Enna: 14 months

Enna,

My girl, you are the life of the party around here. We enjoy you so much. Every single day just gets better with you.

You started walking this month and haven't stopped going since. Once you decided that you wanted to walk, you were determined to see it happen and did not give up until you were cruising around like it was second nature.

You are a ball of energy. You can go for hours on end without stopping. Napping is take or leave it with you sometimes, but when we are home you definitely love your bed.

You point and shake your little finger at everything you want. You have also started throwing fits when you don't get your way. You dramatically cry and wail until you realize that no one is coming to your rescue and you forget about it.

You love music, babies, your sibling's toys, eating snacks ("na"), walking around with a bottle, screaming at the top of your lungs, giving hugs, and sucking your thumb.

You are super affectionate. You love to give hugs to your brother and sister on your terms, but do not want to be squeezed too much by them. You always reach out to the other kids in the church nursery and say a sweet little "ahhh" as you put your arms around them. It is very sweet!

You love your Daddy and get so excited to see him. You ask for him when you wake in the middle of the night and you first thing in the morning. When you see your Daddy play during worship at church you do this laugh/cry. It is like you are nervous about him being on stage and it upsets you, but at the same time you really want to hear the music. It is precious!

I am so glad that you joined our lives and grateful for all the fun you bring.

Love,

Mama

13 months

Enna,

You are already 13 months old and still are not walking. You are getting better at taking steps and really great at standing up in the middle of the room, but you still plunk down on your little behind after about 3 or 4 steps. You want to get into everything and love to climb stairs so I am just really really ready for you to get this walking thing down. My back is getting tired from bending over and "walking" you everywhere. :)

You are so fun and full of life. You are a loud screamer and full of excitement most of the time. You definitely have your opinions about things and want things just the way you like or else you fling yourself back and throw a monster fit. You are generally pretty laid back about life when you are around other people and do great at church, but when it comes to Mommy, you really let me know what you think.

You are still nursing-about 3-4 times a day and finally sleeping all the way through the night. I am feeling so much better and have even been waking early to get ready and spend time reading my Bible. It's really great! You are easy to leave and don't mind not nursing when I am gone, but you want to nurse whenever I am around.

You love to eat. You eat a lot of hummus (your absolute favorite right now) and sweet potatoes. You also like yogurt, cereal, raisins, cheese, tortillas, sweet potatoes, avocado, and black beans. You still love tea and you are so great at drinking out of a sippy cup.

You love baby dolls and like to sleep with one for naps and night. You also like your blankets a certain way and seem to like lying on your side with the bumper partially folded down like a pillow. You still suck your thumb for comfort and to go to sleep.

You are a little terrified of animals. It is actually quite funny. You are super excited to see them, but if they get too close you freak out and grab me frantically.

You say "mama" and "dada" all the time and are thrilled when Daddy gets home every day. You sure do love  your Daddy.

You are growing and learning new things every day which makes this stage with you really fun even though we have to watch you every second right now. You are super loving to your siblings and give hugs and pat their backs. It is so sweet to watch you develop relationships which each person in our family.

Love,

Mama

Enna- 11 months

Enna,

My dear, you are just about 2.5 weeks shy of one year and it kills me to think that my baby is indeed growing up. That being said, you are so much fun right now!

You are saying a few words now: Mama, Dada, bath (ba or da), uh-oh, hi, and night-night (na na). You make lots of noises for different phrases and repeat sounds that we make. You wave goodbye, sign all done, and love to makes "indian" noises.

You are standing alone for a few seconds, but still unstable. You have yet to take any steps on your own, but are a crawling machine. Definitely taking your time in this area.

You squeal and scream and love to be heard. You are opinionated and don't like it when toys get taken from you. You don't like getting dressed or diaper changed when you are tired or hungry. And it is a toss up on bedtime...sometimes you want your bed and other nights you decided that bed is the absolute last place you want to be. You keep us on our toes for sure!

You are pretty flexible and are a late-nighter. You started sleeping great after we had a ton of late activities, keeping you up past your bedtime. You sleep long in the morning and love to nap for a couple hours or more for your first nap. Still taking two good naps a day most days.

After a few weeks of sleeping all night, you developed a virus (Roseola) and were sick for an entire week. That being said, you developed a love for waking often again, but I am hoping that it will be short-lived.

You are super easy to take places and stay contentedly in your stroller for long periods of time. You love to observe and don't fuss much unless you see Mommy.

Your thumb sucking is still just about the cutest thing about you ever. You suck your thumb and hold your ear and it is so sweet. I know it is going to be hard to break the habit, but for now it is so super cute.

You have 8 teeth and more almost breaking through. Teething is no fun for you, but that isn't really a surprise.

You are a joy and a sweetheart!

Love, Mama

Enna Rhys-10 months

Dear Enna,

Well, it is evident that you are indeed a third child as this letter is 11 days late. Yep, 11. But, better late than not at all, right? And I love you just the same either way.

