Nora is 16 Months Old

Our sweet Nora is sixteen months old today! This month will be a big one for her because, Lord willing, she will become a big sister this month. (I'm praying SO hard that I don't have to go past my due date!) Every day we see Nora becoming less of a baby and more of a toddler; and every day, Nora is even more delightful. We love our sweet little bunny!

At sixteen months, Nora...

• jabbers nonstop, and is saying more and more real words. She literally jabbers all the time. We think it's precious, of course. Some real words she's said in the past few days include nay-nay (that's our word for paci) and bird, but she'll make pretty good attempts to repeat just about anything.
• finally has tooth #7, and judging from the drip going on right now, is working on at least one other tooth.
  
• is officially taking one nap a day. We started the transition right after she turned fifteen months, and it took about a week for her to get the hang of it. Nora now makes it to naptime like a champ with only occasional mid-morning come-aparts, and she usually naps for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. (She stays in her crib for a minimum of three hours.)
  
• has started jumping, and it is hilarious to watch.
  
• loves any song with hand motions, and has definite preferences for the ones she wants to sing. Current favorites include "Deep and Wide" and "Jesus in the Boat". I'm amazed at how adept she is at picking up the hand motions to these songs!
  
• is much more communicative, and seems to understand most of what we tell her. She follows simple commands pretty well, and she loves to be a big helper.
  
• is all about babies, which will probably be both a blessing and a frustration when her little sister arrives.
• loves to brush her teeth, and asks to do so several times a day. When she brushes her teeth alongside her sister, she does the whole drill: spit, rinse, repeat. They are hilarious to watch together.
• is now reading longer storybooks, and will tolerate sharing a lap with her sister for story time. Some books we've enjoyed together recently are the Maisy books, Little Critter books, Clifford books, and the If You Give a Mouse... type books. I've been thrilled to be able to add some variety into her story time!
• loves to eat with a fork, and we'll occasionally even let her do her own thing with a spoon if a bath is soon to follow. She understands appropriate use, but occasionally struggles to hit her target.
  
• makes us smile all the time!

Our little Nora is such a delight. She's battling yet another cold right now, and even in the middle of her slimy-snottiness, she is a happy, sweet little thing. While she is still so little, I am so thankful that God has given me glimpses of her as a bigger girl these past few days. It won't be long before this sweet Belle is a big sister!