Happy 5th birthday Norah Jane! You are now officially a whole hand old!
I still remember the first time I held you in my arms. Norah's birth story here. It was the most magical experience. The love I felt for you at that moment is indescribable. I didn't want to hand you over to anyone, I just wanted to cuddle you forever. You have been a joy to have in our family ever since. Look at how much you have changed!
You continue to grow grow grow! You are now 41.75" tall and weigh 38lbs. As a comparison, at age 4 Charlotte was the same height. You are our little peanut!! Small but mighty.
You are a wonderful little girl and we love you so much! You are smart, kind, generous, fun, and oh so sweet. You are beautiful. You are fearless. You are starting to find your voice. You are learning to speak up for yourself (especially to your sister). If she makes you mad, watch out! You have been known to channel that anger by rage coloring an angry picture or knocking over some toys. You can be stubborn when you aren't getting your way, but can easily be snuggled and made happy again.
You LOVE to cuddle. You hate to be alone. You and Charlotte share a bed and then half way thru the night you come crawling into our bed. You rotate between snuggling with me or with Daddy. You have to be touching us. If I try to scoot away to get some space, you will be right next to me again in no time. As the youngest (and tiniest) we are enjoying this phase because we know how quickly things change.
Your best friend in the whole wide world is Charlotte. You two play so well together (most of time). Barbies, Paw Patrol, kitchen, building forts, etc. You two are always getting into some kind of mischief. I hope you two stay this close forever. Having a sister is a very special gift.
You also love to be outside playing with all the neighborhood kids. You all love to ride bikes together, drive the jeeps, or have a water slide party. And you love to jump on the trampoline with Harry & Judah next door.We live in a wonderful neighborhood for young kids. And you all get along very well! You especially love to play with a few little girls your age: Carolina and Kinsley.
You are still obsessed with Paw Patrol. This year you asked Santa for the Paw Patrol tower. You also got the rest of the toys you were missing. And you wore your light up Paw Patrol shoes until they had holes in them. You also love unicorns, T.O.T.S, and any small figurines. You love to set them up all around the loft area. I try not to clean them up too often because I know you go to so much effort to get them a certain way. Thankfully we don't really use the loft often so it's ok if it's not perfectly tidy all the time.
You are really loving art lately. You draw half a dozen pictures every day. All of them are unicorns or mermicorns. Or maybe a picture of Harley. Your drawing and creativity has flourished over the last few months! And god forbid I try to toss any.....omg mommy not my beautiful pictures!!! haha! Charlotte got you hooked on Art For Kids Hub on YouTube. Both of you can sit there for hours drawing picture after picture.
You are a big fan of Daddy. You love to cuddle him or sit with him on the sofa. And Daddy always comes up with the best games! Gondola, Lion rides, etc. This year you had a special Daddy daughter tea party at school for Valentines Day. It was so sweet!
This last year has been a little crazy! We have been able to do a few fun things but then in March 2020 COVID caused everything to get shut down and we all had to stay home. We have all been thrown for a bit of a loop but we are adjusting. At times it feels like groundhog day - same thing over and over again - but the recent change in weather (yay sun!) has helped. I wonder how much of this you will remember. You are still so young, and not really in school full time. Besides not being able to go places like normal, it doesn't affect you too much. Oh and we can't forget the new normal: wearing a mask & social distancing.
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| I think you can tell who is smiling here lol |
The biggest change we had this year was losing Harley. Sadly we had to say goodbye to him in March. It has been a difficult adjustment for all of us. He went in for surgery and had too many complications in recovery. It was so sad and hard for you to understand. You and Harley were best buds. You loved to build him forts and to cuddle with him on the sofa. Both you and Charlotte spent a lot of time in the weeks following his death painting and drawing pictures of him. We all miss him a lot!
Some other new things that happened this year.....
You started a new school this year, Chapel Hill Preschool. It was at a church across the street from Charlotte's elementary school. I would drop her off, then you. You went from 9-12 M-TH. You loved it. We adored the staff and all the fun stuff they did with the class. And you made one very good friend, a little girl named McKenna. We were so sad to say goodbye to all your friends and to your teacher Mrs.Ewell at the end of the year.
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| first day of school |
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| last day |
As your teacher over the last few months I can say that you have learned a lot!! You went from knowing half of the upper case alphabet to all upper case and almost all lower case in a matter of 3 months!! You are excellent at counting and writing your name. You are so smart, especially when you focus and put your mind to it. Although you make the age cut off for Kindergarten, you will not be going this year. You are already the youngest in the class and when you add in the virtual learning they plan to do, it is not the best way to begin school. I would like for you to have the full Kindergarten experience, if possible, next year.
