(Nora enjoying her last summer tooling around greater DC with Lil and their nanny Mimi.)

Note from Grandma Mima: "Nora's blue blankie is the most Linus-like blanket I have ever seen. She goes under it, wears it as a shawl, or a Senegal-style wrap dress. She assigns blankie to be any number of people in the pretend play scenarios that she and Lily make up. Nora will say something like, "you will be the big sister and I will be the other big sister, and Willa [her rabbit] will be the mommy and blankie will be the daddy. And Lil is just fine with "blue blankie" being a person, sometimes even the teacher in one of their games!"

A dragon from Kevin Schwartz

Nora: "I can't get down it's throat! There's not really a hole there!" Then, a hopeful inspection of anything that might be sharp. Teeth. Horns. Spikes down the spine. The naming: "This dragon's nickname is Put-put. But her real name is Bye-bye." Finally, this solemn demonstration of the limit of the esophagus.

Loot

Nora surrounded by her favorite things: animals, Percy the tank engine, and chocolate.