January 27, 2009
Natalie is very excited for the arrival of baby boy. She had her leg across my stomach on Saturday morning and baby boy moved. She was so excited. She then laid her head on my belly and again, baby boy moved tickling her on the cheek. She was beyond herself. She started saying, "Baby boy is going to be here soon. He's coming after Valentine's Day, daddy. And that's soon." We reminded her that baby boy is sick. "I know. He has a boo-boo on his heart." Right, so he won't come home from the hospital right way. "I know. I know." she said. Maggie's mommy is having a baby right around the same time we are, but Maggie's baby will come home. "What?" The expression on her face said it all. "Why is her baby coming home and mine isn't?" Ours is sick, honey. He'll have to stay where the doctors can help him. "Did me and Ainsley come home?" Yes, you were healthy. "Well why are some babies healthy and some sick?" I don't sweetie, that's just the way it is.
Oct. 08 -
Natalie is becoming mommy's little helper. A few weeks ago, she stayed with her two grandmothers while Henry and I took a few days to get away. They bragged on how helpful she was with Ainsley and she continued that when we brought her home. There are still some squabbles, but she has been so conscientious about being a sweet older sister and a help to mommy. However, she has become a little clingy about me leaving her, such as at preschool and Sunday School, but I am trying to be patient with this new phase. It is completely new for her. I remember three Sundays she cried when I dropped her off at her two-year-old nursery, but other than that, she's been fantastic about new places and experiences. I'm hoping this is just a passing phase she will outgrow. She also seems to be moving into the phase of not being able to tell reality from fantasy and is getting scared at cartoons as basic as Winnie the Pooh. She's taken to coming into our room in the night and sleeping on our floor. Again, I hope this is something she will work out in the coming months and am not too worried about it.
Recently, Henry and the kids were playing 20 questions centered around animals. Ainsley didn't really count, although she appeared excited and up for the challenge at the mention of playing a game. It took Natalie several minutes before she caught on to asking questions and not just guessing animals. The highlights from the game are as follows:
Questions Natalie asked: Does it live in a house? Does it live in a dog house? Natalie's pick for her animals...
Natalie: "I'm thinking of an animal that flies and has wings and a unicorn thing." Henry: "Don't tell me what it's like, just let me ask questions." Natalie: "It's a unicorn."
Natalie: "I'm thinking of an animal that has fins and arms" Henry: "Is it big....is it little...is it medium sized? Is it a dolphin?" Natalie: "No." Henry: "Hmmm, an animal that has fins AND arms? Is it a mermaid?" Natalie: "Yep!"
Natalie: "I'm thinking of an animal." Henry: "Does it live in the desert? The Serengetti? Is it in the cat family?" Natalie: "Yes...well, I'm thinking of a kind of dog." Henry, who didn't hear the part about the dog: "Is it a tiger? A lion? A puma?" Leighann: "I think she changed her mind about the cat family, she said something about a dog." Henry: "Is it a big dog?" Natalie: "Yes, it's Clifford the Big Red Dog!"
So far, she has yet to think of a REAL animal.
Sept. 08 –
Natalie is so excited about the new baby. If you remember, she’s been telling people we were having a baby since before I was actually pregnant. By the time I got her to stop telling people I was pregnant, I did get pregnant. When we told her mommy is having a baby, she said, “Today or tomorrow?” We explained it would be a very long time and went through all the birthdays and holidays we would have to get through before the baby arrived. “…then Christmas, then New Years, then the baby.” Her response? “I have an idea. Let’s have Christmas early!”
She starts preschool this week and I’m not sure she’s as excited as last year. Our lives have been somewhat disrupted by the last two months of morning sickness and I think she doesn’t like the idea of being away from mommy. She has been a little more clingy lately and was especially clingy that day we went to meet her new teacher and see her new classroom. I think she’s actually going to be ‘normal’ this year and not waltz into school ready to leave mommy. I’ll keep you updated on her progress.
Her obsession this month is the Little Mermaid. She says she’s going to be a mermaid when she grows up and pretends she’s Ariel. She warns us Ursula is going to get us. Thanks, Pop, for creating a monster!
August 2008 -
Natalie cracks me up every day. She says the funniest things. I wish I could remember them all, but alas, I have a hard enough time remembering to tell Henry when he comes home from work. Here’s a recent conversation we had after I had eaten something bad. I literally threw up more than 10 times in a 5 hour stretch:
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Natalie said to me while I was bent over the toilet, “Mommy, if you have to frow up, frow up in the toilet. Okay? Get it right in there.” About that time, Ainsley came running in and Natalie said, “Don't touch her. She's frowing up. I'm looking to make sure she does a good job.” After that episode, I went and laid down in my bed. Natalie came over and said, “You wanna play sick? I said, “How do you play sick?” She said, “You pretend your sick, but you already are, so that's good. I need to look in your mouth to see if you're sick.” Mommy: “You can't put anything in my mouth.” Natalie: “Okay, I'll just pretend because don't frow up on it ok. I won't put it in your mouth because I don't want you to frow up on it. I'll go get my stuff.. A few minutes later she comes back carrying some doctor kit toys. “Here mom, let me look in your mouth.” Putting the dentist mouth mirror close to my lips but not inside my mouth she says, “Looks good. See how I didn't put it in your mouth?” |
July 2008 -
Natalie is infatuated with anything baby. In June she told at least three people I was having a baby and I had to kindly tell them I wasn't. She told a random stranger in the grocery store, her music leader at church, and my MOTHER-IN-LAW! The latter was so giddy as she turned to me and said, "Did you hear what Natalie just told me?" "Yes" I said. "But it's not true" was my stupified response. The only thing I can think of is that her Aunt Tiffany is due any day with a baby and one of our friends is also expecting. Natalie will randomly say things like, "Mommy, when are you getting a big tummy again? I want a brother." Or, "Mommy, can we have another baby?" After running out of responses, I started telling her she needed to talk to her father so the other day she said, "I asked Dad and he said we could have another baby!" When questioned, Henry told me he told her we could "talk about it." The poor thing - she wants a baby in the house so bad.
Not to beat a dead horse, but here is a recent conversation: (sorry in advance for the potty talk)
Natalie: Mommy, when I have to go potty, I sit down, but when daddy has to go potty he stands up, because he has a peanut.
Mommy: Yep, that's right.
Natalie: That's cause boys and girls are different. When I grow up, I'm gonna have a boy baby and he's gonna have a peanut. But I don't have a peanut because I'm a girl.
He other recent obsession is spiders. For those who read the blog, you know Natalie was surprised recently by a rather large spider while going potty in the early morning. For the last few days, she refuses to go into the bathroom by herself. She wants me to accompany her every time she uses the facilities and I explain that she needs to go by herself and call me if there is a spider. When I refuse to come with her, she then says, Ainsley, you come. Come with me... So now both of them go to the bathroom when Natalie feels nature calling.
June 2008 -
May was the month for Natalie to find caterpillars. She found a gazillion of them. She loved having them crawl up her arms and then down again. She took to putting them in a plastic ‘to-go’ container with holes poked into the top so they could breathe. My biggest pet peeve was when she let them crawl on the kitchen counter while she was getting a drink or snack. I’d be making dinner and find one crawling along minding its own business on MY KITCHEN COUNTER. The worst was when she found five in one day and came up from the basement sans two of them. I asked her where they were and she had no clue. She left the lid off the container constantly to let them have a sense of freedom and two of them escaped. It’s better than them being loose in the kitchen I suppose. The next day, I was walking across my bedroom (a whole floor and a half up from the basement) and saw one of the perps crawling out from under my bed. Imagine that, a little caterpillar survived a whole day in my house and managed to somehow climb up two flights of steps across the top floor of the house and then under my bed….that or simply up through the a/c ducts into my bedroom. I hate that thought. Anyway, the caterpillars aren’t around much anymore and her container now sits in the corner of the kitchen, where it’s sat for a week and half now with no action; seems to me like it’s time to put it away until next year. Or, until the next popular bug species comes along.
Natalie is done with school for the year and she now informs people she won’t be going again until fall when she will be in Miss Gail’s class. She asked her aunt today (who will be a senior in high school next year) whose class she will be in next year and who her old teacher is. Amazing how good she is getting a carrying on a conversation.
Speaking of conversations, Natalie announced to four people so far that we are “having three children” or more clearly, “mommy has another baby in her tummy.” Before you go getting all excited, it simply isn’t true. The most recent announcement was to my mother-in-law for pete’s sake. Natalie is OBSESSED with us having another baby – preferably a boy. For the last month she’s asked me when I’m going to get another big belly, or if we can have a baby boy. I think her infatuation is the result of one of our friends expecting their third. But, whew! This is how rumors get started.
Final story on Natalie – last week Natalie came into the kitchen where I was shucking corn for dinner:
Natalie: Mommy can I help you peel the corn?
Mommy: Sure, you want to make sure to get all the hairs off.
Mommy and Natalie work on the corn while Ainsley manages to spill a box of raisins.
Natalie: Uh-oh, mommy, Ainsley spilled the raisins.
Mommy: That's ok. Ainsley just stick them back in.
Natalie: Ains, I can't help you because I'm working. Right, mommy? I'm working, right?
Mommy: Yes, Natalie, you're working.