What a month! You are finally crawling on hands and knees, pulling up to stand, walking along things, wanting to walk holding our hands, and standing alone every once in awhile. Your development is starting to really take off and it is so much fun to watch you learning new things. The only down side is that you are at that really wiggly, don't want to be held, but don't want to be put down stage. So, enjoying social activities with you is getting a lot harder.

You are eating well. You are still a little timid about self feeding, or it just gets old and you give up after a few bites. You aren't the eating enthusiast that your sister was, that's for sure. You still love purees and it's simple enough, so I do that a lot. Your favorite food is yogurt though. You LOVE yogurt....and peas. You have had a lot more gagging and choking lately, but I think it is just coinciding with the nasty cold you have had and all the phlegm in your throat because you have had a lot of trouble with finger foods lately. Oh, and you have pretty much given up eating crackers and puffs. I am hoping it is just because you are teething because snacks were my ticket to getting dinner started. You are still nursing about 5-7 times a day. Yes, no signs of weaning here.

You nap well. And I honestly can't believe I am writing that after all the nap drama we had with you for so long. Two good naps a day that usually last 1.5-2 hours. I am in love with your naps because it is the only time of day I can potentially get anything done. I say potentially because your two siblings also like to use that time to eat up all my attention (which is okay, as long as it isn't being eaten up by breaking up fights between them).

You say da-da and ma-ma all the time, but not directly at us. You seem to know the difference and repeat them when we say them. You also say na-na (for night night) and wave your hands all done when I say it. You started clapping a few days ago which is super cute and know the word for clap because your two little hands smack together when I say it. So cute! You seem to understand a lot of things and I get excited to communicate more with you as your language starts to develop.

You love baby dolls--hugging them and patting them. It is seriously the most precious thing ever. You like to be outside. You don't like to be left by anyone. You prefer Mommy over pretty much everyone. You love your thumb. You hold your ear when you suck your thumb which is pretty sweet. You like your bed. You don't like hugs. You don't like toys being taken from you. You like to scream just to scream. You love when you see everyone in the morning. You love baths and nearly fall in the tub if we don't get you undressed fast enough. You don't like bike helmets. You like to be held a lot. You sometimes bite me and think it is funny. You love to go places where there are lots of people. You smile at strangers. You are a squealer when you are excited. You love to "bounce" on the trampoline. You love getting into anything that seems remotely off limits. You love music.

You are a sweet gift from the Lord. You are so loved and enjoyed in this household.

Love,

Mama

P.S. You still don't sleep through the night. Can we figure this out soon, please? Mama is tired.

Enna- 9 months

Enna,

You are actually 9 1/2 months as I write this, but better late than never I guess! You are turning into such a fun little sweetheart these days and learning new things daily. I am amazed at at how suddenly you are taking off in growth and development.

You finally crawled this month...just before turning 9 months. You don't crawl on your hands and knees, but wriggle your way around with your elbows. You sit for a long time without going anywhere and you haven't ventured very far so we haven't had to do much as far as child-proofing the stairs yet. 

You are becoming more of an adventurous eater, eating 3 meals a day and just starting to pick up food. You are still loving purees mostly-sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, zucchini are your favorites. You still don't like bananas, but I can sneak them into oatmeal in the morning. 

You have 7 teeth now and an 8th breaking through very soon. Teething has been pretty awful with you. You have been waking often at night and it has been rough, but we will get through eventually.

You still nurse about 4-5 times during the day and 1-2 times at night. I do not think we are close to weaning at this point and I have mostly enjoyed nursing. However, you are starting to bite me more often as you get more teeth and it's been a pain (quite literally).

You had your 9 month appointment one week late and you weigh 18 lbs. 2.5 oz., and are 28 1/2 in. long (47th for weight and 77th for height)

Love you sweet girl!

Mama

Enna- 8 months

Enna,

How is it even possible you are 8 months old already? It seems like the baby of the family just doesn't stay a baby for long at all.

This month has been a doozy. Oh, yeah. And my seriously sleep deprived brain is almost unable to recall much of what has happened. But we have burned the midnight oil with you most nights, that is for sure!

You spent a lot of the month feeling poorly. You had a terrible cough that you got from your sister and then that went away for a few days and then you had a rough few days with teething and then you started in with another runny nose that turned into full blow chicken pox and now that you are finally finishing those you have another cough. Okay...now I am going to take a deep breath. Ahh. That pretty much sums up last month.

However, despite your ill-feeling state, you stayed relatively happy during the day. I mean, some days were rough, especially on those first few days of pox, but you stilled tried to smile and play and be happy even when you felt miserable.

You now have 4 teeth and are working on 5 and 6 erupting any day. Seriously, they are all coming in fast. I'm guessing you will have 8 teeth in the next few weeks. Can I pause here and say I loathe teething...like really loathe the teething process. Okay, moving on.

