20 months

dear nora,

i thought i'd do a quick little letter about you lately because so much as seemed to change in the last few months!  i don't want to forget this time or the things you are saying/doing, so it's best to write it down! 

saying...

you say SO many words these days, i cannot even keep track!  you are putting two and three words together and are able to express your feelings/thoughts/desires fairly well.  the latest thee word phrase you said was "mommy get it" when you want me to get it, not you.  

you say "you" instead of "me" 

you ask for help if you are frustrated "help pease" or "help me"

you ALWAYS say please and thank you.  sometimes unnecessarily!  if you give me something to hold you'll say "tank you" haha.  

the librarian at story time told me how polite you were saying please and thank you for toys! 

you can't pronounce your /s/ sound at the beginning of words so any word that starts with an /s/ starts with a /y/ in your mind! ("yoap" is soap, etc...) 

daddy taught you to say "golf" and recognize it on TV.  he's quite proud of that one. 

my favorite word you say is "noodles" i just love the way it comes out of your little mouth.

you add -ing to the end of verbs (walking, running, playing, etc)

and you think every baby you meet is named sloane after the baby at miss kathy's

if i ask you a question, you think about it for a minute with this pondering-look on your face and then you are able to answer me! most of the time it's the correct answer, too! 

you can say all your grandparents/uncles names (gramma, papa, gigi, mike, jimmy, kyle) and even some of your "cousins" (kristen, mike, nate, brianna, kylie, dana, kate, ty...) 

doing

so many things it's crazy.  since when did you become so big?! 

you can walk down the stairs now holding onto the railing

you walk down steps all on your own and climb up the stairs/steps to slides etc at the playground

go down the slide all by yourself (you ask for the big slide every time we go to the park)

LOVE having tea parties.  you'll pour the tea saying "psssh" then hand the cup to whomever you're having a party with (usually mommy or lucy) and then cheers with your cup

love playing with your house or farm and making all the animal noises

climbing into your car (cozy coupe) and walking it down the driveway

watering flowers & helping with anything outside

still sleeping 12 hours at night with a 2-3 hour nap in the middle of the day

painting... chalk, crayons, paints.. any way you can paint you love it! 

loves

painting (see above :) )

being outside

playing with mommy.

well, mommy in general.. all. the. time. no one else will do 99% of the time

paci and blankie and bunny

books (currently your favs are the egg books from easter)

daniel tiger

singing and dancing 

taking lucy for walks while YOU hold the leash (anything to make you feel like you're helping and you're the big girl!)

the color green.  everything is green. 

dislikes

diaper changes

vacuum or hair dryer ("all done? no more?")

cleaning your face or hands

being told no

having to come inside after playing outside 

eating

nothing. 

well, maybe not nothing... carbs and dairy.  that's about it these days, with the occasional fruit or black beans when you feel like it. veggies?!..HA.  i put broccoli in your mac n' cheese one night and you said "yucky green. no mommy" and picked it out right away. 

the occasional green smoothie...when whole foods makes it, not mommy. even though they're the same ingredients... go figure... 

you're so much fun these days, yet so exhausting too!  you have such a strong personality and you are in the "i do it myself" stage, which is amazing to see your little body able to do SO much. yet, it's exhausting.  :) i love that you are growing into an independent, determined, silly little girl.  you are attached at my hip almost every second of the day when i'm home.  deep down, i cherish these moments because i know there will be the day when you want nothing to do with me and the hugs and kisses will be far and few between.  you always put your head on my shoulder and say, "awww hugs" and hug me really tight then give me a kiss.  before bed you always want to snuggle together.   i love these moments!  it's what being a mom is all about :) you make me so proud to be your mommy!  i am counting down the days until summer and we get to be together all day every day! (26 school days!)

love you bug, 

mommy 

and what letter would be complete without some pictures?! we are so busy lately that i don't stop to take as many pictures as i should... 

painting in the bathtub 

"i ceam" 

my favorite little lady :) 

this spunk... i can't even! 

trying out brianna's carseat sitting next to nate (don't worry-you don't ride forward yet, you were just watching a movie with them!) 

big girl! whatever nate does, you do :)

"hello? nate!?" (yes, you love nate!) 