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| homeschool fun! |
You took ballet and swim lessons this year. You loved taking both and we were all pretty sad when everything ended in March.
You learned to ride your balance bike! You are always trying to keep up with the big kids and figured out pretty fast how to use that bike. You also managed to tear holes in the bottoms of your sneakers in the process. There are no brakes, just putting your feet down and sliding! And omg watching you fly down the hill is scary!
You can swing all by yourself now! I give you a little start and then its all you. I don't have to stand there and push anymore. That is such a big accomplishment!
We explored a lot of our area. Hiking, walks, trips to the beach....anything and everything to get out of the house and see more of this beautiful state we now call home!
a few of my favorite pictures of you from the year.....
These are a few of your favorite things......
Favorite TV show: Puppy Dog Pals
Favorite Movie: Alladin (honestly almost anything animated)
Favorite song: Seavollution & Paw Patrol Boogie
Favorite book: all of them!
Favorite toy: Paw Patrol & Tots
Favorite food: Peach packs and fruit roll ups & fruit
Favorite Holiday: Christmas
Best stuffed friend: All of them!!! You aren't super attached to any in particular
Best real friend: Charlotte and McKenna
Favorite activity: Camping, swimming, swinging at the playground, playing with Charlotte, riding your bike, drawing
Here is a little recap of our year.....
In August of 2019 we visited family in California....
We went camping to the Columbia River Gorge & Olympic National Park....
And to Long Beach, WA! We finally found a sandy beach, but it was sooooo windy!!!! They actually have a kite festival here every year!
We had a few visitors: Grandma and Grandpa....
And Nana! We took them into the city and explored parks, aquariums, and museums!
We had a fun fall full of pumpkin patches and festivals. And of course trick-or-treating on Halloween! Our neighborhood was the spot to be....kids everywhere!!
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| field trip with the school to a fun pumpkin patch |
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| all the kids dressed and ready to go |
We took another trip to California for Thanksgiving. It is great to be able to hop down for a short trip now that we are a lot closer!
We simply cannot forget about Christmas!!! This year we did a few fun things. We took the Polar Express train where we enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate, and of course saw Santa. We went to visit Santa at his workshop. We saw the local Christmas boat parade. So many fun memories made. This season is a favorite of the whole family!
In February we went to Hawaii for a week! We went at the ideal time - a few weeks before COVID shut everything down. It was a blast and we spent every single day at the beach or the pool. Both you and Charlotte swam with the sea turtles. It was a blast! We love Hawaii so much! And we needed a break from the cold Washington weather.
We saw a few movies this year. We saw Frozen 2 in Cali over Thanksgiving. We saw Onward in the theater before the shutdown. We saw Trolls World Tour in our house when it was released. Then we saw Scoob in our neighbors backyard movie set up. A little bit of everything and a whole lot of fun!
Some stay-at-home fun over the last few months....
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| giving Daddy a haircut! |
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| cleaning, games, cooking and art! |
Easter celebrations complete with a drive by visit from the Bunny!
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| celebrating Daddy's birthday |
After our strict stay-at-home order was lifted (and the military relaxed their restrictions) we were finally able to go camping. We drove to North Cascades National Park and spent 3 nights there. We had so much fun hiking, boating on the lake, and spending time away from home. You girls rode bikes around the campsite and we all played games. It was nice to get away for a little bit.
And we have taken numerous trips to the beach!!! The weather is finally warm and sunny and perfect! The water is still frigid but that doesn't seem to bother either of you most days. You are more than happy to splash around or just hang out and build sand castles.
We had a little birthday celebration for you too! A birthday sign to announce your special day, cupcakes with some neighborhood friends, and of course presents!!!
Some things to look forward to next year.....
1. I think learning to ride a bike without training wheels will be first on the list!
2. Maybe you will lose a tooth?
3. We have a few more camping trips planned before it gets too cold, as well as a trip to visit Nana.
4. We actually booked a trip to Hawaii for February 2021 so hopefully we can go!
And of course so much homeschooling!
We feel like the luckiest people in the whole world to be your parents. You bring so much joy and love into our life. We love you more than you could ever imagine.
Happy birthday baby girl! You are going to grow up to be one amazing girl.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy