Tasha Tells It All

Zac: Is your hair in a bun?
Tasha: It's a hair bun, not a hot dog bun.

Addy (Natasha'a friend): What is Nikolaus doing?
Natasha: He is up to no good.

Me: Nikolaus, are you being a bad boy?
Natasha (singing): Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Tasha: Mommy, did you go shopping?
Me: Yes, I bought some berries for our smoothies.
Tasha: Good job, mom... You remembered!

Tasha: (While playing dress up at Mimi's house) Is Papa coming back?
Mimi: No, honey, Papa is in heaven.
Tasha: Did he pack up all his stuff?  Gotta love her!

Frozen just ended:
Zac: Are you going to watch it again?
Tasha: No.  And you and mommy can't watch it.
Zac (singing): "Let it go..."
Tasha: Okay, you can watch it if you want to.

Tasha: Brooks spilled!
Uncle Matt: What did Brooks spill?
Tasha:  He spilled his pee pee.

Tasha: Mommy, when am I going to be five?  I'm so bored of being four.
Me (in a sarcastic tone): I'm sorry you are so bored of being four.
Tasha: I like being four, but I'm a little bored of it.
Me: Oh, boy.

 Loves her ballet/tap combo class

(we are taking a break from gymnastics to try this out)

 Loved meeting Rapunzel

Her crazy hat that she made for "crazy hat day" at school

Cherry face

 Can't believe her first year of school is over :(

 Tasha and Noe at the mall...last day of school

Meeting and holding her new baby cousin, Everly! 

 Dress up at Mimi's

 

On the go with her Olaf balloon

Meeting and holding Ben's & Ingrid's new baby, Aksel.

 

 Lucky girl, got to hang out with Aksel again... slightly obsessed with babies.
 

She is in heaven

Nikolaus... 18, 19 and almost 20 months

 Stacking and knocking them down

 "Nikolaus, what are you doing up there? 

You are not going to like the taste of that candle. 

 Told you so."

 

 Mama's boy

 

 All wrapped up and watching Frozen

 

 

Working on his ride



Dessert face

 

 

 

Eating calamari and loving it.

 

A boy on the go

 

Life with two kids and keeping up with this blog has definitely been challenging.  Hopefully, I will be able to knock out a couple of new blog posts this month to get everyone (who is still interested) up to date on our family.  Nikolaus is almost 20 months and it has so much fun to watch him grow.  He loves to watch his sister and follow what she does, "monkey see, monkey do."  Even though he loves to watch the movie Frozen and sometimes wears his sister's jewelry and carry around a purse, he is all boy with his collection of sticks and rocks, throwing a ball around and even sticking his finger up his nose while saying "mama, mama" over and over again to get a laugh out of me... it works every time.  He loves to stack cups, roll cars and he is slightly obsessed with garbage trucks. 

Nikolaus is still a great eater, but it seems like he is starting to get a little picky.  It might be that he just likes to graze all day and when it comes down to eating a big meal, he loses interest pretty quickly.  He is also a great sleeper.  I might just keep him in a sleepsack and his crib forever.  Do they make adult size sleepsacks?  With a 3 hour nap and 12+ hours at night, it is no wonder that this boy has so much energy!

Nikolaus's 18-month well check went great.  He is (of course) right on track with his motor development skills, is very social and quite vocal.  However, he only has about 8-10 actual words.  He should have around 20 words and 200 by his 2-year check.  Since he was flirting with the doctor in just a diaper, while dancing and saying "tickle, tickle," she is not concerned about his lack of words.  If only Natasha would lighten up on her talking, so Nikolaus could get a word in.  Here are the stats from his appointment:

Weight: 24 lbs. 9.5oz (60th percentile)
Length: 33 in. (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 48 1/2 cm (80th percentile)

The one thing that has been a little challenging with Nikolaus is his attachment to me.  He is a mama's boy and he knows it too.  If Zac is holding him and I walk into the room, he wants to come to me.  Once he is in my arms, he gives Zac a little smirk.  It definitely has helped to have Linda here on Thursdays and this fall I am starting MOPS, so Nikolaus will be in their day care while I am at the meetings.  I love the snuggles and the love, but this mama needs a break here and there.  

