6.21.2010

Father's day and our updates

[Quick little disclaimer. I know my Father's Day post is a little late..I did start this post yesterday, but just ran out of time to post. Running out of time seems to be a common theme around here these days.]

Happy (first!) Father's day to David! Thank you for all you do for Natalie. She definitely lights up and loves to see her daddy. She didn't let us sleep in this morning, but we did get to enjoy pancakes and coffee (no coffee for the munchkin though!) Then we shopped for a shiny new BBQ.
When I originally wrote this post, she had been lunging forwards more and more, but still no coordination of actual crawling. Then today I got a text message from the babysitter and the first thing the babysitter's little boy said to David tonight was "Natalie's crawling!" She's really motivated to go after things she's not supposed to have: remotes, cell phones, electrical cords, papers, etc. Guess the baby-proofing will start now!


On Friday, Natalie went to her first swim lesson! There is an indoor pool (90 degree water and no worrying about sunscreen!) here that offers lessons. She's in a Goldfish class with another little girl. We sang songs and played in the water. We practiced Gliding across the water and Diving under water! I wasn't sure how she'd do with the diving part, but she didn't really mind at all! She did really well holding onto the little kick board while I towed her around the pool. It kind of surprised me at how much they can do at such a young age.


Natalie can officially sit up from a crawling stance. She was getting close last week and I thought she might have done it a few times, but now that's ALL she wants to do! I knew it was real when I went to get her out of the crib the other morning and there she was, sitting like a big girl! She's getting really good at it too - just takes a quick hand on the ground and she pushes up to sit.
While it's super cute that she has this new skill, it's also a bit of a challenge. Saturday she refused her morning nap. We would lay her in the crib, give her the blankie like usual and leave the room. Within 2 minutes she would be in there whining and crying. We'd go back in to calm her, and she'd be sitting up. We layed her back down and repeated the process for oh, 90 minutes. After a walk, some more food, a little play time, and more of a struggle, she finally went to sleep! Then David found her sitting up at 3 am crying for her pacifier. Silly girl, time to sleep, not practice sitting / crawling!

We're slowly graduating from the Bumbo to the Highchair. The Bumbo is great for travelling or setting her down for a minute while we're prepping food, but it's getting harder to contain her for any length of time. She can pretty much reach anything and everything on the counter by stretching over the side. She's still a little bit small for her highchair, but it's a lot safer for this little mover.

Last weekend we welcomed our newest nephew! Liam David was born on Sunday, June 13th! We went to visit him again on Wednesday (nice to have them so close by). He's such a little bitty guy! Natalie felt tiny at that age, but it's amazing what a 1.5lb difference makes on a newborn. We can't wait to see Liam & Natalie grow up together.
Last weekend was a busy one. We spent Friday & Saturday nights at the lake camping. We loaded up the boat, and took all the supplies to the back of the lake while some friends hiked into the campsite. It was so great to be out in the quiet and apparently we were busy as I only took 2 pictures. Natalie was quite the trooper, but next time she might need her own tent. She went to bed easily, but woke when we unzipped the tent to go to bed. It was a little tough to get her back down because she is used to her own space, but we survived. And we'll do it again.

6.09.2010

8 months, already!




We can hardly believe Natalie is 8 months old already! Her little personality is really starting to show.

Her latest tricks & habits:
* Natalie is getting more mobile. In the past two weeks, she's getting less and less interested in just sitting and playing with toys. She'll sit for a few minutes, and then she is leaning over to get a new toy, or transitioning to a crawling stance. She goes around and around in circles and backwards. I've seen her attempt forward movements, but the coordination is not quite there. She can almost sit back up when she is down on all-fours.

When she does circles, she always turns to her right, and she's got a unique system. She extends her right leg and then shifts her hands. Difficult to explain! Easier to see.






* Talking and more noises. She has been laughing a lot! Sometimes it is just totally random and unprovoked by us. She's also discovering her tongue and making "P" and "F" noises (which causes lots of drool)! Just this week she has been squealing by sucking in air. It's fun to watch her learn what she can do.

* Natalie doesn't mind being in the car anymore. On short rides, she'll talk to herself and play with rattles. If we're near nap-time, or have been out and about for a while, she will even nap in the car! This is such an improvement over those first months of screaming.

* She is busy! When we hold her in our laps or our arms, she is constantly reaching to grab anything in sight. On the couch, she will practically climb out of my arms to get the closest object (if its an electronic, its even more interesting. Gotta watch our cell phone and remotes).


* Natalie is a great eater so far. She hasn't turned down anything we've offered. I don't know the order anymore, but she's had: peas, green beans, squash, sweet potato, apples, pears, peaches, mangoes, bananas, watermelon, chicken, pork, rice (she tried a little tonight), broccoli, corn (haven't given these last two much), bites of pancake and a few tastes of "puffs" (cheerios for babies). She did good at picking the puffs up, but she couldn't figure out how to get them in her mouth. They mostly just stuck to her palms. We'll try again in a week or so and see if it's any easier.

* She's starting to lift her arms up when you go to pick her up.
* She's "waved" bye-bye a few times, but I think it was probably accidental.
* She moves around her crib. Front to back, left to right, she's never where we leave her.
* She's rolling over a bunch. Sometimes when she is doing her circles, she'll push and end up on her back. She'll roll right back over and start again. She also rolls over and sleeps on her stomach most nights.
* Natalie's getting good at putting herself to sleep. If we catch the sleep signs, we just give her the pacifier and her blankie, put her in the crib and say goodnight. Most nights & naps she doesn't even fuss! She's still sleeping 7pm - 7:30am. Some nights a little more, and rarely a little less.

Stats for the month:
16.5 lbs
27 inches
Size 3 diapers
Size 6-9 mo clothes

We are really enjoying all of the (constant) changes!

More pictures from the past few weeks.

First trip to the lake! She didn't mind the cold water at all.


The life jacket wasn't a big hit, but after we got moving she was fine with it.


Starting young with technology...


Just waking up from her nap. Nice hair!


Playing Peek-a-boo.

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