New Hair Do

Natalie's hair is becoming more of a mullet every day. I could cut the back a bit to help even out the length, but I really don't want to because I love that it is finally growing no matter how unevenly. I've found that it looks less like a mullet if I put a bow in the front or put the sides in pig tails. The only problem is that she pulls her bows out almost immediately and the pig tails don't hold up to riding in the car seat or rolling around on the floor.

Solution: the pony tail. 

My phone is to blame for the blurry pictures. I tried to take more pictures with the camera later on, but a girl can only spend so much time in front of the camera before she has had enough.

And So It Begins

I spent $2.80 on eight ounces of juice in a Hello Kitty bottle today.

Natalie said "meow meow" as we walked by the rows of overpriced juice this morning at the grocery store. I hoped that she would just forget about it if we kept moving, but that was not the case. After more cries for "meow meow" and multiple attempts to climb out of the cart, I caved.

And so it begins.

January at the Park

We took advantage of the warm temperature this afternoon with a walk to the park. It was Natalie's first time playing on the big equipment because when we went in the summer she was only big enough to swing. She was a little hesitant at first and did a lot of people watching, but she ended up exploring most of the equipment by the time we left.

Cleaning Lady

Natalie is really in to dusting these days. She finds a rag or something similar like a dryer sheet and wipes down the furniture saying "wipe wipe wipe." Today the kitchen towels were her rags of choice.

Weigh In

Natalie, Belle, and I had a weigh in this morning.

The pregnant lady's weight is not pictured for obvious reasons.

Dining with Princesses

Natalie got this table and chairs set for her birthday, but she just climbed on it then, so we put it away for a while. She was so excited when we got it back out for her to play with today. She just giggled and giggled.

The princesses on it made it that much better. She plays with her little princess "babies" so much that she knows some of them by name now. Her favorite is Belle - probably because her name is the easiest to say.

She ate her supper at her table like a big girl. And her babies joined. Imagine her saying "dip dip" as she dips each piece of chicken into her ketchup. So cute. And yes, I fully realize that this is not the most nutritious supper. She had fruit later, and she usually eats better, I promise.

Current Favorites

I never want to forget this sweet, shy, silly little girl that Natalie is right now. She's so fun that I find myself missing her and her little voice and quirks when she's sleeping. I know that if I want to remember this, I'm going to have to write it down because between pregnancy brain and sleep-deprived-mom brain, my memory doesn't stand a chance. So here she is. Our little Miss Personality.

She is extremely shy around new people, which I secretly love because it means more hugs, hand holding, and lap sitting for me. But for as shy as she is in public, she is equally as crazy at home.

Playing peek-a-boo around the corner

She is sure to tell us what she doesn't approve of lately as one of her newest words is "no". It sounds more like "nuuuuuuuuh" and is accompanied with an arm wave. We currently think it is about the cutest thing on the planet, but I know that will soon change.

Although "no" is now in her vocabulary, so is "please" (or "pease"). It doesn't come nearly as often or as voluntarily as "no" does though. We're working on that :)

She has also started running up to me, reaching her arms up, and saying "dance?" when she hears music on the TV. I pick her up, and she kicks her little feet in excitement as we dance around the living room.

She loves snack time, and she calls most of the foods she eats by name. She even attempts to say "macaroni" and "spaghetti", but my all time favorite food name is "bock bock" - chicken of course.

She squints her eyes, furrows her brow, purses her lips, and gives a little grunt when something is hard to open. "Hard to open" is open to interpretation though because the little grunt comes out even when I'm taking the cap off of the milk jug.

She absolutely loves babies. Babies in books, babies on TV, dolls, toddlers - she loves them all. And she is the sweetest little mommy to her babies. She gives them lots of big hugs. I'm sure her baby brother will be the recipient of quite a few rough hugs. Maybe we should work on "gentle" before he gets here. Either way, he will be loved by his big sister.

My least favorite things about this current stage?

Learning the art of the tantrum
and
The sleep that comes with new teeth.

It can't all be sunshine and roses, right? She's just trying to keep things lively around here.

Sledding

Natalie got a sled for Christmas, so we tried it out this afternoon. It was too cold to stay outside very long, but she loved every minute that we were out there. Maybe next year we'll brave the big hill at the park.