23 months

My sweetest girl,

How is it possible that in one month you will be two years old?!  It seems like just yesterday you were a teeny tiny baby, but at the same time it feels like I have been your mama forever.  When I look at you now, I see a little girl. In fact, when I call you a baby or I ask if you are mama's baby you very quickly say 'no, big girl.'

The other day you grabbed a pack of gum from my purse and unwrapped a piece and gave it to me.  Then you said 'one more', which is the cutest thing ever, and unwrapped another piece.  Then you said 'one more' and unwrapped another and you did this until you unwrapped the entire package:)  

Yesterday we were driving in the car and I sneezed and in the backseat I heard you say 'bless you' - seriously, your heart just amazes me. You are such a sweet girl!  We were stopped at a stoplight by our house the other day and they are doing some construction.  You were waving and saying 'hi tractor, bye bye tractor.'  Your vocabulary grows daily, if not hourly.  It is truly amazing to witness!  My most favorite thing you say right now though is 'love you mommy' - it makes my heart melt every time:)

Today you saw that I had a band-aid on my finger and said 'mama, owie.' Then you kissed it and said 'all bettter.'  Cute!

Your Uncle Brandon moved in this month, which has been an exciting change for all of us.  He will be here until the end of September working a seasonal job.  You absolutely adore your Uncle 'Bee Bee' and always give him hugs and kisses.  You love saying 'hi Bee Bee's car' and 'hi Bee Bee's bike' and you especially love when he plays with you on Thursday mornings while mama takes a break and runs errands.

We have been blessed with family this month!  Uncle Jim and Aunt Diane are living in Seattle for the next three months.  It has been such a gift having this time with them since normally we only see them once a year. We look forward to packing the next three months with much time spent together:)  You already love both of them so much!!!

You spent some time at the ocean this month, which was so much fun!!! You loved exploring in the sand and water and especially loved finding sand dollars.  You know how to say crab, sand dollar, sand, and seaweed now:)  You went with Opa and daddy last week and had a blast!  You made a sand cake and put sticks in as candles and then sang 'Happy Birthday' to Opa except you say 'Happy to you Opa, happy to you Opa...'

We celebrated a very fun Easter with our family and the Swansons (it was so fun having another little one for you to play with!).  You did your very first Easter egg hunt with your friend Camdyn, which you seemed to enjoy (well, I think you enjoyed the candy more than anything!).

This month has also been filled with many playdates, and again, we are so very thankful for our friends.  They help us fill our days with many fun adventures!

I can only imagine how quickly this month is going to fly by! It makes me a bit teary eyed thinking about my next letter to you - it is going to be your 2nd birthday letter.  But it also makes me so excited to see what this year is going to bring!  I know it will be amazing, because you are amazing.

I love you, my little Nelly Jane:)

mama