Who knew Old Navy could be this much fun

This past Friday we woke up to a cold, dark, silent house. Yup, the power went out again. I had woken up around 2 am and knew it was out at that time, but I (foolishly) had faith that all would be restored by morning. Needless to say, I was sadly mistaken.

I called Matt, who was at work already, to see what news he had... it wasn't good, several hundred thousand people were without power, and it could be a few days before power was fully restored. At this time, I wasn't sure the full extent in our area, but all I had were very bad memories of last year's ice storm, when we had no power for nearly 6 days, with Norah running a high fever the entire time - nightmare is a word that comes to mind.

In any case, Norah's daycare called around 7:30 am to let us know they too had lost power and would be closed for the day. It didn't phase me too much at first, as we had a doctors appointment to attend and 9, and surely things would be looking up by then! They weren't.

To say I was beside myself would be an understatement. I just couldn't figure out where we should go, and what we should do! I thought of taking her to my office, thinking attendance would be light and plenty of other people would have their kids in tow... but an office is really not the place for a 2 year old, and the parking lot was unusually full for a Friday... so on Matt's advice, we went to a local diner (with a lot of other families in the same situation, from the looks of things) and then headed to Old Navy, which is a surprisingly good place to take a toddler on a Friday morning... wide clear aisles, funky music, kids play area and fun hats to try on:
(yes, of course I had to buy the hat!) In the afternoon we hunkered down at home, in our bed, with lots of blankets, the DVD player (which luckily had a fully charged battery!) and some toys and books, and apparently were enjoying ourselves so much, I didn't even notice immediately when the power did come on around 4:00... but oh, was I relieved!

Norah News: BGB!

I am very happy to report that Norah has moved into her Big Girl Bed (BGB)! We are very proud of her, and Mommy at least is a little reminiscent already of the little baby that is no more!

We've been talking a lot lately about being a big girl. I ask her, "Norah, are you a Baby?" and she replies, "No! Big Girl!" One day last week, when I went to get her out of her crib in the morning, I asked her if she'd like a big girl bed, to which she replied "yes!" Of course. She also started pointing at her crib and saying "baby bed"

So, this weekend, we got her a BGB. She helped Daddy put it together (of course!) in between helping Auntie Erin bake a cake. She love her new lady bug sheet that we also got her to mark the occasion. Here she is, striking a pose once assembly was complete (including cake batter on her face!)
The best part about the BGB is that she took to it like a fish to water! No problems at all going to bed on the first night, and in the morning, she opened her door (which was blocked with a gate) and called out to me! Nap time the next day was a little tougher, but in the end worked out just fine. I think we can safely say we've transitioned to the BGB!

Party Time!

Norah was invited to the first of what I can only assume is many birthday parties. One of her classmates had a party at the local Gymboree. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turns out that it was like a great big indoor playground, with some circle activities and lots of places to play. My sister Erin was in town and came with us, and she took these pictures.

Here's Norah and her pal Cassandra, "up and down, up and down!"
Peek-a-Boo!








Here's Norah with the Birthday Girl, Savannah!

Norah News: I do it!

Norah has really been exercising her independence over the past couple of months. She likes to look after things for herself, and the phrases "I do it" and "My own!" are heard often. It's mostly a good thing, as she clearly feels good about it and not only can she participate in getting things done around the house, she's actually starting to be helpful too!

A month or so ago, we took her to a local golf course to do a little sledding, for the first time ever. The sledding itself was a bit of a bust, as she seemed to prefer watching one of us go down the hill, but she was quite happy to look after towing the sled around. Here she is, after declaring "All Done!"

Party at the School Today!

I had a really good post lined up for you all over the weekend, but the accompanying video was too long! I need to load it to YouTube and then link to it here I think, because it's really quite cool.

On that note, on to today's topic!

As you may recall, there are now 5, yes FIVE, little girls in Norah's daycare class with birthdays in February. You may also recall that February is a short month, with another cupcake laden holiday smack in the middle (well cupcake laden classroom parties at least) So the very clever ladies who look after my daughter every day came up with a great plan so that a) not all mommies are bringing in cupcakes every other day, b) the kiddos are not eating said sugar laden cupcakes and bounching off the walls every other day and c) the girls still get to celebrate!

So today is their big February party - birthdays and valentines all rolled into one! The best part is that as part of their activities today, they're going to bake their own cake, and decorate it with - FRUIT! Frosting too of course, but I'm all for offering the kids more fruit and veg whenever possible! As you know, Norah LOVES baking, and I'm sure her pals do too, so it's bound to be a hit! We talked it up this morning, and she was saying "Party at school today" on the way over. To get her into the spirit of things, I thought I'd put a dress on her today... here she is, thinking about the party :)