I could have watched this forever: Natalie, my bath-phobic, shower-hating child playing in the rain for 20 minutes. She kept her arms straight up, face pointed toward the sky and was just so full of joy. She splashed, she giggled, she ran, she squealed. It was enormously heart-warming. And it was a good reminder to be a playful parent - a rainy day doesn't automatically mean we have to stay indoors. Her soggy dress, slicked back hair, and huge grin proved that to be true.
I just wish I had brought my camera. Boo.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Weekly Natalie - Week 80 & 81
How has it already been 2 weeks since my last post? This school stuff is severely infringing on my blogging time. I'm sure my teachers would understand if I told them the situation ...
It looks like Elmo's reading over her shoulder.
GNG is hysterical, if you've never read it ...
Why are her next-to-the-bottom-middle teeth not coming in??
More pants-on-her-head pictures!
I seriously love this kid. Like, for real.
Me and Sullen McPantsOnHerHead
Fairy wings? Check. Basketball? Check.
Two sippy cups? Check and check.
An electronic pocket Sudoku game? Check.
Now she can watch Elmo the way it was always intended
to be watched.
Elmo needs a round of applause every now and then
Sleepy baby
Trying to giggle and drink her smoothie at the same time
Smoothie happiness!
Such a goofball
Painting with pudding!
I knew the hospital gown from her endoscopy
would eventually come in handy!
Her pudding masterpiece
Man, somebody should teach her how to take ladylike bites
Pure toddler excitement. Nothing better.
I have a confession.
This is the very first time she's had a juice box.
Interrupting her reading time to tweak Elmo's nose
It looks like Elmo's reading over her shoulder.GNG is hysterical, if you've never read it ...
Why are her next-to-the-bottom-middle teeth not coming in??
More pants-on-her-head pictures!
I seriously love this kid. Like, for real.
Me and Sullen McPantsOnHerHead
Fairy wings? Check. Basketball? Check.Two sippy cups? Check and check.
An electronic pocket Sudoku game? Check.
Now she can watch Elmo the way it was always intended
to be watched.
Elmo needs a round of applause every now and then
Sleepy baby
Trying to giggle and drink her smoothie at the same time
Smoothie happiness!
Such a goofball
Painting with pudding!
I knew the hospital gown from her endoscopywould eventually come in handy!
Her pudding masterpiece
Man, somebody should teach her how to take ladylike bites
Pure toddler excitement. Nothing better.
I have a confession.This is the very first time she's had a juice box.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Weekly Natalie - Week 78 & 79
Okay, so I missed last week. Again. I'm thinking that until I graduate in December, the Weekly Natalies might be pretty sporadic. And then in January, I'm sure I'll come up with another excuse as to why I'm a horrible picture-uploader.
We had a wonderful 4th of July at our friend's house. The party had three of Natalie's favorite things: watermelon, a dog, and a pool. So she had a blast. And since Natalie had a blast, Lee and I, by default, had a blast, too. Of course, Sleepy McGoesToBedAt7pm couldn't hang and watch any of the fireworks, so we went home and watched Pops Goes the Fourth on TV. Lame, yes. But we didn't have any problem with parking. Or bugs. Or humidity.
All giggles
Making her doggy face for everyone to see
Drinking out of a big-kid cup. This can only end one way.
And here we go ...
2 nanoseconds later, all the water poured on her face.
Super awesome face.
She's back at it. And she's such a cup-stealer.
Showing off her way-cool raincoat
She prefers Grover upside down.
My little love
Playing with Daddy at Kangarooz
So I know this sounds silly. But seeing Nat ponytail really pulled
at my heartstrings. She looks so ... big. :(
Ritz cracker-faced ponytailed munchkin
We had a wonderful 4th of July at our friend's house. The party had three of Natalie's favorite things: watermelon, a dog, and a pool. So she had a blast. And since Natalie had a blast, Lee and I, by default, had a blast, too. Of course, Sleepy McGoesToBedAt7pm couldn't hang and watch any of the fireworks, so we went home and watched Pops Goes the Fourth on TV. Lame, yes. But we didn't have any problem with parking. Or bugs. Or humidity.
