Life Lately in Photos

Because who doesn't love a catch-up photo post spanning the last few months?!

There were a couple of months where Tyler and Mr. Gordy went everywhere with Henry.

Meta.

This one is a daredevil!

First ever trip to the zoo!  

Natalie Grows Up: Months Eight Through Eleven

Oh, Natalie.  I am so woefully behind on your monthly posts.  I am taking your photo on your birthday each month, but writing up a post just doesn't seem to happen at the end of what is inevitably a busy day.  Hey, one positive is you get to see how much you've grown over the last several months with the monthly photos all in a row!

Let's see, in the last few months:

• You learned to crawl the "right" way!  You spent a few weeks going backwards, but one day when you were seven months old you just began going forwards and the rest is history.  You are speedy and you are determined.
• You began standing on your own for a few seconds at a time at only nine months old.  By ten months old, you did this regularly and had great balance.
• You took your first steps at just ten months old! (Saturday, June 6 to be exact!)  You take a few steps--3 or 4 at a time--several times a day.  My guess is that you will be walking full time before your first birthday.  Need to keep up with Henry somehow!
• You love to "talk" and you even have a first word!  You say "Ro ro" for Rowan and said it for the first time right around your 11 month birthday!  You LOVE Rowan (poor Rowan) and say "ro ro" every time you see her.  You also say "ba" for bottle.  Sometimes you say mama around me, but I'm not positive it's intentional.
• You definitely know and respond to your name.  I think you respond more frequently than Henry did at this age.
• You were toothless until just before your 9 month birthday!  Then, your two bottom teeth came in pretty much overnight (with no real change in your temperament or drooling).  About a week or two later, I noticed your top two teeth coming in.  Those came in much more quickly, and again you didn't seem to notice.  You have a David Letterman smile, so it looks like braces will be in our future!  You still only have those four teeth, but you have been drooling a lot more over the last week than ever before, so I have a feeling you will get some more soon.
• I stopped pumping at work when you were 9 months old.  It was so time-consuming, and I wasn't getting that much milk anyway.  So, we used up the supply of frozen milk and then switched you just to formula during the days that I work.  On the days that I am home, I breastfed you without formula until about three weeks ago.  I still nurse you in the morning, before naps, at bedtime, and in the night if you wake (which you pretty much always do).  I am very happy we have made it so far breastfeeding.  At this point, I have no plans to wean until your first birthday.  That will be a hard process for both of us, I think.
• You love to eat!  You are not picky at all and eat pretty much anything I offer.  You will eat a few baby food pouches, but by and large you just eat pieces of adult food.  You aren't a huge fan of being fed food such as yogurt, because you like to feed yourself.  Your favorites are cheese, turkey pepperoni and turkey sausage, black beans, and bagels with cream cheese.  You are a messy, messy eater, much more than Henry ever was.  You are particularly fond of rubbing your hands in your hair (UGH!) and throwing food on the ground for Rowan when you are full.
• Our sleeping saga: At your nine month checkup, which didn't happen until close to ten months, your pediatrician heard how horrible your sleep habits were and told Mommy that we needed to get you onto a schedule, pronto!  At the time, you were sleeping in our bed at night, but would sometimes wake up and not want to sleep, which was not cool.  You also refused to nap in your crib and only napped in someone's arms or in your carseat.  So, we toughened up and did some crib sleeping bootcamp.  You fought it pretty hard for the first few nights, and Daddy stayed in your room to hold your hand and rub your back.  But after only 3-4 nights, you would go down as long as I nursed you to sleep.  Now, I nurse you and you sleep on average 5 hours before waking to eat.  You wake again around 5:30 and then will sleep until 7:30 or so.  It's not great, but it's much improved.  You also nap in your crib either once or twice a day, depending on our schedule.  It is so, so nice to have a life again and have some time to myself in the afternoons (don't think I don't coordinate Henry's and your naps!) and in the evenings.
• You love, love, love bathtime and love splashing and making a huge mess!
• You generally wear 12-18 month clothes now, with some 18 month smaller-running brands thrown in.  Your feet are super wide and it is hard to get any shoes on you other than soft-soled flexible ones.
• Your eyes seem to be turning more and more to a shade of brown.  They still have some deep blue around the edges, but the middle is brown now.  I think they will end up being hazel or light brown.
• Your hair has a bit of curl to it!  I am holding out hope you will have curly hair.  I love it!