Eight Months Old

Unbelievably, Natalie is eight months old!  Natalie is now a very confident sitter, and she rolls and scoots to get where she wants to go.  If there is something particularly alluring--one of her brother's toys, an untended  basket of laundry, or another baby's bottle at daycare--she can cross the room at lightening speed!  She gets on all fours a lot and rocks, but hasn't quite figured out how to work all of her arms and legs at once.  Her vocal range is expanding, and she's discovered volume, which means lots of experimenting with how LOUD she can make her voice. :)

Eating is continuing to go well.  I nurse Natalie in the morning, she has solids for breakfast at daycare, a bottle, solids for lunch, another bottle, a late afternoon bottle, solids for dinner and nurses again before bed. On the weekends we both love the fact that she nurses instead of getting bottles. We've tried puffs a few times and she still can't quite figure out what to do with them.  The concept of chewing hasn't occurred to her, so I think it's confusing to have something in her mouth that she can't just swallow.  She does have a good pincer grip to get it to her mouth though!

Natalie has started to feel a little skeptical about people she doesn't know well.  She is definitely a mama's girl, and she loves her brother and daddy.  The daycare ladies are also favorites, especially Ms. Barb and Ms. Darlinda.  We've seen Todd's parents a lot lately, so she goes to them easily.  Everyone else though, requires some focused observation from the safety of mama or daddy's arms before she'll go to them.

This month has marked Natalie's enthusiastic participation in the world.  She is interested in everything, wanting to grab it and pat it, stick it in her mouth and then drop it on the floor.  She loves her toys, her brother's toys, and most especially things that she is pretty sure are not toys!  The concept of object permanence is starting to enter her realm and she will look for toys after she's dropped them.  

Bathtime is still her favorite time of the day.  As soon as she hears the water start to run in the tub, she starts bouncing and squealing, and we can sometimes hardly get her undressed because she's reaching for the tub so emphatically. :)

Since I'm a week late in posting this, I'll cheat and add the latest developmental milestones, all of which appeared over Memorial Day weekend:

• Babbling: Ba, ba, ba, ba.....va, va, va, va  (no mama or dada yet, despite our best efforts)
• Clapping! Soooo cute!  First she starts with a wave and then turns it into a clap.  I'll try to get it on video soon.
• After much work and a little crabbiness, Natalie's bottom two center teeth are finally starting to surface.  She is very resistant to anyone touching her gums, but when I was feeding her lunch yesterday I was able to peek in while she was opening wide for her spoonfuls of bananas, and there are two tiny white little teeth starting to poke through

Swingset!

Both Todd and I really wanted to put a swingset in our backyard for the kiddos.  Todd has the skills to design and build a custom one, but our current schedule does not allow the time to actually make that happen.  There are a lot of great options out there of pre-built sets, but their price tag was way out of our budget.  Enter my good friend Craigslist!  Swingsets are not super numerous on Craigslist, and when they are listed, they go fast, so you have to look very regularly and contact the seller immediately to have a chance at it.  It's kind of like a virtual garage sale-ing adventure.  I had lost out on a few, and then got all excited about another, only to receive a picture of it and realize that it was way too big and unwieldy, and would take over our entire backyard.

Fast forward to last week, when the ideally sized swingset at a great price popped up on Craigslist.  Of course I immediately emailed the seller and then obsessively refreshed my Gmail waiting for a response.  When I heard back from the seller, it turned out that it was a woman whose kids attend the same daycare as Nathan and Natalie!  Small world! :)  We bought the swingset, and over the weekend Todd brought the shop truck home so that we could ferry the new toy to our house.

In my vision, we were just going to pick up the swingset and then reassemble it in the most level area of our grassy lawn.  Todd had a different vision that required clearing some of the woods at the back corner of our yard, and doing some excavating and re-grading to create a wonderful, shaded nook of fun for the kiddos.  As per usual, his idea was much better even though it required a lot more work!

The swingset unloaded from the truck and waiting to be reassembled in its new home.  Notice the amount of trees and grass in the background.