May 2008 - I am falling in love with Natalie again this month. I loved her all along of course, but this month am seeing her with new eyes. She is becoming so mature - as mature as a 3 and half year old can be I suppose. It's just that I am realizing she is turning a corner and becoming a big girl. The kind before the tween years, but after the little big girl years. This probably makes no sense to those of you without kids, but she is taking on new responsibilties, trying on new wings, and I see her being concientious of good choices. For example, today, she wanted a drink and I wasn't ready to get her one. She nagged and pulled on me and I finally said, "Natalie, mommy will get you a drink, but you need to give me a minute." She didn't like this answer, more whining, more pulling. Being the nurturing mother I am (and a little embarrassed to admit) I said, "Natalie, if you don't stop I am not getting you a drink. Now be patient." She responded to this. I did come through and get her a drink within a few minutes. What impressed me was an hour or so later she wanted a snack and more drink. This time, when I told her to give me a minute, she did just that. About 2 minutes later, me still head down in my task, she reminded me by saying very sweetly, "Mommy, can I have a drink and snack now?" I was right in the middle of something I'm sure very important and put her off again. She didn't fuss or complained but waited a few more minutes before repeating her request in a very sweet tone. Not nagging, but a gentle reminder. I got up and fulfilled her request thinking how she was working on the lesson she had learned earlier in the day and doing a great job at it. I've also been impressed this month with her courage. We are hitting the playgrounds more often these days and when she sees someone she wants to play with she often goes right up and introduces herself and asks if they want to play. If they are several years older, she'll ask me to come along for moral support, but she always does the talking. She isn't afraid to speak her mind or ask for what she wants. Today at Chick-Fil-A, I heard her say from the top of the slide. "I'm 3 and I don't want anyone going in front of me. If you don't move, I'll hurt you." Henry interpreted this as a threat - and of course was proud in a manly way. I interpreted it like this - a kid is blocking my way to the slide, I'm 3 (a big girl) and want to go down, if you don't move, I'll end up running into you, which will hurt. Not a threat at all, but simple, clear communication. Finally, she is becoming more nurturing with Ainsley. Recently Ainsely, who is refusing the booster and insisting on sitting in a regular chair like her big sister, slipped off said chair while eating dinner. I was in the kitchen when it happened about 10 feet away. Natalie saw it too, gasped a little and ran to Ainsely's side. She got there a split second before me, but allowed me to take over when she realized I had things under control. Ainsley, who wasn't seriously hurt, but LOVES attention, let me hug her for about 2 seconds before pushing away and running over to Natalie who was sitting down again. She laid her head in Natalie's lap, fussing and pointing to the spot where she bumped her head. Natalie cooed, "Ah, Ains. You hit your head. You're a little girl and you need to sit in your chair. Here. I'll show you." She then gently guided Ainsley to the booster chair and tried to help her get in it. It is moments like these that I realize they do love each other and will be just fine. April 2008 Natalie is 3 1/2 going on firty... While curling my hair, Natalie says to me: Mommy, when I'm older can I use that curling stick? Mommy: Yes, when you're older. Natalie: Like when I'm 10? Mommy: Yes, when you're 10 you can probably use it. Natalie: When I'm firty (30) can I use it? Mommy: Sure. Natalie: I don't want to be a teacher though. Mommy: Ok, you don't have to be a teacher. You can be whatever you want. Natalie after brief pause, then huge smile and gasp: I want to be a lion! Natalie is becoming somewhat of a leader - always telling people what to do, or managing her friends during playtime. We're working on being a nice leader, not a bossy one! A recent conversation on the way home from school... Natalie: Mom, say knee Mommy: knee Natalie : Say ah Mommy: ah Natalie: Say my-uh Mommy: my-uh Natalie: So put it all together. Nehamiah Mommy; Nehamiah Natalie clapping her hands: Yeah, mom, you said Nehamiah! March 2008 -
Natalie is adjusting to being in a new house. She was fine the first few weeks, but now is having problems going to sleep by herself. She complains she is scared of monsters and bugs. She now sleeps with two (stuffed) guard dogs, one for the bugs and one for the monsters. I know it is a phase, but it is hard to watch her go through it.
She is also adjusting to not having playmates as neighbors. Our new next door neighbors have four children - 3 boys and 1 girl, the eldest is 12 and the youngest 7. The 7 yr. old boy likes to ride bikes with Natalie, but Natalie's greatest wish is for the 10 yr. old girl to want to come out to play. Jessica is not that interested in entertaining a 3 yr. old and it's starting to hurt said 3-yr.old's feelings. It's hard to see her desperately want to befriend this little girl only to be rejected time and time again. I'm hoping once the weather is consistently nice, we will find some little girls closer to Natalie's age on the block. I know there is a set of 5 yr. old twins, but they are in school right now. Hopefully, I'll have good news on this front in a few months.
Natalie has come up with some funny things lately, here are a few for your enjoyment:
Mommy: "Daddy might not be home tonight before you go to bed because he had to go downtown."
Natalie: "Where's downtown?"
Mommy: "Remember when we went to the museum? The museum is downtown."
