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Ornery Little Cuss

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.

Christmas Cards

If you’re wondering whether your Greenabderrazak holiday card and updated annual photo are lost in the mail or you’ve been cut from the VIP list, mystery solved. We had a disastrous sitting at Portrait Simple a few weeks ago and the second sitting was scheduled during a snowstorm, so we just got some decent photos last weekend. Look for your Happy New Year card to arrive sometime in January.

Here’s one of the best photos from the first sitting:

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Here’s a preview of our updated annual photo (that’s me under the sheet):.

If you just can’t get enough of the Greenabderrazak offspring, you can view all of the pics from our most recent sitting by clicking this link and entering the last 4 digits of our phone number (0558):
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ThumbAccess.aspx?e=3394592

We Got The Party With Us

The Friday before Christmas was the date of the long-awaited Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus concert at the DCU Center in Worcester. After listening to Aliya and Victoria’s constant bickering on the ride to Worcester and throughout dinner, I for one was wondering why Karen and I didn’t spend the $300 on a spa day for ourselves. We arrived during the Jonas Brothers warm-up act, and at that point I realized that I had never attended the performance of a pop idol. The squealing and screaming each time one of the brothers executed a karate kick or half-split were deafening. Our seats were directly under the platform for the spotlights – centered right on the stage. The seats in that area are so steep that there were no heads in front of us and the girls could stand up without obscuring the view of the people behind us. One negative was that my head was on the same level as the boot of the kid behind me so I got quite a few kicks to the skull.

After a few Jonas Brothers songs there was a 20-minute intermission while the crew set up for the headliner. We were back in our seats just in time for Hannah to drop down in a box from the ceiling while the crowd went wild (this review accurately describes the noise level in the DCU Center as “the kind of squealing rarely heard outside of a pig farm” http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2007/12/24/miley_cyrus_delights_fans_of_hannah_montana/). Cigarette lighters have been replaced with lit cell phone screens and multi-colored lightsticks…the effect was very cool and likely resulted in less blistered thumbs and singed hair. I have to admit, I’m now a 40-year-old fan of the “product” that the Disney Channel has created. She’s cute, she can sing, she seems like a nice kid (from what I saw on Oprah), so as long as Billy Ray keeps her away from the fast girls over on Nickelodeon, she should continue to be a hot ticket.


Annie

When we lost Zoe I didn’t think we’d be ready for another dog anytime soon. But then I started having an email conversation with our dog trainer and she told me about the dogs and puppies from the Buxton (Maine) puppy mill that were going to be available for adoption because the breeder had been closed down by the state. While I was researching the puppy mill situation, I discovered that there’s a miniature version of an Australian Shepherd. I LOVE Australian Shepherds, but they’re fairly big and pretty hairy. The Mini Aussie seemed perfect for us!

I contacted the shelters but they couldn’t tell me where or when the different breeds of puppies would be available. The first few puppies that went up for adoption got a lot of attention because of all the media coverage, so I started to think that even if I drove to Maine/New Hampshire to get a puppy, I might be waiting in line. Plus, I had my doubts about adopting a puppy that had been in state custody since birth.

So I went online and started looking for Mini Aussie puppies. I narrowed it down to one adorable puppy that was the right gender, the right age, and the right price. Coincidentally, her name was Zoe. Zoe lived on a horse and cattle ranch in Oklahoma (www.rocking2r.com), and within a few days she was on a plane bound for Logan Airport, and renamed Annie. Since Aliya had asked Santa for a puppy for me for Christmas, he sent her a note in the mail (left).

Annie was a little freaked out from her trip but she recovered quickly. She’s the GREATEST!! She’s very playful with the kids but she also loves to just lay on the lap of anyone who sits down. I’ve heard at least 4 people proclaim, “This dog loves me!” Actually, she loves everyone! She’s incredibly smart and already housetrained. Considering that I remember passing the 100th day of accidents with Zoe (UGH!!), I was thrilled when she scratched at the door her first day here. She has learned a couple of commands and I’m sure she’ll do well in her Puppy Kindergarten class next month. She will have no problem earning her Therapy Dog certification when she gets a little older. We’re all very excited to have her in our family!!