What Natalie is up to

I often think - I need to write on the blog - and just don't get it done.  Feeling slightly guilty that we did a good job documenting Lexi's growth when she was this age but haven't been able to keep it up for Natalie.  Woe being the 2nd child.

Cute things Natalie is doing are:

Asking to go upstairs for her nap.  After lunch this weekend, she initiated nap time herself.  This is SUCH a blessing. 

Saying "I love you." Sometimes she says it back to you and sometimes she just says it herself.

"I do it myself!" is said proudly ALL the time - after any accomplishment, big or small.

Copying her sister exactly - Lexi whispers "can I go watch a video?" And then Natalie whispers the exact same thing.

Saying "Bobby (from day care) is my friend" - over and over again.

She picked up a book the other day, said she was going to read it and then starts out "This book is about..."

She loves Christmas lights: points them out and comments on how pretty they are.

Natalie is also asking lots of questions and sometimes seems to be in constant motion as well as chattering constantly.  She is a busy little girl.

We did get a little bit of snow on Tuesday (about an inch) but Natalie wasn't so sure about it.

Still working on potty training though not progressing too much from my way of thinking...

Natalie's speech

Lately Natalie has become quite the talkative 2-year-old. For a while now, she has understood us when we've given her instructions, for example. We can tell her to throw something in the trash or recycling, and she has understood the difference and acted accordingly. But now she is doing a lot of imitating of words and sentences and telling us a lot of thing on her own. Some examples:

• "Daddy, the baby is sleeping." - when she has put her doll to bed in the living room
• This morning she sat at the table with us at breakfast and went back and forth between me and Sarah saying, "Read it" while holding up cards from a deck of go-fish cards with an aquatic theme.
• "I have pockets!" she has declared after putting on a certain top in the morning.
• When we're in the car at a stoplight, she'll ask, "Why stop?" or say, "Stop."
• Also when we're in the car and Sarah or I sing to a song on the radio, she'll tell us, "No sing. Listen, Daddy/Mommy."

This means her vocabulary has taken a huge leap. We still often have trouble understanding her, however. Here are a few of her latest words and phrases:

Vos                  (get) dressed

I can (can’t) do it myself

Sasi                  Lexi

Pants

Hat                  Hat/helmet

Tha’one           That one 

For the last several days, she has been quite chatty almost constantly. 

Many times a day, when she is with either Sarah or me, she asks, "Mommy/Daddy, what doing?" We answer her, and often she'll ask again a few times. Or we'll tell her what we're doing (flossing our teeth, eating dinner, washing our hands) and then ask what she's doing, but she doesn't respond.

We're so impressed by her recent gains in speaking abilities, and it's great to have a new level of interaction and understanding with her.    

 

Natalie's stats

On Sunday, Natalie turned 2. On Monday, she had her 2-year checkup at the doctor's office. Her vital statistics from that visit:

• Height: 36.5 inches
• Weight: 31 lb
• She's in the 97th percentile for her height
• She's in the 94th percentile for her weight

As part of her doctor visit, she also had to have a blood test. Part of what they were testing for is lead. Yes, she had to have blood drawn, and they did it like they do on an adult, except it's with a smaller needle. She didn't make a peep when they stuck the needle in her arm!

Now entering the terrific twos!

The baby of our family - Natalie - turns two today! We had a family birthday celebration last night. Uncles Andy and Russell came down to D.C. for the weekend from New York, and they and Auntie Michelle came over for dinner. We had raclette and, for dessert, a cake (really brownies) baked in a pan the shape of Hello Kitty; frosting and sprinkles made the character complete.

We're so proud of our two-year-old!

Kids and their quirks

Natalie seems to have the need to have blankets for her babies laid flat on the ground, just like her big sister.  If you don't put the blanket on the floor just right or on the baby stroller, she lets you know it!

Natalie has also decided that yogurt should be eaten with a fork...and while she is sitting on Mom's lap.

We are about to head into potty training.  The day care wanted to start her about a month ago but I had bought too many diapers and wanted to use them up.  They still won't be used up but Natalie keeps wanting to pull her pants down so I think we had better just transition her.

Lexi is reading up a storm but getting nervous about math.  She is also not liking fitness though I know she spends the majority of recess running around and swinging.  I am not sure exactly why fitness upsets her.

