Friends

Nadia with her best school buddy, Katie Mae. Katie Mae turned two a couple months ago, but she and Nad look forward to each other's company every day at school.

Today they had on such similar outfits, I had to get a picture. When I told them to stand by each other and smile, they immediately reached out and got arm in arm for the shot. It was precious!

Playing outside together

They've become such good friends, we're sad that they'll be in different classes next year since their birthdays are so many months apart.

Nadia loves to eat cereal with milk all by herself.

No help please! And she wants to drink the milk from the bowl when she's done (which must be done while still wearing pajamas because it always results in a milky dribble down her chin.

Happy Easter!

Sweet girl in her Easter dress

The family pose the year Andy was in Chile. Nadia is missing Daddy big time. She keeps looking for him and wanting to see him. When we skyped yesterday, she just cried. She's been more cuddly with me even her usual. She's been waking up in the night every night since he's been gone - she definitely knows things just aren't the same. But we're glad he has this opportunity and are so glad he's having a great time so far.

Her favorite treat - "Cone!"

The Easter Bunny came while we were at church! In her basket were beads and some tabbed laces for stringing. She couldn't have been less interested in putting the beads on the string, but she spent an hour and a half moving 12 beads from one container to the next, to an egg, to my hands, to a bowl, to an empty bubble container, and back again - an hour and a half doing nothing but moving beads! We did eventually string them for a temporary necklace, but it was much more fun to take them off and put them back in the next container.

Playing with her new sidewalk chalk

Taking up a new golfing hobby :)

Coloring eggs - Ta Da!

The final product after coloring, dying and adding stickers! The bunny also brought Bathtub crayons - why haven't I gotten these out earlier? She had so much fun drawing in the tub and then "erasing" it with water and drawing all over. If anyone with a toddler doesn't have bathtub crayons, get some for some happy times! Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Eggstravaganza!

Today was our big Easter event at church, and since I'm in charge of it and Andy's in Chile, Nana and Auntie Al came to bring Nadia and help her have a great time. When I told Nadia that they were coming on Friday, she said, "Fun!" completely without prompting. Friday night they didn't get here until late and Nadia tried to stay awake long enough to see them. Dispite being very tired, she kept kicking one leg trying to keep herself awake. After nearly 2 hours of trying to stay up waiting for them, she didn't quite make it. But when Saturday morning came, the "Fun" had come in the night.

The Egg Hunt - we'd been practicing and all that training paid off! She knew exactly what to do and had great success in the hunt!

Look how many eggs I have in my basket!

Auntie Al helped navigate through the crowd while Nana got the good photo shots.

Checking out the loot. Her favorite things were tiny Easter erasers in the shape of an egg, duck, bunny and basket.

Making a craft

A picture with "Hop Hop". Nadia liked him a lot from a distance but not so much when he would get close.

Going on the big slide

More egg hunting in the backyard

Check out the precious basket Nana made! Oh so cute!Blowing bubbles - her latest outdoor favorite. She had a great day of Easter fun! Many thanks to Nana and Auntie Al for coming to make the day fun for Nad.

1 1/2!

18 Months with Buster Bear! She is so affectionate and loving - offering hugs, pats, cuddles and kisses to those she loves and any "baby" or stuffed animal or dog that seems to need some attention.

We sang and had cupcakes to celebrate her half birthday.

Enjoying the cupcakes!

Blowing bubbles with Uncle Jor Jor and Uncle Pat. She figured out how to blow to actually make a bubble. She loves putting the wand in and pulling it out herself. Her previous strategy had been to hold the wand up in the air and hope for some wind to make a bubble, but Jor Jor and Pat convinced her to blow gently with success!

What a pucker!

This morning she only ate part of her yogurt in the high chair, then got down and played. We later found her at the regular table, in a big chair, having some more all by herself! What a grown-up girl!

We made a blitz trip to NC Sunday afternoon/Monday to see Alison and Pat before they leave on their Round the World trip for the next 18 months. We can't wait to hear and see all about their amazing travels! Bon Voyage!

New Bunny Hop

Nadia's latest bunny dancing. Look how advanced her dancing has become with hand movements and spinning comparatively to the last bunny dance! (Please ignore the 5000 toys on the floor, it was the end of the night, right before we started clean up!)

Nadia is in love with dogs - big dogs, little dogs, tv dogs, book dogs, stuffed dogs, any dog. She barks at them and says "Dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, puppy, dog, dog, dog," all throughout the day. She has enough hair for it all to go in one pony tail. She now weighs 24 lbs. She loves to use rubber stamps. She loves Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird. She still loves to read, loves shoes and would play outside most of the day if she had the choice (we have to be careful with her fair skin). She gets to choose her own breakfast food each morning between an "egg" or "yogurt" (along with fruit and dry cereal). She tells me which one she wants. Today she also had rice krispies with milk for the first time and fed them to herself with a spoon. She likes stickers and playing doctor. She tries to look in her own ears with the otoscope and listen to her own heartbeat with the stethescope. She can work a 7 piece chunky puzzle completely by herself and can make a tower of blocks 8 high. She tries everyday to put on her own socks and shoes but isn't yet able to do it independently. She puts herself to sleep after we cuddle and rock for just a few minutes. She is sleeping through the night every night! I can't believe our sweet girl will be a year and a half old tomorrow!