January Update

Another few weeks gone by - and we're almost to the end of January already.  The highlight (for me, at least) in the last couple weeks was going to the WAPICI Winter Pow-Wow at PCC. At first Nora was disturbed by the loud volume of the drumming, but after a few minutes she got used to it and then enjoyed watching all the costumes and dancing. Henry, too, loved getting a chance to see all the regalia up close and get a real feel for what a pow-wow is all about.  Last night we went to the grand re-opening of the Portland Ballet Company where we got to see some beautiful performances. Unfortunately there was a bit of a wait prior to the performances starting and then a some long speeches and Nora wasn't patient enough to sit quietly through them so she missed most of the dancing, but the parts she did see she was absolutely enthralled. There were boys in most of the dances and pictures throughout the studios of boy dancers which we made sure to point out to Henry. I hope he'll express interest again in taking some more dance classes.

We've been taking advantage of the sunny weather and our fabulously large backyard by playing lots and lots of soccer outside. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa we've got an awesome new soccer goal to practice with. We were debating signing up Henry for t-ball this year, but I think we'll forgo that in favor of soccer. He's definitely enjoying it so far! We've also been going to the park a lot and Nora is proving to be quite fearless. She climbed to the top of a very tall slide (the stand alone type - probably 10 feet tall) and slid down all by herself...three times in a row. I was stunned. She's only 15 months old! She's also enjoying her present from Grandma and Grandpa - this "bike."

She's so proud of herself riding it around - I'm sure she feels just like her big brother. She hasn't quite figured out how to sit, push and glide yet; she more or less just stands and walks with it, but I know by summer time she'll be scooting around on it so quickly!

 A couple more pictures to round out this post - Gigi making Nora laugh and laugh and laugh...and the two kiddos playing outside.

Oh, and one more video! You just have to watch it - no explanation other than to say Nora has an ongoing fascination with belly buttons...