Getting in the water for the first time
All giggles
Making her doggy face for everyone to see
Drinking out of a big-kid cup. This can only end one way.
And here we go ...
2 nanoseconds later, all the water poured on her face.Super awesome face.
She's back at it. And she's such a cup-stealer.
Showing off her way-cool raincoat
She prefers Grover upside down.
My little love
Playing with Daddy at Kangarooz
So I know this sounds silly. But seeing Nat ponytail really pulled
at my heartstrings. She looks so ... big. :(
Ritz cracker-faced ponytailed munchkin
Thursday, July 01, 2010
June 2010 - Recap
You, my sweet pumpkin, are 18-months-old today. How did that happen so quickly?! How did you go from a swaddled, floppy newborn to a full-of-energy-and-silly-faces toddler - all in what seemed like mere minutes?
The Terrible Twos are fully upon us now. Actually, I feel bad calling you 'terrible', because in reality, you're not terrible. I know why you're acting the way you do. You know what you want, you just don't know how to verbalize what you want. And you assume that because I've spent the majority of your entire life with you, I should be able to just know what you want. It's a fair assumption; mind-reading after an 18-month-long relationship should be easy, right? Except no. So our days are spent with you wanting something, you being frustrated that you can't say it, you being more frustrated that I don't know what you want, and me carrying you around the house pointing to things in the dim hope that I'll stumble across the thing you want.
You still have severe separation anxiety, and it's still very overwhelming. But - and this is a huge but - you stayed in the nursery the whole time last Sunday! Do I even need to go into how excited Daddy and I were to sit through Sunday School together for the first time in 2+ months? It was wonderful. When I went to get you, you were curled up in the lap of one of the nursery volunteers, watching some kids play in the ball pit. It's about time you noticed that ball pit. For the life of me, I can't possibly fathom how a munchkin would rather play with her mom (despite how awesome and fantastic she is) than play in a ball pit. It's a pit of balls, for goodness sakes. If there's one thing you always point out in books, it's balls. If there's one thing you always point out in a store, it's anything round and ball-esque.
You haven't learned any new words recently. You're holding steady with the Big Five: momma, dadda, this, that, and shoes. While you may not say much, your comprehension blows my mind. Some of it is memorization, I'm sure, but if we're reading a book and I ask you to point to the flowers, you do. If I ask you to find a dog, you point to it and immediately start panting. If I ask you to point to the butterfly, you do. I love watching you scan the page looking for something specific. And when you find it, it's like a light goes off in your head, and you get so excited. I have noticed, however, that even if you don't say much, you've gotten more interested in watching us talk. You want us to repeat words over and over, all the while staring intently at our mouths. It's way cool.
You've turned into quite the monkey this month. You can now climb up on the couch completely unassisted, and you do a surprisingly good job of climbing down without wiping out too badly. You love 'reading' your books on the couch. You look like such a big kid when you do it. So yeah, knock that off.
You've become a big fan of Sesame Street. You've only seen a tiny part of one episode, but you've got a few Sesame Street books and - the best thing EVER - some Sesame Street stickers. In your eyes, the sun rises and sets on stickers. I have a bag of stickers in my purse that I use to entertain you if we've got a long wait at a restaurant or doctor's office (or really any place that requires you to be remotely still for longer than 3 seconds). But you want to play with stickers all day, every day - and you always toddle over to my purse and start rifling through it until you find the sticker bag. You don't fully understand how stickers work, though. That once a sticker is put on a piece of paper, it can't be played with anymore. That once a sticker is peeled off, the outline of where the sticker once was is not a sticker itself. You often point to empty sticker outlines, demanding that I get you that sticker. I've tried to explain how the sticker outline isn't a sticker, and that you've already used the sticker that was there. But that doesn't stop you from wanting it. So I've resorted to telling you that the sticker outline has gone to sleep and we can't play with it. Then you make the sign for 'sleep', look at me understandingly, then toddle off to do something else. Score for mom.