Natalie: "Oh, daddy must be at the zazam (museum) looking at the dinasour bones."
Mommy: "I'm sorry Jessica doesn't want to come watch a movie with you. The problem is she is so much older than you she is in to other things. We'll find someone closer to your age for you to play with."
Natalie: "When she shrinks smaller, she will want to play with me."
While eating a lollipop: "Mommy, my lollipop is meltin'. There's gonna be a party in my belly."
February 2008 -
Here is a snippet of an email I received from my sister, Johanna, who was watching Natalie while Henry and I were gone:
“Natalie is soooo cute and sweet. Every once and a while during the day she will say I want my mommy. I remind her that you are on your second honeymoon and she seems to be fine. She has been good. On the way home from Walmart this morning, I heard her talking and I looked in my mirror and saw her talking to her shoe which was held to her ear like a phone. Her favorite word is why. WHY WHY WHY WHY. I think my favorite word has become because. I forget what a 3 year is like.”
Natalie loves to do connect-the-dots and recently after completing one she decided she would write her name. Mind you, she turned 3 in October, so I wasn’t expecting much. However, she managed to write her entire name in capital letters, without asking how to spell it…..the only mistake was that it was written entirely backwards. I guess she takes after da Vinci.
January 2008 - Natalie loved Christmas. Of course, when it starts on the 22nd and goes until the 25th, who can complain. Getting presents everday when you're three is fabulous. She was in love with the idea of a Christmas tree and told everyone she met that she had one. We visited my mom the second week of December to help get ready for Katie's wedding. As soon as Natalie walked in the door she looked around and said, "Where's grandma's tree? She doesn't have one." We've never really played up the idea of Santa in our house. Henry grew up without the fantasy and it hasn't really been that big a deal in our house. On Christmas Eve, as Natalie was getting ready for bed I said, "Natalie, tomorrow when you wake up, there will be presents under the Christmas tree." She said, "Santa will come into my living room and put presents under the tree." A little surprised I said, "Who told you that?" She replied, "Santa is coming to Trey and Adrian's living room (our neighbors) and leaving presents, so we can let him into our living room too, okay?" I replied in the affirmative. She continued, "And he can leave presents for us and we can open them, okay?" I again replied in the affirmative and tucked her into bed amazed at how much children pick up on. November / December 2007 - Natalie still enjoys preschool and pretends she is Miss Linda at home - teaching her stuffed animals and bringing her babies to school. Occassionally, I have to either be Miss Linda or the mommy bring the baby to school. One day she said, "If you have to go potty, let me know. I am Miss Linda." Another time she said, "If you are Natalie, raise your hand. If you are Ainsley raise your hand." I can only imagine her teacher uses this game to introduce the students to one another. Our house is still on the market and that has made it into Natalie's pretend play as well. The other day we were in Ainsley's room dressing Ainsley and Natalie said, "I would like to look at your house.... this is a beautiful house. I love your crib (while running her hands across the wooden railings). Did you build your crib?" I, of course, replied that we did not build our crib to which Natalie responded a little shocked, "Why?" She has played this game several times since, every time telling me what a beautiful house I have and coming up with strange little questions that no one has ever asked. It's neat to see her perspective of adult conversation. Natalie is learning to write her abc's and I've noticed a direct correlation to writing them and understanding how to figure out what a word starts with. Before we started working on writing, I would ask her what bird started with and she wouldn't have a clue how to answer. Now, she often times not only knows the answer, but in random conversation will tell me what something starts with. For example, in the car recently, she said, "What's another thing that starts with 'j' than 'Julie'?" It hasn't quite clicked that the other letters play a role in the word, but we are getting there. natalie to mommy: what color do you want your arm? mommy: blue. natalie: i don't have blue. mommy: oh, what are my choices? natalie, counting the choices out on her fingers: i have pink, and lellow, i do have lellow,and i have purr-pull. October 2007 - Natalie started preschool in early September and is loving it. I thought for sure the first day there would be tears or clingyness when she got home, but she did really well. She sucked her thumb when we left and didn't say good-bye (which I've heard some kids do to keep from losing it), but she was all smiles when I picked her up. She showed me that she colored a picture and talked about all the fun things they did during the day. When we got home, I put Ainsley down for her nap and asked Natalie if she wanted to read books with mommy. She was busy playing with her backpack and said, "okay" but never came to read books. After a few minutes, I asked her if she wanted a hug and a kiss. Again, she said, "sure" but never looked up from what she was doing. I finally decided it was mommy who was clingy and went and found a book to read by myself! The other day Natalie drove the cozy coupe down the hill to the mailbox at the same time my brother-in-law was calling to see if we'd received something he had sent. I went down, Ainsley in hand and started back up the hill holding the keys, mail, Ainsley and the phone between my ear and shoulder. Natalie wanted me to push her back up the hill to which I replied, "Natalie, you'll have to get out and push the car back up yourself. Mommy only has two hands." I proceeded back up the hill and could hear Natalie chatting with a neighbor who had come to check her mail as well. I didn't think much of it as Natalie talks to everyone until I saw Denise bend down and start to push Natalie and her car up the hill. I waved and said, "that's okay, she knows how to do it herself." Denise told me, "But she was so cute. She said, 'Can you push me up the hill. I can't get up and my mommy only has two hands." September 2007 - Natalie starts preschool next week - I can't believe it. We met her teacher at an open house on Friday, Miss Linda. She seems like a wonderful teacher who will be patient and kind with the kids. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to have my little girl (she keeps reminding me she's not my baby, Ainsley is) away from me two mornings a week, but I'm quite sure she is. She went into the classroom, told her name to the teacher and then got started on the puzzles right away. The real test will be Tuesday when mommy and daddy leave her there. She is always begging me to do an activity with her, so I'm sure she will be in heaven with the structure and 'projects' available to her. A friend of mine brought me a birthday present in a gift bag this month. Natalie watched me open the present and asked what is was all about. The next day (and every day thereafter) she began getting shopping bags from the closet and gathering toys to put in them. She then brought them to me and said, 'Here mommy, this is your present for your birthday." It was so sweet. There are now several bags, each of them designated gifts for each member of the family. She hangs them on the door knobs so Ainsley can't get to them (even though one of them 'belongs' to Ainsley). Natalie's big mile stone this month is that she dropped her naptime. We are working on her having a quiet time each day so mommy continues to get a little break. While the first few days were hard for her to play by herself, she has adapted quite well now. Some days we resort to a short video to get her in the groove after which she moves on to a quiet activity. This has helped me to be able to still have the much needed mental break a mom of two kids under three needs. :) I'm happy to report I'm still sane. August 2007 - This is Natalie's last month before starting preschool. Henry and I were at the mall today and talking about taking her school shopping - so odd that we are thinking of things like that. I'm sure it will feel even weirder when it's time for Kindergarten. I really think she will love playing with the other kids and learning new things. The other day Natalie wanted a mid-morning snack so I said, 'How about some goldfish.' She said, 'Oh, mommy, that would be perfect!' The same day Natalie said, 'Mommy, sit down and watch the show.' I said, 'What show?' She said, 'The Natalie show,' and proceeded to sing me songs and told me to clap. Natalie is still in swim lessons and has progressed to going into the pool with her flotation device by herself. She no longer clings to the teacher's neck, but kicks happily while the teacher leads her around the pool. I can tell the difference in the bath tub even, as she isn't bothered by water in her eyes.
June/July 2007-
Natalie started swim lessons last week and really likes her teacher Lauren. They are working on getting her to go in the pool with a floating device, but as of right now, Natalie prefers sitting on the side of the pool playing with her toys. Lauren did manage to get Natalie under the water to act like an alligator and I'm confident Natalie will go into the deep end next week by herself.
Natalie continues to amuse us. The other day she was watching Clifford on t.v. at her Marmi's house and Marmi came over to talk to her. She turned to Marmi and said, "I can't be distracted right now." She is very intent on Clifford (a.k.a. Clipperd) and even has a big stuffed red dog to sleep with at night.
She is also consumed with daddy at this stage. She often says during the day that she wants her daddy and the other day at the pool with Henry, a little girl came up to her and said, " You wanna play with me?" To which Natalie replied, "I"m playing with my daddy right now."
(Natalie's update) "po=i0o i ,;l['r r f "
May 2007 -
Natalie is getting old enough to pick up on spiritual things and recently wanted to say her nightly prayers herself instead of mommy saying them for her. Here is what I can remember from her prayer: "God bless mommy, God bless daddy, God bless Ainsely and God bless Natalie. And, pray my boo-boo get better too and daddy come home and watch t.v. and get some dinner. And, Natalie get some dinner and mommy get some dinner. And, tomorrow Natalie turn on the t.v. and play and Ainsley play...."
She also asked my what a soul is. I'm not sure where she heard it, but I told her it was inside a person. At that point she lifted her shirt and said, "inside me." I didn't think much of it until the next day when she told someone her soul was inside her behind her belly button. :)
Natalie continues to enjoy the outdoors. We try to get outside every day and she is getting better at riding her tricycle (and I am getting better at pushing her on it!). Her language continues to develop and she is saying things like, "Orange is my favorite" and "Mommy, I'm frustrated." She says the funniest things - I am truly enjoying the talking world of a toddler.
April 2007 -
Natalie is in love with the outdoors. Now that we've had somewhat consistently warmer weather, she begs to go outside and play. Most days, I am trying to get both girls out in the afternoon; however, some days it's not enough. Natalie wants to play outdoors for hours and sometimes I have to be inside. So, this week, I allowed her to play on the porch with the door open where I can see her. She happily blows bubbles or draws with chalk while I constantly glance out the door and call her name to make sure she hasn't disappeared.
