Just A Spoon Full of Sugar...

We are on day four of sick days here in the Bradshaw household. Nora has one heck of a virus this past week along with an ear infection, and Liam has just started with a cough and runny nose. I have NEVER seen Nora as sick as she was. It was just so sad and scary. To say this least, the week has NOT been fun, and I can't really even remember what day it is. Saturday, that's right! In addition to us being sick, Knoxville has been in a winter wonderland with snow and ice and weather in the low teens! I feel like we're in Minnesota, not east Tennessee! Poor Nora has had to look at the snow from inside this time, but perhaps we'll get some more before winter is over that she can enjoy.

Seeing my girlie sick these past few days has helped me to cherish her even more! As my good friend Amy T. said the other day over the phone, you become so thankful for their sweet little personalities, and you get so excited to see those personalities come back around when they start to feel better. Now that Nora is almost over all of this, we are starting to see all the things we know and love about her blossom again. Here are some of those things that she is doing at this age that are sure to be gone before we even realize.

Before I discuss some of Nora's favorite things, I want to record a first that happened just the other night. Nora is NOT a snuggler. Little Miss Independent rarely likes to snuggle on the couch with you. She would much rather sit in her own little chair by herself. She, for some strange reason, doesn't like to crawl up in Jonathan and I's bed unless it is made. She won't crawl under the covers or put her head on our pillow. She won't crawl in bed with us on Saturday mornings, even if we bribe her with watching cartoons. I don't know why, she just won't! Anyway, the other night when Nora woke up after having thrown up in her bed, I offered to let her come into our bed for a little while. Even in saying that to her, I didn't expect her to want to. But, she did! She got in bed between Jonathan and me, but still wouldn't let us pull our covers up over her. She awkwardly positioned her head in my stomach with her feet pushing into Jonathan. He just looked at me and smiled as we realized how sacred this little moment was and how rare! (It wasn't but 15 minutes later that we brought her back to her bed, the little wiggle worm).

One thing that Nora is just slightly OBSESSED with these days is Mary Poppins. I mean, this girl LOVES her some Mary Poppins. Nora has always been into music, so this movie is just right up her alley. We have bought the soundtrack to listen to in the car, so we are always singing, "Spoonful of Sugar," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious," and many of the other songs! I'm amazed that she knows so many of the lyrics. A few funnies regarding Mary Poppins and Nora include the other day when she and I were at Sam's. I was unbuckling her from her carseat in the parking lot when she heard some kids with their parents heading toward their car. Nora asked me, "Momma, is that Michael and Jane?" Apparently, she thinks Michael and Jane are kids just like her that we might just run into around town. It was so sweet, but I told her that it wasn't Michael and Jane but some other kids. Also, I recently got a new black peacoat for the winter and Nora calls it my Mary Poppins jacket. Every time I put it on, she looks at me and asks, "You wear your Mary Poppins jacket, Momma?" (The funny thing is that when I was in high school, my drama teacher used to call me Mary Poppins because I am a perfectionist and like to have everything "practically perfect in every way." Also, my diaper bag is filled with so much stuff that I often think of it as the MP bag where she pulls all kinds of things from).

Nora is a sponge these days when it comes to her vocabulary and expressions. Here are some of the more recent ones that we get a kick out of:
*** Nora woke up from her nap recently and started calling for Casey, instead of Momma.
*** "I wanna cook, Momma." "We make sugar togeder, Momma." (Apparently all cooking involves the use of sugar. Can you tell we did lots of Christmas baking?)
*** She uses Momma after most of her sentences.
*** "I gawgous." Yes, we taught her that and realize we are encouraging vanity ;)
*** "I want just ONE grape, okay, Momma. Just ONE grape." She often asks for "just ONE" of something. Just one grape, cracker, chip, etc. It's really funny, and almost like she's bargaining.
*** "I'm a gurl." I'll say something like, "You're my potato," or I'll call her "lovee," and she'll say, "I'm not a lovee, I'm a gurl."
*** Whenever she's around kids or people she doesn't know she is now starting to ask them their name. She follows it up with, "My name Nora."

***When we play with Nora's kitchen and pretend food, she loves to make you some "coffee" and then tells you that it's too hot. She wants you to "take a sip" of the coffee, pretend to burn your tongue, and then scream in (pretend) agony because it hurts.

***A first for Nora recently was going to see Sesame Street Live! Jonathan and I decided very last minute (right before midnight on New Year's Eve), that we would take her to see it. Jonathan's parents volunteered to keep Liam for us, so it was just Nora on a date with Momma and Daddy. It was a great little show, and I must say that I think some of the former choreographers for the Backstreet Boys must have been the choreographers for SSL! I mean, Bert and Ernie had some wild moves. It was hilarious!





Nora Kathryn at 28 months old.