You are not mobile yet, but you are starting to scoot places. You will be full out crawling soon.

You pretty much gave up solids for a little while, but are slowing starting up again. You still do not like to self feed and you don't like anything but homemade purees. And you still hate most fruit, especially bananas.

The chicken pox were a completely unexpected turn of events for this month and it really stunk for everyone involved. You were so miserable and we felt so helpless!

Here you are 4 days ago, exactly 8 months old.

And, this is how you really felt about the chicken pox.

Now, you are scabby and crusty all over, but smiling and playing again. You have a nasty cough, but you are dancing to music and babbling and being your normal self most of the time that we are SOOOOO happy. We sure missed you sweet girl!

Love,

Mama

7 months

Enna,

You are so sweet right now and I can't get enough of you! Could we just pause you right here for an eternity? 

You are not mobile yet, but want to go places. I am thrilled that you are staying put for now. You are sitting up, but still not consistently, so I always have to put a pillow behind you for those random falling over moments. 

You still just have 2 teeth, but the top 4 are nearly breaking through. I am assuming by next month you will have 4-6. 

Even though you were the earliest to get teeth, your eating habits are a little bit slower to develop. You nurse about 6-7 times a day and then eat solids about 2 times a day. You are hit and miss with the solid food, but are doing better. You like eating little puffs, but don't want to pick them up and put them in your mouth on your own. Your sister usually helps you out on that one. 

You are still a relatively good sleeper although your nearly emerging teeth have led to both nap and nighttime sleep disruption. You are waking 1-2 times a night to eat. You dropped that 3rd nap about a week or so ago and now just take 2 a day, leaving you up for the last 4-5 hours of the day. You hardly make it to a 7:00 bedtime. 

You are so happy. You rarely cry unless you get hurt or are hungry. You started screaming about going down for naps, but only for a few seconds. You giggle, you scream, you babble, and everyone loves you.

The biggest accomplishments this month were taking a bottle for the first time and reaching out your arms for us. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I was thrilled when you took a bottle from me, gulping it down like you have never refused before. What newfound freedom I have found! Though I prefer to nurse you, it's been nice knowing I can make plans and you will take a bottle from someone else or go to bed for Daddy. The arms reaching out are just too stinkin cute. You mostly reach for me, but also will go happily to other people. But Mama is your favorite...and that is okay with me!

We love your easy going nature and the fun you bring to our lives. You are loved Enna Rhys!

Mama

6 month, 1week stats: 16 lbs. 6 oz. and 26.5 in.

6 months

Enna Bear,

This is hands down my absolute favorite baby age! I've said that 6 months is the best with each baby and you have proved it yet again...I love this stage!

You are finally sleeping longer than 30 minutes for a nap! Can I say amen, amen, and amen? I wondered if you would every get past this difficult napping stage, but a couple weeks ago it seemed to just click. You still take quick on the go naps at times, but at least once a day you sleep for 1.5 hours or more.

It's been fun getting to know you better as your personality starts to shine through. You are always smiling and making eye contact with everyone. You squeal when you see us in the morning and you giggle often.

You have 2 little teeth and are getting more. You drool all day long and if I didn't put a bib on you we'd change your outfit 4 times at least. You chew on your hands and toys all the time and are mildly more fussy, but overall you are doing well with teething (no ear infections yet, PTL!)

You are not a big eater and prefer rice cereal to anything else you have tried. You DO NOT like bananas! Every time we try them you make a horrible face and spit them out. I didn't know if was possible for a baby to refuse a banana before you. You also aren't a big fan of other foods unless I sneak them into your cereal. You do like to chew on pear slices, but anything mashed up usually gets spit back out. You like to drink water out of your sippy cup and even took some breastmilk out of it the other day! You mostly just eat once day, and nurse about 5-7 times still. You wake about once a night to eat, but last night you slept all the way through (11.5 hours). You love to sleep at night and have always done pretty well, even when you aren't feeling well. I am so thankful for that!

You don't sit up that well yet, but I think it is because you just want to lunge forward and grab everything. You love to scratch all surfaces, grab things, and love tags on toys. You play a lot in the exersaucer or on your tummy. You can roll over, but do not prefer to be on your back.

You are a thumb sucker for sure and it's been a great thing now that you can soothe yourself well with your thumb. I think this helps you sleep well in the car or when we are out and about.

Enna you are a blessing! Your sweetness makes our days so much happier and we love to see your big smile. You are very adored by your sibling and they can't seem to quit loving on you all day long!

Enna- 5 months

Enna,

I'm almost 2 weeks late in writing this little monthly update and I have no good pictures to contribute, but nevertheless I must write before I skip 5 months altogether!

It's been a busy month and by far my favorite with you. You have suddenly blossomed into such a fun baby and so interactive. The bloody murder screamy days are behind us (crossing fingers) and you are surprising us with your easy-going manner.

