Nee-Naaa!

We may have turned a corner.  Just as Grandpa Rod was ready to take bets, Nina said her name correctly most of today, even chanting it at the baseball game!  She has had a few other funny verbal moments this week.  Whenever Dada turns on the Twins game in the car, Nina claps and shouts, "Go Fwins!"  Also, she has stepped up her peace-giving game by now shaking hands and saying, "Peace with you."  At church on Sunday, she heard Jesus' name and turned to us to say, "silly Jesus" with a big smile.  Lastly, we've been a little concerned as to whether or not she would inherit allergies, but we at least don't need to worry about manners.  She is very good about saying 'bless you' and is now covering her mouth when she sneezes.  

Wearing her "frown" (crown)    --------    Everyone is hard at work

Visiting Annie, Adam, and Gus

More from the Easter "ecc" hunt

Easter 2012

It was a wonderful Easter spent with family in Nebraska.  Nina was a great passenger and talked, played, sang, and slept both there and back.  Despite the late nights, she kept a great attitude and loved visiting Nana and Papa.  The Easter Egg hunt was a blast, but after all the practice, Nina was over picking up eggs and mostly enjoyed running around.  She didn't want to sit with the Easter Bunny, but who could blame her?  

Nina's new favorite bedtime activity is naming everyone she knows and asking if they are also going "night, night."  She also jokes about wanting to watch Nemo.  She will ask over and over, "Meno, mama?" and laugh when we say no.  When she gets desperate, she'll ask her stuffed animals too, "Meno, bun-bun?"  

Learning about solitaire   --------   Easter basket hat

Excited for Baseball      -----------      Already depressed by the Twins

Parks and Ice Cream

Nina loves both items from the title of this blog and will demand going to the park more often than not.  She is on a counting kick these days, but often goes, 1, 2, 9, TEN!  Basically the faster she gets to ten, the happier she is about it.  

                                             chasing robins

Dora and Dory!

Nina made a trip to the Mall of America today and got to see plenty of her favorites at Underwater Adventures and Nickelodeon Universe.  We visited the sharks, jellyfish, and Nemo friends and then headed above water to see the legos, Dora the explora, and Sponge Bob.  

Kara is at week 24 of her pregnancy and Nina likes to give the baby a hug every day.  As we mentioned last post, here is a video containing many of her new words and phrases.

Words and phrases

Nina has been happy to improve her communication skills and has a few favorite phrases.  She really likes "wake up" (which sounds like 'hey bob'), "bless you, dada" (allergy season must be upon us), "Boo-yah," counting to ten (usually to 6), "Thank you, you're welcome (together)" and "Look at me!"  We will try to put together a compilation of these videos sometime soon.

"Nina Do"             ------          Matching Jackets

"Say cheese"

65 inches to 65 degrees

What a crazy difference a year can make.  Nina has been happy to be running around the lake again and spending time outside.   She occasionally gets upset about the bright days by yelling, "Sun, no no no!"  Another funny proclamation the other day resulted after a discussion about teaching, when Nina said "Dada cheacher, Nani cheacher." 

Sunbathing    ------    Looking for doggies

We made a nice trip to Owatonna last weekend and Nina got to play with Grandma, Grandpa and Annie.  We visited the reptile zoo where we got to touch a crocodile and a huge snake!  Nina's favorite part was running up and down a ramp.

20 months old AND....

...going to be a big sister!  Nina's little sister is due in early July, most likely the same week as Nina's second birthday.  It is sure to be a busy summer for the Naks, but we're excited and, when asked about her little sis, Nina often responds with "be nice."  We'll see how long she can stick to that game plan. :)

Nak Number 2 facing upwards, all curled up