Little Encourager

Dear Nora,

We've gotten to spend some special time together these last several weeks while Luke's been at kindergarten. You're my little friend for morning runs, grocery pick-ups, Chick-fil-A breakfasts, and library story times. A couple weeks in, you told me, "Mommy, I love spending time with you." Then this past week I was feeling discouraged following a challenging morning and you said, "Remember, Mommy, Jesus is with you." I love to be with you and watch you come into your own a little bit, outside of your big brother's shadow. Thanks for being such a sweet girl!

Love,
Mommy

Preschool

Dear Nora,

You had your turn this morning for a first day of school - preschool! You’ve been such a sweet sister, along for the ride with getting Luke to preschool for 2 years and now to kindergarten. It was your turn today and you did GREAT. No tears, just excitement. You were happy, proud, and completely adorable. When I picked you up, you were delighted to tell me you had 2 gummies! I am looking forward to all the ways you will learn, grow and develop this year. I sure love you!

Love,
Mommy

Lunches of Love

Dear Nora,

This week we volunteered at Lunches of Love, to help pack lunches for kids in our county who don't have reliable meals throughout the week. For many of them, lunch at school is the only food they may get in a day. We went once in the spring and I remember thinking it was mainly for Luke, and that you might be a little challenging to have there. I was surprised then that you weren't any trouble at all, and were actually a real help! This time they had us working on trail mix bags with goldfish, pretzels and M&M's. You were placed at the M&M bowl and did such a good job. You very carefully scooped the M&M's and patiently waited for me to have the ziploc ready for you to pour them in. You were so sweet and didn't even ask if you could eat some M&M's yourself! Of course everyone thought you were a doll and when they asked how old you were, you would proudly say, "I'm three." You are just the sweetest and I'm so proud of you!

Love,
Mommy

Three Years Old (Love, Daddy)

My Dear Nora,

I'm still coming to terms with the fact that you're three years old! It's so hard for me not to think of you as that tiny little baby with the heart-shaped face who made your appearance in the summer of 2015. Your birthday celebration this year was a joyful thing. In the morning our dining room table was full of you and Luke's friends, all eager to celebrate you. You sat at the head of the table with your pink party crown and t-shirt that said 'birthday girl.' Mommy did such a nice job of decorating our house and preparing for your special party, as she always does. Right before we started singing happy birthday you announced, 'I'm ready.' You grinned and looked around the table as we sang, and then proudly blew out the candles. Later in the day the table was again filled with loved ones, this time Nana, Papa, Honey, Grandpa, Bama, Luke, me, and mommy. It was so sweet and special to celebrate you! 

When I think of you at this age, here are a few things that come to mind: 

• You love Mr. Rogers and Cat in the Hat (as you say, Cah-nah-hah).
• You love to be held, and excitedly hug me when I wake up in the morning and come home from work. 
• You will often ask, 'Daddy, will you hold me?' I almost never say no!
• You're a picky eater.
• You like to help me make my espresso by pushing the buttons on the machine. 
• When I come home from work you will run up to me and warmly welcome me home.
• When you're excited to tell me something, your eyes get really big and you dramatically say it as if you're expecting me to be amazed by what you're saying. So cute!
• I still give you a bath every night, and brush your teeth most nights (Mommy does this sometimes). 
• You like to snuggle in your towel after your bath.
• Your favorite book to read with me is 'Little Owl's Night'.
• You like to run all the way across the house (upstairs or downstairs), and have me watch how fast you are.
• You are very sweet and nurturing; you will tell me that your baby doll or doggy is crying and needs to be comforted. 
• When you're upset about something, you'll ask, 'Daddy will you comfort me?'
• You like to be silly with Luke and play with his toys. 
• You'll ask to talk about things that we've been learning about, for example, 'Daddy, can we talk about space?'
• When I wrestle with Luke you like to sit nearby and watch. Your first experience with spectator sports!
• You like to follow me around after work when I'm changing and putting my things away. 
• Your cheeks are still chubby and cute! I'm trying to enjoy them while they last. I will kiss them over and over while I'm getting you dressed after your bath and you'll laugh as if I'm tickling you. 
• Thunder scares you, but you'll try to comfort yourself by saying things that we tell you, like 'It's just a noise' or 'it's just clouds bumping into each other.'