You still sleep very little during the day, with a random long nap thrown in every couple weeks or so (I think you finally decide you need to catch up a bit). You do sleep about 13-14 hours a night and wake once (sometimes twice) between 4-6 to eat. You usually are in bed between 7:30-8 and wake anytime from 7:30-9:30, with the average being close to 9am. I love that you sleep in, but wish your brother and sister would sleep longer too! You have no predictable nap routine and I've learned to just throw all expectations or schedule ideas out the window...you will not conform to a set pattern, but just do your thing day in and day out. You can stay awake for hours on end and still be smiling and playing like you have all the energy in the world.

Your favorite things right now:
-putting things in your mouth
-reaching for and grabbing everything(even your feet!)
-scratching on every new surface (Aidan did this same thing)
-playing in your exersaucer (all the time!)
-going places (church, someone's house, anywhere that has new, fun things to look at)
-screaming with delight, giggling at your siblings
-looking at books with fun colors and pictures
-being sung to by Mommy or Daddy
-sucking your thumb

Things you used to hate, but now don't mind:
-riding in the car used to be an all out screamfest, but now you are quiet and happy and often fall asleep (gasp!)
-you went through a phase of being freaked out about baths for a few weeks, but now are fine with it again
-taking walks in the stroller
-sleeping in your bed!
-putting yourself to sleep (this is a case by case basis, but we are making HUGE progress!)
-waking up in your bed (it used to be a horrible tragic thing to find yourself in there, but now you roll over and coo for awhile unless you have a gas bubble)

Oh Enna, you are a constantly changing wonder. You have definitely forsaken the pacifier now and prefer your thumb (only the right one like your older brother did). You do know how to suck it both lying on your back, stomach, or sitting upright in the carseat (which is probably the reason you are the first of our children to fall asleep easily in the car at this age). You finally started soothing yourself to sleep and sometimes lay your head right down, but other naps you scream and roll around and get all worked up. You don't fall fast asleep in the baby carrier anymore, but you still like to be carried. You love to nurse to sleep on occasion, but don't need to and sometimes won't go to sleep even when I try to nurse you to sleep. There just isn't that ONE thing that I can say I've got figure out with you.

You are going to be the life of the party in this family. Oh wait...we already have 2 of those! :) You never want to stop and take a break from the action. You give all sorts of eye contact to people around you and great big smiles. We get lots of comments on how HUGE your mouth opens when you smile (or cry). You are going to a be an early mover I think....not certain, but you seem to want to get places like the other two did.

You got 2 teeth this month (the earliest of the 3), but you are still our tiniest baby overall. At your 4 month appt. (1 week late), you weighed in at 13 lbs. 9 oz. and were 25.5 inches long. The smallest by 1.5 lbs. and longest by 1/2 an inch! You are still a great nurser and eat about 6 times every day. I started you on rice cereal and you still only eat once a day. I've tried a few other foods, but you seem to not like food as much as the cereal (which is pretty much just thickened breastmilk at this point).

You are so sweet and everybody loves you! We are really enjoying you more and more and can't wait to see your personality blossom even more in the coming months.

Love,

Mama

Enna- 4 months

Enna,

There are no words to describe these pictures---eek! heart melting cuteness! You are a bundle of sweetness mixed with some intense personality. 

You were pretty much sick this entire month and it was hard for us. We spent A LOT of time together, you and me. You decided that Mommy was best for sleeping on, and that sleeping was way overrated, but we persevered through it all.

You pretty much stopped napping longer than 30 minutes give or take 10. You can even sleep for 5 minutes in the car and call it good. Crazy baby! You take about 3 naps a day (very short naps) which usually take awhile to get you settled down for. I tend to let you sleep in the baby carrier more often than not because it's the no hassle no fuss way to get you to conk out. If you think I'm trying to get you to take a nap, you all out scream like your life depends on it.

For all the lack of sleeping ( although, did I mention, you are doing pretty well at night?), you are pretty content and happy to be playing. You love your exersaucer and you pretty much stay in that most of the time while drooling, chewing on your hands, and grinning from ear to ear at us.

You are social. You love to talk and coo and smile at us all the time, but you also like your space and don't always like the hugs and squeezes you get from your siblings.

You are pretty easy to take places (an on the go baby), but being at home is hard because you hate to settle down to sleep and it makes it hard with our schedule and trying to homeschool!

You decided that you are now freaked out about taking a bath and scream like crazy when I put you in the water...on the flip side you giggle when I change your diaper. 

My favorite thing with you is nursing you every day. You are so sweet and you rub your little hands on me as you eat. You nurse a lot during the day. I started nursing you more on demand when you were sick so we haven't gotten back to a schedule really. I'd say you nurse about 2-3 hours though most of the time. 

You are such a great addition to our family and I am so blessed to have you. God is so good to us and we are so grateful for you.