This month was awesome for several reasons. The main reason? We've gotten you to like the bathtub! *cue the lights from heaven*. You still don't like baths, but you looooove showers (why it took us this long to try it is beyond me. We'll blame it on you. Having a toddler has fried our brains.). We have a removable shower head that I used to rinse you off when you took baths. And as soon as you would see me pull it down, you'd burst into tears and hysterics until I was finished. You didn't want the water to touch your head and you DEFINITELY didn't want any water touching your eyes. But now, that very same shower head, pouring the very same water, getting the very same water and soap in your eyes is the coolest thing EVER. How did I do it, you ask? It could be because I casually mentioned that I was making you a fun fountain in the bathroom and that you should come and see it. I led you to the bathroom, you saw the shower running, and you immediately burst into tears and hysterics. I told you that this wasn't a scary shower - that it's more like a big fountain that you get to play in. That was obviously the key phrase, because you immediately perked up and started smiling. I put you in the shower (you seemed a little wary because I always got onto you for standing up in the bathtub) and you slowly made your way to the water. As soon as it hit you, you started laughing. And we haven't looked back since. It's so funny watching you play in your own personal fountain.
You learned how to twirl this month. I thought we had a little more time before you realized how fun (or, you know, nauseating) making yourself dizzy would be. You're a very careful and methodical twirler, so it's not like you end up in a crumpled heap afterwards, but you definitely bump into the couch and lose your balance. And it couldn't be funnier to you. Which, of course, means it couldn't be funnier to Daddy and me.
I've changed your breakfast routine this month. Actually, I've changed all of our breakfast routines this month. We all split a smoothie for breakfast, and let me tell you, I have never seen you as focused as you are when you're drinking your smoothie. Your eyebrows get all furrowed, you're still as a statue, and you don't take your mouth off the straw until the cup is empty. It's hysterical. And what's even more hysterical is that you're drinking spinach. For breakfast. HA.
As I'm writing this, I can hear you stirring, getting ready to wake up for the day. I cherish the early morning, where it's just me, some KLOVE, some hot tea, and the computer. But I also look forward to you waking up. Because there really isn't anything that can brighten my mood like going into your room, seeing your impossible bed head, and watching you break into a huge smile when you see me. That's what it's all about.
Hugs & smooches,
Mommy and Daddy
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Headlines for July 1, 2010:
The Terrible Twos are fully upon us now. Actually, I feel bad calling you 'terrible', because in reality, you're not terrible. I know why you're acting the way you do. You know what you want, you just don't know how to verbalize what you want. And you assume that because I've spent the majority of your entire life with you, I should be able to just know what you want. It's a fair assumption; mind-reading after an 18-month-long relationship should be easy, right? Except no. So our days are spent with you wanting something, you being frustrated that you can't say it, you being more frustrated that I don't know what you want, and me carrying you around the house pointing to things in the dim hope that I'll stumble across the thing you want.
You still have severe separation anxiety, and it's still very overwhelming. But - and this is a huge but - you stayed in the nursery the whole time last Sunday! Do I even need to go into how excited Daddy and I were to sit through Sunday School together for the first time in 2+ months? It was wonderful. When I went to get you, you were curled up in the lap of one of the nursery volunteers, watching some kids play in the ball pit. It's about time you noticed that ball pit. For the life of me, I can't possibly fathom how a munchkin would rather play with her mom (despite how awesome and fantastic she is) than play in a ball pit. It's a pit of balls, for goodness sakes. If there's one thing you always point out in books, it's balls. If there's one thing you always point out in a store, it's anything round and ball-esque.
You haven't learned any new words recently. You're holding steady with the Big Five: momma, dadda, this, that, and shoes. While you may not say much, your comprehension blows my mind. Some of it is memorization, I'm sure, but if we're reading a book and I ask you to point to the flowers, you do. If I ask you to find a dog, you point to it and immediately start panting. If I ask you to point to the butterfly, you do. I love watching you scan the page looking for something specific. And when you find it, it's like a light goes off in your head, and you get so excited. I have noticed, however, that even if you don't say much, you've gotten more interested in watching us talk. You want us to repeat words over and over, all the while staring intently at our mouths. It's way cool.