"big doggie!" at the library 

picking flowers for mommy 

happy 20 months, boo :)

easter 2015

nora bunny,

i think easter may be one of your favorite holidays thus far.  you are obsessed with bunnies and eggs, so naturally this little holiday was one of your favorite days! 

last monday we saw the easter bunny and you kept talking about the bunny and eggs all week.  i put snacks in little easter eggs all week, which you loved and eventually learned how to open the egg on your own.  you loved putting on the bunny ears and looking in the mirror, too!

easter sunday started out with a little egg-trail leading to your easter basket behind the couch.  before you came downstairs i told you someone special came to visit you.  your first response was "papa?" then i said "no, not papa"  then you asked "kristen?" i don't know where you come up with some things, nora!

we went downstairs and you were quite excited to see easter eggs all over the living room (and by "all over", i mean about 6 eggs).  you quickly followed the trail, picked them up and found your easter basket.  trying to get a picture with you looking at the camera and your basket was quite a struggle!

after easter basket fun, we headed over to grandma and papa's.  we haven't seen then in over a week because they were in mexico for vacation! you were so excited to go for a walk and explore that you fell down and skinned your knee. fortunately, you weren't really phased by your newest boo-boo.  you opened a fun beach-themed easter basket and of course, your favorite toy was the bubbles!

after grandma and papa's we headed over to gigi and papa's house for easter dinner.  the easter bunny left an egg hunt for you over there and you quickly caught on to put the eggs in your basket.  we had a delicious dinner at gigi and papa's and played with uncle mike and uncle jimmy all afternoon!

what a fun day we all had :)

my favorite picture of the weekend!

Our Mini-Getaway

nora,

this past week your dad and i took you to galena for a little mini-getaway.  it was my spring break and i was feeling bad we didn't go anywhere, so we decided to go galena for a night, just for something different. 

it's been A LONG time since i've been there.  we used to go skiing there when i was a kid and your dad used to go golfing there, too!  we didn't really do too much while we were there, but it was good practice for our upcoming road trip this summer!  you did great in the car (much better than i expected). 

we walked around the downtown area, ate lunch, and went swimming.  i think the swimming was the highlight of your trip!  you are such a little fishy in the water with NO fear!  your dad and i were both swimmers and we'd love for you to pick up on our love of swimming, too.  you loved jumping in the water without holding our hands.  you also loved putting your whole face and head underwater then coming up for air laughing hysterically!  you kept wanting to go in the deep end with the big kids playing basketball.

sleeping in a hotel room was quite the experience!  we only had one room and after we set up your pack n' play and tried to put you to bed, you stood up and said, "mommy!  awake!" you wanted to continue the party with us! you were so exhausted after swimming and a short nap that you eventually fell asleep and slept for 12+ hours!  thanks for a good nights sleep, nora boo!

the funniest part of the trip though, was on our way up there.  the GPS voice came over the bluetooth speaker, telling us to turn left. you got so excited and shouted "Gramma!" thinking the voice was grandma!  every time the GPS voice came on giving us a direction, you would shout, "Gramma!" your dad and i were laughing so hard! (this is probably one of those stories that is only funny to mom and dad and no one else...)
(and really... who needs 5 pictures and a video of their kid swimming, but...i'm your mom and it's my job to take obnoxious pictures of my baby!)

you were so mad that bunny couldn't come swimming with you!

pure excitement!

kisses for daddy!

Spring Break 2015

dear nora,

this week i didn't have to go to school (SPRING BREAK!) and we had the whole week to play together!  daddy was busy working (just the beginning of golf season!), so it was just some quality mommy & daughter time! 

we crammed a lot into one week...

monday we went to visit the easter bunny and you were very excited to see him!  you screamed "bunny!" as loud as you could when we walked up to the waiting area. 

your first sucker and you even said, "yucker! yummy!"

smiles for the easter bunny!

tuesday we got new shoes for you and went to pick up kate from school with dana, tyler, and their TWO doggies! 

sneaky aunt b & her pink doggie!

cool new sunnies

new kicks... velcro for daddy :)

awww the love is real! nora & kate after school

wednesday we went to story time at the library, ate lunch at the choo choo restaurant, played at the park and outside all night long!  you went to bed late and were exhausted by the end of the day! 

watching the train go by! you were so good at saying "look" because i told you no touch... 

... although you didn't listen ... 

riding the train! you kept saying, "train! riding!" 

your favorite activity of all time. PARK! 

such a little monkey! climbing all by yourself...

you got in and were so excited, even though it wasn't put together yet! 

we're off to galena for a quick family get-away thursday and friday!  i'm sure you're looking forward to swimming in the pool since you try to swim like a fish every night at bath time!
then it's time for easter egg hunts and family time this weekend!

love you bunches, bunny!  here's to hoping for a fabulous summer together!
xoxo,
mommy