Mama

3 months: Enna

Enna,

You are the sweetest little thing right now! How I love your big eyes and smiles. You are so active and aware and love to interact with the world.

This month has been fun. You started sleeping 10-12 hours straight at night for a couple of weeks. I was pretty surprised by your sudden sleep change after getting up several times a night with you for  the first 2 months. Then, you got a cold and started waking up again. I really can't complain though because you are still sleeping from about 8-4 or 5am and then again until around 7:30-8. Your naps on the other hand are pretty short and you don't like to go to sleep during the day. It seems like some days napping is easy for you and others you fight it all day long. 

Putting you to sleep is the hardest part of life with you right now, although some days you put yourself to sleep with minimal crying. You have changed preferences so many times  it's hard to know what to do for you. It used to be that you had to stand and be bounced, but now we can sit and rock you. You liked to be held upright, but then cradled, and now upright again. You took a pacifier to be rocked, then your thumb, and now your fists or thumb or nothing. You used to like being patted, but now you know we are there and you want to be picked up. And, screaming usually wore you out that we could pick you up and you'd relax, but now you just want to look around and talk instead. Oh Enna, I long for predictability with you, but I also know that it will come with time and that will also mean you are older and I'm not sure I'm ready for that either.

You are super content during the day when you are awake, which makes the lack of napping much easier on all of us. You can sit happily for long periods of time in your bouncy seat (your preferred place to "play"). You also love to be talked to and just like to look around at everything and everyone. You have your fussy time in the evening and want to just sit on our laps or be held.

Your smile is huge and you really smile with your whole face. You are starting to talk more and you are close to giggling. Oh, I can't wait!

You do not take a bottle still and you nurse about 6 or so times a day. You eat every 2ish hours right now, but sometimes go 3-4 in the afternoon. You weigh somewhere between 13-14 lbs. and are at least 25 inches long (or longer). You are wearing 6 month stuff already because you are so long and lean. 

You are such a fun part of our family and I love how everyone loves on you. I so enjoy your sweet little snuggles and I can't wait to get to know you better.

Love,

Mama

Enna- 2 month letter

Enna,

You are actually 10 weeks old today and Mama is way behind on blogging due to the fun you have brought to our everyday life. :)

You have mellowed out some in the past month. You are smiling all the time now and love to be talked to. You definitely get A LOT of attention around here--sometimes too much for you to handle. You are the most smiley and talkative in the early morning and when you get your diaper changed.

You started sleeping longer hours in the night when I took you to PA this month for my cousin's wedding/Grandma's birthday. You traveled well on the plane, but HATED the car ride from Philadelphia to where we were staying. Most car rides were rather screamy, but you learned a little flexibility while we were there. You have tolerated the car much better in the past 2 weeks.

Now that you are only waking about once a night, I am starting to feel more rested, but look forward to a full night's sleep happening in the next few months. You are not easy to wake for a dream feed, so your longest stretch is usually from 7-8 pm until 3-4am. I wish you would start that stretch at 10 or 11, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

You love to be outside and like taking walks in the stroller as long as you don't have to be in your carseat. You like baths and your bouncy seat. And, you stay pretty content sometimes just lying on your back on the bed looking around.

You are super alert and have great head control which is something that people notice right away. You are soaking up the world around you and wanting so much to interact with it. I think that is probably why you struggle to nap during the day sometimes.

You are sleeping in your room all the time now and sleep on your tummy. You like to suck on your fist and pacifier to sleep. You don't put yourself to sleep very well, but prefer to be rocked or held. You also like to have your bottom patted. You are finally letting me sit when holding you when you are tired, so that is an improvement. There has been a lot less crying/screaming in our days and that makes me very grateful. You also love to sleep in the baby carrier. If you are having a rough day I strap you in there and you usually go right to sleep.

We are enjoying you so much. I sometimes feel sad that I don't always have as much time to spend loving on you, but I think you don't mind too much.

Love,

Mama

You weighed 11 lbs. 9 oz. and were 23 in. long at your 2 month checkup. That puts you in the 50th percentile for weight and 70th for height.

Enna Rhys- 1 month

Dear Sweet Enna,

It has been a little bit of a whirlwind since you came into this world a month ago.

You are so very precious to me and I am so grateful for the gift that you are. Your name (Enna) means "renewer" and Rhys means "enthusiastic." I am so excited to see how God uses you in the years to come.

This month has been an adjustment for us all. You have had to get used to being the 3rd baby and not always getting your every need met when you want. You have also had to go along with whatever plans we have for the day (you have even been to the zoo twice already!). While you don't seem to be the most flexible baby, I hope you adjust to our busy life.

You have the loudest cry/scream. That was one of the first thing I noticed when you were born. You are quite possibly a match for your older brother in that department, although you tend to give up on screaming a lot sooner than he ever did. You also have the cutest little lip quiver which accompanies the crying...but also happens when you are happy and looking around--cutest thing ever!

