Vroom Vroom!

We got this sweet little "car" for Natalie a few weeks ago, and it's a HUGE hit! She loves going for rides in it, touring the house or parking lot and, you know, looking cool. Ha! She'll go over to it, and stand there fussing while lifting one leg as high as she can (think dog going to the bathroom) over and over again. I think that's her attempt to crawl in, it's so cute.

Yesterday we celebrated Chase's birthday (he'll be in the field for the actual day), and I was busy preparing our yummy meal during "arsenic hour". For those of you who have never experienced Natalie's arsenic hour, be grateful. It's the time of day when my precious, sweet and charming baby girl turns into a whiny, mean and (as Mom says) cantankerous little stinker. It's getting better, though. When she was a newborn she would start screaming, and I mean SCREAMING, around 3 p.m. and it last until about 10. Gradually as she has gotten older, her fussy period is beginning to wane, although it's a whole new kind of monster we're learning to deal with. Anyway, Chase was trying to distract her while I cooked (she had been standing next to me tugging on my pants, at one point she even pulled them down), so he took her outside for a quick ride! You'll notice at the end of the video, Natalie demonstrates a little bit of what arsenic hour is like :)

Playtime with Christopher!

Yesterday was the very first time I ever saw Natalie actually play with another child. Usually when my friends and their children come over, Natalie is very interested in them, but just sort of sits there and plays alone. Yesterday was different, though. My good friend and neighbor, Steph, brought over her one year old son, Christopher; he and Natalie had so much fun! They went back and forth through the tunnel, stopped half way to look for each other and took turns! It was really amazing to watch. They were so good about sharing their toys, too. OK, so maybe I should say that Christopher is really good about letting Natalie crawl all over him and take his toys. But hey, it was her first real play date, I've got plenty of time to teach her proper playtime etiquette.

Yoga Baby

Thought this was too stinkin' cute not to post.

9 month check up

Natalie had her 9 month check up today. I always stress over her appointments because I hate that she has to get stuck with needles, it makes me frown. Anyway, I scheduled the appointment at the absolute WORST time ever. Right smack dab in the middle of nap time. What in the world was I thinking? It. Was. Awful. She starting screaming almost immediately. As soon as Cathy (Dr. Manzo's nurse) began to measure her, she freaked. I'm surprised he could hear her heart, at least we know her lungs are strong. But the good news is, she's healthy. She's 29 inches long, which puts her in the 91st percentile and 19.1 pounds which is in the 54th percentile. Her weight gain has definitely slowed down a lot and that concerned me, but Dr. Manzo said it's common around this age because they're so much more active. And more good news: she's steadily gaining weight and looks healthy. Her iron levels are perfect and she has a healthy appetite. So I guess she's going to be tall and skinny. Professional beach volley ball player, maybe?

3/4 of a year!

I've been sort of slacking on my blogging lately, so as a result this is going to be one MEGA blog. Sorry.

Natalie is 9 months old today! I've really enjoyed watching her grow, learn and explore, it seems that she's advanced so drastically in the past month, more than any other month. She's growing and learning so fast I've had trouble keeping up. I've always noticed changes and advancements in her from month to month, but her learning curve has just accelerated, she's figuring out so much about the world around her as well as herself. I love watching someone so innocent make new discoveries, words cannot describe how beautiful it is to watch her smile when she's just figured something out. There truly is a light that shines within her. It's been an amazing journey so far and I can't wait to see what's around the corner next.

One of Natalie's most favorite things to do is crawling through her tunnel (of course the one time I try to video it, we have to bribe her to go through). Mom bought her this little tunnel made for babies at our local toy store. She loves it! She goes scurrying through it, turns around and heads straight back, it's precious! It's pretty much one of the only toys she'll play with now... she doesn't bother with toys much anymore, she's too busy getting into things she shouldn't. I never imagined how intense it would be to have a mobile baby, but short of covering the interior of my house in bubble wrap and disconnecting all electrical currents, I'm doing all that I can to keep her safe. It's been hard, she's incredibly independent. She pushes me away when I try to hold her hand while she's standing (she likes to pull up and then balance on her own), and gets very angry when I wont go away. The only time she gets to practice on her own is in her crib, but I've got my eyes on her even then (thank you, God for video monitors). I love that she can stand up now, nothing is cuter than a baby waiting for you in their crib standing up. Love it! I'd love to get pictures/videos of her cruising/standing but I'm still too nervous to let her do it alone. One day, maybe when she's 18, I'll let her walk without holding my hand and take some pictures then. Ha!



And speaking of being in her crib... She is putting herself to sleep, too! Which I guess is nothing new, but she has longer and more active periods of wakefulness and therefore has a lot more calming down to do before sleep. Nap time and night night time she usually plays in her crib for about 15-30 minutes and then lays down and goes to sleep. Could I be any more lucky? We've never really had any sleep issues with Natalie, we're in the fortunate minority of well rested parents. I was terrified her sleeping habits would change, though. I read that once they start developing new skills, their sleep habits get really messed up. Thankfully, we've only had a hand full of difficult nights. And by difficult I mean, an hour or two of fitfulness followed by sound sleep for the remainder of the evening. I think her sleeping patterns she got from her Daddy, they both love their rest. She even prefers to sleep in the same position as Chase, it's really amazing!

