21 months!!!

My sweet girl, my Nuggie, my Nelly Jane, my Janie, my Nelly Boo, oh how I love you!!!

Happy 21 months Nelia Jane!:) How is it possible that in three short months you will be two years old???!!! 

This is by far the most exhausting age, but hands down, it is also the most fun!  You have such a sweet, energetic, and silly personality.  You are a stubborn, strong-willed, and spirited little girl, constantly keeping us on our toes. At the end of the day though, this is the best job in the world! Being your mama fills my heart with so much joy and pride.

Over the last few weeks your vocabulary has grown so much!  You imitate so much of what you hear, which is a reminder to us that we have to watch what we say around you:) A few weeks ago as we were pulling out of the driveway I ran into the side of the garage with the mirror on our car and I am pretty sure I yelled out the F word - luckily you were too busy saying 'uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh' over and over that I don't think you noticed:) 

I love when we drive around our neighborhood you point out all the new spring flowers and say 'pretty', and when you see a bird flying in the air, you point and say 'birdie.'  I love how you grab my water bottle and say 'heavy', and how all cats are either 'Roary' or 'Mona' no matter what they look like:)

You have always loved singing, but now you actually like to sing along.  Your favorite song right now is 'Happy Birthday.' You especially love singing Happy Birthday to Nise (Denise), Hunnee (Hunter), Harli, and Opa:)  You are also quite the little dancer!  I am actually a bit jealous of your moves:) You like to twirl, jump in the air, snap your fingers, and wave your arms. 

I love that you are becoming such a little girly girl:) You love to wear my necklaces and bracelets.  You pretend that you are putting your makeup on in the morning, attempting to put mascara on your eyelashes and lotion all over your face:)  After you get dressed you like to look at yourself in the mirror and especially love when I put you in pretty dresses.

You love to put Elmo to bed in his little crib and you even cover him up with a blanket and give him one of your loveys and then you say 'shhh' and put your finger to your lips so that we all know that Elmo is sleeping:)  You have always blown kisses, but now you do it with a smooching sound. The other day we were driving and I heard you smooching in the backseat and I looked in the mirror only to find you giving your baby doll smooches all over her head.  You are such a sweetie pie!

We still go to Gymboree, which is by far one of your most favorite activites. You know all the songs and dances and you absolutely adore Miss Lucinda and Gymbo the Clown:)  Some of your favorite things right now are Jamba Juice playdates with Hunneee, playing in the sandbox at the park by our house, the Tacoma Children's Museum, Sesame Street (well, more specifically there is one episode that you love called Can't Sleep - I think you would watch that show over and over again), playing in my jewelry box, reading books together in the morning, bathtime with daddy, and playing with the iPad.

This is such a busy age - in fact, it has been so busy that I haven't had time to keep up with your monthly letters. But there is just so much that I want to always remember and so many little things that I don't want to ever forget.  You are truly the light of my life and I love you more than anything in this world.

xoxo
your mama

St. Patrick's Day painting fun!!!

Jamba Juice date:)

See, check out those moves girl!!! You got it going on!:)

Walking upstairs all by yourself

This is such a fun age!

The other day I decided to give Nelia peanut butter for the first time and I had heard from someone to put some on her skin first to see if she would have any type of reaction. So, I put some on the top of her hand. No reaction at all, she licked it all off, and loved it. The problem now is that she thinks every time I bring out the peanut butter that it is supposed to go on her hand. So, she sees the jar of peanut butter and holds out her hand to me. Silly girl!:)

Last week we went to the dentist (which by the way, it went pretty well and everything looks great) and we met the hygienist and shook her hand. Then we met the dentist (who was awesome!) and shook his hand. The next day we went to the pediatrician for an appt (poor girl had a rough week of appts!) and shook his hand. The following day Nelia insisted on shaking our hands all day long. She even tried shaking stranger's hands at the grocery store.

Last night I warmed up some milk to give her before bedtime and she grabbed the cup and handed it back to me and said 'hot.' I heated it for what I thought was the normal amount of time I always do, but just to be sure I poured a little bit on my wrist. Well, guess who watched me and soaked that all in?? Instead of drinking her milk she spent the next 20 minutes testing her milk on her wrist.

It is amazing to me how much she just watches us throughout the day. They are truly little sponges, aren't they?! Sometimes I don't even realize that she is copying me. Like, I was standing with my hands on my hips yesterday and I look over at her and she is standing the exact same way, lol!

Such a tiring, busy age, but so much fun!

And now, some pictures from the last week or two!

The Seattle Aquarium with Hunter and Lindsey - sooo much fun!!! We put both kiddos in my car and headed to Seattle.  Of course they loved sitting next to eachother (in fact, the entire next day every time we got in the car Nelia would ask for Hunter) and had fun at the aquarium.

This was by far the highlight of the aquarium. Forget the fish, the seals, and the touch tanks. This wooden octopus was where it's at!:)

What's up everybody, what's up?! Just another day at the park.

Happy Valentine's Day!  I think she loves her new Elmo:)

Uh-oh...time-out for baby and kitty. These two keep me on my toes all day long. Little troublemakers!

Her Valentine's Day outfit:)

Looks like she loved her new teddy bear from her sweet valentine, Hunter:) Or Huney, as she likes to call him.

Isn't this a glimpse of Nelia as a 5-year old? I love this picture, but it kinda scares me too.

Doing yoga with mommy! Oh, and please ignore the ridiculous amount of toys in the background.