You don't  like the carseat, which is typical for a Simmons baby and scream/cry in the car most of the time. You don't really like to be tired either, and have a hard time settling down to sleep unless rocked, carried, shushed, patted, walked around, given a pacifier, or none of the above. :) You are not always very easy to figure out, but we are getting there.

You are an excellent eater and have grown so much this last month. You weighed 9 lbs. 5.5 oz and were 21 1/2 in. at your one month appointment. You nurse about 7-8 times a day (about every 3 hours). You wake up a couple times in the night to eat too, but I am hoping as you pack on the weight you will start sleeping longer stretches because I am so very tired these days.

You sleep on your tummy during the day (or in our arms) and we swaddle you at night and you sleep in our room/bathroom in the rock n play. I am ready to soon move you to your room at night though. Your naps are sporadic. Sometimes you sleep great and sometimes you are awake and fussy. There is really no way to predict what it will be. I think you and Nora must have some sort of secret club, because when one of you sleeps, the other doesn't.

I am really looking forward to getting to know who you are as you grow. Even though you've been fussy, you've still brought me so much pleasure. It is such a wonder to hold you and nurse you. I know that someday I'll miss all the extra cuddle time we've had this first month.

Love, Mama

Nora: 2 years old letter

Nora,

My sweet little girl, I can't believe you are already 2 years old! You have brought such joy and brightness to our lives. You seem to get cuter every day and your sweet little voice makes us all smile....even Aidan.

We love to see you experience life because you are so excited about everything and have so much expression. You are filled with delight and wonder over the simplest of things and have such a genuine spirit that I find myself in awe as I observe you.

You love accessories of any kind and usually carry a handful of toys from room to room. You are also generally decked out with a hat, purse, sunglasses, and toys when we go on any outing. I love seeing your little style coming out already.

You love dress up and princesses, high heels and makeup...you are indeed our girly-girl. You clomp around in your "princess shoes" and put on your chapstick meticulously. We smile at the contrast you make to your rough and tumble older brother.

You are affectionate and love to be held, rocked, cuddled, kissed, and hugged. I love all the little ways you love on me. I love all the nights of rocking you at bedtime, even if you don't enjoy going to sleep on your own still. :)

You are flexible, easy going, spirited, happy, full of life, sweet, cuddly, beautiful, silly, and a lot of fun.

I am so excited to experience life with you and to see you grow up in the Lord. I pray that you become a strong woman of God, a "woman of honor" as your name indicates.

You are loved and always will be.

Love,

Mama

Nora: 23 months and a bathtub photo shoot :)

Favorite things you say: I need nappett! (napkin), Where baby wizerd?(lizard), What happened?( says this all the time in response to us sighing, saying oh no, or anything like that), I wanna eat sumpin!, (hears noises) They building house?, I want legurt! (yogurt), Eat hummus?, My babin soup! (bathing suit), and so many more!

Favorite things you do: love playing hide and seek (hides in laundry closet and stays quiet each time or lays on kitchen floor and covers eyes), loving on babies and stuffed animals, eating!, reading books, going to the park, being outside, following Aidan, bathtime, and being rocked.

Least favorite things: going to bed, riding in the car, waiting for food to be prepared, being chased by Aidan, and having toys taken away.

New things you did this month: painted with watercolors, used a fork proficiently, started sleeping longer for naptime

You are becoming more independent, but also want to be the baby. You are definitely jealous when I give attention to other babies and go nuts when I hold them. You want to make sure they know that I am your mama. You are sassy and sweet and full of energy. We are entering some new territory with you now that you are starting to be more willfully disobedient, but you seem to respond well to correction. You are easily coerced and influenced by your brother's behavior, so we are trying to help him see that he needs to set a good example to you.

You are a blessing and joy!

Mama

22 months

Nora,

Oh, you are a bright spot in our lives! It is hard to believe that you are soon going to be 2 years old (especially since I am writing this monthly letter 2 weeks late).

You are turning in to a big girl with lots of personality and lots of preferences. You are a great communicator and are putting words into sentences all the time. You say so many funny things and repeat things you hear in that cute little voice that it makes me want to stop and soak it all in because I know soon it will change and you will be talking clearly and carrying on conversations like you've done it all your life.

You are a delight to observe. You play very well and have such a fun little personality. You can keep busy at something for a long time. You love to gather toys and carry them places and you love to get dressed up in hats, carry purses, and put on shoes. We never know what kind of ensemble you will put together!

You love to eat, but are picky about some foods. Your taste for food is more unique and you aren't into eating pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, or sandwiches. You would prefer hummus, minestrone soup, couscous, or noodles of any kind. You are a juice drinker and really would rather drink juice or milk all day instead of water.

