October in summary: Nora's favorite things...

She's almost 20 months old. This coming Tuesday she'll officially be twenty months and I'm blown away every day by her.

We were at the grocery store and she started pulling things off the shelves and turning to smile at me, proud of herself. I thanked her for remembering which shampoo I use and asked her to put it back, that we had enough at home. She did. Then she ran over to the soaps and pulled down the shower gel I use and we repeated the process again.

An elderly woman turned to come down the aisle we were in and noticed her right away. She smiled and waved at Nora. Nora dipped her chin and looked at the woman suspiciously but responded, "Hi." The woman giggled and said, "Hello!" Nora didn't like her tone and glared at her. The woman ignored her and asked me how old she was. I answered and explained that Nora wanted to tell her something because she was signing to me "more". "What do you want to say, Nora?"
She turned to the woman and said, "No." She shook her head, grabbed my hand, and started walking away. I'm guessing that's Nora-speak for F-off.

My other favorite moments of the past month are:
- Her nodding and agreeing to a time-out for the 1st time. Then when she placed her hands on my cheeks and turned my face for a kiss afterwards.
- Learning to open and shut doors. She loves to hold her bedroom door close and giggles insanely as I try to open it then launches herself onto her bed once I have it open.
- Playing hide-n-seek behind our bed.
- Dancing. She does the most adorable twirl, ever.
- When she Bugs-Bunny-ed me into taking a soggy tissue by saying, "Trade?" when I was busy unloading the dishwasher and then explained to me, "Hold."
- Her special smile for herself when she's pleased or proud.
- The way she reaches for our hands when we're walking, huge improvement over before!
- When she takes my hand and rolls it over to place a kiss in my palm.
- The way she says, "Hiiiii!" so enthusiastically when I go to get her out of the backseat of the car. We could still be in our parking spot but if I close the door and return only a second later she responds the same.
- Her help pushing the grocery cart. I love watching her frog march behind it and take down other people in the process.
- Her budding fashion sense. She color coordinates better than Jamie and I combined and is very particular about shoes. So it begins...
- The way she cuddles with her dolls as she falls asleep or watches the world go by from her stroller or carseat.
- Her gentleness with other kids.
- Signing and saying "please".
- Family cuddle time in the evening. When she strokes our faces and stares up into them sleepily smiling and then farts on us.

Nora's favorite things:
- Anything with sleigh bells
- Bob's Burgers, How It's Made, and How to Train Your Dragon
- Red shoes
- Kitchens (pretend or otherwise)
- Cuddling on the couch (she rearranges the pillows and cats to her liking)
- Arranging furniture
- Talking on the "phone" (this could be a block, a remote, etc.)
- Throwing things down the stairs through the catdoor. It's awesome.
- Waving and saying "hello" to everyone we pass. For better or for worse.
- Sticks
- Dogs
- Did I mention the sticks? How about the dogs? See the problem...?
- Breasts. And, yes, she will pull open your shirt to look. You too men.
- Hugs and kisses. She won't say "thank you", "sorry", or "your welcome" but she will run over and give you a kiss and hug instead.
- Pork fried rice, pasta, cheese, sweet potatoes, bananas, burritos, beans and rice, and popcorn.
- Simone our cat, especially in the morning when they "talk" through the babygate...oh my sweet f'in jeebus is it maddening.
- Playing on the "weeeee-", her name for swings.
- Water. Fountains, sprinklers, soaking pool - you name it, she'll go in it.
- Taking naps with mama in the afternoon and waking her with raspberries on her belly and breasts.
- Snuggling up and watching a Disney movie together and eating popcorn.

My favorite things:  Do you need to ask?

Halloween and things; belated October summary

Halloween was a blast! Minus a few schedule hiccups and toddler related meltdowns, it was awesome. We celebrated it for a week and a half starting with a mommy night out/playdate on the 27th leading up to a full day of storytimes, outfits, and trick-or-treating (giving and receiving).
I'll let the photos speak for themself....