Nora's words

When Nora went for her 15 month check up, the doctor asked home many words she spoke.  I said about 20 and she said that was a lot and they only expect 3 or 4.  So then I thought I must have exaggerated.  While trying to get back to sleep last night, I counted Nora's words. I counted 26 but there are probably a few more.  She is 17 months, and most of these words are pretty easy for us to understand:

puppy
baby
mommy
daddy
no
yeah
uh oh
more
bye bye
hi
pee pee
Alena (A-ya-ya)
mama
papa
bottle (bah bah)
bath
shoe
nose
bird
beep beep (trains and alarms)
meow
night night
thank you (tane tu)
cheers
all done (ah dah)
book

Her favorites are puppy (any animal can be called a puppy, and her best friend is her stuffed puppy.)  Mommy has been a longtime favorite.  Up until a couple of months ago that was Daddy's name as well, even though she knew how to say Daddy.  She is always saying and signing "more."   She isn't clear on the concept that you can't have more unless you have some to start with, so she will say "more" to anything that she wants from food to toys.  "Uh oh" was one of her earlier favorites, used only when something was done on purpose.  Dropping food on the floor accidentally does not warrant an uh oh for some reason.  And "baby?"  Any kid in a stroller is a baby, no matter what age.  Also used to refer to her many baby dolls.  "Baby" is always said with much excitement.

Hugs

The following is repeated constantly in our house with many variations.

Start out with a fun idea: "Sit on my lap, Baby Nora!" 

Alena takes it too far: Forced into playing pat a cake.

Nora gets fed up: Nobody forces Nora to do anything!

Garden helper

I got some good work out of Alena the other day.  We cleaned out the garden to get ready for spring.  Alena raked the whole thing while wearing her Annie dress.

Nora is 18 months

Nora and Alena both headed to the doctor today for their check ups.  Nora is up to 20 pounds, 1 ounce, and 30 inches.  She was very indignant about the whole process.  Alena even did a dance for her to improve her mood to no avail.  The only saving grace for the appointment was they had two nurses, one for each girl.  We were out of there in record time!  And both girls checked out great!

Two of her favorite things: Puppy and a cell phone

Playing doctor is much more fun!