You've turned into quite the monkey this month. You can now climb up on the couch completely unassisted, and you do a surprisingly good job of climbing down without wiping out too badly. You love 'reading' your books on the couch. You look like such a big kid when you do it. So yeah, knock that off.
You've become a big fan of Sesame Street. You've only seen a tiny part of one episode, but you've got a few Sesame Street books and - the best thing EVER - some Sesame Street stickers. In your eyes, the sun rises and sets on stickers. I have a bag of stickers in my purse that I use to entertain you if we've got a long wait at a restaurant or doctor's office (or really any place that requires you to be remotely still for longer than 3 seconds). But you want to play with stickers all day, every day - and you always toddle over to my purse and start rifling through it until you find the sticker bag. You don't fully understand how stickers work, though. That once a sticker is put on a piece of paper, it can't be played with anymore. That once a sticker is peeled off, the outline of where the sticker once was is not a sticker itself. You often point to empty sticker outlines, demanding that I get you that sticker. I've tried to explain how the sticker outline isn't a sticker, and that you've already used the sticker that was there. But that doesn't stop you from wanting it. So I've resorted to telling you that the sticker outline has gone to sleep and we can't play with it. Then you make the sign for 'sleep', look at me understandingly, then toddle off to do something else. Score for mom.
This month was awesome for several reasons. The main reason? We've gotten you to like the bathtub! *cue the lights from heaven*. You still don't like baths, but you looooove showers (why it took us this long to try it is beyond me. We'll blame it on you. Having a toddler has fried our brains.). We have a removable shower head that I used to rinse you off when you took baths. And as soon as you would see me pull it down, you'd burst into tears and hysterics until I was finished. You didn't want the water to touch your head and you DEFINITELY didn't want any water touching your eyes. But now, that very same shower head, pouring the very same water, getting the very same water and soap in your eyes is the coolest thing EVER. How did I do it, you ask? It could be because I casually mentioned that I was making you a fun fountain in the bathroom and that you should come and see it. I led you to the bathroom, you saw the shower running, and you immediately burst into tears and hysterics. I told you that this wasn't a scary shower - that it's more like a big fountain that you get to play in. That was obviously the key phrase, because you immediately perked up and started smiling. I put you in the shower (you seemed a little wary because I always got onto you for standing up in the bathtub) and you slowly made your way to the water. As soon as it hit you, you started laughing. And we haven't looked back since. It's so funny watching you play in your own personal fountain.
You learned how to twirl this month. I thought we had a little more time before you realized how fun (or, you know, nauseating) making yourself dizzy would be. You're a very careful and methodical twirler, so it's not like you end up in a crumpled heap afterwards, but you definitely bump into the couch and lose your balance. And it couldn't be funnier to you. Which, of course, means it couldn't be funnier to Daddy and me.
I've changed your breakfast routine this month. Actually, I've changed all of our breakfast routines this month. We all split a smoothie for breakfast, and let me tell you, I have never seen you as focused as you are when you're drinking your smoothie. Your eyebrows get all furrowed, you're still as a statue, and you don't take your mouth off the straw until the cup is empty. It's hysterical. And what's even more hysterical is that you're drinking spinach. For breakfast. HA.
As I'm writing this, I can hear you stirring, getting ready to wake up for the day. I cherish the early morning, where it's just me, some KLOVE, some hot tea, and the computer. But I also look forward to you waking up. Because there really isn't anything that can brighten my mood like going into your room, seeing your impossible bed head, and watching you break into a huge smile when you see me. That's what it's all about.
Hugs & smooches,
Mommy and Daddy
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Headlines for July 1, 2010:
- Deadly hurricane tears through northeast Mexico
- BP spill nears a somber record as Gulf's biggest
- Can Petraeus find a way out of Afghanistan?
- Spears’ ex-bodyguard fears for her kids?
- Larry King to step down from CNN's 'Live'
- Stepmom of missing Oregon boy barred from kids
- Teen sailor feared ‘no one would come’ to save her
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