Nathan was helping Todd while he worked.  He had to take his shirt off just like Daddy. :)  The brush and grass has been cleared.

Nathan did some excavation and land sculpting in the sandbox.

Testing out some different locations and configurations.

Done! And ready to be tried out!

First trip down the slide.

Approved!

We need to put down some mulch, but isn't this a great play space??

Cuties

7 month photo session

Here's a link to the fantastic photos that the super talented Becky Anderson took of Natalie.  I love that little girl, and I deeply appreciate Becky's professionalism, skill and talent!

http://www.beckyandersonphotography.com/blog/2012/05/7-month-cutie-kalamazoo-baby-photographer/

Running Through The Sprinkler

Ever since there has been a hint of warmth in the air, Nathan has been asking when we can play in the sprinkler.  The sunny, 85 degree afternoon on Saturday was finally the right combination of time and temperature, so Nathan and I put on our bathing suits and ran outside for some fun.  At first he was surprised by how cold the water was (so was I!) but then he decided that it was awesome.  We RAN back and forth, round and round for quite a while.  So much fun, and it was a pretty good workout for me too--bonus!

BRRR!

Pure joy

Cutie

Lara's Shower

This weekend was a busy one (as per usual) but it was full of fun stuff, and no work!  I did have the opportunity to spend time with some of my co-workers, but in a casual and fun setting for a change!  My colleague and friend Lara's bridal shower was out at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.  The venue was lovely, and it was a really fun afternoon.  Now the countdown to the wedding begins!

Maureen, Elyse, Marguerite, Gregory, Kate and Hillary

I got to be in a picture! Thanks, Hillary! :)

The bride opening presents!

First Performance!

Last week Nathan had his first school performance!  He was SO excited about it.  The kids worked for a long time getting ready for the show, which was a celebration of the end of the school year and a graduation ceremony for the four boys who will be going to kindergarten next year.  The week leading up to the show we spent time every day counting now until Wednesday.  

Finally Wednesday arrived, and we headed back to school in the evening.  All of Nay's proud grandparents were in attendance too.  The show was about the cutest thing I've ever seen!  Nathan did really well, even showing some great hopping on one leg dance moves.  We were so proud of our little guy!  I'm not sure if he has caught the acting bug though, as he declared his favorite part of the show to be "the cookies we ate at the end."  So funny!

Nathan got distracted, and was the last one to his seat.

On his way

Getting ready to sing their first song.

Heading "off stage" for the individual portions of the skit, which featured interviews of each kid about what they like most about preschool and why.

The preschool graduates heading off stage, while Nathan waits in the wings next to his teacher Ms. Elaine for the "interpretive dance" portion of the show.

Fan club

Dance party!

Singing the Goodbye song

Big hug from a proud Daddy

Natalie and Grandma Nancy

I wasn't the only one there with a camera.

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up"

"Interpretive Dance"

Mothers Day

Actual Mother's Day was lovely!  Todd and the kids spoiled me, getting me a beautiful hanging basket of flowers that Nathan picked out, along with a paper flower that Nay made for me at school.  Nathan and I went on a date together--lunch at "our Paneras" and then a trip to Lowes where we picked out flowers for the window boxes and pots on our deck.  It's so rare that Nathan and I get to go out and about just the two of us; it was such a treat!

Then the kids treated me by both taking really long naps at the same time.  Trust me, this is a rare treat, indeed!  I planted all the flowers that Nathan and I bought and enjoyed the meditative state that I can only really achieve while gardening or on a solo run.

After the kiddos woke up from their naps, we loaded into the car and headed up to Hillary and Jeff's house to celebrate Graham's first birthday.  It was so great to see Hillary in a non-work setting!  G was super sweet and really loved his first cupcake.  All in all it was a fantastic day!

Natalie trying on Nathan's sunglasses.  She wasn't sure what to think!

Graham exploring his cupcake.

Graham's paparazzi. :)

Happy family!

Sweet snuggles with mama.

Nathan put his stamp of approval on the cupcakes.

Just boys hanging out. :)