diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1/notifications_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1/notifications_controller.rb
index a277e91..0dd8698 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1/notifications_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1/notifications_controller.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ def mark_as_read
     if params[:id]
       notification = current_user.notifications.find(params[:id])
       notification.mark_as_read!
+      render json: notification, status: 200
     else
       current_user.notifications.update_all(read_at: Time.now)
     end
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 131e8b3..fe25e5c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def navbar_props
       },
       userAttributes: {
         currentUserEmail: current_user&.email,
-        notificationCount: current_user&.unread_notifications_count
+        unreadNotificationCount: current_user&.unread_notifications_count
       },
       isLoggedIn: current_user.present?
     }
diff --git a/app/decorators/notification_decorator.rb b/app/decorators/notification_decorator.rb
index 7fa4e49..d772138 100644
--- a/app/decorators/notification_decorator.rb
+++ b/app/decorators/notification_decorator.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 class NotificationDecorator < ApplicationDecorator
   delegate_all
 
+  def decorated_created_at
+    "#{h.time_ago_in_words(object.created_at)} ago"
+  end
+
   def mark_as_read_link
     unless object.read_at
       "| #{h.link_to 'mark as read', '#'}"
diff --git a/app/javascript/components/NavBar.js b/app/javascript/components/NavBar.js
index eff1649..89e74cd 100644
--- a/app/javascript/components/NavBar.js
+++ b/app/javascript/components/NavBar.js
@@ -12,15 +12,43 @@ class NavBar extends Component {
   }
 
   componentDidMount() {
+    console.log(this.state);
     if (this.state.isLoggedIn) {
       axios.get(this.state.routes.lastFiveNotificationsPath)
         .then((response) => {
           this.setState({ notifications: response.data })
+          console.log(this.state);
         })
     } else {
     }
   }
 
+  markSingleNotificationAsRead = (notificationId) => {
+    if (notificationId) {
+      const csrfToken = document.querySelector('[name="csrf-token"]').content;
+      axios.defaults.headers.common['X-CSRF-Token'] = csrfToken;
+
+      axios.patch(`/api/v1/notifications/${notificationId}/mark_as_read`)
+        .then((response) => {
+          const newUnreadCount = this.state.userAttributes.unreadNotificationCount - 1
+          const index = this.state.notifications.findIndex((notification) => notification.id === notificationId)
+          const updatedNotifications = this.state.notifications
+          updatedNotifications[index] = response.data
+          const newState = { ...this.state.userAttributes }
+
+          newState.unreadNotificationCount = newUnreadCount
+          this.setState({ notifications: updatedNotifications, userAttributes: newState })
+          console.log(this.state);
+
+          // this is correct, i need to replace the notification in the notification part of state to refresh the dropdown
+        })
+        .catch((error) => {
+          console.log(error);
+        })
+    }
+    // make api call
+  }
+
   render () {
     const { isLoggedIn, userAttributes, routes, notifications } = this.state
     const { rootPath } = routes
@@ -35,7 +63,12 @@ class NavBar extends Component {
             <span className="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
           </button>
           { isLoggedIn
-            ? <UserNav routes={ routes } userAttributes={ userAttributes } notifications={ notifications } />
+            ? <UserNav
+                routes={ routes }
+                userAttributes={ userAttributes }
+                notifications={ notifications }
+                markSingleNotificationAsRead={ this.markSingleNotificationAsRead }
+              />
             : <VisitorNav routes={ routes } />
           }
         </div>
diff --git a/app/javascript/components/Notification.js b/app/javascript/components/Notification.js
index 374cedc..5d8c01d 100644
--- a/app/javascript/components/Notification.js
+++ b/app/javascript/components/Notification.js
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 import React from 'react'
 
