18 Month Update

It's absurd how much having a child reminds you how slowly your adult life moves. I feel like any time I randomly bump in to someone at Target that I haven't seen in awhile, it's the, 'Hi! What have you been up to? Same old? Yeah, us too.' Except that's not how it works in the nutty world of toddler. Every week there's something entirely new happening. Which is incredibly amazing. (But also not very interesting to those folks I run in to Target, I admit-- WE POOPED IN THE POTTY THIS WEEK for instance-- but you know, no big deal.)

But, speaking of over TMI'ing strangers, she totally pooped in the potty at 12 months. BOOM. Slowly starting to make the elusive bathroom connection now, in a less-accidental way... again, the strange things that only makes other mothers of toddlers happy.

But, on a side note, I can't get enough of staring at this face. I'm sure every parent will tell you that. But if you need me, I will still be staring at this face.

Which reminds me, here are a few stats of what's up:

Stats: Our sweet 'little' gal is officially so far off the chart we are speaking in years, not percentiles. Our 18-month old is the size of an average sized four year old, and the weight of a three year old. How does that even work?! (For comparison, I was 50th percentile at this point-- if this is any indicator of her future, she's going to have to head to Uncle James' jiu jitsu circuit to conquer all)

Likes: So many things! Some of which include: 

The Thomas theme song

Walter's tail

NOODLES.

NANI!

Her Dabo (pacifier)

Reading all the books

Finding Nemo (again, and again, and again...)

Tickles

Naming letters

Floor fuzzies

Bubbles.

Dislikes:

Bubbles. It's a love/hate relationship.

NOODLES. Also love/hate.

Favorite Words: 

Oh my!

Nemonemonemo!

Nope.

One, two, threeeeee.

Thomas

NANI!!

NAKED!!

Bath

Hi!!
Kitty!!
...and so many others. I've lost count. She will also repeat anything at you if you tell her. 

What I've learned this month: Watch yo' mouth. Our smart gal will tell show you how much you overuse common sayings, and embarrass you in front of your family if you let a dirty word slip. Whoooops. Learning opportunities ahoy! 

We had a date with Meghan and Olivia last Friday, and I can't get enough of those two. It's a darn shame they live so far away, I don't get to see them nearly enough! Here is a lovely shot of Olivia rockin' the shades.

A little Seahawk family photo from Superbowl Sunday (gotta love Norah's mischievous look. I believe that's Norah's 'oh, parents-- sadness is ahead' face.) #stillaproud12 :)

Christmas 2014

As usual, the holidays seemed to zip on by this year. I did something I hadn't done in years-- and actually got a super head start on shopping-- which helped tons. Even so, Christmas snuck up on us, and I can't believe it's over already! 

My mom has a wonderful tradition of going over to her mom's house every Tuesday, to visit Omi and Papa Vic. I happened to have a Tuesday off, so I got to tag along! Vic and Omi look forward to their visits, and as you can see, Norah quite enjoys herself as well!

We made an attempt at doing a few last minute Christmas poses this year... which was just about as easy as trying to wrangle cats in a box. We had fun though chasing Norah around attempting... I'm telling you, I have so much more respect for those beautiful holiday photos of toddler photos-- I'm highly questioning if there were tranquilizers involved.

How many chins do YOU have? I'm working on three... 

Christmas morning was adorable. We had set up all Norah's presents under the tree and let her run down the hallway, which turned out to be quite adorable! She turned out to be much more excited about all the bows than anything else, but it still warmed our hearts quite a bit.

Get. All. The. Bows.

After a big ol' pile of presents, we headed over to my parents house to continue the festivities! We all were very spoiled, and had a great time. After that, we headed over to Grandma's house, which was sad (first Christmas without my Grandpa), but there were lots of extra people there which helped a bit. (Still doesn't quite feel like he's gone... just out and about. Hurts my heart still.)

Following, we headed over to Bryan's parents house to celebrate there. We are certainly spoiled with lots of Christmases! Here are a few shots including my adorable nieces and nephews.

And an obligatory Walter and Norah shot from today:

Hope everyone had a happy holidays as well! (Love from all of us!)

16 Month Update

One thing I had not foreseen about having this beautiful new camera was the fact that my favorite subject might be too busy to be bothered by photos. This has definitely been the theme of the past few months. Not only has our bean been bopping around faster than we can understand, but she's just so darn excited about all the things that she's moving too fast for the lighting in our tiny house. This is why some of my favorite photos of her have been in our bedroom-- which is home to the best natural lighting. 

(our little ham)

Grandma and Grandpa Wisely also visited this month; Norah quickly showed them how much she loved to read!

Here are a few fun facts from this/last month:

Stats: She is off the charts in height as of her 15-month checkup, and 90th percentile for weight

Likes: Books, playing with all sorts of things (toy and non-toy-- magnets, the plastic utensil drawer, kitchen accessories), Super Why (show on Sprout), window clings, talking up a storm, Nana (she loves her Nana!) singing, the Daily Show introduction, copying sneezes (aaaaaah-dee!), ducks, remotes, letter blocks (she's getting quite good at pointing at the letters in her name and knowing what they are...nuts!)

Dislikes: Putting on puffy coats, sitting still (other than when reading)

Favorite Words: Owl, apple, meow--hi!! (whenever she sees a cat), dada, mom, NANA!!, nonononono, yup, yeaaah!!, aaaaah-dee

What I've learned this month: toddler girl hair, especially as long as Norah's, is incredibly difficult to manage. Pair long, curly-ish locks with learning how to use utensils, and you end up with long, silky curls coated in applesauce and turkey. The whale tail pony, adult-sized clips and bows are our friend at the moment. 

Is it possible that each month is my new favorite? I'm thinking so...

Getting a head start on Christmas

I am astounded at Norah's enthusiasm to meet Santa this year! She was a great trooper as we sorted through the mounds of fluff that is the toddler Christmas dress section, and cheerfully said 'hi' to all the people in the mall in her new pretty dress. +2 points for getting something in the holiday spirit well before we would have originally intended! (Holiday shopping is nearly halfway done... at this rate, I might be able to sit back and enjoy the holidays!)

Merry Christmas everyone! Oh, wait, it's not Thanksgiving yet?? Don't tell anyone... 

Halloween 2014

I feel like every blog post these days could start with, "if you want time to fly by, just have a child."

I feel like last Halloween was last month. Buying a little mouse costume, and reveling in the fact that it just looked so darn cozy. It was really a glorious improvement in kids costumes... a big bundle of fluff. So genius. This year wasn't so fluffy... and I was a bit nervous about it. Put a 15-month-old in a mountain of tulle and shiny polyester? Sounded like a meltdown. But the, "I am going to make her wear all the things I want before she decides she wants do be Dora the explorer every year until eternity" gene kicked in, and alas, we had a Snow White. And after fearing the meltdown all day, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she loves flurrfy things as much as I do. She seemed to rather enjoy herself. Exhibit A:

Turns out, the hardest part of the night was getting her to sit still long enough to take a picture! We got to visit Nana and Great Grandma, and do many laps around the house. Totally worth the $14 we spent on the costume. (A wonderfully written piece on babies in Halloween costumes can be found here.)

We topped out at around 10 trick or treaters total (which left us with a mound of candy), and had some folks over for a quasi-scary movie and some tasty treats. A fantastically low-key and wonderful night.

Schilter Farms

I have lots of great memories from childhood about visiting pumpkin patches. Favorite parts? Having an excuse to play in the mud, trying hard not to trip on vines and searching for that elusive perfect pumpkin. Since then, however, pumpkin patches have changed tremendously-- seems like you aren't allowed to sell a pumpkin on a farm without a pumpkin cannon, admission, a corn maze and most of a carnival. Which is cool, I guess, but I really love that squishy 'small farm' feel. Enter Schilter Family Farms. Sand tables, a petting zoo, and a toddler haystack maze in a barn were some of the highlights. Yes, there was a large corn maze too, I guess-- but the whole thing didn't feel like a darn carnival.

Get off my lawn! /old person rant. I guess you turn 29 and start to get fussy ;)

All in all, we had a blast! Bryan had the day off, which meant we got to get there early, enjoy the sights, pet the animals, chase the roosters (highlight of the trip for Norah), and pick out some pretty epic pumpkins. Next year will be even neater for her; when she's able to actually play more. It rained a bit-- but cleared up just in time to choose our squash. Again, a great day, and a perfect day after my birthday! (The hubs bought me a 50mm lens for my Rebel, I'm reveling in how much I love what it does to photos! Wow!)

Norah: Toddler edition.

Wow. I find it a bit odd, that as soon as I stop posting updates, the milestones start flying by. Norah was apparently waiting until the pass of her first birthday to start doing what other babies do earlier-- which is totally fine by me! This also means that the past month and half have been full of adorableness, changes, and all sorts of fun! 

What baby doesn't love playing with kitchen crap? This, in fact, has covered nearly all aspects of play though-- out of all the fancy toys, the best things to play with are always non-toys. Which is nice, because we don't have to lug toys around everywhere as much-- a menu or scraps of paper will do just fine.

(Oh, look-- bowl!)

Another huge milestone has been crawling/cruising/walking all at the same time. Okay, so not walking quite yet... but we're pretty darn close. She is down to holding one finger as she runs around. (Which, if you ever need me, that's what I will be up to! Booking it around the house/yard with my fingertips held hostage. She would play outside all day if you'd let her! I hope this keeps up all throughout her childhood... I would love to have an outdoor baby!)

Football season is also upon us! And why yes, all three of us have Wilson jerseys.  What can I say, the man's good. Bryan is very excited that Norah is finally sporting the jersey too! 

It's also been fun having her interact with other babies. Olivia (Meghan and Chris's only) has been excellent company so far, and doesn't mind coming over and getting massively licked by Walter, or having to share toys with Norah. It's been going quite well so far, those two are actually pretty precious together. I am amazed at how quickly babies recognize their own and start a little pack of wonder.

I really couldn't have asked for more this summer. The weather has been fabulous; Norah has turned in to this toddler who repeats sounds, remembers and answers questions you ask her, knows how to 'talk' to us, and loves to dance and eat everything that comes her way. She is even learning to play fetch, which makes our other fur baby quite happy. Now if time could just slow down just a little bit...