(written January 17th… it just took me 5 days to put all the photos together!)Height: 30.5 inches (49%)
Weight: 17 pounds 10 ounces (7%)
Head Circumference: 17.75 inches (34%)

Clothing size: All 18-month things! We packed up all the 12-month stuff. Although, some of the new footie pajamas are still a little too long, and she gets her foot all jammed up into the leg part while she’s trying to stand; and, some sleeves still need to be rolled up. Let’s be honest though, it’s winter and absolutely freezing here, so this girl wears her jammies 90% of the time. Hopefully we’ll get to use some more of her cute outfits in the spring!

Eye color: Blue!
Hair: Blonde, and she wore her very first pigtails on our Christmas at home! I love how she has so much length on top of her head- high ponytails for life!Teeth: 8!!! Her two upper one-year molars broke through this month.

Eating: The real question is, what doesn’t she eat? She wants whatever it is she sees you having (consequently, her new favorite flavor of Goldfish crackers is the same as mine- cheddar and pretzel)! She is a total copycat and gets really grumpy if you won’t give her whatever it is she wants. However, she is such a good eater, and I definitely am not complaining (just thinking how useful teaching her some sign language might have been, instead of her yelling and grunting from her high chair). She’s obsessed with pumpkin bread, cheese, cucumbers, Greek yogurt, and homemade chili. I think she’s already bored with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but heads up Nella, they’re just going to keep on coming.

As far as nursing, I got her down to three times a day this month! Woohoo! I also gave her her very first cup of whole milk last week, and as I expected, she practically chugged it down. I’m happy to see her enjoying milk from a cup.

Sleep: We’ve still been having a little bit of a hard time with keeping her asleep all night long, but I think a lot of it has had to do with those new molars, having a cold, and then getting her vaccinations. It’s been one thing right after another for her, poor baby. I’ve been trying really hard not to nurse her in the middle of the night, but sometimes, it’s the fastest way to get everyone back to bed.

Words: Her language skills have really taken off- she truly tries to imitate almost any word we say to her. So, she says a lot, although her most coherent words would be: Mama, Dada, hi, hey, yeah, yum (which sounds like mmmuuummm muuumm), nigh-nigh (night night).

Favorite things: Her sisters still get her to light up like nothing else can! She loves her Daddy and Mommy too, of course. Her new favorite obsession, though: cars! She is absolutely in love with any type of four-wheeled vehicle. She’ll climb into the Cozy Coupe and just sit there, playing by herself, or peeking out the back, even if no one is willing to push her around for a ride. She also loves to push little toy cars around the floor now. It’s just so funny to see what she’s getting interested in!

She also loves standing at the play kitchen and ripping as many items out of it as possible. She has sort of started pretending to “eat” some of the softer toy food, though (while saying “mmmuuuummm”). She is completely obsessed with baby dolls, and will steal her sisters’ dolls any chance she gets (even though she got her own for Christmas). Whenever she sees real babies at church (even if they’re only 6 or so months younger than her), she falls in love and can’t stop watching them. Of course, she also loves her reflection.

Dislikes: Getting her face wiped, seeing us eat something she doesn’t have on her tray, wearing a bib (she takes it off constantly), being buckled into the car seat, being told no, and snow (along with wearing her snowsuit)! She was just not sure what to make of the cold white stuff. Teething has also been really hard on all of us.

Nicknames: Nellbells, Nels, Nella Bella, Nellie, Nella Sunshine. I’ve also started jokingly calling her “the Destroyer” because she rips everything apart in a matter of seconds. I’m putting laundry away, she’s trying to pull it out of the drawer. I take a minute to brush my hair, and she has half the bathroom cabinet emptied. This is the age where I always feel like it’s a losing battle to keep things in their places.

Milestones, etc.: -She’s still just cruising, not walking independently yet. I think she is close, though!

-She is starting to climb… and if we’re not quick enough to catch her, she can make it to the 6th or 7th step on the staircase. She also climbs into her little Cozy Coupe all on her own now, too, so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time until she tries other things. We definitely need to lower the crib!

-She’s pointing to body parts (and usually poking me in the eyes), so I’m trying to teach her all those words now. She sometimes gets enthralled by my eyelashes and won’t stop stroking them with her finger. So funny.

-She’s also started trying to color! Although usually, the marker cap is still on, which is maybe a good thing, since her accuracy for hitting the paper isn’t so high right now. Still, she wants to create art like her sisters!

-Now when she nurses, she wants to hold everything she can see. That usually means that we’re sitting in a pile of stuffed animals, and then she also steals my phone or Kindle so that I have nothing to read while she eats. Real life you guys… Michael snuck this picture of me passed out nursing her after my run one morning.

-She is a dancer! She’ll bop around to almost any song, especially 80s stuff, I guess because the beat is so good. She gets such a big goofy grin on her face when the music starts up. She’s also obsessed with the piano and will crawl over to it and start playing any chance she gets. She especially loves when Daddy helps her!

-She loves books, and she’ll flip through the pages and “read” (babble). So so sweet.

-Kaya has become such a big helper with Nella lately. She loves to get her dressed, feed her her yogurt, and just play with her as much as possible. Both Kaya and Kaelyn love to choose which diaper Nella will wear next- Kaya’s favorite is the zoo print, and Kaelyn’s is the fishy one.

Dear Nella,

This feels like a big month for you! I had so many new things to write in this post because you’re growing and changing so quickly that sometimes it feels like I can’t keep up. To be honest, I still think of you as my teeny little baby, until I see pictures of you pop up from this time last year, and I realize that you aren’t anywhere near that small anymore. When did you get so big? I almost feel like I blinked and missed it.

Anyway, you might be getting bigger, but you’re still just as sweet as ever. You love your family so much (even the puppy). Last Sunday at church, you kept cruising between me and your Dad, holding onto the pew, until you’d get close enough to give one of us a bug hug (which you do by resting your head on our shoulders and cuddling into us). You just kept switching between the both of us for the longest time, and it completely melted my heart.

We love you baby girl! Your smile will always be one of our very favorite things.

Love, Mommy