You are a good sleeper and take one good longer nap a day, but can easily skip it and be happy for the day if need be. You usually have a melt down around dinnertime, but you survive. :)

You love to swim. You are affectionate and kind. You love your brother. You are high energy. You smile a lot. You scream a lot too! You love to sing songs and read books. You love your baby dolls. You love stuffed animals (especially bears and monkeys). You are fearless in a lot of ways, but also timid in others. You are outgoing with most people, but give some people "the face." You are pleasant. You love to be outside.

You have started throwing tantrums more and more lately, but you seem to respond well to correction. You like to be consoled and loved on after you receive discipline. I know that the tantrums will probably decrease as better communication occurs.

You love life and we love watching you enjoy it so much. You are a blessing!

Love,

Mama

Nora: 21 months

My sweet little girl,

You are a bundle of sweet and sassy, with a flare of drama mixed in between. In some ways you can be both predictable and unpredictable at this age. You are always easy going, super content and self-entertained when away from home or in any new environment. At home you are sometimes busy and content for hours while other days you fling yourself around and scream or cry to be held all day.  I am just happy that the latter happens less often than the former.

You are downright funny these days, repeating our every word and saying all sorts of funny sentences that you hear. I love to hear your little voice and you LOVE to talk. You have finally figured out how to say "yes" when asked a question although you usually say "no," pause, and say "yesh." It makes me sad to think that someday I won't hear your cute little 1 year old responses to questions.

You are such a girly girl. You love shoes and dressing up, wearing hats and carrying purses, wearing jewelry, pushing strollers, taking care of babies, and getting your toenails painted. You are such a "little mama" to your dolls and babies and have to carry them with you everywhere. You sleep with several stuffed animals and babies, as well as books, blankets, and other toys.

You love books right now. You love to sit and look at them for long periods of time and you love to be read to as well. You usually read to yourself before you fall asleep for naps and nighttime. I can usually count on finding you sound asleep on top of a book most days.

You still love to eat... all the time. You love snacks and all sorts of weird foods. Things you don't like: hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches, deli meat, vegetables. Things you love: hummus, tortillas, soup, pasta, peanut butter (by the spoon!), fruit, crackers, apple sauce, and anything else that you dip into (salsa, dressing, etc...).

You are a lot of fun and I love getting to know you better as your personality begins to develop and your communication becomes more consistent. You love life! Most people ask me "is she always that happy?" when we are out together because you love to smile and giggle at everyone. You also say "happy" a lot and sing "oh happy day" when in the car.

I love you little girl!

Mama

20 months: A letter

Nora,

You are a hoot! I selected this picture because it sums you up so well right now. You are expressive, funny, and you enjoy life to the fullest. You have us laughing all the time.

You are turning into such a big girl these days. You want to do everything your brother does and it is really sweet to watch you imitate him (as long as it's good behavior). You want to eat your meals at the big table and sometimes I let you even though you are much more easily contained in your highchair still. You have started to ask to use the potty and have been successful at going, but I am not quite ready to train you yet. You are putting yourself to sleep now for both naptime and bedtime. And you are communicating really well. You repeat most words and some phrases too. You love to repeat what Aidan says the most.

You have decided not to  be afraid of water anymore which is great! You love the baby pool and you loved the lake when we went last weekend. You are becoming quite the little fish!

You are adventurous, but also cautious. You are silly and shy. You are expressive and you are still. You are loud and you are quiet. You are cuddly and you are busy.

You love reading books lately and have a great attention span for some of our longer books. I think you love just sitting with Aidan and listening to me read because it makes you feel grown up somehow. You interact a lot with the books and seem to follow some of the stories too.

You love Dora and Woody (Toy Story)! You are very expressive when you watch tv and you really like to watch a movie in the car on long drives (this is nice because it keeps you from fussing the whole time).

You love your new baby "La la" and you sleep with 3 babies, one "doll," and sometimes a few books and blankets too. You crib is always full of things and I usually go in after you fall asleep and take some of the stuff out. You love to talk to your babies until you fall asleep. And speaking of sleep, you are sleeping so well. You are our late morning person and usually sleep until about 8-8:30 most mornings. Too bad some of that doesn't rub off on your brother! I think you sleep so late because we put you to bed later than we did Aidan at this age. You have always been a night owl and can seem to stay up forever.

You love to play outside and you say "play" every time you see a fast food restaurant with a play place. You like the nursery at church and you really want to go to preschool with Aidan.

I almost always hear from others that you are so pleasant, content, easily entertained, and very easy going. Which is true as long as you have your way and plenty of food to eat. :) You still love eating more than any other activity and you are quite the little chunk. We love it!

You are a blessing and such a fun sweet girl to be around!

Love,

Mama

19 months

Nora,

You turned 19 months last week. That means you are getting closer to being 2 and that is so crazy because it seems like just yesterday you were my little baby.

One thing that has made you seem more grown-up these days is your ability to put yourself to sleep for nap and bed without rocking to sleep. We will occasionally rock you (like last night) to sleep when you are cuddly, but you are putting yourself down most of the time. And it's been a little over a month now since we stopped nursing and you don't seem to miss it anymore.

