Catch up post!

So much going on lately, so little time for blogging!

The crawling continues to improve. Within 2 days of moving forward, she was already testing the waters. Usually a simple "No, no Natalie" will get her moving to a new direction.


Patty and her family were camping at the beach, so we made a trip to see Liam and get a cousin picture! He was about a week and a half old here. So fun to remember how little they start and how fast they grow!


We took a (long) road trip that next weekend. Natalie did pretty good in the car. We just took our time and stretched the 6 hr trip into a full 9 hour drive. We tried to do most of the driving while she was napping, which mostly worked. Got checked into the hotel and then she thought it was party time! Finally got her to sleep around 11pm. Waaaay past all of our bedtimes. Only to be woken about 1:30am. I think some people had just checked in and were talking in the hallway, must have woken her up. She cried and carried on for quite a while. For the first time, I loaded her up in the middle of the night and we went for a drive. She was quiet in the comfort of her car seat, but woke up when we returned to the hotel. She continued to fuss until about 4:30. Not a whole lot of sleeping that night. And the next day, with the exception of about 1.5 hrs of combined naps, Natalie was awake the entire day! We went to a 50th wedding anniversary party, and she didn't want to miss a single minute! Needless to say, she slept great for night #2 at the hotel!

When we got home, we found that Trisha had left a little surprise for Natalie. She kept the glasses on long enough for a quick photo, and ever since then thinks they are a great toy!



Some quick, fun pictures in the grass, enjoying the summertime. I love this little outfit on her!


And this face! She's been doing this little pouty lip thing that is just too cute!


Then last weekend was the 4th and David's birthday! We hadn't been to the valley for fireworks in a while, so we decided we'd go this year. The whole family got together on the 3rd to celebrate. We spent some time in the pool, BBQd and hung out with everyone. Again, change of scenery, sleeping in the Pack 'n Play, the heat, etc. etc, whatever it was, Natalie decided she wanted to be up at midnight for a good bit. I ended up walking around the house rocking her until she fell asleep. Day / Night #2 were smooth and close to her usual schedule. It's just the first night away that takes some adjusting.


We spent the 4th in the pool, enjoying the heat, and hanging out with Patty, Jake, and Ryan. Natalie was tired at the end of the day. She actually sat / lounged in my lap for quite a while. Very rare, so I just sat and enjoyed it!


We originally intended on going to the huge 4th celebration, but in the end, opted to stay at the house and enjoy some quiet. Natalie was in bed by 8pm, so she missed the fireworks. But, the rest of us sat in the street, enjoyed the warmness, and had some homemade ice cream. Yumm!

I think that gets us mostly up to date on the events around here. All of the driving and travelling has meant lots of packing / unpacking, prepping baby food to take on the road, loads and loads of laundry upon return, catching up on sleep here and there, and, oh yeah..working in between!

Natalie's 9 mo post coming up next..!

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.

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.

Summer fun!

It was nice to have a three day weekend and the weather was beautiful! (my definition of beautiful weather = 80+ and we were lucky to get two days of the warmness). We took Natalie down to the Strawberry Festival. I've been waiting for her to wear this cute strawberry dress. She didn't actually enjoy much of the festival - she slept in the stroller the entire time! Oh well, maybe next year.




We visited with Grandma before walking down to the village. She loves this little Minnie Mouse. She gets super excited everytime she sees her!




We went to a pool party yesterday! Natalie's first time in the pool, and I think she quite enjoyed it. She was pretty content to just lounge in the water.





Hanging out in the shade.


Trying to get Mason's pacifier.


She's still working on the crawling thing. Turning circles and moving backwards are getting perfected. She's close to going forward, but not quite there. Here's a picture of her newest move. I'm referring to it as her yoga!



Last weekend we had to go to yet another funeral. My uncle passed away in a motorcycle accident while racing up in Sonoma. We travelled to the valley to be with family. My dad's dad (Papa) and his wife got to meet Natalie for the 1st time. Here's a 4 generation picture.


Some recent bath pictures. Some of her hairs are pretty long! The kitchen gets a good washing everytime Natalie gets a bath. We'll probably have to move her infant tub to the big tub soon, but for now the kitchen is so much more convenient.



Daddy Day Care is officially over. We've been so lucky to have had flexible work schedules, but now David is going back to work full-time. It's been so nice to see David and Natalie bonding. He's getting to be a pro and it's great that Natalie will go to either of us for feeding, diapering, and comforting. So, it's been a great 4 months and we're now moving onto a new chapter - daycare. (so far the trial runs have gone smoothly!)

New pictures

At first, Natalie liked putting her hands in her mouth...


...but this week's discovery has been her feet. Not only does she pull her feet up, but she likes to suck on her big toe!



I thought it was funny and a bit of a fluke the first few times, but now she does it whenever I change her diaper. Too cute! I wonder when we stop being so flexible...?

Some cute pictures after her bath on Sunday. This bath robe came in a gift basket from some clients when Natalie was born. We had set it aside thinking it was way too big. Glad I remembered it, the tag says 0-9 months or up to 24 pounds. She's a long way from 24lbs, so I think we'll still get some use out of it!




Also, since I'm keeping this blog more as a scrap book than anything..I forgot to write that at 7 months, Natalie has been anticipating things. When we play peek-a-boo, she will try to guess where you're going to pop out next. And, I know it seems really early to tell whether a child is right or left handed, but Natalie has some strong tendencies towards her left hand. Strange because neither of us are lefties, but some of the books mention to put toys in front of them and see which hand they favor. If something is on her right side, she will even reach across her whole body to get it with her left hand. Looking back thru the past few posts, she seems to hold her pacifier in her left hand too. So, we're just watching for now, but it'll be interesting to see if she stays dominant with the left.

I thought this would be a quick blog post, but since I'm at it,..might as well finish! Natalie has been improving on her napping / bedtime routine. In the past few weeks, she's gone down by herself several times. She'll whine for a few minutes, but then falls asleep on her own. We give her the pacifier in her crib and if it falls out, she'll either put it back in, or just suck her thumb. Sometimes are better than others, and some require more intervention than others, but she's getting there!

We also found a daycare that we really like and are starting the transition. She's been one day a week and will eventually be there 3 days a week. She loves watching the other kids interact and seems to behave well for her sitter. So far, so good!