December 1, 2014: Nora at 18 months!

I cannot believe Nora is 18 months old! She has so much personality and seems to be growing up too fast...

If I had to describe Nora is two words at this age it would be Flash and coloring.  Flash is the stuffed super hero toy that Liam was donating to charity.  Nora pulled it out of the pile one day and never let him go...seriously.   She doesn't go anywhere without Flash as I'm sure the pictures from now on will show.  She loves "Ash", as she calls him, and despite being tempted by Mallie with other dolls and toys, she will not give him up!

Ash in bed...(Now she does allow her blue bear, Louis, to sleep with her but he's not allowed out of the crib :)

 Ash at Liam's school...

 Ash grocery shopping...

 We have all come to accept and love Flash :)

The only thing Nora loves almost as much as Flash is coloring.  She LOVES to color and since she's got a lot of free time on her hands at her siblings' activities, she colors in some interesting spots...

Nora is 22.5 lbs (46%) and 31 inches (21%).  Her head circumference is 18.25 which is weirdly normal for my kids at 51%.  She can definitely keep up with the big kids and we find her climbing up stools, slides, and dribbling the soccer ball around the back yard.  Her speech is coming along and she does have some two word phrases "sit dada" "up mama" and even "Ash, are you?" (Flash, where are you?) When asked how she slept or how was her day, she says "ood" (good).  When called she will also answer with "uh-t?" (what?). This month has been a big change for her sleeping and eating as well.  She's FINALLY just started sleeping through the night consistently, meaning every night!  I don't know why it took her so long but she's finally going down easily at 6:30 and waking up happy at 7am.  She also seems to be more open to foods finally.  She spent the past few months throwing her plate from the table, spitting out food and refusing to eat at meals.  She also went to bed without dinner a few times :(  But finally she has started trying more things and learned that she does like lentil soup, veggie spaghetti, and pot roast.  She still does not like chicken fried rice, corn, or brussel sprouts but that's okay.  She's eating most other veggies and all fruits and still loves her daily oatmeal and yogurt. She loves ham or turkey with cheese or peanut butter on bread for lunch.  She loves applesauce and raisins for snacks.  She is also (like her siblings) a bottomless pit and will try to eat allll day if I let her.

Now, she still has her moments although the more she is able to communicate with us the less frustrated she gets.  We have a pretty good idea of what to expect from her tantrums by now.  She either throws things...

 Spits at me (that was a fun phase that thank goodness we nipped in the bud quickly)...

 Or pancakes on the floor...

 Which is even more fun when in public and I have to carry her like a sack of potatoes :)

Overall Nora is a busy, happy toddler and so much fun to play with.  She loves jamming to music in the carpool line...

She loves brushing her teeth and bath time...(look at those cute curls!)

She loves her days with Bryn.  She is her little shadow and loves copying and playing with her big sis...

She refuses to not be included so she's already helping me with laundry, dishes, and cooking...

 She loves "Ox" as she calls him but is not the best babysitter yet :)

 Nora also loves walks in her step 2 and begs to be outside no matter the temperature...;

 I still can't believe how fast this year has gone, but love getting to know Nora more each day.  Our sweet/sour, stubborn, smart, precious toddler keeps life interesting around here :)  We love you the most Nora!