline--a good, hearty laugh.  She clicks, sings, claps, jabbers and blows raspberries throughout the day. Her signature dance move is a head bob side to side.  My favorite is when she does this while crawling and singing. She sleeps all night (almost always), and she loves to snuggle after she nurses--particularly right before bed time. I'm really soaking in those sweet moments.  How we love our beautiful, blue-eyed Norah Beth!

Norah 9-months

Weight: 18 pounds 5 ounces (53%)
Height: 27.5 inches (44%)
Teeth count: 2

At nine months our Norah is officially a crawler.  She got around plenty before, but now that she's on all fours she easily ventures from room to room.  She's quite content to do this on her own without anyone following her (cough, big sister, cough).  She pulls herself up to her knees, loves to play at her activity table and is kinda sorta starting to wave.  She's a confident sitter now and can maneuver from tummy to sitting to crawling to side-lounging (a specialty of hers) all with ease. She makes da-da sounds when she's happy and ma-ma sounds when she's sad or tired.  She grabs at noses, mouths, ears and earrings--basically anything on your face.
We adore her scrunchy smile, snuggles before bedtime and happy chatter.  She is a delight.

 First bath time with the big kids--fun but stressful.

 Can spend a solid 5 minutes emptying out this basket of toys.

 She's got the whole house humming tunes from the activity table.

 Sweetest face.

 So much sibling love.

Scrunchy smile that we ADORE.