Cheer Up

Today has been a particularly trying day for me as a mom. I feel like Norah has her worst days when Rich is out of town, and today was right up there at the top. I thought the tantrums were kind of funny this morning because they were so ridiculous (I really need to catch a video of her fake pout). But hundreds of tears later today, I am spent.

One of my New Year's resolutions has been to work on my patience, to not lose my cool with Norah. I felt like I was doing pretty well with it lately, but that's because Norah has been pretty easy, throwing relatively few tantrums and being pretty willing to cheer up. But then we have a day like today, where the smallest things trigger tears, and I realize my patience isn't as good as I thought.

The thing is, I know Norah was in a mood today, but I was in a mood, too. Things wouldn't have been so bad if I would have kept my cool. But then I think about that and it only makes me more frustrated because I know what I need to do better but I often don't do it. Sigh...

It's just one of those days. Tomorrow will be better. Hopefully.

I'm writing this post so I have an excuse to look at pictures of my adorable daughter to help cheer me up. 

And you know what? It's working.

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago. I love Norah's facial expressions. The swing really is her happy place.

 Rich and his steeplechase crew at the West Coast Invitational in Salem, Oregon, two weeks ago

 Rich shot these pictures on the drive home from Salem. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time to get a shot of the train.

I promise there's a reason for this picture. Norah likes to arrange the shoes we leave out. I love symmetrical this arrangement was. You can't tell from the picture, but it even had a slight, even curve to it. Yeah, she takes after her mom and dad.

A view into Nuh Nuh's house

This is from a visit to Poppa's store. She always does this with her turkey - stuffs as much as she can fit in her mouth and ends up spitting half of it out because she starts to gag.

Napping at Grandma's house. I came in to wake her up and found her just like this. Love it.

Last week, Alivia and Norah found plenty of dandelions in the woods on which to make wishes. Why yes, Norah did end up getting dandelion seeds in her mouth. She still needs to practice.

You have to look close at the first part of the video, but you can catch a little of Norah's sassy eye roll. We get this all the time. It would drive me nuts if I didn't think it was so hilarious. 

The maiden voyage of Norah's birthday bike from Grandma Kari and Grandpa Craig. She loves this thing. She couldn't contain her excitement as Rich was putting it together and climbed right up as soon as it was done. I'm pretty excited about it, too. Something else to get us out of the house.

All of a sudden, Norah started (trying) to sing her ABCs. (I think she learned it from Alivia, who loves to sing them when she's over.) A and G are the only letters you really need to know, right?

This girl loves the "Pocka [Popcorn] Song" ("Popcorn Popping").

Another ride on the bike, and another type of "cheese face"

"So, I'm vacuuming the roof. And it was my idea." -Rich

On Saturday, Rich helped his dad out with some things in his yard, including cleaning out the gutters. Doug only asked him to get all the needles out. It was actually Rich's idea to vacuum them. I feel like his quotes sum up the experience.

"This is one of the weirder jobs I've done." -Rich

What the?! My child is drawing faces! I don't know how long that's been going on, but I realized it on Sunday. She said she was drawing Mickey, and I looked over to see this! When did she get old enough to do that?!

I caught a video of her drawing, too. The second face she draws is Mickey - he even has ears on his head.

One day at Grandma and Poppa's house, Norah declared she wanted to climb the tree. This is her attempt to jump to the branches. She's pretty close, right?

 Again with the "cheese face" 

And then here's today. This was this morning, where it was entertaining to watch. She threw herself on the ground because I told her to wait to let me help her set up her train set. I didn't realize this would be the story of the day.

 Alivia came over today, which I thought would help the 'tude. Nope. It seemed like Norah felt any little movement by Alivia was a threat, and she would soon break into tears. But here is proof that these two can actually get along. What good friendship can't survive a little fighting, right?

 She finally found refuge in her house. And I got a little peace for a bit, too. Thank goodness.

Sorry for the negativity today. I feel bad venting like this because I don't particularly want to remember the bad days. Honestly, most of the time I can't get over how adorable my daughter is and how lucky I feel that I get to be her mom.

But looking at these pictures and writing this post has helped. I love all the things this girl can do. And I love how each day leads to a new discovery for her. I am so happy that I get to be there for those happy moments.

And I'm especially glad that she loves me, even on my bad days. You just can't beat the unconditional love of a child.