-const Notification = ({ notificationText }) => {
+const Notification = ({ notificationText, notificationReadAt, notificationCreatedAt, notificationId, markSingleNotificationAsRead }) => {
   return (
     <div className="dropdown-item">
       { notificationText }
+      <div className="caption-text">
+        { notificationCreatedAt }
+        {
+          !notificationReadAt &&
+            <span> | <a onClick={ () =>  markSingleNotificationAsRead(notificationId) } className="muted-text caption-text">mark as read</a></span>
+        }
+      </div>
     </div>
   )
 }
diff --git a/app/javascript/components/UserNav.js b/app/javascript/components/UserNav.js
index 54337bd..3fe4377 100644
--- a/app/javascript/components/UserNav.js
+++ b/app/javascript/components/UserNav.js
@@ -1,18 +1,25 @@
-import React, { Component } from 'react'
+ import React, { Component } from 'react'
 
 import Notification from './Notification'
 
 class UserNav extends Component {
   renderNotifications = (notes) => {
     return notes.map((note) => {
-      return <Notification notificationText={ note.note_text } key={ note.id } />
+      return <Notification
+               notificationText={ note.note_text }
+               notificationReadAt={ note.read_at }
+               notificationCreatedAt={ note.decorated_created_at }
+               notificationId={ note.id }
+               markSingleNotificationAsRead={ this.props.markSingleNotificationAsRead }
+               key={ note.id }
+             />
     })
   }
 
   render() {
-    const { routes, userAttributes, notifications } = this.props
+    const { routes, userAttributes, notifications, markSingleNotificationAsRead } = this.props
     const { leaguesPath, dashboardPath, newLeaguePath, destroyUserSessionPath, notificationsPath } = routes
-    const { currentUserEmail, notificationCount } = userAttributes
+    const { currentUserEmail, unreadNotificationCount } = userAttributes
 
     return (
       <div className="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarSupportedContent">
@@ -41,23 +48,25 @@ class UserNav extends Component {
               </a>
             </div>
           </li> { /* user dropdown */ }
-          <li className="nav-item-dropdown">
+          <li className="nav-item dropdown">
             <a className="nav-link" href="#" id="navbarDropdown" role="button" data-toggle="dropdown" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false">
               <h6>
                 <span className="badge badge-info dropdown-toggle">
-                  { notificationCount }
+                  { unreadNotificationCount }
                 </span>
               </h6>
             </a>
             <div className="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-right" aria-labelledby="navbarDropdown">
               {
-                notifications
+                notifications && notifications.length > 0
                 ? this.renderNotifications(notifications)
-                : <div>nope</div>
+                : <div className="dropdown-item">There are currently no notifications!</div>
               }
             <div className="dropdown-divider"></div>
             <a href={ notificationsPath } className="dropdown-item">view all notifications</a>
-            <a href='#' className="dropdown-item">mark all as read</a>
+            {
+              unreadNotificationCount > 0 && <a href='#' className="dropdown-item">mark all as read</a>
+            }
             </div>
           </li> { /* notifications dropdown */ }
         </ul>
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index f5bab7b..7c75793 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def full_name
   end
 
   def last_five_notifications
-    notifications.last(5)
+    notifications.order(created_at: :desc).first(5)
   end
 
   def number_of_leagues_played_in
diff --git a/app/serializers/notification_serializer.rb b/app/serializers/notification_serializer.rb
index ab5c841..e60d10c 100644
--- a/app/serializers/notification_serializer.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/notification_serializer.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,16 @@
+require 'action_view'
+require 'action_view/helpers'
+
 class NotificationSerializer < ActiveModel::Serializer
-  attributes :id, :note_text
+  include ActionView::Helpers::DateHelper
+
+  attributes :id, :note_text, :read_at, :decorated_created_at
 
   def note_text
     object.notification_text
   end
+
+  def decorated_created_at
+    object.decorate.decorated_created_at
+  end
 end
diff --git a/config/database.yml b/config/database.yml
index a3b0689..937e020 100644
--- a/config/database.yml
+++ b/config/database.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ default: &default
   # For details on connection pooling, see Rails configuration guide
   # http://guides.rubyonrails.org/configuring.html#database-pooling
   pool: <%= ENV.fetch("RAILS_MAX_THREADS") { 5 } %>
+  host: localhost
 
 development:
   <<: *default
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/v1/notifications_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/v1/notifications_controller_spec.rb
index 14930df..774be38 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/v1/notifications_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/v1/notifications_controller_spec.rb
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@
 
     describe 'as a user' do
       let(:expected_return) do
-        notifications.map do |note|
+        notifications.sort_by(&:created_at).reverse.map do |note|
           {
             "id" => note.id,
-            "note_text" => note.notification_text
+            "note_text" => note.notification_text,
+            "read_at" => note.read_at,
+            "decorated_created_at" => note.decorate.decorated_created_at
           }
         end
       end