Catch Up

Well, it's been a while....
Weight - Nina has gotten more musclar and slowly getting more coordinated, so her weight seems to be going up, although her waist remains small. So small that there are a few pairs of pants she got to Christmas last year (size 9-12 months) that she can still wear because they were rather long last winter. She grows out of pajamas quickly but anything that is two pieces she can wear forever.
Eye - just because it's worth mentioning. Nina's eye as been perfect since the surgery in May. Never another infection, never any goop of any kind unless she has a cold.
Growth - Nina is growing! Her feet remain femininely small, about a size 4, 4.5. Because Will had fat feet, he was already a 5 or larger at this age. We've received so many pairs of hand-me-down shoes (thank you friends!) that I have several pairs of black Mary Janes in different sizes. So no need to worry about dress shoes for probably a year or two. :) Nina seems to be about average on height, and slender, but she makes up for any physical size with lots of attitude.

Nina loves to sign. Most of her vocal words are two syllable things: Dada, Mama, NyaNya (believe me, that's "William"), baba, papa, nana, haha and ish. So she makes up for everything else she needs with signs. She's very good at: more, please and again. Sometimes she uses "cup" or "eat" but not very often. She can be very creative and sometimes makes up a sign when she's trying very hard to be understood. That could get a little crazy - her signing something very desperately and none of us know what she's saying. Grandpa U started teaching her baseball signs for fun and now I'm all messed up! :) She pats her hair (not only for hat or hair anymore), pulls her earlobe, squeezes her nose & then something else. Usually a pattern, so I blame Grandpa!
We are discovering even more girly-ness in Nina. She likes lotion & likes to put it on her face -she will try to eat it. She likes pretty things like hats, purses & headbands. She likes to dress & undress her dolls. She likes to do my hair and have her hair sprayed with water. She loves bathtime, especially with Will. They fight over toys during the day, but during bathtime they are great buddies. She likes to find shoes & wear just one all over the house. At this moment, there are 3 black Mary Janes on the shoe rack and not one of them is a match for another.
Nina's favorite outside activities are slides, swings and walks. She loves to walk! But she takes forever!! She needs to stop & look at each little thing that catches her eye. Every dandylion, every bug that ends up on the sidewalk, every friend's house that we pass must be inspected for long periods of time. She likes to pick flowers & Will likes to help her put them behind her ear.
She LOVES animals. Especially dogs, but she loves all animals. It will probably be because of her begging (in a few years) that causes us to get a dog. Nina loved the fair, all those animals. And the petting barn was the highlight of the day. A baby rabbit, some pygmy goats & sheep and she loved every moment. She often tried to get out of the stroller when in the regular barns to try & touch the other animals. We did a lot of hand-washing that day. I've been trying to upload a photo but it isn't working so I guess I'll get off now. I will try to update again before Christmas!