7 months old...I'm so behind already!

We've had a lot of * fun * craziness * baby drama * family visits * growing (especially her feet! Oh, and lots of new hair on her head, yay!) * changing * milestones * you name it! And for the last couple of months, every week or so I think...I NEED to update the blog!

I stopped taking WEEKLY pics...when she got sick, on her first Halloween no less, I just couldn't keep up with her! Started out the Sunday before not feeling well, BAD night, then better in the morning, of course, when the Docs office is open, right!? Then she was fine for a few days, until Halloween. We had our first FUN experience with projectile vomiting and this new mommy wondering if the world could stop for a little while so I could figure out what to do! Panic and run to the doctor? Call the nurse line, ok...no fever...she's probably got a stomach bug. Thank goodness no trip to the Doc in the dreaded Halloween traffic! I was so glad Jon was home! No first Halloween trick-or-treat or festival for her. At least she's too young to understand. I got a couple of cute pics of her in her little duckie outfit. The one in her swing was one of the only smiles I got out of her all day, and it was a cute one! Then she fell asleep on me and we changed her clothes and put her to bed, Happy Halloween!

So I did the weekly pics until right at 6 months and now I'll do monthly with the giraffe from 6-12 months. I've updated the watch me grow video. The weekly stops where she's dressed in the duck outfit. The following week she turned 6 months anyway, so this is her 26 week pic and 6 month pic all in one! I'm going to take her 7 month pic tomorrow...REALLY!!!

She's sitting on her own like a champ now...when she wants to. Then suddenly she realizes she's playing peacefully and I might be having a moment of silence and that will never do! She scream/whines and jerks her head straight backwards whether or not anyone is sitting behind her, so we have to keep pillows behind her so she won't knock herself out! (But...she's hard-headed like her Daddy, so she would probably be ok... :-)

She's 'talking' a lot more now, babbling lots of different sounds in a row, screaming for the fun of it, LOVES her jumperoo and crib mobile, still only naps in her swing, thought Santa was a pretty cool dude (he's the Marietta Square Santa - I think he's the REAL Santa! Jon asked for a Playstation III for Natalie, but I don't think Santa's falling for that!) and still doesn't really care for solid foods. But she's sleeping 11-12 hours a night now, most nights this past two weeks, so she can wait on solids if she wants as long as she is sleeping through the night again! (When she was sick and getting up through the night for about 2-3 weeks even after she was better, we realized again just how lucky we are that she sleeps through the night otherwise!)

Oh, and next July she will have a little brother!

Just kidding. Ha! I have to get my kicks where I can these days...

Here are some cute pics:

20 Weeks!

Saying she's 20 weeks old doesn't sound like a lot...until I think that 20 weeks ago she was born, 20 weeks before that we found out she would be a girl (yay!) and 20 weeks before that we found out we were having a baby!

At 20 weeks she:

* turns over less now than at 18 weeks (I guess it lost it's appeal?) * eats solid food * has learned to squeal/scream at the TIP TOP of her lungs * has learned that when she squeals at the top of her lungs we do whatever we can to make her stop immediately when in public...so I think she likes the response time she gets! * naps better, but only in her swing * is rapidly growing OUT of 3-6 months clothes already * is in the 75th percentile for height, weight and head circumference * smiles and laughs a lot * knows that when we place the giraffe next to her each Tuesday it's picture time, and she really HAMS it up already! I updated the weekly grow pics - you will see what I mean! Here are some recent highlights:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hammin' it up in my swoozie's outfit


Time for solid food! I'm not sure I like rice cereal...


How cool am I? We are not sure yet who I look like...


I think I do like rice cereal!


Bath time is fun too...


Sometimes I like my bumbo seat...


But I think baby showers are boring!


I like my high chair though...and my snuggle bunny.


And I like my play gym because sometimes it's just too much work to HOLD the toy while I'm chewing on it!


So...am I the cutest baby you have ever seen? I thought so! See you later...

