My Darling Baby Girl,
It's official. October was the best month EVER. This is by far my most favorite age for you. You are practically a non-stop giggle. And it's fantastic.
You played so much this month. And a lot of the time, you're perfectly happy playing by yourself, but just as long as either Daddy or I are in the room. I've determined that you are quite the ham and get a kick out of having an audience. (This must be the reason why you can pitch a fit at home, but as soon as we walk into a store, you're happy and bouncy, looking around for someone to giggle at.)
You still love looking at yourself in the mirror. (I hate to break it to you, but there is an enormously adorable baby who lives in our mirrors). Whether it's the mirror in our foyer or in the big bathroom mirror, when you see yourself, you break into a huge smile. Then you look up at me to make sure I'm paying attention. Like "Mom, check this OUT! Can you believe this kid in the mirror? She's aDORable!" For bathtime (which you STILL hate, by the way), I get the water ready and Daddy strips you down and brings you into the bathroom. But he doesn't take you directly to the tub, oh no. He helps you stand on the counter and you bounce and bounce and bounce and bounce right along with the naked baby in the mirror. It's hysterical.
I think you've been doing this for a while, but this month I really noticed something. You're really good at getting your toys to make music. You have a toolbench-type toy and if you pull the lever on it, it plays this (incredibly annoying) song about shapes and colors. You LOVE that song. And now you figured out how to pull the lever just the right way to get the song to play. You also have these two toys (Daddy and I refer to them as your forts) that play songs. One requires you to push a button to get the three or four different songs to play. You'll push the button, bounce up and down along with the song, and as soon as it's over, you push it again and resume your bouncing. I'm fascinated by watching you figure things out. You started pushing the button with your tongue (Daddy and I are very impressed with your hands-free technique) but it means that the songs play on top of each other. It doesn't take long before the string of "Twinkle twinkle lit-- All around the mulber-- On top of Ol-- For he's a jolly goo-" makes Daddy and I start twitching.
You can stand unassisted for about 15 seconds. And you took a few steps with your walker this month. And let me tell you, that was one of the most surreal moments of the past 10 months. I still feel like you were born yesterday and now, you're already walking (with assistance)? Are you kidding me?! I don't feel ready to be the mother of a walking child. But I think I've got a while before you're a full-fledged walker. You only take one or two steps with the walker before you drop to your knees and walk that way. And that's A-OK with me. Daddy and I have a bet on when you'll walk. He thinks you'll walk on 11/11/09 (Veteran's Day) and I think it'll be 12/12/09. Remember who carried you for 9 months and endured 2 hours of intense pushing to bring you into the world ...
We're not 100% sure, but you seem to be saying "Dada" on purpose. Needless to say, Daddy is pretty excited.
One of your favorite things to do is to play on our bed. While Daddy gets ready for work, I sometimes bring you into our room and (gently) toss you onto our bed. You immediately start squealing and begin burying your head in the comforter. It's so cute. But it's also exhausting for Daddy and me. You don't know yet about gravity or falling or broken collarbones. You often try to launch yourself off the edge of the bed. Be sure to thank Daddy for his quick reflexes when you're older.
This month, you started playing Peekaboo with your bib. I'll feed you some food, you'll pull your bib over your face, then bring it down. Daddy and I happily play along and say "Peekaboo!". You dissolve into a fit of giggles, and the process repeats. Mealtime lasts longer because of it, but who cares?
But by far, your favorite game is what Gramma Lu affectionately calls "Big Horned Sheep". I'll put you at one end of the living room and I'll run over to the other side. I get on all fours and simply say "Come get me!" You quickly get on all fours and crawl as fast as you can toward me. The sound of your laughter as you crawl toward me is something I wish I could bottle. It's such a joyful and carefree laugh. We eventually bonk heads (like big horned sheep!) and you giggle some more. Then I put you back into starting position and we go again. I could play this game all day with you. For a week or so, you would only play this game with me. But now you'll play with both of us. Daddy will get on one side of the living room, I'll get on the other side, and we'll put you in the middle of the room. You'll go back and forth between us, bonking our heads, over and over again. It's the most fun game EVER.
You got your flu shot early this month. And consequently, you got your first fever this month. You were absolutely pitiful. We knew something had to be wrong when you let us hold you for more than three seconds. You didn't have the energy to try to squirm out of our arms. So yes, I hated that you were sick and had a high fever. But I loved all the cuddling that we did. You were the cuddliest little furnace for 24 hours and then you went back to the uncuddliest little spitfire - and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Even though Halloween isn't Daddy's or my favorite holiday, we dressed you up anyway (because that's what you DO with babies, right?). I bought a chicken costume for you before you were even born. Why, you may ask? Well, for one, it was awesome. And two, it was $5. (You're never too young to know how to bargain shop, my girl). You also got a pink-and-purple ladybug costume from Ella's grandmother (Daddy's cousin). And you also have a hotdog costume. We bought it for a friend's daughter a few years ago, and they gave it back to us when I was pregnant with you. So yes, you have three costumes. But your chicken costume is my favorite. You are SO adorable in it. Daddy and I took you to Gramma Lu's chuch's Harvest Festival. You put on quite a show for everyone! Then we had to run to Target to pick up a few things. We decided to keep you in your costume (I'm sure you'll roll your eyes at me when you're older for this). We ran into a family whose little girl was dressed up as a bumblebee. She immediately ran up to you and started buzzing. You, as if on cue, began flapping your arms/wings up and down. It was really sweet. Watching you with other kids is so much fun (unless you're being a bully and smacking the other kids ... then it's not so fun).
This month, I've had a lot people ask me how I like being a stay-at-home mom. I'm very much at the point where I can give a resounding "Yes!" as my answer. I have no problem admitting that it might not have been my answer for the first 4-6 months, but now? Now I love it. I love seeing you grow. I love seeing you learn, seeing you problem solve, seeing you explore. I'm grateful for this experience (be sure to thank Daddy when you're older) and I love spending my days with you, because you, my darling, are my Nataroo. And me? Well, I'm just the luckiest mom in the world.
Hugs and smooches,
Mommy and Daddy
This girl loves swinging!
Ella and Natalie, looking incredibly bored with their respective parents
They're obviously plotting a way to escape
Daddies and daughters on the seesaw
Looking a little fed up with the wings
Shakin' her groove thang in her cool weather costume
She's not smiling - I just happened to take a picture of her
Me and my Nattie Chicken
She tolerated her silly costume quite nicely
Hot costume + sweaty baby = craaaaazy hair
Another mid-blubber shot
At Northminster's Fall Festival
Natalie is obviously not impressed with my attempt
Chicken Dance!
Dancing with Daddy is the best
At Calvary Chapel's Harvest Festival
Watching the big kids sumo wrestle
My love and my little (chicken) love
Believe it or not, she's actually quite happy in this picture
She flapped her arms/wings all day!
My happy little chicken
Natalie, don't look now ...
She got very squeal-y when the music started playing
Chicken close-up!
Examining Daddy's eye
The most excited ever
Doing flips with Daddy
Upside down chicken!
She's so skilled that she can dance with her eyes closed
A break from the hot part of the costume
At our friends' Halloween/birthday party
She looks absolutely terrified ... not quite sure why
Quickly getting tired of the day's festivities
Post-costume playtime on our bed
Post-costume sweaty/curly hair
I have no idea where this face came from
Post-costume sock-eating
Post-costume flying with Daddy
Halloween smooches
Team Smith!
Wrestling with Daddy
Natalie is very easy to pin ...
And just because this is a cute picture, here's one more ...
