40-41 Weeks

This has been a big week, developmentally for us! So many things have happened since she turned nine months old...

First, we officially lowered Natalie’s crib! And for good reason. On Tuesday, Elaine and Stacie were on their way over to spend the day with us and I was attempting to put Natalie down for her morning nap. She was being particularly fussy (I think because she’s been terribly constipated lately... maybe too many bananas) and did not want to go down. I was frustrated, she was frustrated, so I put her in her crib and decided I’d go brush my teeth while taking a moment to regroup. Well, two minutes later, I return to her room to find all her crib things thrown overboard and her fully standing against a corner in her crib, flailing and wailing! It freaked me out! I grabbed her right away and decided we must lower the crib, since the sides now hit her just at her waist. She could have easily toppled herself over! Scary! Here she is in her newly-lowered crib. I took the picture while she was flailing in excitement and it looks like she's trying to say, "Look Mommy! Look Daddy! No hands!" :)




That same day, while Elaine and I were eating lunch (homemade fish tacos!), I decided to offer Natalie a few puffs while she sat in her highchair. And then we noticed that she was actually feeding herself! She’s mastered the pointer-thumb pinch and can grab at anything, including food, but she hadn’t quite figured out how to bring little food items to her own mouth (or maybe understand that they are food?). She usually just examines and plays with her puffs before dropping them on the floor. So that was exciting! Now we have to make sure that she doesn’t stuff her mouth full, because I’m sure that will come next.

Third, I think Eric and I have decided that Natalie is officially crawling! It's real, organized, consistent crawling! She can now shuffle herself over to one of the cats or scoot her way over to one of her toys very easilt. I’ve been looking forward to this milestone in particular for quite a while now. I just love watching a little baby crawl around! I think it’s the cutest thing. Below, I enticed her to crawl over to me while snapping some photos of her playing with her big pink ball.

Plus, she continues to pull herself up on anything she can. Just the other day when Eric and I were lowering her crib, she pulled herself up on the baby gate we have in her doorway. I watched her crawl over to it (Penny was on the other side- I think she wanted to pull at her fur), sit herself up on her bum, grab onto the vertical bars and then pull herself up onto her feet. Sometimes I just like to stop and watch her- in pure wonder and amazement.

We're having so much fun with our baby girl! I really try to take pictures at every opportunity I get, even if it's at the shoe store! (as shown below- Natalie helping Daddy pick out a new pair of running shoes at DSW and with my coupon, they were only $28!).

In other news, we’ve been spending a good amount of time trying to find a new rental. We’re undecided whether or not we want to try to stay in our current place, considering the landlord’s possible foreclosure situation… but rents have skyrocketed lately! We’ve looked at a handful of places in and around Walnut Creek, but nothing in our price range has appealed to us. They’re old, small, and just not worth the cost! Plus, we really enjoy the condo we’re in now- we have the park just down the street, a lovely pool and spa just outside our door, and a decent amount of living space. But most importantly, we can afford it! So we might just try to stick it out and sign up for another annual lease. I’m also looking into tenant’s rights and it appears banks must honor lease agreements, even in the case of foreclosure. So that gives us a little more confidence. I really want to maintain some level of consistency for Natalie- especially where we live. I had envisioned spending a couple years here in the condo. Hopefully our plans won’t change too much.

9 Months & Swinging at the Park

My baby is officially 9 months old as of yesterday... how time flies when we're having fun! As I did for her 6 month post, I've compiled a little list of exciting things that Natalie currently does and some interesting facts now that she's hit this new milestone. I say it time and time again, but I just love this child- absolutely everything about her. She is so much fun!

At 9 months, our little Natalie...

- weighs about 18 pounds (according to our scale at home)
- can sit herself up unassisted

- is growing too big for her swing :(

- babbles ba, da, gah, gee, nuh, and ma

- likes to help me fold laundry

- still grabs for everything and anything

- tries to roll away during diaper changes

- is starting to fit into most of her 9 month size clothes (and some of her 12 month size clothes!)

- often sticks her tongue out and swishes it from side to side when smiling

- shakes her whole body, flaps her arms and screams when excited

- is a rolling champ! She can roll from one side of the room to the other very easily

- loves cinnamon mixed into her oatmeal or applesauce

- is oddly obsessed with the towel bar in our bathroom...

- has made some consecutive strides when in crawling position

- is learning how to grasp finger foods and bring them to her mouth

- has five teeth- two top, two bottom and one top molar coming in!

- often cries when we take her into her room, thinking it’s nap time

- has an extensive collection of hair bows and headbands (one to match each outfit)

- still doesn’t sleep through the night but on rare occasions...

- climbs into our laps and over our legs when we sit with her

- loves to play with her bouncy balls and roll them to us

- has hair that can now be tucked behind her ears!

