Nora at 19 (almost 20) months

Here's my big girl at 19 months. She seems so grown-up these days. She's becoming independent, opinionated (especially about which shoes she wears) and so much fun. She's a very sweet girl who absolutely loves helping. She gets a big kick out of us letting her try to do "big people" things. She regularly helps unload the dishwasher and bring the trash in from the curb. She also recently started "helping" make chocolate milk by getting a sippy cup out of her cabinet, the chocolate syrup out of the refrigerator and a spoon from the drawer. This girl could live on chocolate milk!

helping Daddy bring in the trash can

helping Uncle Dan make chocolate milk

Besides helping, she is still very much into imitating us. For example, an old iPhone she plays with in her back pocket like Mommy:

The above picture also shows her new mode of transportation up and down the stairs: her feet! She loves to hold our hand or the stair rails and walk up and down like a big kid. 

More imitating: "working" on the computer with Daddy (above) and "cupping coffee" (below)

The mid-November snow storm brought out the fur coat Aunt Becca & Uncle Jake got her before she was born.

Some days the only "lunch" this picky eater will eat is a bowl of dry cheerios on the kitchen floor. Look at those long legs! Also, you'll note Nora is rarely away from one of her baby dolls. She can't get enough!

At Nora's 18-month appointment, she was 21 lbs and 32 inches long - 20th percentile in weight, 50th percentile in length. I guess she'll be long and skinny (I don't know where she gets that....).

I'll leave you with these two cute shots:

friends!

my happy girl

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

Better late than never, right? A few weeks ago, we made the trip just outside town to our local pumpkin patch. Last year, Nora was too little to go down the slides, pet the animals, etc. But this year, we were excited to show her everything the farm had to offer. We went at 4 p.m. on a weekday (thanks to our awesomely flexible work schedules) and had the whole place to ourselves!

Nora was especially interested in the goats, though she didn't want to pet any of the animals. She did later pet a goat when we visited the zoo, so maybe she's getting more brave. She also loved the corn maze (thankfully one of the workers clued us in to the short route so we didn't get stuck in there with a toddler who was over it!). But her favorite part was the slides. This girl could slide all day long.

A little happier than last year

Nora also enjoyed Halloween this year. I made her little witch costume and my mom bought her the tank that says "casting a spell of cuteness." I love how it turned out!

We made good use of her costume since we went to the downtown Norman Fall Fest with friends, dress-up day and baby parade through the city offices during the weekly library music time and then trick-or-treating with Grayson!

Nora's BFF "Franken-Fitz"

looking in the mail slot - this was completely unposed!

Nora loved trick-or-treating! She giggled and ran from house to house putting candy in her basket.