Goodbye July

Tomorrow is August 1st. Reidun is leaving our home. She took a nanny job in Finland. We will miss her since she has been here since the second week in January, you were only 9 months. But this isn't goodbye, only see you later. Reidun will always be in your life Nora. She is family.

We went to the area 4-H Fair today with the Wagmans (our neighbors) and watched the pig races! Yeehaw! You hitched a ride from Mr. Kevin halfway through our venture. It feels great to have such a strong relationship with our neighbors; something I have missed since Mrs. Juska passed away.

So where did July go? Somehow in the jumble of this month I forgot to wish you a happy 16 month birthday on July 25th. Aunt Katie and Uncle Kevin did not and they called you. However, you were napping at the time and did not get to perform over the phone for them.

One month turns into one year and one year turns into many years. For some reason, I keep getting the same question this month: Will you keep such a detail blog / record for your second child? I see where the well-meaning question comes from, after all I am the second child and understand that the second never quite has the same attention the first-born received. But there are so many unknowns who could ever answer a question like that! What if we don't have any more children? What if we have another child with special needs? What if Daddy looses his job? What if we have an emergency? Blogging might not be priority under certain circumstances. I find it a privilege that I have the time and resources right now to keep a record of your life. I will do it as long as I have the ability and time for just you or any future siblings who decide to join our family. Sometimes I think about the future and I have no idea what it holds for us. That unknown is both exciting and scary.

16 months... wow. We speculate about what type of person you will become. Daddy and I both predict you might have difficulty with talking too much in class when you get to school. We went out to dinner tonight you had to talk to everyone, the couple behind us, the family next to us, the endless stream of waiters and waitresses. You babble incessantly with scattered 'real' words mixed in. Lately, you have been getting your body parts stuck in places: arm in the easy bake oven, leg in the slats of the crib, fingers in a variety of places... you get frustrated and then exclaim: "it's stuck!" At first, we thought we just misheard but then you did it again and again. And you use the term correctly! You can't uncap the pen: "it's stuck!" You can't open the cabinet: "it's stuck!" Funny. We have no idea where you learned it. You also say, "push it" we you want us to play Barney DVD in the car. When we push the play button, you giggle and wiggle with excitement as Barney's theme song starts. Daddy and I can sing all the songs, especially after listening to the DVD almost 20 times on the road trip to Wisconsin.

You also love love love the song: "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and can do all the movements, except you have to sit down when the song comes on. You have not figured out how to stay standing and just bend over to touch your knees and toes. You like to show off your "button" by lifting up your shirt too! "Where's your button? There it is!!!"

It seems like all of a sudden your brain just makes instant connections. You understand so much of what goes on around you. And we are pretty sure you say, "what's this?" and then proceed to listen to the answer! You look at us with this intense, inquisitive, need to know face. Daddy says he's no longer amazed by you (he doesn't get surprised anymore when you learn things so quickly)... but I am in awe of you almost everyday. Somehow you transformed from this tiny baby into this busy toddler. A busy toddler who absorbs the world like a thirsty sponge. Slurp slurp slurp.