Little Begger

Natalie could have just eaten her own weight in food but if she sees someone else eating then the begging begins. LOL. "More, more, more" over & over. We went to a playdate the other day and I think she ate just as much as me! She also wants to become quite the little snacker. She goes to the pantry door all day long and says "cook, cook" (for cookie) or "kix, kix". I really think she would snack constantly between meals but we're trying not to let that get out of hand. We want to encourage three wholesome meals with a few healthy snacks instead of eating cookies (animal crackers or graham crackers) every thirty minutes all day long. Easier said than done with a persistent toddler! :)



Trying to look sweet & innocent before she begs for more "cook"

Dunk me, Daddy!

We went to the pool in my Mom's neighborhood yesterday while in town to celebrate my sister's birthday and see my step-niece who was visiting from Ohio. My Mom and Ryan both mentioned how much Natalie loves the water and wondered how she would respond to being dunked. I was hesitant at first but, boy, she REALLY LOVED IT! I think the pictures say it all.

Imitation.....

....is the highest form of flattery (or so they say). Natalie has become quite the little queen of imitation lately. Each day she does something cuter than the day before. Her newest forms of imitation are trying to plug in my old curling iron that she found in the guest bathroom drawers and holding cups up to the ice dispenser on the fridge door (this one is impressive to me b/c we don't have a fridge w/ that feature....sad, I know....so she has picked that up at her grandparents houses). Other things that she likes to imitate us doing are putting chapstick on her lips, trying to rub on diaper cream herself (she gets the tube from me while changing her diaper and sticks her finger in and then rubs it on her belly), wiping off her mouth when she is done eating, using a tissue to try & blow her nose, trying to put q-tips in her ear, brushing her hair & teeth, putting her hat & shoes on, using the remote control, talking on the phone, drinking from the straw of Ryan's giant water jug, & flushing the toilet.

Meredith's Wedding

My very best friend since elementary school, Meredith, got married this weekend. I got to see my group of high school girlfriends all together again which was wonderful. One of my friends, Tina, and her husband and baby boy stayed at my Mom's house with us. We really enjoyed getting to spend time with them. My brother and his girlfriend babysat for us so we could all "let loose" at the wedding. A fun time was had by all, I do believe! :)










It was REALLY hot at the wedding so we had to cool down! :)

Go Heels!

UNC won the national championship for basketball this year! Woo hoo! GO HEELS! As you can imagine, Ryan was beyond thrilled with their season and their big win during the championship game. I have a friend from my Mom's group who is from North Carolina (like Ryan is for those who don't know) and she also went to UNC. She was home visiting her family and brought back this t-shirt for Natalie. How sweet of her!

15 months old

Natalie is now 15 months old. Can you believe it is already June? Where does the time go? She had her 15 month check-up and was fighting us to bust out of the exam room and walk up and down the halls to say "hey" to everyone (she won & I let her do it for a few minutes). I've never seen a baby who likes to say "hey" to every single person as much as she does! She continues to gain weight more so than she did as an infant. She weighs 23 lbs. 1 oz. which is a 3 lb. gain since her 12 month visit. That puts her in the 70th percentile (according to WHO). She is 31 inches tall which is 50th percentile. Her head remains over 85th percentile which the doctor says means she has a "big brain"....we shall soon see, huh?!?!

I am beginning to think maybe she is super smart b/c her vocabulary continues to amaze me each and every day. Being a speech pathologist, I like to keep track of all her new words (so bear with me). These are the new words she has learned this month: spoon, knee, boo-boo, tee-tee, cracker, up, teeth, more, clock, eat, fruit, trash, car, food, see, bib, purse, bag, bye-bye, suit (for swimsuit), shirt, book, bed, TV, cup, cat, back, and pact (for a makeup compact; her Grandma taught her this).

This will probably be the last month I try to keep track of the new words since at some point the list will be just way too long (hopefully). LOL. She actually even understands many more words than this.

Natalie also shakes her head "no" now in response to us (like, "do you want more milk?"). She follow some basic directions like "bring me your cup" and is proud of herself when she does it. It is really cute! She has also figured out how to flush the bathroom toilets and now one of them runs constantly. She has learned the signs "baby", "banana", and "fish". She suddenly just started doing these signs one night while in her highchair after dinner. She had the biggest smile on her face and was SO proud! She seems to be becoming obsessed (not really!) with the Baby Signing Time DVD and does the sign for "baby" and points to the TV and then gets her remote (yes, she really does that!) and sits in her little chair. So cute & sweet!

She really enjoys playing on our bed. She goes to it and points and says "bed" and then likes for us to get up there with her and hide under the sheets, roll around in the pillows, and bounce up & down. We also think she likes trying to walk on the memory foam top.

Her favorite thing to do is explore any & all new things. She also likes to "hoard" stuff (as I call it) and see how much she can carry around in her hands while walking all over the house. She likes to put things in & out of containers and take lids on & off.

Natalie still also really loves "side" and requests to go (out)"side" many times a day. She walks everywhere and tries to run all through the yard and enjoys picking up leaves & sticks & rocks. She keeps us on our toes that is for sure! We're loving every minute of it. :)

Now that she is trying to run everywhere she likes to escape after bath time and run all over the house naked as a jay bird. Too cute!