You are turning into quite the spunky little miss. I would definitely say that you have turned things up a few notches in the personality department and are starting to give us a little run for our money. You are an excellent screamer, and have started throwing fits when something doesn't go the way you want. I can usually count on a really good fit in Wal-mart every time we go. You have a strong set of lungs and you definitely are loud. Someone commented to me that I need to start you in singing lessons. On the other hand, you can be quiet and shy in some circumstances and seem very easygoing and laid back. It is hard to tell when you are going to be one or the other.

You love to be outside. Playing outdoors is such a fun activity to you and you love our neighbor's daughter "Lexi." You say her name often and want to always go over and see her. You hate coming indoors and usually pitch a fit or run away if you see us heading for the door.

You love to sing. You can sing, "Yes, Jesus Loves Me" and you chime in on "My God is So Big", and "Old Macdonald" too. You also sing "La la la la la" to "Every Move I Make."

The cutest thing you say is "Oh man!" which you most likely got from a combination of watching Dora and hearing us say it. You call Swiper "oh man" and you also yell it all the time. Usually you say, "Oh mess!" while dumping something out on the floor and then continue with, "Oh man, Oh no!" You are a character for sure.

You still love to eat all sorts of things and are pretty easy to please in that department except when you want candy or cake and can't have any. Then you are just mad. :)

I have been writing down some of the words you can say and I think you are close to about 150.

Here's some of the list:

vitamin, oatmeal, oh man, mess, go, do, that, this, in, out, on, up, down, hold me, help me, please, thank you, dog, book, read, flower, doll, baby, cup, drink, pizza, cracker, fruit snack, candy, eat, water, juice, milk, more, berries, grapes, banana, goldfish, spoon, rock (rocking chair), night night, bye, hi, blankie, bed, chair, Aidan, purse, bag, bucket, hand, sand, movie, Dora, smoothie, potty, pee pee, shoes, toes, eyes, ears, nose, teeth, hair, bow, ouch, run, walk, me, no, yes jesus loves me, duck, mouse, horse, baa, fish, bee, bug, kitty, pig, two, three, five, six, van, car, phone, keys, done, egg, cheese, Mimi, Papa, Steph, Papi, Mita, Daddy, Mama, Lexi, bike, hat, necklace, glasses, umbrella, mine, jump, rain, balloon, swing, happy plane, pretty, basket, step, bubbles, sit, boots, books, house, tree, wagon, stroller, money, Nora, cookie, ball, diaper, wipe, sticker, bear, draw, monkey, clothes, outside, sauce-apple sauce, play, hot, cold, shirt, bath, belly, piece, bite, push, pull, stuck, ice

You are quite the communicator and we love it!

You have brought such joy and happiness into our lives. I can't wait to watch you grow even more.

Love you,

Mama

18 months

Nora,

You are so much fun. I have been so blessed to have you for a daughter and you bring such delight to our family.

You are...talking all the time. You repeat everything and are a great communicator. My favorite words: vitamins, oatmeal, no (just because you started saying it all the time when you meant "yes"), yes (just figured that one out), oh man! (LOVE hearing you say this), water (you say it wa-wer), rock, book, duck, bucket (sounds like "buppet") and Mommy (your new name for me). 

You love to play! You gather and carry things around. You love purses ("bags") and pushing things in the doll stroller or shopping cart. You also love carrying around buckets and putting all sorts of odds and ends in them. I love to see what you choose to put in your bags and buckets because it helps me see such personality in you.

You were weaned this month, but not by your choosing. After the stomach bug that hit our family and Mommy going away for the weekend, you were cut off cold turkey from your greatest love in life. But, you survived. We all did. There were some tears and protests, difficult naptimes, and maybe some screams, but you got over it after a week or so. You still loved to be rocked and ask to rock before nap and bed. I love that you let me rock you to sleep still without needing to nurse because that was one thing I wasn't ready to give up. 

You have become obsessed with books. You love to look at them and say, "read book" a lot. You also want to sleep with them. You would probably sleep with lots of things if we let you, but usually it is just books, babies, your stuffed dog, blankies, and a cup. You wanted to take your bucket to bed the other night, but I hid it from you when you weren't looking. 

You do not like any form of water unless it is in the bathtub. We discovered this on our trip to Myrtle Beach. You did not want anything to do with the ocean or pools. If we even suggested to you to walk towards the water you gathered your things and took off the other direction. Not even kidding.

You are a very organized girl. You stack things, you have processes for playing, you  make sure you get your diaper bag before I pick you up at the nursery. You are going to be a lot of help to me when you get older and I can't wait to see that little personality develop. 

Nora, you are a joy. That is what I most often say about you. You make us laugh on a regular basis and your smile is so contagious. You love us all so much and my heart is so full.

Love,

Mommy