Baby Lovin' {Colorado Part 5}

Have I mentioned Nora adores babies? Well she does and apparantly she also has no sense of personal space. If a baby is around she is on top of them giving them  hugs, handing them toys or trying to talk to them. 

When we were in CO Nora was glued to cousin Josiah. Thankfully he was a very good sport.

Bubbles Galore {Colorado Part 4}

When we go to Nana & Papa's house it's always a treat to take a bath in their whirlpool tub. This was Nora's 1st bubble experience. She was not too keen on the idea at first. She kept rubbing them in her eyes, but then Sawyer showed her the fun she could have with bubbles.

bubble painting on your tummy

he loved looking at his "white hair" in the mirror

Nora with a bubble hat

Sawyer's bubble hat

Nora didn't like the jets so once she got out I turned them on for Sawyer...we didn't know they were pointed straight up so we all got quite a surprise as water shot all over the room. It was certainly an exciting and wet bath for all involved.

Splish Splash {Colorado Part 3}

Another activity we enjoyed in CO was swimming at the YMCA with cousin Noah. It took Sawyer and Nora a while to warm up to the water. They were pretty timid at first but eventually they really enjoyed themselves. Sawyer loved going down the slide then racing through the water as I tried to splashed him. Nora even started going down the slide by herself. She also liked to splash and flirt with the life guard (I wish I was kidding, she kept staring at him and smiling).

splashing with Papa

Noah and Sawyer sliding

Aunt Christina catching Sawyer at the end of the slide

Cousin Noah and Aunt Christina

Nana keeping Nora warm

cousins drying off

20 months

(I accidentally posted this before I added pictures, so now I've updated it and reposted)

I haven't done a Nora update in a while. I typically wouldn't until she turned two but I just feel like she is growing up so fast these days.

She talks non-stop some days. She is putting multiple words together. She loves to read and when you read a book she will repeat the final word on each page. She can repeat pretty much any word you ask her too. This week she finally said her name.

She LOVES to read

This week she hit a major milestone she finally climbed up the Chick-fil-a playground tower! Then she did it over and over and over again. She was quite proud of herself and loved her new found freedom...so did mommy. No more clinging to my leg while Sawyer plays.

She is starting to have attachments and show interest in certain things. She LOVES the blankie and bear she sleeps with. And her favorite toy is her minnie mouse figurine which she affectionately calls "mouse." She also likes Elmo (or Melmo as she says) and Buzz Lightyear...I think she may be influenced by someone.

As spring weather is starting to make an appearance we have been visiting the park pretty frequently. Nora is constantly surprising me with her adventurous spirit. She wants to do everything Sawyer does. She goes down the big slides by herself and climbs up everything she can reach. The picture below she climbed up this step ladder all by herself. A little terrifying for mommy but she kept doing it over and over and loved being able to keep up with Sawyer.

She knows her body parts and animal sounds. Another identifying game she is shockingly good at is clothing. Shirt, pant, dress, boot, flip-flop, skirt, coat it doesn't matter what type of garment she can identify it. And if she sees clothing lying around she will identify it and who it belongs too, for example daddy's coat, my pants, etc. I think we may have a budding fashionista on our hands. Lord help us!

Here's our budding fashionista in one of her ensembles: she took off her pants, put on her purple converse and decided to accessorize with her sparkly vest. After she put this "outfit" on she kept coming to me and saying "bye-bye" which means she wants to go somewhere. I guess we're going to have to work on the concept of modesty :)

I weighed her the other day and she was 23 pounds even. She has grown out of all 12 month clothes and some of her 18 month clothes are getting a little short. The weather needs to stay warm because all of her 24 month clothes are for the summer.

She has started throwing tantrums when we tell her "no" or when her brother is being mean.

But in some ways she is definitely keeping her "baby" status.

She still sleeps in the crib. Sawyer was in a twin bed at 18 months.
Goes to sleep with a sippy cup.
Gets held and coddled way more than her brother ever did.

Feeding Ducks {Colorado Part 2}

While in CO we went to a local library with a duck pond. This was not just a little duck pond it was intense and these ducks were pros. We brought bread and the library supplied a cup of corn. As we approached the pond Sawyer got a little excited and threw some corn in the parking lot. This is the swarm that ensued.

Both kids were pretty intimidated by the large flock of birds. Nora sat nervously while Papa threw the food. Sawyer cowered but he just kept throwing out the food to keep them at bay :)

Eventually Sawyer got brave enough to walk to the water with Papa (he would not get down and roam among the ducks).

Impromptu Photo Shoot

One of our talented grandmother's embroidered Nora's monogram on a dress for her. She looked so cute I asked if I could take some pictures of her. She said "yes" and this is what ensued. She is 1 1/2 years old and already posing. We may be in trouble :)

After a few minutes Sawyer wanted to join in. It was his idea to pose with their birth pictures so of course I agreed.

QT with the GP's {Colorado Part 1}

Last week we took a little trip to Colorado to visit the grandparents! It was kind of nice to visit on a non-holiday when we were not consumed with holiday activities. This visit was full of lots of kids activities and fun with the grandparents.

The "exciting" part of the trip was flying alone with 2 toddlers. The first adventure started with a 4 am wake-up call. We got to the airport, checked our bags, went through security and immediately boarded the plane. It went very smoothly. The kids were great the entire 3 hour flight. Sawyer watched videos and Nora played. We had a whole row to ourselves so she was free to roam a bit.

We landed in Denver at 7:00 am and Papa and Nana picked us up. We spent the rest of the first day recuperating from such an early wake-up call. After naps Christina and the boys came over for some play time. Sawyer and Noah played really well together. It was comical listening to their conversations (you could only understand about 1/2 of it but they seemed to fully comprehend each other).

Nana reading the kiddos a book before nap time

the cousins together again

Nora's 1st juice box...she was LOVED it

watching Toy Story with Papa before bed

Over the course of the next few days we took walks in the sun, had a play date at Noah's house, went swimming, fed ducks, made cookies, had an epic whirlpool bath, and went to the park. But those things all deserve their own post. Here are some random pictures from our week in CO.

Nora trying on Nana's jewelry

making cookies with Papa

Nora learning her shapes with Tache

Nora reading with Aunt Wendy. Nora would gravitate to anyone who would read her a book :)

Our return flight was not as smooth as the 1st flight. The kids were pretty spent and ready to get home and to compound matters it was during nap time. We made it to the airport and through check-in with relative ease. However, Denver is a much larger airport than Akron/Canton which equates to longer lines and more wait time and with 2 little ones that can be difficult. But we made it through security, stopped for lunch and reached the gate in plenty of time. The issues began when we boarded the plane. The pilot announced that Denver was only using 1 runway due to high winds so we would have to wait in line to take-off. That wait was about 45 minutes and because we weren't in the air we had to remain buckled in our seats, tray tables up with no use of electronics and our carry-ons stowed underneath the seat in front of us. Do you know how difficult it is to keep 2 small children occupied while buckled in with no toys and no videos? Not to mention it was during their typical nap time.  And to compound the problems Nora pooped her pants and I could not get up to change her :( It was not fun for anyone involved :) I finally got out the carry-on and found a few books to read and doled out snacks to pass the time.

Once we took off things went more smoothly. Sawyer watched movies and Nora played. She finally fell asleep as we were descending into Canton. Boy were we excited to see Daddy's face when we got to the airport!

While it was exhausting traveling alone with 2 little ones it was worth it to see our family!