Notes from the Nelsens: Natalie Grace- 18 months

This sweet girl is 18 months old!

18 Month Stats:

23lbs 15oz

31in

She is spunky, sweet, smily, FUN, busy, snuggly, playful, and oh so squeezable.

She loves her sleep, mealtime, snack time (which honestly didn't much exist in our house before these last three months... so we can "initiator" to that top list) ;) waving/saying hi and bye to anyone and everyone, playing with her brother, holding her sister, being held by her mama and daddy, swimming, and in general being outside.

In the last three months she has started:

---Walking!

Natalie started walking the week before Emily was born. In fact, she was so new to walking that when Matt and I saw her in the hospital we were so surprised and impressed as we watched her strut around our hospital room. And strut is the perfect word for it. She swings one arm (if it's not on her hip) and is quite impressed with herself and her newfound independence.

---Enjoying books!

She will pick out books and bring them to me and then sit in my lap for me to read them. She particularly enjoys animal books, Bubble Guppies books, and first word books.

---Watching a couple of minutes of TV

In general, she prefers to be on the go, but Ryan has been working hard on getting Natalie to sit next to him in their little Pottery Barn anywhere chairs to watch a show, and she'll usually hang with him through the opening theme song and maybe a minute or two of the actual show. :)

---Using more signs and words

She will sign: please, thank you, and more and gives the CUTEST head nod while mouthing "yes" repeatedly if you guess correctly what she is asking for. She is also saying, "Mama, Bubba (Ryan), hot, more, bye bye, hi, whoa, thank you, alllll done and allll gone, here it is, there it is, and here you go." Her phrases have the cutest, sing-songy inflection. I really need to record her voice more.

---Climbing

She loves climbing on boxes, chairs, (tables), and toys, and usually lets out a loud, "WHOA" when she stands up. It's funny to me that I'm still in "Ryan" mode with the toddler stage and am still so shocked when she manages to get up on the coffee table, or the kitchen table in the literal seconds that I am not looking. She is a mess! :)

---Making animal sounds

She particularly loves the cow, dinosaur, bear, and pig, and tries to wrinkle up her nose like I do for "bunny" and "guinea pig" - it is the funniest!

---Playing with Ryan

This is the sweetest. Watching the two of them play together melts my mama heart. They are such a great buddies, and I am so thankful for that!