Here and There

Yummy Apple

Today is an explosion of energy. I tackled a wide range if projects around the house and Nattie ran circles in front of me, behind me, beside me...you get it. She wanted to partake.

She crawled in cabinets. I removed the knob/pull. I'm tired of that game. She threw food off her highchair and giggled as the dogs ate her snacks. While moving plants to a Nattie free zone, she would walk slowly in front to nearly trip me. All of this with a smile. When I'm busy, she loves it. 

Last week was a busy one as well. I finally mustered up the energy to remove the last bit of wallpaper from our house. It had been painted over, but the bedroom smelled of mildew. Sure enough, wallpaper was removed and so was the odor. Yay! 

Here is a before and after. A real after of the space completed will come soon. Some large furniture needs to be moved in here.

Wallpaper removed and patched

Not quite done

In addition to having energy to remodel a bedroom, I'm attempting to make Natalie's first birthday cake! So excited to give it a try. It has been a few years since I did any real decorating. Should be a hoot.

Ella, Natalie and Zola enjoying fresh pasta

Natalie snacks on the left. Mom and Dad's on the right. If she only knew...

She Figured it Out

Baby proofing our place has been fairly easy. One baby gate in the hallway, remove all lovely plants and put a couple ugly corner protectors on some furniture. Oh, and surround the fireplace. AND make a hearth pad. Yeah, and lock the dogs water up. Okay, not a short list. It has seemed fairly easy till she figured out the cupboards. It's a constant game! This mama is going to have to invest in more baby safety junk I said I'd never buy. Dang!

I'm not going to start a list of "I'll never do that" for you all to read. Boring!

Sipping coffee. Fun stuff! Ok, Natalie only licked the creme. Don't worry. It was such a stingy shot, it's hard to share such a beverage teaser...oh and it's full of caffeine.

I love to watch her sleep on my lap. It will never get old.

Swing Swing: Photo Overload

Natalie Stats:

Height: Taller than last month. A lot taller

Weight: Not heavier, but will poop you out if you plan to hold her for a quick trip into the store

Head: Large and full of new words, pointing, spitting, ability to find all "no-no's"

Skills: walking, running, stumbling, finding your belly button (can be at a bad time), picking her nose, picking your nose, growing crazy long finger nails, walking hot laps around the kitchen and living room, swinging (new today), standing up in high chair, getting up off floor without assistance to a full stand and then walk...Ryan just told me you may not want to read all of these goofy Nat-Stats. I bet you do. 

If you can't tell already by the photo bomb below, Natalie had a hoot at the park. She enjoyed the swing, walking by herself through the trees and eating leaves. The sandbox was also very fun. I think we will be sure and get her a sand box before summer. I hope she is out of the eat everything phase by then. 

Walking & Silent

Natalie is now running. How does that happen so quickly? Walking 8 days ago, now she can bend over and pick up toys and keep upright. 

She seems to be very entertained. I can get more accomplished with her tagging along, however, when she isn't with me, she's too quiet. I can't hear her scooting around the house. Now I have to call for her if I can't see her. It's much harder to keep tabs. 

Check out her new kicks! Pink cowgirl boots. 

A costco snooze

P.S. My photo quality is going downhill since she started moving fast. No more calm baby shots. 

Bumps and Bruises

Everyday a new bruise is appearing. Dual forehead bruises are currently fading away and turning yellow. A new one just occurred after a random plop and back of the head bounce on the wood floor. It is rough being nearly one year of age and learning to walk.

Last night was special to see. For the last 11 months, Natalie and I greet Ryan at the door together. I was no longer needed. She heard the door open and she was on her way to say hi. "See ya Mom. Dad's here and you are too slow." She swiftly, as fast as two extremely short and chubby legs will take her, made her way to him for a "love." Although you could almost call it a hug, Natalie lies her head on things she is showing affection towards. The dogs, her toys, us...anything she is close with, she will "love" it. She is quite the affectionate baby. Don't plan on getting a long love, its a short thing. Nonetheless, cute and always welcome.

Today as I was trying to distract Miss Busy Pants so I belted her in her pink flyer car. She was parked on a slight slope of our driveway. Sure, it could scoot down the drive if moved enough, but I would be able to jump out of the van and stop it. I figured it would take a whole lot more pushing than Natalie was capable of. Who am I to predict anything?! Natalie was bored by my distraction tactics and started pumping her upper body in a manner that would push her car back and forth. Just as she learned how cool it was to do that, the wiggly wheels turned down hill and she was off. And by off, I mean in the slowest possible speed. I hopped out and decided we should probably continue down the drive and go for a walk. She appreciated that.

I repeated the walk, stop, I worked on cleaning up random stuff, and then walk again. After checking the temp of her hands, it was clear we should go in. That never makes her happy. She loves being outside. I am sure she will be the kiddo in rain gear and boots soaked to the bone, but loving the great outdoors.

Language is developing much more quickly than I expected. She says Dada, Da (pointing at dogs) and now the very occasional Mama. Sign language was only partly used in our house so she and we may not reap the benefits of her better communicating. I randomly asked her a question yesterday and her answer was "yeah." It was as if I was having a real conversation with her rather than the one sided goofy Mom chat and the Natalie smile as if she gets what I am saying.

Sleeping has been a hit or miss. Nearly never before 9:30pm will she go to sleep, but it could be partly my fault. She does enjoy a late evening nap and I enjoy that nap as well. Either way  it gives her more quality time with her Dad when he gets home from work.

Her 1 year birthday is right around the corner. We are looking forward to celebrating the big event, but not going overboard. I know how to throw a good party and I am trying to hold back from going too far.

Walking

I think it is safe to say that she is walking. Today was the first day that she constantly walked around the house. She still will occasionally scoot with assistive decides, but if she was up and moving, she would let go and cruise around. She has tried to get up off the ground, but her darn belly is in the way.

Sadly, I have little to no pictures of the adventures in walking, but I do hope to get some soon. If I fall off the wayside and post little to nothing...it is because I am frantically chasing her. She is now silently roaming around the house.

Should I also mention that she pooped in the toilet? Is that gross? Yes. Sorry. I did randomly put her on the toilet and she pooped. It was a good day! It may not happen again for 6+ months, but we had to share. Ok, it did happen a second time. Totally random. Ahh, good times.

Kaden and Connor came to visit and Nat really loved her cousin time. She was very upset when they left.

Steps to Success

Although Natalie has been showered with many (at least 4) modes of walking assistance transportation, she prefers to rearrange our house with bar stools  her high chair, ottoman's, kiddo potty...you name it. She will move it. She will even use a slick magazine on the floor and scoot as fast as possible. Most days she doesn't really like my choice of music on the radio and constantly changes it to the most obnoxious political garbage that is constant screaming about the current administration. Not the most uplifting choice.

Natalie has been taking strides to walking. She took about 20 steps yesterday in a row. As long as she has something in her hands to distract her, she can go farther. Time will tell if she takes off full steam ahead.

We hit the zoo once again. This time Grandparents joined us. That makes it at least 5 trips for Natalie. This was a special trip. Natalie actually enjoyed the animals. She watched each one and stayed awake through he whole thing. She did take a snooze as we left the gates. Always a good ride home with a sleeping baby. 

As far as car or van rides go, they are still miserable. She goes from happy pants to screaming rants. It's bad. I keep hearing there is hope for our car ride futures. We look forward to turning her around at the bare minimum time/weight. She has already hit the weight minimum requirement, now just need her 1 year birthday to get here. Ideally we would hold off for another 6 months, but we feel that if we are more likely to lose our mind or get in an accident due to the chaos in the back seat, she is safer, as we are all, if she turns around.