On her first day outside by herself, our neighbor's son, Trey (5 yrs. old) asked her if she could come down and play with him. She told him she had to stay on the porch. He said, ask your mom if you can come down. So, she came in the house to ask. I told her she could go down for a minute and I would watch from the window. It is amazing she is old enough to be asked to play. Later, Trey and his 2 1/2 yr. old brother Adrian came up on the porch to play with Natalie. They joined her in chalk drawing and bubble blowing. Since then, they've become best buds and often the three of them play on the porch while my neighbor and I cook dinner.
Natalie has also taken to playing with playdough. She loves cutting it with a knife and making shapes with cookie cutters. It's amazing how long it keeps her attention as she creates balloons, faces, and balls (they are more like oddly shaped mounds) free hand.
She continues to surprise me with her perceptiveness and adult-like thinking. She is learning the art of persuasiveness and persistance. Today, we were driving to an Easter Egg hunt and she wanted a snack (she knew I'd packed a picnic lunch). She kept whining that she was hungry and I finally told her I couldn't reach the food because it was in the back of the car. She didn't skip a beat as she instructed Henry to 'stop driving and get it.' When we told her we weren't going to do this she thought for a little bit and then said, 'I have to go potty." Henry said, "I appreciate your persistence, but we aren't stopping to get the food. We'll eat when we get there."
March 2007 -
Natalie: I wanna sleep in your bed, mommy. Mommy: Ok, but if you sleep in here, you have to close your eyes and go to sleep. Natalie: You shuttin you eyes mommy? (mommy nodding) Natale: I shuttin my eyes too! Mommy: shhhhh! Natalie: (fake snoring) Mommy, go honk shoe, honk shoe Mommy: (fake snoring) Natalie: honk and shoe honk and shoe, giggle Mommy: shhhhhh! Natalie: Let's go on a bear hunt! A day in the life of a toddler's mother. I was trying to get some rest while the girls were napping when Natalie came into my room to inform me her nose hurt. That's what she tells me when she needs to blow it, so after wiping her nose, the above exchanged occurred. Needless to say, I didn't get my nap that day. Natalie continues to have endless energy and curiosity. She is always wanting to know what is going on, what everyone is doing, what is coming next, who we are going to see, and if there is anyone willing to take a phone call from their favorite 2 yr. old. She now knows how to answer the house and cell phones so I'm never sure if she's playing or if someone is really on the phone. Several times she has told me someone called and it turned out they really did and I didn't realize the phone had even rung. I already have my own little receptionist! She is also very concerned for her sister. Today at Ainsley's check-up I explained to Natalie that Ainsley was going to get some shots just like brother and sister bear (Berenstain bears), she would not like it, and would most definitely cry. Natalie acknowledged what I said, but still cried almost as hard as Ainsley when the shots were given. She hated seeing her baby sister in pain. She also doesn't like it when Ainsley cries at home. I keep the monitor on in the basement so I can hear Ainsley if I'm down doing laundry. Recently, Natalie was down there playing with a friend and Ainsley started crying. I could hear Natalie say, 'It's okay, baby. I'm coming.' Sure enough, she came up the stairs headed for the nursery.
January 2007 -
Natalie is a fun as ever. Her new phase is asking questions - "What you doing, mommy?" "What you talking for?" (aka What are you talking about?) "Where's daddy/Ainsley/Taurus/mommy?" Her other favorite phrase is, "I hungry." The child is a bottomless pit with her current favorite foods being cheese and (ba)nanas.
Natalie and Ainsley often play together - well, Natalie plays and Ainsley sits and laughs and/or cries. Natalie enjoys using her doctor kit on Ainsley - taking blood pressure, checking her ears, listening to her heart, and giving shots. She also loves jumping on the bed while Ainsley is laying on it. Henry and I are constantly saying, "Do not jump near your sister." It doesn't help matters that Ainsley laughs with all the jiggling.
The other day Natalie and I were in the car and she said, "Mommy, I wanna see the light." I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but my thoughts were interrupted when Natalie said urgently, "mommy, stop, stop!" I said, "Why does mommy have to stop?" She said, "Because it's red." A little surprised, I realized Natalie was telling me to stop because she saw the red stoplight ahead. I wanted to make sure I wasn't reading into anything so I said, "Natalie, what color does the light have to be for mommy to go?" She replied emphatically, "It green." I couldn't believe it and right away dialed Henry. I got his answering machine and so left him a message relating how smart our daughter is. I also managed to call my mom and his before getting a return call from him. He said, "I got your message. UH....I told her that the other day." :) So much for a genius daughter!!