She does not Natalie crying...it really upsets her.  This makes it worse for me as then I have two upset kids.  I keep trying to tell her that Natalie is going to get upset but that doesn't mean Lexi needs to get upset.  Then she says all sorts of mean things about not liking Natalie and that no one loves her.  We are struggling to get her out of this mindset.  I hope it is just a phase and not an integral part of her character.

Almost Two...

Natalie is two in two weeks. Hard to believe.

She is an incredibly strong willed child, certain of what she does and does not like.  Most of the time, she wants to be just like her big sister.  She wants to eat what Lexi eats, play what Lexi is playing with, sit where Lexi sits.

Most of the time this is ok with Lexi - sometimes it is not.  And when it is not, boy, Lexi lets us all know how she feels. Lots of yelling and "I wish I didn't have a baby sister!" and things along those lines.  We really don't think she means it - and Natalie doesn't seem to understand, which is good.  We hope that Lexi learns to express herself differently soon so we don't have major issues.

Natalie, just like her sister, likes to lay her blanket flat on the floor. No bent corners or rumpled bits.  :)

Moving on Up!

Three weeks before she turns two, Natalie has moved up to the highest floor at the day care.  I was kind of surprised to find her there when I went to pick her up this evening. They asked me to bring in her toothbrush/paste so they could work with her on brushing her teeth after lunch.  I thought she wouldn't be moved to the upper floor until after being fully potty trained - and we haven't even started. They wanted me to bring in pullups two weeks ago but I want to use up the rest of the disposal diapers. I had purchased too many.

I don't if it was moving to the upper floor but she did not want to leave the day care today. I had to carry her kicking and screaming all of the way home. Good thing Stephen was picking up Lexi - I don't know if I would have been able to wrestle Natalie into her car seat.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Flashback to summer vacation...

Lexi Turns 6!

These posts are a little out of order...

It's hard to believe that Lexi is 6!  Her birthday was on a Friday and it was the last day of drama camp.  Michelle was able to go to the end of the week performance and took Lexi to get her hair cut and her nails done.  It's a very cute haircut though the first evening, brushing her teeth, Lexi looked in the mirror and broke out in tears.  She thought everyone would think she would look like a boy.  It took her a bit to get her calmed down and she hasn't gotten upset by it since.  She has also gotten several compliments on her new look which has helped. 

Friday evening Lexi got to choose where we ate and so we went to Z Burger.  She got her own shake (which she usually doesn't get) - it was birthday cake flavored. :)

Saturday, we had her birthday party.  We finally had it in the playground where she wanted to have it 2 years ago but we had to move it inside because of a hurricane.  This year, they were calling for showers but it didn't rain at all. We had lovely weather in the afternoon.  We shared the party with Lexi's friend, Cyrus, from her school. They have the same birthday and Lexi thought it was great to do it together.  We sang happy birthday to both of them separately and there was plenty of cake and cupcakes to go around.  We probably had better attendance with a joint party. I think everyone had a good time.  Lexi was very happy with the day.

This year's cake was "My Little Pony".  She originally wanted a Dora cake but changed her mind when we looked at the possibilities at the grocery store.

After dinner, we finally let Lexi open her presents.  She was getting a bit impatient by that time.  She got a variety of books, clothes and accessories and gift cards.  It was great to have Uncles Andy and Russell and Aunt Michelle here to help us celebrate.

Stephen and I looking forward to seeing how Lexi grows, changes and learns new things this year!   

1st Day of First Grade

Lexi got sick late Sunday afternoon (fever, upset stomach) and was still feverish on Monday morning, so she didn't go to school on the 1st day of school.  Her first day of school was the 2nd day...and I think she was a bit nervous.  She didn't want to wear the outfit we had purchased for the first day of school.  I finally talked her into it - but she insisted on wearing a sweater over it.  I had her take it off for the obligatory 1st day of school picture.  Lexi really looks like a young lady.

Lexi also was anxious about lunch. In earlier years, if you have school lunch, the teacher makes you eat the entire lunch. Not so with home lunch kids.  She really wants to have home lunch every day as a result. I would rather she have school lunch for 2 reasons:  1) less bother for me and 2) she gets a great variety of healthy meals.  At home, I can't get her to eat many things; I know she will have to at school.  We are going to try and work out a compromise where she helps make her lunch some days and on days she has home lunch at school, she has to eat whatever Dad and I are having for dinner.  Not the perpetual PBJ dinner.

