So now you know what’s going on with Roddie, you must be wondering what Norah has been up to! 3 months into “5” I can tell you that I much prefer it over “4”, at least as it relates to Norah.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>She is, as ever, an emotional soul, but she’s made great strides in learning to manage her emotions. Sometimes this results in her stomping off to her room too cool off (which is somewhat comical in her 5 year old body). The one really cool thing that I have grown to appreciate recently is that her happy emotions are just as high as her not-so-happy ones. There have been many many times recently where the look of joy and happiness on Norah’s face was almost enough to bring me to tears! Playing with her cousins at Easter, running around the backyard with the neighbor kids, marching in the local parade… in all of these cases I swear Norah had more fun than any other kid there.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>She has also started reading recently, and the look of pride in her face and her whole body is really quite extraordinary! I bought her a copy of “Mr Pine’s Mixed-Up Signs” – the first book I ever remember reading, and we’re a few pages in already. It’s slow going, but getting a little quicker each time we sit down to read a little. Of course we both like it because it’s a little 1 on 1 quiet time and she has definitely inherited my love of books. (In fact, we often find her fast asleep in her bed at night, with her face in the middle of a book, and surrounded by several more) I am not sure how much she’s reading the words in the books during her bedtime reading, and she doesn’t really want to talk about it, but my guess is she’ll come out one morning and read one to me. Needless to say I am really proud of her and happy for her – if you recall, she’s been chomping at the bit to read for months, and we had to learn lower case letters first!
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>She’s been playing town soccer this spring, in the U6 group, she barely made the age cut off, so she’s one of the younger kids on the team. The team is coached by our neighbor friend Dan and his daughter Erin is also on the team, so there is a lot of fun built in. This is the first time she has been on a coached team, as opposed to lessons, and we had a few rounds of clingy crankiness in the beginning, but she really seems to have come into her own over the past few weeks.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>I am really surprised at how much more co-ordinated and strong she is physically compared to last year. This shows up not only in soccer, but her monkey bar stunts and also in riding her bike. On the monkey bars she is able to lift her legs up and over her head to flip! On her bike, she’s getting faster, but also getting braver about trying to balance and “not hear the wheels” (her training wheels are set high enough that she can balance)
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>She continues to love to perform, putting on “shows” with Roddie and the neighbor kids. Dance lessons are just about to wrap up for the year with her recital coming up in a few weeks. She’s looking forward to adding tap to her dance repertoire come fall.
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Norah and Roddie get along exceedingly well, and Norah shows a surprising amount of empathy for her brother at time – as long as she’s not the perpetrator of whatever’s making him upset! She is often able to assist him when he won’t let us, and she’s always willing to encourage him or show him how to do something. It’s not unheard of for the two of them to be found in one bed, with Norah “reading” to Roddie. You can see this is going to get more fun as her reading progresses!
<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>I guess the biggest news for Norah is the preparation for Kindergarten. We recently had parent orientation, and I am feeling ok about everything. Oh wait, it’s not about me! While this is true, I think that how I react to and talk about the school year with her does make a difference in how she thinks about it. There is a near overwhelming number of details to attend to , especially for working parents and I am eternally thankful that Erin, mentioned above, went a year earlier! She has a thirst for knowledge and I think will really thrive as ‘real school’ begins. Her evaluations at daycare always show her as the top of her class and ahead of her peer group, so I am really looking forward to school for her.
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