November 2006 -
Natalie continues to impress me. Early in the month, we were stopped at a red light and Natalie said, "Mommy, cereal." Or at least, that's what I thought she said. I said, "no, honey, we just had cereal at home and mommy doesn't have any in the car." She repeated herself and I repeated myself thinking nothing of it. As we started to move, Natalie said, "Mommy, cereal movin" at which point I realized she was saying "circle" in reference to the car's wheels.
She is also turning out to be quite a lot of fun. She learned how to play hide-and-seek. I'm not sure where she picked it up, probably her cousins - they're always teaching her big girl stuff. It's really a lot of fun to play with her since she is still at the stage where she hides in the place you just were and pops out of it when you say, "hmmm, where's Natalie." After one of her turns being it, she told me it was her turn to hide and mine to count and started to push me out of the way on the steps. I knew she was getting in her hiding spot already so I said, "Okay, mommy will count. Where are you gonna hide?" She pointed to where I was sitting and said, "Right here!"
All of us want our kids to grow up and become independent, well Natalie is only two and already showing signs of decisiveness. I gave her a choice of costumes for Halloween and she chose to be a cow. I tried to talk her into the ladybug, but cow it was. And, for her birthday, I took her to Michael's and set before her an array of cake molds. I said, "Natalie, which one do you like the best? The ladybug, the butterfly...oooh, look here, they have lion." Her response, "kitty-cat." I asked her if she was sure and she said yes. The day of her birthday, she watched me frost her kitty cake and later when we set it before her to blow out her candles she said really expressively, "kitty cake!" I'm hoping it's this easy to please her next year.
For Natalie's birthday, we gave her a doll you can feed a bottle to and watch go potty. Since our return from California, she often asks to sit on the potty. She doesn't actually go, however, she loves getting up there, wiping, and then flushing the toilet. And, for the last two weeks in October, she often asked to wear panties over her diaper. With a new baby, I didn't want to start the potty training process and, I was a bit intimidated that she was still under two. So, we decided her second birthday was probably a good time to begin the process.
I read the book, "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" (which was recommended to me and I also highly recommend) and set aside the Saturday after her birthday as potty training day. Whew! First things first - potty training is fatiguing, for both mother and child. Two hours into the "average four-hour session", I turned to Henry and told him I was exhausted and thought to myself I was ready to give up. But, I didn't want to go back to diapers since I had told Natalie she was a big girl and no longer needed diapers during the day. Needless to say, she created approximately four puddles, and two leaks before her first big success of stopping what she was doing and making it to the potty with dry pants - this was about two and half hours into the training. From then on, I think I remember one more accident. Sunday she leaked twice, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday once. I consider her pretty well potty trained for urinating. (by this I mean she goes to the potty all by herself without me reminding her, pulls down/up her panties, and wipes without help). In fact, in the morning, she will have me take her diaper off so she can go pee-pee on the potty. HOWEVER, and I hear we aren't the only ones, we are having some difficulty with the other kind of potty and hope to have this resolved shortly. (any advice on this can be posted in the visitor's log and would be greatly appreciated. i've tried treats, jumping up and down, and promising we can call daddy with the big news.) Oh the joys of parenthood. And for those of you without kids, sorry about the potty talk.
October 2006 -
In mid-September, we went to the Cole's Brothers Circus in Ashburn, VA. Natalie got to see clowns, elephants, trapeze artists, and many other acts in real life and her eyes were as big as saucers most the time. She especially liked the man who rode the motorcycle on the tight wire ("bike up there" she said) and the animal tricks. She wasn't as impressed with the clowns as one would think - especially during the intermission when one came into our section to talk with the kids. She basically hid behind my leg and looked at me like, "no way am I getting near that freak". I tried to remind her clowns are just people who paint their face and do tricks, but she wasn't buying it. And hey, who can blame her? An adult who paints their face and acts like an idiot is scary!! I really think she enjoyed the show and for several days afterward she would randomly say, "bye clowns, bye tent, bye circus".
Within the last week, Henry began teaching Natalie how to set up a chess board and the names of all the pieces. She has only been at it a few days, but already loves it. She asks to play "check" all the time. "mommy, check, check board, please" she'll say. She has the name of the pieces down, but still needs a little help on which square they belong.
We also started a music class in September. There are about 10 kids in the class and she seems to really enjoy it - once she is home that is. The first week, she stood in front of me and sucked her thumb while all the mommies, including me, danced and sang like toddlers. The second week, she stood in front of me, sucked her thumb, and clapped at the end of each song. The third week, she actually interacted on some of the songs and didn't suck her thumb once! However, during the week, she is consistently asking me to sing specific songs she is learning in the class and randomly talks about "music class." I'm really glad I signed her up and plan to continue next session.