Reporting back on her first day, Lexi said that all they did was go to recess and have choice time.  She was worried about having fitness (her least favorite special) but found out that specials won't happen for the first two weeks.  The class is still about 2/3rds boys.  Her friend Ruth is at a different school this year as she moved to Maryland; it will be interesting to see who she bonds with.  Most of the girls in her class this year aren't ones she was close with.  Her teacher's name is Ms. Nolin and they are the Bulldogs classroom.  There are two teachers aides/assistants in the classroom as well.

Rapidly approaching 2 years old

Here is Natalie at 22 months, getting very close to that magic age of 2!

She has also recently done some funny and clever things:

For a while now, she has had a habit of climbing onto Sarah's lap during dinner - either to eat her entire dinner from there or after she's finished her dinner. Trouble is, Sarah is usually just getting started eating her dinner and doesn't really like the trouble of a toddler on her lap while she's trying to eat (having to feed food to a toddler in addition to herself). In addition, Natalie also has the habit of just helping herself to food on Sarah's plate. This also happens at breakfast most mornings - Natalie just plunges her hand into Sarah's cereal bowl, not caring if it gets wet with milk. Today at lunch, Natalie climbed onto Sarah's lap as she was eating a lunch that included noodles. After grabbing a few bites of noodles with her fingers, Natalie got down, walked into the kitchen, got into the silverware drawer, and got a plastic fork for herself, returning to her spot on Sarah's lap so she could continue eating Sarah's noodles with a fork.

Today I bought a Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, with part of the bonus I got at work. After setting it up, I pushed the "clean" button to see how it works, and it set about scurrying around the kitchen floor. I called Lexi and Natalie to come watch this new machine do its work. Natalie found it delightful - laughing constantly as she watched and pointed at it moving around the floor on its own, whirring away. She followed it as it moved and also moved away as it came toward her. At one point, it gently bumped into her foot, and she instantly changed from laughing to screaming in fright. Sarah told me I needed to pick her up, and she started screaming - she was so scared. Now she is still half scared/half delighted by it.

Natalie has known the word light for a while, but she discovered yesterday that the switches on the wall can turn lights on and off. She had to get up on a stool today to play with the switches for the kitchen and dining room lights. I remember how fascinated Lexi was while we were living in Kenya when she discovered what power she had with the light switches.

Updates on Natalie-just shy of 22 months old

Natalie seems to be growing and learning new things every minute.

She is much more confident going up and down stairs and doesn't always need to use the handrail.

She is saying more words that we can understand "alright, I need help, pretty,cheese, my bag, pillow, Where's Dada?, watch, shoes, all done, lap".

She raises her hand and says "me" when asked if she wants to do something.

Natalie and Lexi are definitely "feeding" off each other - either one of them can get the other excited. Natalie wants to do exactly what Lexi does - and lets you know it if you say no, she can't.

We also think Natalie is expressing an interest to use the potty. She is saying something that sounds like "potty" and when asked if she wants to sit on the potty, she nods yes. Of course, she hasn't done anything on the potty but she has sat on it several times.

While on vacation, we went in the pool almost every day. Natalie definitely loves the water and "jumps" (really steps into your arms) off the side.  She and Lexi slept in the same bed while on vacation. That was a bit of a challenge. Natalie still moves around and sleeps sideways so she ended up poking Lexi with her feet several times.

Natalie loves to wash her hands - she gets upset if you don't let her if you are washing your own hands.

Lexi's Spring Concert

Natalie wanted to help me film the action so apologies for all of the up and downs!

What's New?

Natalie takes pictures with this little toy camera that we have. She holds it up (in your direction), says "Cheese" and then says something like "pretty".

Natalie also knows that the word "two" comes after "one" though I don't think she is counting. But if I say "one", she then says "two".

Each day or so, it seems like Natalie is saying more and more words that we can understand.  It's pretty exciting. She definitely says sentences: "I want more", "I no like", "Need help", "I like."

Other known words and phrases : Night-night, I'm fine, Bye-bye, Sisa (for sister) or LaLa for Lexi. We think she calls herself "Na-na". "I want down." Up, Mine. Ball.

She can tell you the sounds of the following animals: lion (Roar!), dog (woof-woof), cat (moow), cow (moo).

