Our little monkey

So, this past week Nicole has picked up a new trick: CLIMBING!!! She know keeps me even more on my toes and I worry alot more. She also falls off of everything, even if I'm less than a foot away. She has worried me a few times, but she hasn't broken anything.....yet.

In addition to the slide that she has managed to climb up backwards, she has mastered the following:

The stairs (but that has been for several months now)

The couch

The dining room chairs

The brick ledge on our walkway (yes, the taller part)


The bathtub (and she knows how to hold onto the toilet to get out)



Her stroller

We have also had to do some home repairs and Nicole has decided that she makes a good helper. She loves to help me work on the front yard in the dirt and watering the lawn. She really loves to help her dad and she helped him fix the kitchen sink.

First, you have to inspect the damage.

Next, a good helper hands dad the tools.....and makes sure the cabinet doors stay closed. The entire time Nick was working on it and when we had the doors open so it would dry out, she would sneak by and close them (I guess she does remember some of the good habits I try to teach her...).

Finally, a good helper makes time for a good story during the union mandated breaks.



I really think she likes to be a good helper because of the reward at the end:

Finally, there are two things that Nicole has done this week that totally melted my heart and stuck a smile on my face:

First, she has developed a total love of reading (yah!!) and loves to snuggle up to read a story. And has figured out some of her favorites. One of her favorites is about daddy animals coming home and at the end the child's dad comes home to the child shouting "daddy! daddy! daddy!". It's a lift the flap book and Nicole is in love with it!

Second, Nicole and I were playing with her legos on the floor earlier this afternoon. We are both quietly playing with our own pieces and just exsisting near each other, not really playing together. She gets up from her legos, walks over to me, bends down and gives me a kiss on the mouth and then stands back up and walks back to her legos. Isn't that the SWEETEST?!?! This is the first time she has given kisses without being told to.

I LOVE OUR BABY GIRL!!!