Clothing size: 18-month everything is fitting perfectly right now.
Eye color: Blue!
Hair: Blonde, and it’s really filling in. She also has some of the wildest bedhead I’ve ever seen, and her post-bath hair is so curly and adorable that I don’t brush it, but once it dries, it’s all over the place.
Teeth: 9!!! One more came in on the bottom!
Eating: Goodness… sometimes this girl eats more than I do (especially when it comes to homemade chili)! She gets so excited over food, and her favorites are still pretty much the same, although I did discover that she doesn’t like lemon-flavored Greek yogurt. Other than that, she’ll try anything. She’s getting way too smart, too, and somehow figured out what the ice cream carton looks like (although I definitely only remember giving her a taste once), and she’ll whimper for some as soon as she sees it!
Every morning, I pour her a glass of whole milk, always into her blue turtle cup. As soon as she sees that cup on the counter, she kicks her feet and squeals with excitement. This little lady loves her milk!
As far as nursing goes, on the day she turned 16 months, I cut out her pre-nap feeding, so now we’re down to just two (morning and bedtime). She looked a little hurt on that first day when I put her in her crib without nursing, and sometimes it seems like she still would want to, but I’m sticking to this really slow weaning process. Instead of nursing, either Kaya or I will read her a book before tucking her in.
Sleep: Sleep has been really good lately, with only a couple of random middle-of-the-night wake-ups. She goes down for bed around 7:30 or 8 pm, and wakes up about 12 hours later. She still naps for about 3 hours in the afternoon, so basically, she’s a dream baby.
She falls asleep so much faster when she has her Beagle, who is still her absolute favorite. I always get the cutest smile and squeal when she first sees me when she wakes up!
Words: Her language has really started to take off. Some new words this month: “Puppa” (puppy, which is what she calls Scout), “booooon” (balloon), bear, “num” (yum), “ishie” (goldfish crackers), “whoa” (hello). I’m sure there are some that I’m forgetting.
Favorite things: She’s still obsessed with cars and trucks, and if she’s found one to play with, she can be heard saying “brooooom brooooom” as she pushes it around all throughout the house. Her newest favorite activity is riding the rocking horse, which Kaya usually helps her do. She is also in love with balloons of all sizes and colors! She was whipping this one all around like crazy.
She LOVES Scout and tries to pet her and bring her her dog toys constantly. She does sometimes try to grab onto Scout and use her to try and pull herself up, which we obviously discourage. And when Scout isn’t in her kennel, Nella crawls into it and thinks it’s the funniest thing ever.
Of course, her family is always her favorite! Kaya and Kaelyn have started making it a kind of game to put her in Kaelyn’s bed and watch her toddle around. They love all being together.
Dislikes: Getting her face wiped, seeing us eat something she doesn’t have, wearing a bib (she takes it off constantly), being buckled into the car seat, being told no, and lately, her bath. I think she just doesn’t like that I keep telling her she needs to sit down in the tub.
Nicknames: Nellbells, Nels, Nella Bella, Nellie, Nella Sunshine.
Milestones, etc.: -In the past week, she’s started really getting interested in walking!!! We still have to help her balance, but she is ready to go, and I think it really won’t be long now before she’s going on her own. If there’s no one to help her, she’ll go push the cozy coupe car around, which helps her stay upright.
-She’s also free standing now, without holding onto anything. She probably only does it for less than a minute at a time, but still, I’m so excited for progress.
-She’s still a pro at climbing the stairs (in under a minute)! By the time we say, “Where’s Nels?”, she’s already upstairs in the big girls’ room, playing quietly with all their toys. She’s so independent in that way.
-Actually, she’s just getting good at climbing anything in general. At Kangaroo Kids, she pulls herself up on some of the larger mats that I wouldn’t have thought she could reach.
-She’s a dancer. As soon as we start any kind of music, a huge smile comes across her face and she starts swaying crazily back and forth.
-She’s already at that age where she doesn’t want to sit still for photos. Ugh! No number of marshmallows is enough bribery.
-Daddy lowered the crib this month, which was very necessary, given her interest in trying to climb on/over everything. I’m just hoping she doesn’t learn to climb all the way out like Kaya did right around this age!
-Everything is a “phone”. She holds any small object up to her ear and says, “Whooooa? (hello?)” So adorable!
-She vigorously nods yes when we ask her if she wants something in particular.
Dear Nella,
Three words sum you up pretty well these days: YOU ARE CRAZY!!!!
You are everywhere now that you’re so mobile, but it’s easy to tell where you’ve been because you pull everything out of bins, baskets, or drawers as you go. You make the biggest messes, but somehow that little smile and the sweet way you crawl up to sit in my lap more than make up for it.
Lately, you think it’s so funny when we ask you, “Are you my dimple baby?” You laugh and smile even bigger, which is just my favorite. Daddy also likes to ask you if you’re crazy, and in response, you always shake your head wildly. We sure love your crazy, dimpled self.
Love, Mommy