Natalie is definitely figuring out how to claim her space. She was riding in the stroller, got out to walk with Lexi and me and when Lexi said "I can ride now", Natalie promptly got back in the stroller.  There are also squabbles over toys and places to sit.

Natalie also likes to put on the fancy dress shoes that Lexi plays with.  She knows that she has to walk slow and reach out for things to hold onto.

Natalie at 21 Months

Lexi's class leads All School Meeting

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All School Meeting is held every Friday and the whole elementary building gathers together. It's kind of like a pep rally.  Lexi was excited that I was able to come and see her sing with the class about being ready for 1st grade.

Natalie's latest antics

We have a Norwegian Stokke high chair for Natalie. Now that she's able to get around better - up and down places - on her own, we removed the plastic parts to the seat that make it a high chair. It's the type of chair that grows with the child. You can move the seat down as the child grows bigger. So now it's basically a stool - a chair with a high seat.

And now that it's no longer a high chair for a baby, Lexi wants to sit in it too. The jealousy, the sibling rivalry, has come back a bit from Lexi. Sarah had to say very seriously to Lexi last night that it is Natalie's chair. Lexi was upset and cried because she feels Natalie is getting a lot of new things, that she is getting all of the attention. (Don't tell her that we're about to buy Natalie a new dresser, which she needs now.)

So Lexi went to bed upset last night. I was surprised that first thing this morning, Lexi had remembered how upset she was last night. Both girls woke up early and were lying on our bed with me as Sarah was showering and as I listened to the news first thing, like I do every morning. And I was surprised at how smart and sophisticated Natalie has gotten. Lexi asked her several times, each time adding a "please" or "pretty please," the question: "Can I sit in your chair?" Natalie answered each time with a "no." She is understanding more and more words and instructions from us by the day. She is saying many words now, although they are still not as clear as an adult would say them.

Then, when I came home from work today, I rounded up the garbage and recycling so it can be picked up tomorrow. I took the recycling bin out to the curb and left Natalie in the house, since she had already taken her shoes off. Sarah was picking up Lexi from school. Normally we go out the back door and take a key that hangs above the door and unlock the screen door, leaving the key in the lock until we come back through the door. Well, while I was outside taking the recycling bin to the curb, Natalie played with the key and somehow locked the screen door. I could see her and talk to her through the door, and I tried telling her to turn the key the other way. She tried, but she couldn't turn it hard enough. Fortunately, I knew Sarah would be home any minute with the keys to the house so she could let me in, which fortunately she did. We thought this was funny, but we know now to take the keys with us when we go outside, even just to take the garbage out!

And down she goes...

Stairs, that is! Natalie has gone down both sets of stairs in our house on her own for the first time. She faced forward and sat on her bottom and scootched down, placing her hand on the wall or the bannister where is was at her height.  She even managed to navigate around the corner on the upper level stairs. She started down on the right hand side, but when she got to the corner you could tell that she felt slightly insecure so she slide over to the left and continued on down around the corner.

Guess she can graduate to the toddler bed now. I wanted to make sure she knew how to handle the stairs before giving her a bed she could get out of easily.

When I was outside weeding this morning before the day heats up too much, I also watched her go down the slide on the swingset all by herself. She climbed up the steps, got herself in the right position with her legs out front and down she went!

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20 months old

Sitting pretty.

Lexi and the field trip

The kindergarten classes are having several field trips this month and today was the day that I volunteered to chaperone.  We went to the nature center in Rock Creek Park.  There was a scanvenger hunt for things like leaves and sticks.  I was in charge of Lexi, her friend Ruth and this boy called Randolph.  Everyone seemed to have a good time running in the woods and picking things up.  It didn't feel very educational to me but good for the kids to be out in nature.

I also learned that Lexi is something of a mediator in her class. The teacher called for the "Special Friend" and Lexi cam running up.  Ms. O'Connor told her which two friends were having a problem. Lexi then went and talked to the friends and I guess, straightened things out.  Ms. O'Connor said she plays this role a lot; all the kids listen to her and they do what she tells them.  I did notice that she was kind a of ring leader - leading our little group around, shouting directions, etc.

Lexi was very pleased that I was there.  It seemed really important to her that I came.

