Natalie laughs at my attempts to chronicle her development.Natalie continues to grow and change on a daily basis and my weekly blog entries aren't nearly enough to keep up with her development. So once again I offer a concise top ten list of Natalie's most recent improvements.
Top Ten Natalie Developments
10. Big Chomper meet Little Chompette: Natalie's second tooth has arrived and is currently half the size of Big Chomper (the name of her first tooth). It's rather adorable when she smiles and reveals two oddly sized teeth.
9. Two words...Fan, Doggy: We are teaching Natalie baby sign language. My mother bought a whole big kit of baby sign stuff, which I believe is called "If you're grand-baby can't sign, she's a dope." I thought it was a clever marketing tool.
Anyway, Natalie has learned two signs. "Doggy", which is not surprising because she is obsessed with the dog. And Fan, a sign we had to make up since most babies are apparently not obsessed with ceiling fans...
8. By her bootstraps: Natalie is now able to pull herself to a stand using virtually anything. This includes Daddy, the couch, and a very reluctant doggy.
7. Deep Sleep: Gone are the nights of three or four wake-ups. Natalie generally sleeps through the night with only the occasional cry, which is usually calmed with a few minutes of holding or shushing. Daddy has sold his stock in Maxwell House.
6. Walk...me...NOW!!: Natalie takes great joy in walking around the house, while holding on to our hands. This would be tolerable, except she is so short that we have to hunch over to hold her hands. Sara and I are beginning to resemble Quasimodo, since Natalie wants to be walked all the time. She is quite demanding. I would never imply that, in this respect, she is like her mother. That would be dumb.
5. Book it: Natalie loves books. I'm thrilled and sure she will soon be a literary genius...this development has also allowed me to memorize several children's books. If you are ever in a bind and can't remember the words to "Quick as a Cricket"... give me a call.
4. Return of the Jedi...cream: As detailed in a recent blog, Natalie has been battling Eczema for much of her little baby life. We recently took her to the doctor and he prescribed a cream that contained much more force. Natalie's Eczema is getting better.
3. Capitol Crowd: We recently took a trip to Washington for a usability conference at which Sara was presenting. I also presented at the nearby Tag-a-long Dad conference...
While in DC, Natalie charmed Sara's family in the area and several college friends. Her influence on the world is spreading. She also sat down with Barack Obama and John McCain to discuss her forthcoming endorsement.
2. Ready, set, catch: Giving more credibility to my plan that she will be the first female Red Sox player, I have taught Natalie how to catch a ball. Well, maybe she simply holds her arms out and the ball sometimes settles neatly into her pudgy little hands...but it's close enough for me!
1. Light-Crawler: Natalie is officially mobile. She began crawling about a week or two ago and is slowly perfecting the art. It's fantastic and utterly terrifying to watch her grow. Her mobility adds an extra challenge to daddy's day as he is now on constant "oh my god, what if she did (insert horrible thing here) when your back was turned." watch.
As I've written this blog several new developments have emerged...Stay tuned for a major Blog announcement soon...
9. Two words...Fan, Doggy: We are teaching Natalie baby sign language. My mother bought a whole big kit of baby sign stuff, which I believe is called "If you're grand-baby can't sign, she's a dope." I thought it was a clever marketing tool.
Anyway, Natalie has learned two signs. "Doggy", which is not surprising because she is obsessed with the dog. And Fan, a sign we had to make up since most babies are apparently not obsessed with ceiling fans...
8. By her bootstraps: Natalie is now able to pull herself to a stand using virtually anything. This includes Daddy, the couch, and a very reluctant doggy.
7. Deep Sleep: Gone are the nights of three or four wake-ups. Natalie generally sleeps through the night with only the occasional cry, which is usually calmed with a few minutes of holding or shushing. Daddy has sold his stock in Maxwell House.
6. Walk...me...NOW!!: Natalie takes great joy in walking around the house, while holding on to our hands. This would be tolerable, except she is so short that we have to hunch over to hold her hands. Sara and I are beginning to resemble Quasimodo, since Natalie wants to be walked all the time. She is quite demanding. I would never imply that, in this respect, she is like her mother. That would be dumb.
5. Book it: Natalie loves books. I'm thrilled and sure she will soon be a literary genius...this development has also allowed me to memorize several children's books. If you are ever in a bind and can't remember the words to "Quick as a Cricket"... give me a call.
4. Return of the Jedi...cream: As detailed in a recent blog, Natalie has been battling Eczema for much of her little baby life. We recently took her to the doctor and he prescribed a cream that contained much more force. Natalie's Eczema is getting better.
3. Capitol Crowd: We recently took a trip to Washington for a usability conference at which Sara was presenting. I also presented at the nearby Tag-a-long Dad conference...
While in DC, Natalie charmed Sara's family in the area and several college friends. Her influence on the world is spreading. She also sat down with Barack Obama and John McCain to discuss her forthcoming endorsement.
2. Ready, set, catch: Giving more credibility to my plan that she will be the first female Red Sox player, I have taught Natalie how to catch a ball. Well, maybe she simply holds her arms out and the ball sometimes settles neatly into her pudgy little hands...but it's close enough for me!
1. Light-Crawler: Natalie is officially mobile. She began crawling about a week or two ago and is slowly perfecting the art. It's fantastic and utterly terrifying to watch her grow. Her mobility adds an extra challenge to daddy's day as he is now on constant "oh my god, what if she did (insert horrible thing here) when your back was turned." watch.
As I've written this blog several new developments have emerged...Stay tuned for a major Blog announcement soon...
1 comment:
In Amy's studying of sign language--to meet her language requirement in association with her communicative disorders degree--I have learned a great deal about the language, one of the interesting facts being that babies can communicate using it long before they're able to speak. Neat stuff. And apparently Natalie is already more advanced in sign language than I'll ever be. Go Natalie!
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