Disneyland

Glad to be at the "Happiest Place on Earth."

Riding Dumbo with mommy

 Selfie

 

 Lunch after a hot day at Disney

 Daddy and Natasha

 

 

We must have chosen one of the hottest days of the year to take Natasha to Disneyland for her birthday, but the three of us had a great time exploring the park.  Since it was still very crowded (even though we went after all the Spring Break madness), we were only able to enjoy a few rides.  We decided to forgo meeting Elsa and Anna from Frozen, since the wait time was 2 hours... Yes, 2 hours!  Natasha barely managed 20 minutes in the Dumbo line.  I can't imagine spending 2 hours in line with her in the heat.  Hopefully, one day Natasha will be able to meet them.  Maybe once the craze dies down a bit.  They were having a special for SoCal residents on 2-day park-hopper tickets, so I decided to purchase those for Natasha and I.  That way we could check out California Adventure another day with Nikolaus (since he is free).  And that is what we did, three weeks later:

 

 Natasha and Pluto

 Our little tourist

 We met our friends... Tasha and Noe enjoying the Disney Jr. Show

Nikolaus and mommy

 BFFs

 Nikolaus feeling a little bit of freedom

 A little cat nap while we found our next attraction

 Carousel with Noe 

We had such a great time at California Adventure, that I upgraded our park-hopper tickets to season passes.  I guess we are THAT family now... Ha!  However, only Natasha and I have passes and we can only go during the week and we have many blackout dates, which is fine because I don't need to go when what feels like the whole world is there.  We are looking forward to visiting Disney again in the fall.

Natasha also had her 4 year well check.  Everything is great with our not-so-little girl.  The nurse was a little concerned with Natasha's vision during the eye exam, so we will follow up with our family optometrist to see what he thinks.  Here are her stats from the appointment:

Weight: 38.6 lbs. (75th percentile)
Length: 39 1/4" (40-45th percentile)

Four going on Fourteen

Cinderella themed birthday celebration

There's Nikolaus with his snacks

Fun in the bounce house with Brooks

Nikolaus liked the bounce house too!

 Happy Birthday Monkey Moo

 LOVE her!

 LOVE our little family

Build-A-Bear Workshop (first time)

Birthday frozen yogurt

Natasha and her "Bear" (she chose a My Little Pony instead)

 Natasha has been able to spell her name since she

turned three, but now she can write it too!

Selfie... she asked for an iPhone for her birthday,

AND the answer was NO!

Posing

 

Hamming it up for the camera

A regular "tourist" at the Spectrum.

 Watching Frozen for the very first time...

and now has seen it every day since.

"Let it go..."

 Birthday celebration at school

Wearing her birthday crown

Singing "Happy Birthday"

I felt like a little celebrity, everywhere Natasha and I went there

was this entourage of little girls following us. 

Me and my four year old... I don't think I can accept that she will be five next year... tear :(

 

 

Natasha had a great fourth birthday with our family and even got to celebrate it at school.  I decided that we wouldn't throw a big bash this year because we are planning on taking Natasha to Disneyland next week for the first time ever.  We are leaving Nikolaus with grandma, so Natasha will just have Zac and I to experience Disneyland with.  We will both get to go on the rides with her and not worry about Nikolaus getting bored in the stroller.  Natasha still got plenty for her birthday from our generous family and on her actual birthday, Nikolaus and I took her to Build-a-Bear Workshop for the first time. 

 

Natasha is such a fun, loving, sweet, sassy and silly little girl.  She is enthusiastic about school, loves all crafts, a natural born entertainer and cares for her family and friends.  We are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives and can't wait to see her grow into a young lady... slowly.