Hey, my Loves! It has been a hot second since I have gotten on here and updated you all on Mommy Life & Noelia. Time seems to get away from me in the Summer (even more so!). We love to do a lot of traveling and working on our house, so my downtime is scarce at times! This is a topic that I absolutely love to write about and I know a lot of you love reading these updates! This stage in motherhood has been nothing short of beautiful, but definitely challenging. Noelia is her own little person now with A LOT of personality. She is my wild child, my strong-willed “I will never give up” child. Her character is the most precious thing and as we watch her grow, God confirms in us that she will most definitely be someone special to this world. We are most definitely in the Crazy Two’s stage and it has been crazy, for sure! We have a little lady on a mission in our home and this Mama lalala-loves it!
We are only (BRB, crying) 3 short months away from the big THREE!! I cannot believe I will have a three-year-old, I mean, truly! It seems just like yesterday I held her for the first time and soaked in all the baby snuggles I could. I knew time would go fast after having kids, but I feel like we are in warp speed. Year two has come and gone and I am sitting here blinking as if it just started. Year one was a huge learning curve, especially being a first time Mom, but I would say year two was even MORE of a learning curve. Why? These little humans start to talk back at you! They understand they are their own little person with needs and the world is their playground. Year two is when it really hit me, “I am raising someone’s wife, someone’s mother. She will contribute to this world in many ways, and it is my job to ensure that those ways are good”. No pressure or anything! Year two was also the year that made me realize she watches my/our every move. Every comment, every action, every single body language we exhibit, EVERYTHING. It wasn’t just ensuring she was fed and changed anymore, but ensuring that I am doing my part to help mold her into the woman she was created to be. I often find myself regretting the way I reacted to a situation in front of her, because lone behold she will copy-cat it the next time she is in a similar situation herself. Kids really make us realize how much we need to clean up our act from time to time! Their little sponge minds will soak in everything, even if we think it is something so minute. She really is my daily reminder to be my best self! Thank God for the Lord’s Grace!
Language, ABC’s & 123’s
Noelia loves to talk. I mean talk, talk, talk, and talk some more! She is just like her Daddy that is for sure! We always felt that she was advanced with her speech. She has been speaking full sentences since she was one and still continues to advance. We are able to have full conversations with her that are way beyond “yes” or “no” answers. She will always tell us if something is wrong and doesn’t struggle to communicate her needs. She loves to tell you about her day and what she did, and she is always right about the order of her day! It amazes how much they can remember at such a young age. She does very well with her ABC’s. We have heard her recite them a time or two perfectly to herself. I credit this all to a toy she has that sings off the ABC’s in a chant. It is a learning dog that uses the different parts of its body for different learning. I will link it below! We also love reading “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” to her. She loves to recite the alphabet at the start of the book and at the end. We point to each letter and say what it is. She may not recognize yet the letter to its name, but I know it will click for her soon! She can recite her numbers all the way up to 20. She will have a few mistakes here and there, but generally she does them perfectly. She can also recite them in Spanish, just not as high. Noelia understands Spanish very well, as my mom primarily speaks Spanish to her. It’s so cute to watch her reply to my Mom in half English/half Spanish responses! It makes me so proud that she knows both! I can definitely thank my Mama for that one ;).
Noelia is truly an interactive learner. She HAS to do it herself. She will get completely frustrated and mad if she cannot do something, like putting on a pair of shoes for example, but if we try to help her it only makes her more mad (oh, boy!). We have learned that we need to leave her alone and let her figure it out until she asks for help. She is constantly asking us questions about things and why things work this way or that way. There is always a constant “why??” coming out of that little mouth! I love it, though. She is so eager to learn and know about every little thing. It is actually really refreshing to put myself in her little world and try to remember what it was like to be so young. Not a care in the world, so innocent and pure. Children truly are a gift from God!
Noelia started dance classes a few weeks ago and really has been the thing for her! My dancer heart exploded seeing her in her dance leotard for the first time and putting on those little ballet shoes. It was one of those moments that every dancer dreams of; seeing your little girl begin a passion of yours. Heart. Explosion. Her first day, she was timid at first. Noelia does not attend daycare, so being around stranger adults and other children can be hard for her at times. She definitely isn’t shy, but I think in some situations she just doesn’t know how to react. The stretching portion of her class was BENEATH her. I mean…this child did not want to stretch for anything, and I think it is because it bores her, ha! Once she was able to move and groove, she was allll in! Especially once she got a hold of some pom-poms…it was like her eyes lit up and her destiny was before her….maybe that is just me being biased that she will be a dancer one day, ha ;)!
Some of Noelia’s favorite books. This girl loves being read to, especially by her Papa!
Potty Trained, Check!
Noelia has been potty trained since the end of December. She has done really well keeping up with it and thankfully has only had about 2 accidents in the middle of the night. From the start of training her, she refused to put back on training diapers so we trusted her and allowed her to sleep through the night without one. To our surprise, she was always dry! I think this goes to show that we need to trust our kids. They really do tell us when they are ready for things and we just need to trust them. Even if we feel they aren’t ready or they make mistakes, praise them for their ability to recognize their want to try!
Siblings??
The question that I think everyone wants the answer to, ha. When will Noelia get a sibling?! We go back and forth all the time on this subject. If it was up to Brody, we would be having another one now. He isn’t the one that has to do all the work, now is he?! Haha, in all honesty our Husbands do just as much just in a different way. Noelia will be three soon, so I definitely think the time will come sooner rather than later. I always tell Brody I just wish God would surprise us again so I don’t have to plan it! Really, though! I overthink too much, and so much at times things get put off. I definitely do have baby fever to my surprise…I hear or see a baby and my heart just melts. I really do miss those sweet baby days.
I love these shots of her. She wanted Daddy to take some pictures of her on our professional camera after he took some of me and I mean…all the heart eyes! Her beauty is beyond!!
It is crazy to me that Brody and I need to start thinking about Pre-School options. We definitely want to put her in a program that she can attend for a few hours a week to get her feet wet and to help with the transition of not having family watch her. I HATE the idea of someone else watching her, even if it is for a few hours here and there a week, but I know it will be good for her. I will have a harder time with it than she will I’m sure!
As her birthday creeps up upon us again, Brody and I are humbled by the true blessing Noelia is in our lives. We cannot imagine life without our shining star, our baby girl, our Vida. She is the light in my life and I will forever thank God for choosing me to be the Mother to the most special little girl *yep, crying*.
