When Norah was an infant 
I frequently commented that she was “so easy-going”. She rarely cried, and rode along from swimming lessons to birthday parties to soccer games without complaint. Well, Norah has recently entered a new phase, at least I’m praying that it’s a phase and preferably a short one. The kid is stubborn as a mule! When she wants to be picked up (and only Mommy will do, of course), she attaches herself to my legs like human shackles until I relent. When she opened her Christmas gifts (or when she saw one that someone else had opened which struck her fancy), she freaked out while we tried to detach it from the box. She carried one of her new baby dolls around with wire still attached to the wrists and ankles because she didn’t want anyone to touch it. When she’s done with her meal, she throws the remaining food and utensils on the floor, where Annie waits patiently to see if there are any morsels worth dodging flying silverware for. I am constantly getting hit in the nose, mouth, or cheekbone by Norah’s perfectly executed *flying rear head butts*.
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On the bright side, Norah is adorable, has a great sense of humor, and is starting to talk. Here are her words at 15 months…more, Mommy, Daddy (the rest are in random order), Aliya, Adlani, Lina (Boo), Shanie, Annie, Grammy, Grandma Ginny, Elmo (Melmo), Dora (Do-Do), Diego (Daydego), hi, bye, banana, apple, cracker, shoe, ball, up, Teletubbies, LaLaa, cheese (when posing for a picture), poopoo, bumbum, yuck, me, mine, no, help, ow, uh-oh, water (wa-wa), bottle (ba-ba, now her word for sippy cup). I always look forward to when my kids learn to talk so I can understand them better and they don’t have to whine and cry to get their point across. The other day I told Norah to come over to me and she said, “No…Bye!!” with a huge grin on her face. It’s a good thing she’s cute.