Our little Nora Sue turned 19 months old today. Officially closer to two years than one, wowza! This month, Nora definitely made some big changes into “toddlerdom” and is growing like a weed. Here are some of the fun things that happened this month in the life of our little girl.

Clothes: Nora wears all 24 month old and 2T clothes now. We made the switch up to size 6 in shoes and went and bought new sneakers, play shoes, dress shoes and, of course, her first pair of sparkly jellie sandals from Old Navy. She continues to get taller, about 34 inches, but her weight remains the same at 24 pounds. She no longer has rubber bands on her wrists, but still is sporting a glorious pair of cankles and dimples on her hands.

Eating and Drinking: This girl loves her food. We have tried introducing Nora to lots of different kinds of meat this month, but so far the only new kind she likes are pork chops. She still eats her fruit and veggies like a champ, and loves her morning bowl of strawberries and sharing bites of Daddy’s “unhealthy” cereal in the mornings. We share an apple and peanut butter together every afternoon after her nap, but she still can’t handle the peelings quite yet. Nora drinks her milk everyday, but would prefer juice all day long 🙂 She loves homemade ice cream and I frequently find her in the snack drawer stealing crackers and fruit snacks. She loves to hold hands before meals and “closes her eyes” aka squinting when we pray before meals.

Play and Toys: This month we finally got some gorgeous weather here in Nebraska. Which makes it even more official that this girl loves to be outside! Her favorite outdoor activities include: swinging, jumping (like literally JUMPING) on the trampoline, picking up sticks and them in buckets, playing with bouncy balls, riding her trike, riding with Daddy on the tractors and most recently playing in the dirt and her new sandbox. She started showing more interest in reading again this month and currently loves the Clifford books. She enjoys riding around on her new Minnie Mouse train from Aunt Lori and plays in her kitchen with her new pots and pans from Grandma and Grandpa Janzen. She also has a particular liking to Eric’s brown rocking chair. She likes to sit in it all by herself and eat snacks. It’s so cute watching her rock back and forth.

Words: We are talking MUCH more this month! Nora has been doing a great job of sounding out words, even trying to do it on her own with out us prompting her. Her newest words include: church, pool, books, boots, apple, up and LuLu (my folks’ dog). I can’t say enough how proud of her we are. She is really trying hard!

Sleep: Nora goes to be around 9pm (we only wish it could be a bit earlier!) and gets up around 8 or so. She takes anywhere from a 1-3 hour nap in the afternoons, starting at 1pm. This has been super helpful for me so that I can get a few things done and catch a snooze on days when I’m tired as well. She is a great sleeper!

New “Chores”: I have been trying this month to incorporate Nora’s “help” when getting things done around the house. She loves to sweep with her little broom along side of me, walk trash out to our burn pile, put her clothes in the drawers, dust, baking bread and cookies and put away her toys and books. She has really done a great job of learning new things like this and is fairly eager to help. She also learned how to put a diaper on her baby dolls this month. It might have been crooked, but it’s fun to watch her and think of her helping with the new baby in September!

Teeth: Nora has 12 teeth total, although she has been a drooling monster this last week, chewing on everything in sight. It’s time for her 4 canines to come in, but it seems more like it’s her 2 year molars are the ones coming in at the moment. She has been having horrible fevers the past couple of days as well as awful diarrhea. She has never had an upset tummy before with incoming teeth, so this is new for all of us. Poor baby!

This month, Nora turned into a small person. I have been blown away when it comes to her learning new things, playing with other children and exercising her independence. This has caused for numerous temper tantrums and moments of tears, for both Nora and Mommy 🙁 Together, we are learning what her boundaries look like and what discipline works best for her. I have had to spank her twice, and we both ended up cuddling and crying on the chair together. However, the spanking has worked for us after multiple warnings and explanations, as she has been pretty defiant when we have tried other forms of discipline (explaining her wrongdoing, taking away toys, hand slapping, sitting in the corner). But with the bad moments come a million more of the good ones. Nora loves to jump and dance while we sing, spin around in circles and point to objects as we count them out. There is nothing more that I love that watching her learn and playing with her all day. I wouldn’t change a single moment with her this month for the world. I love being her Mommy and can’t wait to see what this month holds for her!