- has started to whine when she notices that I’ve left the room

- loves to go shopping with me and ride in the cart (with her cart cover of course)

- still looks like Daddy’s clone but in girl form

- squeals in excitement whenever she sees her cousin Stacie

- is such a light sleeper! Little things like the cats meowing will wake her right up!
- still has her adorable piece of hair that sticks up at the top of her head

- loves to go swimming and dip her feet in the hot tub

- laughs when I blow farts on her cute, chunky thighs

- pulls herself up on the couch, ottoman, crib, and co-sleeper

- loves her Plum Baby organic puffs

- is learning baby signs from Daddy, including signs for “more” and “milk”

- has tried and enjoyed so many new foods! (the only thing she hasn’t liked was mashed potatoes mixed with broccoli and cheddar)

To celebrate Natalie’s 9 month milestone, we took her down to the park last night to try out the baby swings for the first time. Eric plopped her into the harness, pushed her gently, and she was all smiles. I think she really enjoyed it. She looked so small in the seat though! I was a little worried that she could slip out the leg holes or something!

While we were there, of course my trusty digital camera that I’ve relied on for the past five years or so decided to poop out again- it turns on, but sometimes the lens wouldn’t open or the whole thing just freezes! So frustrating! Sadly, I was only able to take a handful of pictures of her first ride on the swings  :(. At least we got a few!

This experience made me think that I really need to replace my camera. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, since I take it with me nearly everywhere! I really enjoy taking pictures and I think I would have fun with a fancy, professional camera that would allow me to adjust more things like the aperture and shutter speed. Granted I know little about photography… I took a class back in high school, but that was when digital cameras were starting to hit the market, so we still developed old-fashioned 35mm film in a dark room! But I think I would have fun taking it up as a new hobby. I love capturing every little detail and precious moment of our lovely baby :)

Bodega Bay

On Saturday, Peter, Lisa, Eric, Natalie and myself took a little trip up to Bodega Bay. We walked around a few cute little stores, ate lunch and stopped by the beach. It was really overcast the whole day, but Lisa brought along her fancy camera and new tripod and took some great shots of Natalie and of all of us. It was her first trip to the beach and her first time in the sand! I did my best to not let her get too dirty- luckily she didn’t even try to eat the sand. She seemed more interested in the sand toys we brought along and watching the kids run and play along the shore.

As always, we had a nice time hanging out with Peter and Lisa. Natalie did great at lunch and all the way there and back in the car. It's so great that we can take her out and about and she does so well. We even took a little detour on the way home to check out “Skywalker Ranch” and had fun chatting with the security guard at the gate! Fun times!

37-38 Weeks

This has been a crazy week! I participated in Children’s Hospital’s Asthma Camp that we host every summer. It’s been fun and rewarding to be a part of such a great program once again, but it’s exhausting to organize! Like last year, I was assigned to the arts and crafts yurt during the day and then returned home at night to be at home with Natalie (I don’t think Eric would have had much fun with her for four days straight without me! Plus, I didn’t want to pump all day around the clock, either). Luckily the women who I’ve worked with in the past returned this year- they’re great at planning projects and supervising the campers.

The first couple days of camp went by smoothly. We decorated t-shirts and masks in the yurt, we took a day trip to Lake Del Valle, we stuffed ourselves at mealtime with all the campers- but then one super windy night as we were cleaning up the yurt before dinner, a huge gush of wind swung the yurt’s double doors shut on my finger as I was trying to lock them! Luckily Eric was there when it happened- he came out with Natalie that night to have dinner with us. So instead of eating BBQ chicken and playing bingo as we had planned, we took a little trip to the ER instead! I didn’t think I was hurt that badly (I didn’t really look at it- I’m rather squeamish), but I realized that my finger was obviously broken once I saw the x-ray. The doctor had to drill into my nail to relieve the pressure and bleeding before he splinted it and sent us on our way. What a night!! Certainly not how I wanted to spend it. I’m just hoping that my fingernail grows back normally, since it happens to be my ring finger… on the bright side, at least I was able to salvage my wedding ring!

Daddy and Natalie had fun spending some extra time together since he was off on paternity leave while I was working at camp. He’s taken her swimming during the day and on long walks in the afternoons nearly everyday. Plus they've been working on a few chores here and there around the house. It’s really nice to see that he honestly enjoys spending time with her. Not that I thought he wouldn’t, but I can definitely see that daddy-daughter relationship starting to emerge. She’s going to be one spoiled girl! We are both so in love with her.

We bought her the cutest little toy set at this new toy store downtown a few days ago. It's a plush bowling set of farm animal, numbered pins! We presented it to her as soon as we got home and showed her how to line up the pins and knock them over.

New toy!!!

We’re having fun watching Natalie grow and learn each and everyday, although it’s scary to think how quickly it’s happening. She’s started to pull herself up lately, like when she’s in the crib or near the ottoman we have in our living room. She even grabs my legs and clothes when I’m sitting with her to pull herself up onto her knees. She may not be truly crawling just yet, but just the other night she managed to sit herself up from laying down! Eric and I were playing with her on the floor when I almost didn’t notice that she did so all by herself! She’s getting so big.

We also saw Elaine and cousin Stacie this week since we were out in Livermore anyway. Coincidentally, the cousins were wearing the exact same onesie one day when we stopped by! Here they are playing in the jungle together. Natalie mostly just yells at Stacie and steals her toys (for now). It's fun to watch them together though!

New food for this week was cantaloupe. Since I was preoccupied with camp, I didn't get to make broccoli as I had planned. Oh well, next week.