Nora, you are treasure - a beautiful gift from the Lord who brings joy to our lives each day. I love you so much and I'm so happy I get to be your daddy!

Love,

Daddy

Three Years Old

Dear Nora,

You are now three and proud to be! We had such a fun weekend celebrating your birthday. I started decorating a few days before and you loved to see the banners and balloons as they were added to the mix. When we came downstairs on your birthday morning, you said "Thank you for my birfday!" It was such a happy day. You loved having your friends over for pizza and cupcakes, then dinner with all four grandparents and Bama. It took you a long time to fall asleep that night because you were so wired from the fun and we could hear you singing "happy birthday" to yourself in your bed. Here's a snapshot of who you are at age 3:

You are still very much my little shadow and love to be held. When Luke is watching a show downstairs and I head upstairs to get dressed in the morning, you will inevitably leave the TV to come join me. You have a little beauty kit in my bathroom closet, but also like to play with my q-tips and an empty eye makeup remover bottle.

You still have your cheeks! We thought they'd be gone by age 3, but I'm delighted to say they are still there. I love to kiss them before you go to bed and you will often blow me lots of kisses, too.

You are very scared of thunder, to the point that you have had to come sleep in our bed at times. This past week you slept in the pack and play in our room when it was thundering.

You loved running errands with me this past year when Luke was at preschool. Marshalls was your favorite. Mine, too!

You scream at Luke when you don't like something he's doing to you. He usually deserves some discipline, but you also know how to work the system and might be guilty of overreacting to get him in trouble.

You are beginning to learn how to use the potty. It's been a long 2 weeks since I began potty training you. You have grown accustomed to wearing underwear and are no longer terrified of sitting on the potty, but you still hold it for hours just so you don't have to go. I sure hope it gets easier soon!

You are a little mommy to almost anything, and love to take care of your animals and baby dolls. You will talk about how they are crying and that you need to comfort them.

You are a very picky eater. If I hit it right, I can get you to eat frozen peas, but that is by far the only vegetable you will tolerate. Most nights you opt for no dinner!

You like to get dressed in the morning and proudly show off to Luke what you are wearing, saying, "Luke, look at me!" Sometimes you look in the mirror with a sweet smile and say, "I'm beautiful." Yes, you are!

I love you so much, little Nora, and am so glad you're in our family.

Love,
Mommy

Sweet Heart

Dear Nora,

Yesterday I was holding you and when I put you down, you grabbed my necklace and accidentally broke it. I was pretty disappointed, but didn't say anything to you about it or get on to you. A few minutes later though, you walked up to me and said, "Mommy, I'm so sorry I broke your necklace. I didn't mean to." I gave you a big hug and said it was just fine and thanked you for saying that. It was so sweet that you knew you had done it and felt badly, even though I hadn't said anything to you about it. I'm so proud of you.

Love,
Mommy

Giggles & Fun

Dear Nora,

This week we went to Giggles & Fun with Avery and you sure did giggle and have fun. I had been wanting to take you there for awhile because I used to love to take Luke there, especially when I was pregnant with you. I could just sit on a bench while he was contained and having fun. It's also where we had our first family outing after you were born. I sat with you against the wall, feeding, changing and holding you while Daddy played with Luke. This time you ran all around, went down the slides, and had fun playing with the cash register and in the girls play dressing room. You proudly came and found me to show me the heeled shoes you'd tried on. You are adorable and I sure love you!

Love,
Mommy

Baking With You

Dear Nora,

Tonight while Daddy was helping Luke with his shower upstairs I asked you if you wanted to help me make some snickerdoodle bars. Of course you did! You've seen Luke bake with me, but you are usually sitting on a stool at the other side of the island playing with the timer. We put your apron on and you happily helped dump in the ingredients. You kept saying, "I'm baking wif you!" You have such a sweet and happy disposition. We've had some hard days this past month and I'm so grateful for how adorable you are, it really lifts my spirits!

Love,

Mommy

I Wanna Do It

Dear Nora,

I’m hearing a lot of “I wanna do it” these days. You love doing things by yourself: buckling your seat, brushing your teeth, turning on your white noise, shutting your door, turning off your lamp, the list goes on! You may be exercising your independence, but you also still love for me to hold you :)

Love,
Mommy