WATCH THIS!

Nory wants us to watch everything she does.  LITERALLY, EVERYTHING.  Even when there's nothing particularly interesting going on, like when she's sitting at the island in the kitchen, asking me to watch her various poses.....

"WATCH THIS!!!!!!!!!"

 

"WATCH THIS!!!!!!!!!"

She has even learned to say, "here comes the really good part!" when she feels as though she's about to lose our attention.  It's really, really sweet.  Unless you try to converse with anyone other than her whilst "watching this".  Then the Nornado comes out and lays down the ground rules.  She doesn't believe in The Multi-Tasking Viewer.  #sigh

Anyways, speaking of WATCHING THIS, the village of Lakefield was lucky to overhear a non-stop rendition of Frozen's "Let It Go" last weekend.  Residents can thank Grandma and Grumps for the new dress-up clothes that prompted the afternoon of musical theater.  For your convenience, it's been shortened to under a minute :)  Don't forget to hang in there for "THE REALLY GOOD PARTS!!!"

Well, I think this video has just about encouraged me to LET GO of the horrible bedtime experience I just endured with the Nornado.  She's sleeping.  I got to blog.  And now Phil is going to watch an episode of The Bachelorette with me!

We hope you had a wonderful weekend! XOXO

Some FUN FACTS about Nory Douglas at AGE TWO!

1)  She continues to LOVE water or "wawa" as she affectionately calls it.  "Tubby time", splashing in puddles (or dirty courtyard water, meh!), stirring water in plastic cups, drinking water with a spoon, drinking water from a bottle, cleaning up with water, watching video clips with water......it's all REALLY GOOD STUFF!  I can't wait until we go home this summer where there are so many opportunities for (cleaner!) water-related adventures!  It's going to feel like CHRISTMAS! 

I can't forget about "washing her hands"!  It's a real wonder she's ever sick.  Wait a minute.  Back to the dirty puddles.

2)  Dancing is her thang.  The girl has some SWWWWEEEEEET moves and there's a dance party at least once a day in the Parkinson house. 

3)  She's on a "BA-BA-BA" kick.  That's code for SIMBA.....from the Lion King.....DUH!  A good snuggle with her stuffed ba-ba-ba, along with a viewing of "Circle of Life" on YouTube is a superb five minute activity.  She tells you the names of the animals she sees, makes some oh-so-serious animal sounds, points out Simba's Mommy and Daddy and then comments on how "CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!" ba-ba-ba is.

4)  Phil is her FAVOURITE.  I can't tell you how many times I hear "Where'd Daddy go?!" or "Daddy coming?!" or "Daddy home?" throughout the day.  She is the biggest Daddy's girl around.  Or tied with me.  Shout-out to Grandpa in Canada! xo

Bumper cars at the mall!  SHE LOVES IT!!!!!!

5)  Cats.  We are all very well aware of this one.  She's OBSESSED.  And that, my friends, is the understatement of the year.  She wants CATS EVERYTHING.  All the time.  Hence the cat birthday party.  Hence the cat wardrobe.  Hence the insane amount of stuffed cats.  Hence the ongoing battle of "Phil has allergies" versus "But she really, really, REALLY would love to look after a REAL CAT".  Neither Phil nor I are cat people, so it could be many years before the girl is the proud owner of a cat.

Eating her sandwich with her cats....in her cat shirt....and her cat slippers.

6)  She has really started to get into arts and crafts after getting an art easel for Christmas.  Markers, crayons, chalk, stickers, paint.......she does it all!  Playdough is her latest creative love and you will be shocked to learn she played with a new cupcake playdough set for ALMOST TWO HOURS on the day of her party!  And did a similar thing the following day.  I kid you not, I drank an entire HOT COFFEE that morning!  BOO-YA!

Making cakes!  Notice the cat nightie.  I told you:  AN ENTIRE WARDROBE OF CAT ATTIRE!!!!!!

7)  We're working on colours and numbers these days.  Red is her fave at the moment and she makes us seem like the best parents ever when she chants off "2, 4, 6, 8" (Alas, it didn't come from us!  Let's give credit to K POP).  She also loves to point out when there are two of something.  Two cats!  Two eyes!  Two hands!  Two mommies!  Two ba-ba-ba's!!!! 

8)  Basketball is her JAM!  Don't believe me?  Check this out (thank you Gem for the video!):

9)  She ADORES Juliet.  First thing in the morning, she asks where her sister is and continues to check on her randomly throughout the day.  She gives her kisses, helps to burp her, and gets really upset when Juliet cries.  It's so sweet!  I can't wait until Juliet can actually "come play" as Nory asks her to :)

10)  Nory is the mash-up queen.  If you ever want to hear what "The Wheels on the Bus" mixed with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" mixed with "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" mixed with "Five Little Monkeys" sounds like, come on over! Haha.

11)  Other things she LOVES?  Her toy kitchen, balloons, running in the (fake!) grass at school, bubbles, collecting rocks, Minnie Mouse, her doctor kit.....

"I'm going to work!"  "Okay, Dr. Nory!" 

12)  She's a GO-ER.  She's passionate.  She's wild.  She's determined.  She's.............lucky those two little pigtails offset a lot of the damage.  I guess a few grey hairs never hurt anyone, right? 

We love you SO VERY MUCH, Eleanor!!!  This age is the funnest yet!  Temper tantrums and all! XOXO  

MARRIED!

It's strange that I have been able to handle five Christmases away in a row, yet crumbled to pieces (ah-hem, cried for 1.5 days) from missing my brother's wedding on Saturday.  Why did I cry for 1.5 days (instead of just one?!), you wonder?  Because the thing about being 8 hours ahead is that the fun is still going on in Ontario even though it's a shiny new day in Kuwait.  It's unkind to wake up the following morning and realize that the entire family is still dancing up a storm.  Thank you Time Change for prolonging my achy, achy heart. 

