Video!

Here's the video from Monday!

It took her a while to get all the way over, but I haven't caught any others on the camera. Enjoy!

New Skills

Over the last week, Natalie has been picking her head and shoulders up off the ground. We noticed she was doing this in the bath last week too.

We got back on Sunday, and she was enjoying some floor time. I layed her down, and immediately her legs came up and SHE ROLLED OVER! David had his back turned, so I told him what she did. We rolled her onto her back, and she did it again! It's so cute, once she's all the way over, she starts "talking", loudly! It's like she's saying "Look at me, I rolled over"!

I have a video, but I'm having trouble uploading. Stay Tuned!

She continues to practice swinging her legs and lifting her head - when we lay her down on the floor, or on the changing table. She is talking louder and constantly has her hands in her mouth. She even started rubbing her eyes when she was tired the other night. Motor skills are definitely picking up!

Napping while laying on her side & with her thumb in her mouth:

Two weeks ago, Natalie was eating 6 times a day, and I could almost set my watch to her routine. That has since gone out the window. It seems like she changes things up the minute I get her figured out! She's been stretching feedings, and I'm having to remind her to eat. I must say it is nice having more time between feedings to get things done, run errands, etc. At the same time, I hope she settles into a new routine so I can leave notes for the babysitters (Daddy and Grandma) starting next week!

The car

As an adult, I thought I had graduated to the front seat of the car, at least in my own vehicle! But I find myself riding in the back seat, next to this:




Not a bad view to have, but certainly not as comfy as the front seat.

We're on a road trip, and we opted to leave early because we weren't sure how Natalie would do. She's been having screaming spells in the car lately. I called the pediatrician and he said it's likely motion sickness :( His only advice was to see if we could get her to sleep, take lots of breaks, feed her, and drive safe.

I experimented earlier this week and figured out that I could get her in the carseat while she was already asleep and she stayed sleeping. So we packed the car last night and left at 6:45 this morning.

We stopped for her breakfast, I played her music & lights toy and as you can see she is back to sleep!

Hooray! Especially for mom & dad's ears :)

We should make it to our destination without any more stops as long as traffic keeps moving. MUCH better than anticipated.

Hopefully the return trip goes as well!

Staying warm & dry

It's storming outside, and we lost power over an hour ago, but Natalie and I are cuddled up and staying warm.

Enjoying every minute of this.

Good & Bad

Bad news first so we can end the blog on a good note.

We lost David's Grandma Nadeau this week. We are so thankful we were able to see her in November and that she was able to meet Natalie. We will definitely miss her smiles, her good stories and our card games together. We'll be going down south to visit family and celebrate her life later this week.



Onto happier news. With the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I forgot to post that we get to be an Aunt & Uncle again! My brother Kevin & his wife Shannah are expecting a baby this June. We are very excited for a new niece or nephew and it'll be nice to get to know him/her while they are living so close.

I feel like Natalie is changing by the day. She has started to discover her hands, play with her toys, and is sitting like a big girl in her Bumbo chair.

Can't decide whether she wants to chew on her hands or the toy


Funny half-smile


Decided on the toy


Trying to figure out the contraption in mom's hand



We are dog sitting Hailey this weekend. Apparently Nursing Pillows are comfy for dogs too. Couldn't resist taking a picture before relocating her to the dog bed.


Yesterday was kind of rough. Natalie decided she didn't need naps. Who needs to sleep? Crying is apparently much more fun. No amount of coaxing, rocking, singing, swinging, walking, or back rubbing did the trick. Luckily she saved up her sleep for nighttime and we were all able to get some rest. She fought her morning nap today too, but me and the Sandman won the battle. Hopefully this is not a new trend.

3 months old

We celebrated Natalie's 3 month "birthday" with pictures!


Some of her 3 month habits:

*She usually eats 6 times a day. Most intervals are close to 3 hrs apart, and then the last two feedings are at 7pm and 9pm. (she set this schedule herself and seems to stick to it).

*She goes to sleep between 9 and 10pm and she wakes up about 8am. Some nights she whines around 3 or 4am, but we just sleepwalk to her room, slip her pacifier in and she continues sleeping. She's been doing this since week 9.

*She holds her head up. It bobs around a bit, but it's getting really steady. She even pushes up on her forearms when she's on her tummy.

*She has ticklish feet and likes when we "kick" them for her.

*She loves to sit on our laps and sometimes even stand.

*She is curious! She sits and surveys the room and loves to visit new places. If we're up late with friends or out running errands, she won't close her eyes as if she is afraid she will miss something.

*She likes to face outward when I put her in the Moby Wrap.

*She's still fussing a bit with the car seat. We think its because she keeps doing ab crunches attempting to sit more upright, but the seat belt holds her back and it makes her mad.

*She likes when Daddy carries her around the house (facing outward), and she gets annoyed when he wants to sit and relax with her.

*She's wearing 0-3 month clothes pretty comfortably, weighs around 12 lbs and is 23 inches long.

Polka Dots

Natalie & I hung out with Ericka & Gage this morning. Always fun to get out, drink some yummy coffee and have some mom-talk. Here's Gage & Natalie together.


When we got home, Natalie was in a pretty good mood, I even got a couple of smiles!


I tried to move her to a more solid background, she was ok for a minute, but definitely not as happy.





After a diaper change and a meal, she passed out. Here's a picture of her napping, and yes, she sleeps with her eyes open sometimes! (and look at the little rolls she's getting on her legs)

Parents

I think it officially hit me that we are parents. Tonight after Natalie went to bed, David and I played Wii Bowling ( thanks to Craigslist we finally joined the rest of the world and own a Wii). Growing up I remember when us kids had to go to bed and my mom and dad would stay up late and play Tetris or Dr Mario (it was like Tetris, but with medicine caplets).

I'm sure many more "can you believe we're parents?" moments will follow.

Oh yeah, and I think I beat my own record: 213! If only it was the real deal.

Lots of shedding..

Lots of shedding - both hair and tears - around here.

Natalie's hair is officially shedding. I thought maybe we were in the clear since everything seemed to be staying put for so long, but this week it's definitely falling out. Every morning her sheet is lined with little hairs. There is not an official bald spot, yet, but I suspect one is coming.

She has also been fussing when we put her in her car seat. The usual trick of feeding her and then immediately putting her in the chair works for the most part, but this weekend we were out running errands and she wanted nothing to do with the seat. We carried her while we were out, but when it was time to leave, she screamed...all the way home..with real tears and all. It took a while to get her calmed down again after we were home, but eventually she fell asleep.

She is so curious about everything that she wants to be awake and looking around when she should be sleeping. I think another reason is that she seems to be going through another growing phase. She has wanted to eat more the past 2 days, so hopefully once we're through this she will be back to her happy self.

Here's some pictures in her after-bath attire. We usually put on a beanie until her hair is dry. And, we tried out the Bumbo for a few minutes - she seemed to like it. She kept looking downward - not sure what was so interesting!

Party Girl

Happy New Year!


Natalie was in full party mode for our New Years celebration. We had dinner with Trisha, Travis, Will, Karin, and Autumn. I fed Natalie and put her down like normal, but she was not interested in sleeping. We passed her around, and she laid on her blanket kicking and talking until Midnight. She didn't want to miss a thing. As soon as we put her in her car seat to leave, her eyes were closed and she was sleeping.

She's been up for two quick meals but has been sleeping the day away.

Our 2009 was great, and we're looking forward to an even better 2010 as we watch Natalie grow.