A Little Less Drama: Little Miss Novah At 20 months

Well I somehow blinked and missed documenting Novah's 18 months of life. She's nearing 20 months now so I figured I better stop to make a few notes about her spunky and spicy little personality.

Novah is quite the little charmer she has charmed her way into the hearts of everyone at home and nearly everyone she meets. But seriously who could resist those brown eyes and the adorable little smiles she likes to share?

Novah is a firecracker. In the words of Dan she is on her way to becoming a true woman! She definitely has her own way of seeing things and when things don't go exactly the way she wants she's not afraid to let you know, sound like anybody else you might know? (ahem Marshal, and maybe Me- I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the fact that I have two kids like this!) While she is one feisty little lady she does have her own way of doing things that differs from the way Marshal used to act and for that I am grateful. She loves to throw herself back on the floor and throw tantrums when she doesn't get her way, push her brothers away from mommy when she wants me all to herself, she's even been known to push away Daddy with a look of disdain that says, "Leave me alone!"

Yet for all of the fire she is also the sweetest little girl you could ever imagine. She loves to be held and rocked while I sing Rock-a-bye-baby. She loves to cuddle during story time (though she's quick to turn the page or get rid of the book if she doesn't like the one you're reading.) She is quick to hand out hugs and kisses when they are asked for and is very gentle and concerned when she sees others who are upset. She gives the sweetest hugs by putting her head on your chest or shoulder. Novah loves her Daddy (even though at times she gives him some attitude) and on Sunday's she is always calling him and trying to run up on the stand to sit with him during sacrament meeting. She also adores her Grandpa and gets very excited every time she sees him.

Novah loves to run and play with her brothers and you can tell that she simply adores them. She is always calling them- "Arshal" and "Oohen" and loves to give them hugs and kisses too. She tries to copy just about everything that they do and as a result is the toughest little 20 month old girl I know. She wrestles with them, drives cars with them, chases them, and doesn't take any flack from them when they try to take her toys. I'm pretty sure that she is going to be one tough cookie as she gets older, I don't think I'll ever have to worry about her when it comes to standing up for herself. While she does love brother brothers I think she has a special connection with Marshal that is very cute to observe. He just loves her too and is already on the lookout for her.

Novah has four great loves at this point in her life- food, dancing, dogs and her blankie! This girl eats pretty much NON stop. I honestly cannot comprehend where she puts all the food but really as soon as she is done with one meal she is ready to eat another. If she so much as whiffs food she runs toward it saying, "Eat, eat, ungry." You'd think I don't feed the child but let me assure you I do. The other day her and Marshal polished off 6 scrambled eggs for breakfast. Not to mention, yogurt, fruit and dry cereal. I am terrified of my food bill in 10 years!

Enjoying her most favourite meal of the day.

Her love of movement is quite amazing to me too. Obviously she has been exposed to a lot of music and she often sees me choreographing and watching dance videos at home- but she really has her own love of music that I do not feel was pushed upon her. Any time she hears a song she immediately starts to move her body to the music and begins dance. She has cute little head gestures, wild and crazy spinning, she gallops around in circles, rolls on the floor kicks her legs in the air and even has these very soft balletic arms gestures. I feel almost certain that she has inherited my love of dancing. I know it's really to early to say but she shows signs of being a little dancer already.

I'm not quite certain where her obsession with dogs stems from (because neither Dan nor I are dog lovers) but Novah has taken quite the liking to her furry four legged friends. She has quite a few dog stuffies and she must bring one with her nearly every where we go. She has to have them for nap time, drags them around the house with her, to the table, you name it. She loves to look at pictures of dogs on Dan's phone and gets very excited and starts barking any time she sees a real dog pass by. She loves books about dogs, movies with dogs, tv shows with dogs (Paw Patrol is her favourite!) and even her doggie t-shirt!

The sweet little girl with her doggie friends.

See how much she loves these stuffies!

In addition to her love of dogs is Novah's love of her blankie. While there isn't quite as much to be said for this love it is still quite important to her. Just like her big brother Cohen she loves to have her "night, night" with her all the time. It is a serious comfort object for her that also gets dragged everywhere. Any time she feels sad she wants it right there with her so she can rub her face in it. Blankies are certainly important in our house!

Another important thing to document about Novah at this stage is her vocabulary. She is quite the little talker and has very recently really taken to babbling all the time. I feel it will only be a matter of time before all her babbles will have turned into full fledged sentences. Some of her current words include: Mommy, Daddy, Arshal, Oohen, Gamma, Gampa, eat, ungry, up, down, out, all one (done), met (milk), doddie (doggie), cat, hat, out, upstairs, downstairs, no, iaper (diaper), pretty, rincess (princess), apple, yougurt, bread, eggs, eeps (chips), nola (granola), boat, ory (story), book, baby, night night, bottle, bowl, plate, water, bath, poop, eeth (teeth), meup (makeup), soft, hair, play, toy, oh no, don't die (she says this quoting a part of the movie Dusty Fire and Rescue- it's honestly the funniest thing ever!) The list of her words could go on but that's all I can think of right how, notice how many of her words are food related!

Novah is truly a joy and we are so happy to have her in our family. Here are some other random photos of our little princess! We love her so much and are so happy to have her in our family.