Water Baby

It sure has warmed up quickly around here! It went from mid-60s temps to high-80s in less than two weeks it seems. We put Natalie in her baby pool for the first time this afternoon. She enjoyed it but was more interested in climbing out. Her Daddy even got in with her and helped her slide down her slide into the pool. (Her sun hat is suddenly too little probably due to her 90th percentile sized head. LOL)

A Night Out

Ryan and I went to my friend Paula's engagement party last night. It was nice to get out alone and have some fun. The night ended too quickly though...we didn't want to come home. I thought we looked nice and wanted to share this pic.

Hop, Hop, Hop...the Easter Bunny came

Here are some cute pics of Natalie exploring the fun things that the Easter Bunny left in her basket. I "staged" this a couple of times to try to get some good pics. She got some Crayola scribblers, a sippy cup, spoons, socks, and animal crackers. Ryan and I also got her a little chair (that you can see in the pics) as a late birthday present. Her Grandma and Grandpa brought her an Easter basket filled with goodies too.

13 months

Natalie has an ever-expanding vocabulary. These are words she has now said: Hey, Hi, Dada, Daddy, Mama, Mommy, socks, shoes, hat, hot, cheese, baby, oh, see, side (for outside), hello (when holding the phone),balloon, bubbles, light, & fish. The first half of the list are words she says constantly.......the other half of the list are words she has said a few times but not daily. Of course some of the words are her best approximation.
She tries to put her arms through her sleeves and her legs through her pants when getting dressed. She tries to put sunglasses on her face and she can put hats on her head. She knows what her toy phone and real phone are for and she holds her hand up to her ear and tilts her head to the side when you show her a phone. She has also learned the sign for "dog" (she has picked up quite a few signs from her Baby Signing Time DVD that we weren't even trying to teach her). She signs "dog" to me ALL DAY LONG as if she is hoping one will suddenly appear for her amusement!



She really enjoys pulling all her books off the shelves. She is a very busy baby these days.

Miss Cutie Patootie

Just a few pics of Natalie sporting a super cute outfit that Mimi got her for Christmas. At that time, it seemed HUGE so I put it away and intended to have it in the wardrobe rotation by her birthday since it has the cupcake on it.....well, of course, I just forgot all about it and re-discovered it this morning.

Slideshow

Sroll down to check out the slideshow I made with pics from Natalie's First Birthday!

12 Month update

Natalie had her 12 month check-up on Monday. She weighed in at 20 lbs. even which is 50th percentile (she actually weighed a little more than that a week ago on the hospital scale) and is 29 1/2 inches tall which is 65th percentile. Her head is not quite 18 1/2 inches which is 85th percentile! She's always had a good sized noggin'! I like to go by the World Health Organization's growth charts since they are based on breastfed babies.
She is signing "all done" now in addition to the other signs she knows. She signs "more" constantly throughout the day. She has a really good appetite and seems to be addicted to bread (waffles, bagels, cheese toast, etc) and all types of fruit.
She tries to sing the "e,i,e,i,o" part of Old MacDonald when you are singing it to her. She started saying "socks" and she says "Hey Dada" all the time. Her current favorite song is The Wheels on the Bus; I started singing it a few weeks ago and it will distract her when she gets mad/upset or during a diaper change.
She has let go while standing a few times...mainly to clap her hands or if she wants to hold two things at once (one in each hand) so she has to let go of what she has been using to balance herself. I think it might be awhile still before she is walking.

Kiss Me....I'm Irish!

HAHA! Not really. But, SO many people like to point out to me that my baby girl's hair looks like it is red that I figured she could pass for Irish....at least on St. Patrick's Day.

Natalie's First Birthday Pics

I created a slideshow of pics from all the fun for Natalie's first birthday. Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends for helping us celebrate and making it such a memorable day for us all....I have plently of pics to show Natalie when she is older. :)

(not sure why Photobucket cut off the right edge of some of the pics)

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

Natalie Claire turns ONE year old at 10:06 pm today. This past year has gone by so quickly and our little newborn isn't so little anymore! I can remember the first few weeks at home with her like it was yesterday. These last twelve months have been so memorable and Natalie has brought more joy to our lives than we could've imagined. We had a HUGE party over the weekend and I will post pics soon. She loved her cake and got lots of really nice gifts; lots of cute clothes & plenty of toys to keep her busy.