Dear Norah,
Today you happily turned 2 years old. You have 112 weeks under your belt and been on this earth for 730 whole days!!! This year brought many changes to your little life. We sold our house and moved into a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. Then 3 months later, we moved again into our new home. For the 1st time you have your own bedroom, your own space, your own toys. A huge friendly backyard to run and swing and tumble.
This year you learned to walk at 13 months, encountered your 1st terrifying spider, learned to boogie dance with your elbows, saw your 1st polar bear, played on the beach in Charleston, rode your 1st amusement park ride, tasted popcorn, fell in love with baby dolls and books.
You love your big sister so much, you look for her the instant you wake up. You say Maddie's name with the strangest combination of "g" and "d" that no one can imitate but it slides right off your tongue. You show her things and make her laugh. For the 1st time you can play side by side with your sister and for hours you two will laugh and giggle (and scream and cry!).
You are feisty and fiery, a chip off the old block. You will have no trouble getting where you need to go in life. But you have a hard time taking discipline. Time outs make you laugh, oh and that is soooo fun for me.
Last week you started climbing out of your crib at night. But not like most kids...who climb over, bump their heads, fall on their backs, thump on the floor. You are a silent ninja, a little warrior. You are so stealth and nimble, you can suddenly appear in the hallway in the wee hours of the morning, not a sound, saying nothing, hardly breathing, only the sound of your diaper ever so slightly rustling in the silent night air.
In order to keep our ninja from harm, we moved you straight into a big girl bed and you could not be happier with it. I will find you in the late afternoon, at the tail end of a nap curled up on a mountain of books, each one carefully chosen from your bookcase, read and piled on the bed during naptime. With a binkie hanging out of your lips having just fallen out, your hair sweeping across your face and stuck to the drool on your cheek, your warm toes and fat little calves laying still as you are, deep asleep.
Love you little one, Happy Birthday!
Mama
