Eleanor 3.6

As of this month, Eleanor is 39.5" tall (62%) and weighs 29.4lbs (18%)! 

Before she started potty training, we locked her bedroom door each night and opened it when I woke each morning. We did this because she would escape her room sometime between the middle of the night and early morning, and roam around the house, waking up Will and causing trouble. So the easiest solution was to prevent her from leaving her room unless an adult was awake. However with her now being potty trained, she needs to be able to take herself to the bathroom. So this month we have been having to train her to not leave her room. Its been a frustrating process and she is not learning very quickly. Our rule is that she can keep her bedroom door unlocked and open, if she stays in her room and ONLY comes out to use the bathroom. If I find her playing in Will's room or anywhere else, I close her door. If she then comes out of the closed door for any reason other than the bathroom, then I lock it. So far I actually haven't had to lock it.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of false bathroom visits, just so that she can delay bed time and escape the confines of her room. One super fun thing shes been doing, is that if she lies about having to go to the bathroom, while in there, shes been unraveling the entire toilet paper roll, in her boredom. She even tried flushing that once. Michael had to scoop it out with his bare hands, into a plastic bag. Good times. So now I restrict the number of times I let her out to use the bathroom, and I tell her she has to use the downstairs powder room (which is next to our office, so we can monitor the proceedings). If she has just gone to the bathroom 5 or 10 minutes earlier, and she asks to go again, chances are shes lying and I tell her no. But still, about half of the time her requests are legitimate, and I have never met a kid who can crank out a poop on demand so easily, just so she can get out of bed whenever she wants. Needless to say, potty training Nora has been a bit more of a wild ride, than it was with Will. I say this nearly every night these days, but I can't wait until this phase is over and done with!

She got a baby doll for Christmas and has been very interested in carrying it around, pushing it in her stroller and caring for it by putting it into Daniel's various seats and toys. Its very cute. She tells me, "you have your baby and I have MY baby!" She has started asking for another doll - one whose eyes open and close. I told her that if she can keep her pull-up dry overnight for two weeks, I will buy her that doll. So far shes only managed to do it for 4 days at a time, but shes slowly figuring it out. I bet by the next month she will be able to do it! 

This morning Will asks for another magnadoodle as his old one broke. I told him that maybe we could go look for one at Goodwill. He asked where Goodwill is and I told him that it was down the street. Nora thought about that for a few seconds and then asked, “where is da good Nowa?” I just about died laughing. I responded, “I don’t know, where IS the good Nora?” She replied, “here I am!”

Michael: "Shhh! Don't tell mom. Its a secret!"
Nora: "I can tell mom if I want to!"

Another funny exchange was when Nora wanted to call her grandma to thank her for a Valentine's card she was sent. She had Michael call the number, and when the voicemail came up, she clammed up and refused to speak. She told Michael, "you do the words Dad!" She often gets flustered if she is called upon to say a lot of words all at once and on the spot (she is still figuring out this whole speaking thing, but is making improvements every day), so I am not surprised this little conversation took place!

We have always called William 'Will' and only occasionally use his full name. So it was somewhat out of the blue when Nora started to call him 'Will-yum' all on her own. Usually it is at times of strife, to make a point ("No Will-yum!", "Stop Will-yum!"). Although as time has gone on, she has started to use it more and more. The other day I heard her say, "Come on Will-yum! Come play with me Will-yum!" I think its pretty cute and Will certainly doesn't seem to object to or even notice the sudden moniker change!

She started swimming lessons in January. The first day I could tell she was scared. I tried to reassure her but I also told her that not getting in the water was not an option, and that I and the teacher were right there to keep her safe. Despite being scared, she got in the water and didn't cry (unlike Will who cried all through his first lesson and through part of his second and third!), and by the end of the lesson, I could tell she was really relaxed and enjoying herself. She just had to get comfortable with the environment and the teacher. I took lessons in the water with her all of last year in the same pool, so I was hoping that would help her comfort level, and it really did seem to. Now its been a month of lessons and she eagerly anticipates each one and is making an effort to listen to the teacher and try new techniques!