The 14th Month - April 2016

April has been a wonderful month!  Nova had some big accomplishments (which will be chronicled in great detail) but the adults did too!

Adult Accomplishments

Briggs mowed the lawn for the first time in almost 20 years.  She did an outstanding job.
Lynn did a lot of science this April! I mean, you should just see the piles and piles of science he's produced.  It almost defies the laws of, well, science.
Briggs won the Student Excellence Award for her Master's Degree Class at Johns Hopkins.

Nova Accomplishments

Nova's accomplishments are much cuter and more interesting.

Language Front

Nova's speaking abilities have grown by leaps and bounds!  For several weeks, she has been pointing at things and saying, "dat" and "dis" or "dist."  I assumed it was baby gobble-dee-gook, but just realized yesterday that she's probably saying "that" and "this."  Nova is very smart!  Her parents? Not so much.

We went to the zoo, and while looking at the monkeys, I said, "Monkey, ooh-ooh, aah-aah."  She replied back by saying, "aaah-aaah."  So cute.

She says "bwee" for birdies.  She loves watching birds out the back window.  Lynn had the great idea of buying a bird feeder which is in a prime viewing location.

She says "Da" for dog over, and over, and over.  She loves dogs and points and runs out to them whenever they walk by.

While she's on the horsie, she says, "weee!!" and while she's eating, she says, "yummmm." (I'm a very good cook.)

She leads us around the house by hand so she can show us various things.

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Stuffed Animals

Nova has a newfound love of stuffed animals.  She seems to always have one in her hands or mouth

 She likes to share her horsie with her animal friends.

She also likes to share her train with her animal friends.  Especially Kermie. 

 Outdoor time is more fun with penguin!

Here Nova is engaged in one of her favorite activities - bringing lots of toys to pile on top of us.  But, she keeps Pinkie for herself. 

 Reading with Daddy, Kermie, Scout and Bunny.

So many friends to cherish!

Friends

Speaking of friends, Nova got to hang out with Little Jack!

Cheese!

She got to hang out with a new friend, Coralie!  They were so busy, I couldn't get a good shot.

Photo Shoot

I held my own private photo shoot for Nova's first birthday.  I think they turned out OK!

Trips

Nova loves the cars at the grocery store.  It reminds me of our Sunday morning trips to the Old Town grocery store growing up.  Except, Nova doesn't get a candy bar for behaving.  Maybe someday.

We went back to the zoo on Sunday, April 25.  Nova is doing a very good job of showing Lynn what to look at, but Lynn is oblivious!  

We met up with our friends Jingwen and Ze at the zoo.  The good news is that they are expecting their own little girl on August!   The bad news is that they are moving to California, too far away from me for my liking.

Jingwen bought Nova this little backpack, which is ready to go for any trip!

The Hair Saga Continues

I'm still trying to figure out how to get Nova's hair out of her eyes without cutting it.  This week, I've tried Vaseline.  Cute right?

Happy Fourteen Months Nova!