Where did my baby go?

Don't worry, she's not lost...just growing up. It seems like every day lately Nora does something to amaze me and make me realize that she's quickly becoming a full-on toddler and her baby days are going bye bye. Of course, it's bittersweet for us, but is mostly just amazing to watch.

Some examples:

1. Last Tuesday I took Nora to work with me for a few hours in the morning. While we were waiting in the lobby (it's a nature center, so the lobby is full of fun stuff for kiddos) Nora made a beeline for the art table. So, I got her into a little chair and handed her a crayon and piece of paper, fully expecting her to try to eat the crayon. I was shocked when she immediately started to draw on the paper! It was a piece of abstract art to make a mama proud! So, off I go this week to buy some art supplies. :)

2. Nora gets lots of finger foods, but if it's food that requires a spoon I always feed it to her. At Thanksgiving, Nora was sitting on G'pa G's lap and grabbed his fork and started to put it in his sweet potatoes and feed herself! I know she likes to stir imaginary food in bowls, but I've never seen her actually pick up food w/ a fork/spoon and put it in her mouth! It started out well, then we switched the fork for a spoon and it went south in a hurry (see last post). :)

Proof:



3. Nora learned the sign for milk at about 7 months, but hasn't really used it much since then (she usually opts for sticking her hand down my shirt or saying "mummummummum"). I've continued to use the sign when we start to nurse and have been inconsistently using the signs for food, more and all done with no results. Until last week, when she started consistently waving her hands at us when she wants out of her highchair. So smart! Now when she's whining to be let down I just say "all done?" and she stops whining and waves her hands proudly. It gets even cuter when she signs "all done" and then stuffs a last bite or two in her mouth before emphatically signing "all done" again.

4. Finally, a few days ago, Nora started to put the colored rings back on the Fisher Price stackable ring thing. She loves that toy, but always prefers to take them off and eat them or throw them or bang them together. But, today she's realized she can multiply the fun of taking them off by learning to put them back on. What a smarty pants.

Some more proof of her feeding herself:



Here's a video of her "saying" all done:



And here she is putting the rings back on the toy and showing off her new skills to Sadie: