Nicole // 2 Years

I can't say that I have two kids under two anymore. ;) Haha! We've finished another great year with this bright, happy girl. I am so proud of this little human with her empathy, her humor, her willingness to help and share, her intelligence and cheerfulness. She never fails to bring a smile to my face every day, and I LOVE watching her grow, learn, and develop.

By the way, it's SO true what they say about a toddler's vocabulary all of a sudden exploding at some point. Nicole has hit that phase, and I hear new words out of her mouth daily. She's always very proud and excited when she figures out a new word, and will repeat it over and over to make sure we hear her say it.

Let's see if I can capture the essence of Nicole at 2 years old:

+ She's a happy little social butterfly who loves to follow other kids around and imitate them and babble at them or share things with them.

+ She usually doesn't take a nap anymore (NOOOOOOO!!!!) but she still has "rest time" in her room every afternoon, and she takes it without protest. She will play in there by herself without complaint for up to 2 hours. On some magical, exhausting days she'll fall asleep for a nap... today was one of those days. Being a birthday girl takes a lot of energy, apparently!

+ Bubble baths are heaven.

+ Band-aids are the devil.

+ My dream of having a family of singers is well on it's way because Nicole can definitely carry a recognizable tune. She goes around the house singing the A B C's (some of the letters are correct and identifiable!) or belting the chorus of Let It Go or humming the tune of The Blue Danube. She loves Primary songs and nursery rhymes the most, or songs from the TV shows she watches.

+ She enjoys helping me cook/bake. I let her dump ingredients like flour into the bowl, or sprinkle cheese in the enchiladas.

+ She speaks in short 2/3 word sentences. She'll say things like, "Where it go?!" when looking for something or parade around with Doug's flip flops shouting, "MY shoes!" or ask for a second piece of her Halloween candy by saying "Two cake!" (cake and candy are synonymous to her, apparently) and it's just so fun to understand her better and better. My favorite is when she's trying to comfort Austin by patting him and saying, "I know, baby. I know."

+ One of her favorite foods is homemade pizza with whole wheat crust, covered in bell peppers and onions. She asks for "teeta" (pizza) aaaaaall the time. That was her early birthday dinner of choice last night, of course. She's actually quite the pizza snob; to her, nothing is better than homemade.

+ Other favorite foods: popcorn, clementines, pears, peaches, apples, grapes, Greek yogurt, green beans, ham (the lunch meat variety), and corn. Oh, and let's not forget our family favorite Tuscan Tomato Soup! She would chug that stuff if we let her.

+ She loves reading. When I'm nursing Austin, you'll often find Nicole on the couch next to me with a book for me to read to her.

+ Her current favorite movie is Despicable Me.

+ She has a deep, ever-enduring love for long walks. One favorite walking route is going all the way to the closest park to go down the slides (always on her back, never sitting up) and perhaps catch a glimpse of the horses that are kept on the property right next to the park.

+ Nicole has always been empathetic, but she just hit a SUPER empathetic phase where if a character in a book or movie gets upset or mean, she starts whimpering or full-out crying and asks us if it's going to be okay ("Okay? Okay?") over and over again. Whether it be that fuzzy yellow Seuss creature saying "Stop! You must not hop on pop!" or Miss Hattie scolding Margo, Edith and Agnes for not selling enough cookies, Nicole gets very concerned. Heaven forbid we watch a movie where a character dies. No Lion King for her any time soon...

+ She loves holding her baby brother and goes bursting into his room the moment she hears him wake up from a nap so she can see him. She always gives him a kiss goodnight before she heads off to bed in the evenings. She's a good helper and will find his burp cloths for me, or grab a clean diaper when he needs it. She shares her toys and blankets with him regularly.

+ Asks for frozen peas to eat at breakfast at least twice a week. Another favorite food.

+ Helps with chores such as loading/unloading the dishwasher, sweeping, putting in and taking out laundry, getting the mail, and wiping up spills/messes. I should start having her dust baseboards or something :D hahahaha!

+ Gets very sad when she realizes she's done something to upset Doug or me. She's so sweet and wants to make us happy and proud.

+ Searches the sky frantically whenever she hears a plane or helicopter. She loves the concept of flying (thanks to Peter Pan and that show Jake and the Neverland Pirates).

+ We took the guard rail off her twin bed because she never rolls anymore, so now she's in full-blown "big girl" mode.

Such a sweet girl. I feel like the following moment captures her personality and disposition perfectly: we have a bunch of traditional ball ornaments on our Christmas tree, and we went ahead and put them ALL over the tree, including on the bottom where Nicole can reach. Nicole will walk around the tree and very gently cup each of the ornaments in her tiny hands, never taking them off the branches or being rough. She exclaims, "Ball!" with each one she touches, and then steps back at the end to stare up at the glowing tree. Then she turns to go play elsewhere. She's full of energy and enthusiasm, but knows when to be gentle and draw limits. We love this little toddler of ours with all our might!

Happy birthday, Nicki baby! And here's to many more!

Nicole // 18 months

One and a half years of cheesy, chubby Nicole goodness! We love this little Chub Chub so much. And yes, she still warrants that nickname because of the rolls on the back of her legs and the fact that her neck is often still hidden by her chin rolls ;)

****More pictures after the updates :D

At 18 months, Nicole:

- Will play with anything and everything that she can push. Strollers, carts, empty boxes, laundry baskets, push toys, her high chair, the trash can... if she can push it, she'll be entertained.

- Only says a small handful of words regularly (mama, dad, hello, hi, bye, yes, no, stop, thanks) but is capable of saying a variety of words (bird, yogurt, breakfast, toys, baby, water, cereal, milk, book, and silly, to name a few)

- Loves her flower blanket, her yellow kitty, and her baby doll. These are the big 3 items that she refuses to let other kids touch. She sleeps with her blanket under one arm and her kitty under the other.

- Has 12 teeth, with 2 more on the way

- Loves being outside

- Only watches Daniel Tiger. Other shows or movies do not hold her interest very well. She is allowed to watch one episode of Daniel Tiger per day, which she gets very excited for... and then she sits snuggled up in the crook of my arm as we watch it together.

- Has already been going to nursery (a class for 18 month - 3 year olds at church) for a month, and has adapted very well. She prefers to be held by one of the adults at most times (except snack time and coloring time), but she'll ease into it.

- Reads to herself with much gusto. She'll turn pages and point at pictures and babble away.

- Is currently going through a Daddy phase. She loves playing with her daddy, and every night for the past little while when we ask her who she wants to put her to bed, she always chooses her daddy. SO cute.

- Is obsessed with our garage door. She loves pushing the button to open it when we go out to the car, and she claps every time it opens or closes.

- Spends a lot of time perched on one of the staircases, playing with toys or other random odds and ends

- Refuses to let me put bows or headbands on her head. Sometimes I can sneak a bow on, but she eventually notices and tugs it off.

- Is still occasionally mistaken as a boy. I blame the fact that her hair is so fine and hasn't completely come in yet. And the fact that she won't wear bows. ;)

- Loves waving, giving high fives, playing peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake, and will clap her hands and stomp her feet if you start singing "If You're Happy and You Know It".

- Excitedly goes up to every baby she sees so she can pat them on the head and try to poke their nose.

- Can (usually) correctly identify her: nose, eyes, mouth, tummy, toes, hands, head, ears, and feet. Nose and belly are her favorite ones.

- Is SO good at solo play. (I pray she keeps this up once the baby comes!) I can get in a good 30 minute at-home barre/yoga/zumba/etc workout every day and she'll just play around me and sometimes dance with me or go under my legs.

- Loves to dance! Sing a song she recognizes, and she'll rock out, as seen in the pictures below (I was singing to get her to cooperate... she just wanted to run around! Typical toddler).

She is so happy. I love walking into her room in the morning to see her smiling face. She is so enthusiastic about the things she loves, always finds ways to have fun, and is the master of getting strangers to smile, wave, and even laugh. I hope this addictive little personality of hers always stays bright and strong! Nicole, we love you soooooo much!

The One Where Nicole Takes Over

Hey, you guys. This is Nicole speaking!

Mommy let me take over for the day! I'm gonna tell you guys about how things are going right now, and Mommy's typing for me.

^^^I probably carry my 2 horses around more than any other stuffed animal. Yay for horses!

I'm pretty good at playing around the apartment, but sometimes I get a little stir crazy. Mommy won't let me play outside too much because it's freezing, but sometimes we'll go on walks or she'll bundle me up and let me walk around on the balcony while she watches from inside. Silly Mommy doesn't want to be out in the cold! My favorite is when we drive somewhere, like to a store or go to the Recreation Center so I can play with my friends there or go swimming. The ladies at the Child Watch are obsessed with me, apparently. I don't know what the big deal is... I just really like to smile, laugh, and talk! I cried when Mama came to pick me up after her class today because I didn't want to leave yet! (But... I was also really tired. That probably had something to do with it.)

Music is fun, and I like to dance. My favorite songs are the ones that are upbeat and jazzy. I really like those drums and brass instruments! Mommy's trying to get me hooked more on Disney music, but I prefer nursery rhymes right now. I love playing pat-a-cake! And singing along when Mom sings "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"!

Speaking of fun, I love trying to drop things in the trashcan. I almost got away with dropping 2 dominoes in there a while ago, but Mommy saw me do it, so she dug through the trash to get them back out again. Now she won't let me play with the dominoes anymore, and she puts heavy things on the trashcan lid. I retaliated that evening by grabbing the end of the toilet paper and parading down the hallway with it unrolling behind me. Now THAT was funny! Silly Mom and Dad should know better than to leave the bathroom door open!

Let's see. I love books, and I make sure to bring lots of books to Mommy all day long so she can read to me. I also love carrying around shoes and turning the TV on and off. Except Mom and Dad unplug it now when they're not using it. Wow, they really know how to ruin my fun, don't they?!

Food is awesome. I love fruit and veggies the most, as well as everything with dairy in it. I've decided that I don't like chicken, beans, or rice. Or fish. Or leafy greens. But other things are good. I'm trying to learn how to use those pointy forks, but I just can't get the hang of it.

^^^I really like looking out the window. Especially when daddy gets home. It's also fun to watch snow fall, and we've had a lot of it the past couple days!

I've had a slightly stuffy nose recently, so I've had to breathe out of my mouth. It's just more fun to breathe that way if my tongue is sticking out too, and my parents get a big kick out of that. I still love to snuggle, and I've started giving out kisses spontaneously instead of just when Mom and Dad ask for them. That little trick won me some big brownie points. I also frequently ask for hugs because, like I said, I love my cuddles.

The blender and vacuum scare me, I sometimes close my bedroom door and play by myself without Mama interrupting, and I like using my little broom to "sweep" all over the house. I'm a happy girl who loves life, and I love my parents so, so, so much. Mommy keeps telling me to stop growing, but I like being able to reach the edge of the table and some of the counters, so I'm just going to keep growing anyways. Don't worry Mama, I'll always be your little girl, even if I'm not always so little!