Our baby is 4 months old!

Wow. In some ways it's flown...in others...well, let's just say I'm more than ready for her to be able to do more on her own! Not drive a car or anything, but sitting up, playing with toys, not screaming for me to hold her EVERY minute! Then again...I know when she's more self-sufficient, I'll miss my little snuggle bug. That's the way it goes I guess... Here are some recent highlights: Oh, and I have been updating the weekly watch me grow pics, you just need to click on 'July' on menu at left, then select the blog 'Natalie's weekly watch me grow pics' under the July menu.

Daddy's 3?th Birthday!! (year withheld to decrease likelihood of spousal argument...!) He took the day off and we all went to lunch together. Here are cute pics of Jon reading Monster's Inc to Natalie, and she just LOVES the pictures in this book. She coos to the book, making up her own story!




And here are the Georgia Bulldog fans on game day, just after the Dawgs 2nd victory of the season... Natalie turned 4 months old on Saturday, and, predictibly, her first words were, "Go Dawgs, yay!"



And I just thought this was a cute pic. Natalie is chillin' out in her stroller, looking out the window in Barnes and Noble, giving us a tiny, tiny break!



And here is a cute clip of her playing with Raffe' (for lack of a better name!) I took the footage with the camera held vertical, forgetting that I can't format it to rotate, so it looks like a weird angle. 2nd part she's playing with her Baby Einstein gym.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

a few last things: She's now a roly-poly, turning over back to tummy mostly, tummy to back only when she's too tired to stay up any longer! This happened Aug. 25th and she gets better at it each day. Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the past few weeks:

Our 15 week old

When we went to her pediatrician apt. at 2 months, we left saying, "thank goodness we don't have to do that again for a while!" Now, in just 2 short weeks, we have to go again already!

I had lunch yesterday with my Grandmother, my Aunt and my cousin who is going off to college on Friday. I have a picture from when I was in high school, holding my cousin, who was just a few months older than Natalie is now when the picture was taken. That seems like yesterday. Does it really happen that fast? I already want Natalie to slow down!

I updated the weekly picture montage from last week and this week. My Grandmother asked me how long I thought I could keep taking weekly pictures. I plan to continue for her first year. She asked me if I thought I could do it that long. Well...it's already been almost 4 months - already one third of her first year! Wasn't I just pregnant last week??

New stuff: Natalie is playing on her 'own' a little more now. That means I give her tummy time and play time on the blanket whether she likes it or not! She is almost rolling over now. When she gets mad, she makes the most progress. She's holding toys a little better this week, and starting to put them in her mouth. I've been waiting for this time so she can help herself with her teething. Even with this progress, she still just wants to be held most of the day, and doesn't nap well. I had a friend suggest that maybe I should cut out all caffiene to see if it would help. But then how am I supposed to stay awake?!

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the last two weeks:




I took the two above pics to show how much she has grown. She can almost fill out a 3-6 month sleeper in length, she's over 25" now - and weighs just over 15 pounds - at only 3 and a half months! The hat on her head says it fits up to 6 months and it doesn't fit her now!




I just love this dress and hat from Poppa and Mimi. How adorable does she look in that hat?! I will upload the 3 months pics we had taken of her before the week is out.

13 weeks old today

Updated the weekly photo montage and here's a cute photo from our session. Also, she went to sleep on her own in her crib for her first morning nap today! I got dishes and laundry done before 9am! Afternoon nap she screamed her head off in the crib and is currently sitting with me at the computer as I write this. Oh well...we are making progress! Tomorrow she will be 3 months old...already...time does fly. We are having professional pics taken tomorrow afternoon...hopefully she's in a happy mood!

Our Laughing Girl!