Oh well.  The truth is that I would have likely cried as much if I were at the event too!  My brother and his wife are two incredible people, with each of them being so thoughtful and compassionate - making it very clear that FAMILY is the MOST IMPORTANT THING.  They (both of them!) have this special ability to make you feel important and when you tell them anything at all, you know that they didn't just hear you, but they actually LISTENED to what you had to say.  They're the greatest!  By marrying Aubrey, my brother Graeme has grown our family in the most beautiful way :)  We love you both so very much!

Because we weren't able to make it to the wedding, we were asked by the wedding party if we would like to send a little video to show instead.  Being the least tech-savvy couple on Earth, we said yes!  HAAAAA!!!!  One very long night of iMovie tutorials ensued and I decided in those very frustrating hours that I have never missed my grade 6's so much!  Next time I have an "assignment" like this one, I'm recruiting their help.  And next time I give an "assignment" like this one, I'm giving them all A's.  The new generation knows what's up ;)

Here is what we came up with!  FYI:  Aubrey is AMERICAN!

CONGRATULATIONS, GRAEME AND AUBREY!!!!!!!!  Although we missed your special day, we hope that this star-studded video made up for it just a wee bit.  Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and adventure together! xo

Babysitter Mickey / Holiday Mickey

This house LOVES Mickey Mouse.  And after this performance, we might just love him even more.  I never thought that was possible........

P.S.  Her moves are KILLER ;)

Our Singing Christmas Tree / Whatever Would We Do Without Her???

Let's begin by telling you that I spent a long time preparing this felt Christmas tree and it comes with HOMEMADE, PERSONALIZED, FELT ORNAMENTS for her to enjoy the whole decoration process over and over again.  Alas, Eleanor has found great joy in using it in ways of her own thinking.....

In the end, I suppose it's still spreading the same joy I had envisioned :)

An Evening at the Parkinson Theatre!

Today Phil brought home a bunch of things we had been storing at our friend Steve's house. Most of of the stuff is for Goose (baby toys, 0-3 month clothes, the baby swing, etc.), but included in the stash was a sweet little playhouse made by my grade six students last year.   Nory, of course, was instantly intrigued by this "house" and I think I've had my most fun "bed rest evening" to date!  She is a DRAMA QUEEN and I'm not sure if it's being a toddler or if it's being my daughter that is the cause of it!  (Let's just say my Dad nicknamed me "Hollywood" for a reason!) 

You can tell she is completely OVER the mamarazzi in the last video.  Enough is enough, Mama!  (So I secretly took ONE more....and it is also quite entertaining!!!!!!  Will post it soon!)

WE LOVE YOU CHICKEN! xo

To those of you who said she was too young for it.......

Well.......I guess you've never lived in the moment!

HI MICKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you need some....

Look what else she's learned to do!

This here is a BIG DEAL, PEOPLE!

Inspired by "Frozen", this afternoon we taught her all about the word FREEZE.

Well, not really in the oh-my-gosh-it-is-so-cold sense but more in the oh-my-gosh-she-hasn't-stopped-all-day sense....

Also note her current love for GETTING DIZZY!

XO

These TWO.

What did the fox say?

Thank you Auntie Shannon for the hoodie that inspired the whole performance ;)

In the words of her Grandpa, "I think she's feeling better!"

HAPPY DECEMBER ONE!

Today was the GLORIOUS December ONE - the very first day of our family advent calendar!  Recall that this year we made the switch from mini treats to family activities and the whole thing is a big surprise for Phil and Nory.  As of today, the morning routine now goes:  find Crimson the Elf and then head to the advent calendar!

The first activity read:

Writing the cards up was a BIG, BIG job this weekend.  I think I wrote 42 cards total and it definitely wasn't a one-time thing.  I had to write them here and there with Phil away and I was pushing myself to do so in order to keep up with my December 1st tradition!  Nory did her best to help me out with this task, but after tonight's GIGGLE FEST, it's obvious that she finds the delivery of the cards much more amusing.  Check it out:

Yep, she's into that SLAPSTICK sort of humour that involves things falling to the ground.  Thanks to Phillip for capturing it on video and THANKS TO THE INTERWEB (and my hardcore Googling persistence) for FINALLY figuring out how to upload my videos to the blog once again.  (It's an app called YouTube capture.  It's FANTASTIC!  Message me if you want details!).

Speaking of FANTASTIC things.  Cookies for breakfast is a really good idea.  Especially when it's a special day like today.  Especially when the cookies come in gingerbread family form.

HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE!!!! xo

SHE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!

And I caught it on video :) 

There's NO WAY a better playmate exists. Anywhere. On this Earth.

THE BULLDOG IS BACK!!!!!

Over the summer, Nory started to do this "BULLDOG" face.  Some of you were lucky enough to witness this trick before she phased it out.  Some of you weren't.  Well, GOOD NEWS!  It returned YESTERDAY and I have video footage.  So funny how it coincides with the return of the BULLDOGS basketball program at our school!

THIS is what TEETHING looks like......

Here's a quick clip of our dolly.  It captures a few seconds of what has become increasingly common the past few days.  Poor thing. Let's see these teeth already!!!

I suppose she could be bothered by a few other things as well.  After all, she is missing out on a COUSIN DAY at Nana and Grandpa's.  The whole gang is there for Nana's 50th and I'm sure she's feeling a wee bit left out.

Don't worry darlin'.  In 11 days, we'll be part of the crew :)

Just try to give this little chicken a bath!

Even Nory gets a kick out of J. Rivers on Fashion Police!