September 2006 -
"Nanie do it" - a phrase I hear quite often. Natalie is becoming little Miss Independent as she continues becoming a little girl i nstead of a baby. Her language is developing well as she picks up more words and meanings every day. She is quite capable of carrying on a conversation, mostly with commands such as, "mommy sit", "mommy play", "mommy color." This month she is learning about the circus and clowns. She also is learning to paste things. I hand her the glue and she right away puts it on her hand and says, "sticky." She then glues down shapes (or whatever) to her paper, picks it up and shakes it and say, "not falling off, sticky." This is basically what I told her the first day we worked with the glue stick and she still repeats it each time we do a glueing project. It's cute to see how her little mind works. She is also learning how to dress and undress herself. Today she put on one of my shirts all by herself and actually got her arms and head in the correct holes. She was so proud that I let her wear it most of the day. She can put on her Sunday shoes, pants, and some of her shirts. Of course, she can also take things off, such as her shoes, socks, and pants. And oh yes, she can remove hair barrettes and hair rubberbands within seconds!
August 2006 -
Natalie is trying to find her place in the family as she adjusts to having a new baby sister. We are trying to schedule our days much like before, but there are the inevitable interuptions of feeding, changing, and consoling baby Ainsely. We look forward to September when Natalie will start a music class and I will start working with her formally on her ABC's and 123's. She can already count to 10 and can pick out her letters by name.
It seems like Natalie has grown 4 inches since the beginning of summer. Her next doctor's appt. is in October, so we will wait until then for her official height. However, she is growing out of her dresses as if they were out of style. We are excited to see how she grows, both physically and otherwise, in the coming months.
July 2006 -
Natalie and my first week home was a whirlwind of projects needing to be done before the impending arrival of baby q, and fortunately, the TO DO list is shrinking by the day. Poor Natalie has not been to the park or pool since arriving home, but to tell you the truth, the heat would probably keep us away anyway. However, she has transitioned fully to a big girl bed and goes to sleep with no problems. The best part is she no longer falls asleep at her door, but happily falls asleep in her bed with her arms wrapped around a doll or bear. Many nights she helps me sing her special lullaby - the one Henry has sang to her since before she was born. The best is when she substitutes her name with "baby" or "bears".
She has become quite the little nurturer. She is more interested in her babies and bears than her old favorite toys. This morning she wanted a bowl, spoon, and bib so she could feed her baby breakfast. I figure she's "ready" to have a baby sister. Also promising is her love of newborns. We have seen several in the last week and she asks to hold them and is very concerned when they are crying. We will see if she feels the same way when it's mommy doing the holding and feeding of the newborn. My sister, Johanna, came to visit this week and helped me finish decorating Natalie's room among other projects. It now has curtains, wall pictures, and a completed bed set. Natalie was excited to show off her new room and had the biggest look of glee when we told her the "blankets" (curtains) we were ironing were for her room. She has not once said the nursery was her room since being home and loves her new pink and brown big girl room.
She continues to do well with her language development and is now speaking in 2 and 3-word sentences. We can understand most of what she says and when we can't, she works very hard to get her point across, either by using sign language - real or homemade - or by showing us what she means. She also loves jumping on mommy and daddy's bed and chasing Taurus around the house. She is now at the stage where she plays with other kids as opposed to playing next to them. She played house today with her cousins and I could hear her calling one of them "mommy" just as the others were doing. I can't believe she is old enough to pretend, but sure enough, she kept up with them and had a great time. Henry and I find ourselves saying at each stage, "she is so cute", or "this is such a fun age." I'm sure we will continue to say such things as she grows into each new phase of development.
May 2006 - At nineteen months, Natalie is talking up a storm. She copies everything you say and her vocabulary is becoming quite extensive. I understand her most of the time; however, there are several words she uses on a consistent basis that I have no idea what they mean and she is definitely trying to tell me something. One cute phrase she uses is "hi there" which her daddy and I say to her all the time.
She is fascinated by large vehicles - buses, trains, plains, and trucks. When she sees them, she stops everything to point them out. One of her favorite activities is looking out the apartment window if a delivery truck is in the neighborhood. We drop Henry off every morning and after saying bye-bye, she quickly looks to the other side of the street and says, "bus, bus." Guaranteed bus visiability is a plus about where Henry works. Often, up to 3 buses can be spotted as the drivers use the side street to idle while waiting for their shift to start. She gets giddy every morning pointing out the buses to mommy.
Natalie prefers the pool over the park now. With the sun out in full force, the play equipment becomes quite hot to the touch so it is more fun to be splashing in the water of a nice big pool. We take her watering can and some cups, along with her bath frogs, and she plays for hours (literally) until I drag her home for dinner. She is getting brave in the water - she likes to practice kicking, bounce up and down, plunge under the water, and play fetch (which she does by throwing something out in the pool and then saying "get it, get it" - sometimes she wants to get it and sometimes she wants mommy to get it). We are enjoying the lack of humidity and the cool breeze that flows through Santa Clara.