Natalie actually laughed for the first time on 7/12 with her Daddy! She laughs now when I do silly things...here's a cute clip of her laughing. And I updated the weekly pic slideshow - 12 weeks old already...wow...and she is TEETHING already! Not even 3 months old. I feel so bad for her because she can't quite hold a toy (teething ring/cold washcloth/whatever) to her mouth for any length of time yet, but at least she has figured out how to chew her fist. She tries to get her whole fist in her mouth at one time. It's pretty funny to watch. And she's sleeping an average of 10 hours a night now, at one time. (And no, I don't have to add formula or cereal to her breast milk for her to sleep this long - it's amazing! I slept through the night very early too...my family loves to sleep...) In the morning, she will fuss around, but not really cry. When I pick her up, she is smiling and sucking her thumb - so sweet!

Also, she loves the Baby Bjorn carrier. She can face out and kick her legs and swing her arms (and chew her fist!) We walked up Kennesaw Mtn. today with one of my friends. Her baby was born 3 days before Natalie. They were 'talking' to each other in the car, trying out their vowel sounds, and very polite too: One would 'talk' and when she was finished, the other would talk back! Lot's of ooooww and aaaaahhhh going on in the back seat on the way there. Boy am I going to be sore tomorrow!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Daddy's Girl

I love to watch Jon with Natalie. I love that he treats her like a real person who has feelings and the ability to understand what is being said to her, instead of talking about her and over her like a lot of people do around babies. He will take the time to explain what he is doing or is about to do with her: "I'm going to give you a bath now, and then we can hang out on the couch for a while." And it is wonderful to watch her respond to him with coos and little facial expressions ranging from curious and confused to happy and delighted with little grins and grunts in between!

He was the first person who could 'talk' to her and have her 'talk' back to him in high and low pitched coos that are very long and expressive and sometimes include balled fists and shaking arms to get her point across even better. Natalie is already a Daddy's girl, and watching them together prompted this layout of some of my favorite pictures of them together:



Also, I have updated the photo montage of Natalie's week by week pics as of 7/22. Scroll down (or click the link to the left) to watch her grow week by week...and here is one more picture of Daddy's girl...

Bad time after shots - and cute pics

I'm taking a sec to write while Natalie sleeps - yay! She had a bad day yesterday and last night - fever on and off - head hot, and clammy little legs and arms. I felt so bad for her! She would start to nurse and then turn her head to me and yell out, like she was fussing at me! It was funny and sad at the same time. Usually nursing is the ace in the hole for whatever she's upset about - but she just didn't seem to be comfortable.

I finally had Jon put a little cool water in a bottle (first time but I was willing to try anything to cool her off/calm her down) and she would drink a little and then get upset again. Finally, Jon to the rescue, said we should try a bottle of breast milk from the frige, but not heat it up very much. She'd been nursing off and on so I didn't think she really needed a whole bottle, just some soothing, (and I didn't want to waste a heated bottle of milk since it's like liquid gold! Anyone who's ever had to pump knows what I mean!) but I was willing to try it. Worked like a charm and she drank the whole 4+ oz bottle!

She usually prefers nursing, hands down, so it must have been too warm for her, skin to skin contact and warm milk. After finishing the bottle, she sat with her Daddy, all calm and happy, for a little while anyway. We would think she was over it, then she would feel hot and clammy again. She would go to sleep and then wake up a few minutes later. Thankfully, she fell asleep about 11pm and then slept until 7am. She may look like her Daddy, but she sleeps like her Mommy! :-) And - yay - she doesn't have to get shots again for another two months.

Her's a pic from a few weeks ago that I just think is so cute - look at those cheeks! Her Mimi (Jon's mom) made the cute outfit she's wearing.



And here is the birth announcement I sent out to everybody I had addresses for. I have a few extras that I can send to work with Jon if anybody wants one, so go bug him :-) Everybody has been asking, and yes, talented Mimi made the outfit she's wearing in the middle of the birth announcement too! Look at those little shoes!



OK one more for today - I think Jon already sent around a different version of this picture, but I just thought the saying on her shirt and her facial expression were just priceless together...it's like she's saying, "nah nah na nah naaah!"