I tried to get a video of Nora performing all her current tricks: Excited Face, snoring, saying “cheese,” and repeating the phrases “it’s complicated” and “super busted” (I have no idea). Alex makes a very supportive–if sometimes confusing–audience.
I think every kid with a Mr. Potato Head has done this. It’s a rite of passage.
Nora put together this battle suit for herself: her Hulk gloves (a Christmas gift from Mallory) and the hunny pot helmet.
My mom had us come up to Spring City to put all of the apples and plums they had left at the end of the season into pies. Nora was such a great sport, stirring bowls and sorting apple peels all through our marathon day of baking. Grandma even made her a tiny pie of her very own.
Every time we drive down to Spring City to visit my parents, I see the sign for the Big Red Barn and its “world’s best ice cream.” This time we finally stopped and checked it out. It was packed with people, and was a little more of a commercial operation than I expected (I guess I thought it would be a more rustic mom-and-pop situation). In addition to fruit, fudge, and baked goods, they sell old-fashioned candies and the sort of country-cute tchotchkes you might see at Kneaders or Gardner Village. Of course, we did get some tasty fresh creamery ice cream cones.
They had a little area on one side of the barn set up with hay bales and pumpkins, and there was a whole family camped out on the bales, getting holiday photos taken. I couldn’t resist snapping a few of Nora before we left.
I think these braids lasted about fifteen minutes – but what a glorious fifteen minutes they were.
Outside Poor Yorick, checking out the giant ride-on polar bear.
Cute AND a good eater.
I still can’t believe how fast the year went by, and how quickly my little Nora bean got to be two years old. Thank you so much to our awesome friends and family who genuinely love Nora and indulge me and Blake–you guys made her birthday party so much fun. We found Nora the perfect wooden play kitchen, and she got plenty of cooking toys to go with it, along with so many other darling gifts.
I also had everyone help with a craft project that has turned into one of Nora’s most loved possessions. Everyone wrote Nora a sweet message with fabric markers on a new pillowcase, and I took everybody’s picture and ironed their faces on next to what they had written. Now when she’s lying in bed at night, I can hear her talking over the baby monitor about all the people who love her.
My friends and I have a longstanding tradition of Crown Burger birthday events. Over the years these have gotten more elaborate, with crowns for the honorees and themed goody bags for everyone. I kind of can’t believe we haven’t posted more photos of these grand affairs. ANYWAY, this year the girls threw a surprise Crown birthday party for Nora, with a Curious George theme. How cute are they??