I'm also very pleased to announce that we are leaving the world of pureed, mushy and jarred/blended baby food behind. Natalie is doing really well with self feeding (except I haven't been brave enough to hand her a spoon yet, even though all the books recommend it). She eats small chunks of fully ripened peaches, bananas and pears. She loves scrambled or boiled egg yolk, avocado and cooked dried pinto beans. She can pretty much eat anything now, she uses her jaw and her SIX teeth to chew. I'm so proud of her.

So here's a list of what she's doing these days:

*Crawling and bear crawling (which is super hilarious)
*Pulling up and cruising
*Stands alone momentarily
*Feeds herself
*Has six teeth
*Take two naps a day and sleeps 12 hours at night
*Says "mamma" and "dada" to the correct parent
*Says "duhduh" for doggy
*Claps, waves, plays peek a boo
*Bends down to pick something up and stands up again (think: baby squat)
*Starting to drink from a straw (I'm so grateful that we'll be able to skip over bottles all together once we start to wean, she's completely adjusted to drinking from a cup)
*Sings and dances (This one I have to give Mom credit for. Mom sings to her while rocking her head back and forth and Natalie picked up on it. Now she sings and dances on her own... ALL THE TIME! It's so sweet!)

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Today we went to visit our good friends, Bob, Megan and Rylan. Chase and Bob joined the Army at the same time and met during basic training. From that point on they pretty much were stationed together and doing the same things for the next three years. They deployed together to Iraq for the first time (is it sad that I have to specify "first" time? Bob already has three tours under his belt), Chase was in Bob and Megan's wedding (Bob was asked to be in ours but had already committed to being in another friend's wedding on the same day), needless to say they are close friends. And over the past few years I've gotten to know Megan pretty well... we spent a lot of time together when our guys were deployed, I called it the "lonely hearts club" just for fun. She was there for me during my separation from Chase and helped me get through morning sickness, ridiculous pizza cravings and mood swings. I cherish her! Anyway, their sweet little boy, Rylan is almost 2 and I love getting he and Natalie together. You never know... this could be a budding romance! Although, Ryaln is a bad boy who likes motorcycles (his dad drives a Harley). Natalie got the chance to swim in their pool, which she loved. I tried my best to get some cute pictures, but she was too busy being a little fish. Of course, we had to get the classic beer picture. Too bad it was PBR, I was hoping Natalie would have better taste in beer!




Before we got to their house we went to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, we couldn't spend much time there but Natalie loved the sights and sounds. We even walked through the shell of an airplane and waited for the recorded voice of a jump master from long ago to give us our command to jump, and then we did! Ha! We "jumped" out of the plane! I thought it was pretty neat to take Natalie to a place that honors the men and women who fight for our freedom, just like her Daddy. It was a neat experience for the both of them... and of course we had to take pictures in front of the monument that pays homage to 3-505 PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment) of the 82nd Airborne Division. 3-505 no longer exists but means a lot to Chase, he (and Bob) spent their first tour of Iraq with that unit. As bad as it was for them in 2003, if you get enough drinks in Chase, he'll regale you with some pretty funny stories from his time spent with them. We also found my Gidoo's (Syrian for Granddad) memorial brick, I thought it was pretty neat for Natalie to see that. Even though she has no clue what she saw.

Ivy League here we come!

Of course every parent thinks their child is A+ in the brains department, but Natalie blew me away today. We've been working on teaching Natalie how to wave in order to say "hello" and "bye bye". She will gladly participate as long as someone else gets the ball rolling and begins waving first.

Well...

Mom came over today to play with Natalie for a little while before bedtime, and Natalie became particularly interested in Mom's purse (she's a fashionista already). Natalie was sitting on Mom's lap and the purse was on the floor. Natalie kept reaching down to grab the purse and was lifting it up. Now, this is a purse that belongs to Beverley Pellom. Or as I call her, Mary Poppins. I don't care if you are in need of dental floss, a snack or a new pair of shoes, my Mother can usually produce it from her purse. Needless to say her purse is heavy and she was helping Natalie lift it. It didn't take long for Natalie to realize that she was not the sole "lifter" of the purse, and this was very upsetting to her. So she waved to Mom. It took us a second to realize that she was waving "bye bye" and wanted Mom to stop touching the purse!

Bossy AND smart. My girl, indeed.

Natalie's 1st 4th!

Natalie had a few "first" holidays before Chase got home, and it just wasn't quite right. The sad thing is, they were holidays that we in America and as Christians hold dearest. Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually my favorite holidays, but this year even though I had my brand new baby girl with me, something was missing. Holidays are about togetherness and family, and even though I had plenty of togetherness and family during the holiday season, Chase wasn't there. I told Mom I just didn't feel like celebrating this year, it didn't feel right without Chase being able to share in the celebration and joy with us. I think she felt sorry for me, she came over one day with a small Christmas tree and set it up in my living room. I guess she figured I needed some sort of yuletide cheer.

Chase made it home in time for Easter, and it was the best holiday I've ever had. I finally had my family with me. I thought about Easter yesterday when I was filling out Natalie's baby book. There's a question in it that asks "What is an important holiday for my family?", instinctively I started to write down "Christmas". Then I thought about it; Easter is the most important holiday for us, it's the first one we spent together and as a family.

I know now not to take any special occasion for granted. We never know when Chase might get orders or be deployed again, so we've got to make the most out of every single day, especially the holidays. Today is Natalie's first Fourth of July celebration, and we're planning on spending it together. I can't think of a more perfect way!

Happy 4th!