Natalie visits the Emergency Room

Monday evening Lexi, Natalie and I walked over to the local Thai restaurant for dinner with Auntie Michelle. On the way back, Natalie did not want to hold my hand when we crossed the street. I had a fairly good grip on her wrist when she yanked away from (I didn't let go) and I heard two pops like when someone cracks their knuckles.  We get to the other side of the street and I sense that something is wrong though it is hard to know for sure.  She was crying - but was that because she was mad that I wouldn't let her walk without holding hands or was she hurt?  Her right arm was limp when I picked up her hand and there was no resistance there.  I carried her home and when we got there, Natalie still wasn't moving her right arm at all.  I felt but didn't feel anything poking out so I assumed nothing was broken. My guess was that she had maybe dislocated her shoulder.

Natalie had mostly stopped crying but as we couldn't get her to use her arm at all, I decided we would get it checked out at the emergency room. Lexi grabbed some books while I put the leftovers in the refridgerator and then we were off to the Children's Hospital ER which is just a 5 minute drive from our house.  No one was ahead of us in line so we were checked in immediately and were seen by a nurse practioner probably within 10 minutes.  I explained why we were there (I probably explained what happened at least 6 times) and the nurse felt Natalie's arm, shoulders, etc.  Natalie still wasn't using the arm and was kind of cradling it against her body; still no major crying.  She was diagnosed as having nursemaid's elbow which is common I was told in the under 3 set.  The elbow pops out of joint and just needs to be put back in. 

So that is what the nurse did - by moving Natalie's arm down and then up.  She cried then.  We were told that usually in around 10 minutes, the child will be ready to move the arm again.  Stubborn Natalie didn't. They tried to tempt her with stickers, a frozen ice pop and hospital staff badges. They tried with a clementine orange - she grabbed it with her other hand.  They did give her some pain medicine and two others felt her arm, but thought it was back in place. They scheduled us to go get it x-rayed. Lexi had to go to the bathroom so all three of us went; Natalie did lift her arms in the bathroom slightly when I asked her if she wanted to wash her hands, but she still wasn't really moving it.  Off to the x-ray room we went where I had to hold her arm down in different positions on the table she was laying on.  When we got back to the room where Lexi was waiting, Natalie slowly started moving her arm. Soon she and Lexi were wrestling around on the floor with Natalie using her right arm unhesitently.  I was ready to go home but since we had the x-rays done, they had to be looked at. Roughly 3 hours after we arrived, we finally made it home - and all went straight to bed.

Natalie hasn't been bothered by her arm at all since then though I am a bit nervous about holding her hand. They told me it was more likely to slip out of place again now since it had already done it once.

Stephen is in New Mexico for work so he missed all of the excitement.

Natalie

I feel like we haven't done a good job noting all of the neat things about Natalie.  I often think "oh, I should write that down" but it doesn't get done.

Her latest thing is that she likes to sit on the bar stools at the breakfast bar. It makes me a little nervous but she seems really steady and always asks when she wants to get down.  We try and sit near her to hopefully, be close enough to catch her if needed!

She also wants to sit in a regular chair now and not her high chair.  I got out the booster seat and she seems happy to be there.  Her high chair does turn into another kind of seat - we just have to figure out how to get the baby seat off. I hope Stephen remembers as I do not.

Natalie also loves being outside.  It is hard to get her to come in after playing outside.  She can go up and down the back porch steps on her own and she carefully avoids the stairs down to the basement.  She hasn't figured out how to climb up the slide so that she can slide down on her own but I figure that she will have mastered it by the end of the summer.

Natalie continues to love to eat though she does say no to some foods - though not consistently the same food.  I guess she just doesn't feel like eating chicken some times. :) She seems to have the same sweet tooth as Dad and Lexi.  Bananas still rank as a favorite food and she also likes broccoli a lot.  She can ask for a granola bar (just like her sister) and helps herself to things in the snack drawer - even we think she should be full.

She's also tall - the top of her head is higher than the dining room table and several of the 2T dresses have to worn as shirts as they are too short.  She still has plenty of clothes that she can wear.

Overall, Natalie is a delightful child. People are always commenting how cute and happy she is.  It's hard to believe that in roughly 15 months she can start pre-kindergarten. It just seems like she will feel too little still.  She will be the youngest in her class with a birthday 1 day before the cutoff.

Math test

Lexi had a math test on Thursday.  They were doing simple addition and subtraction.  I think she was kind of nervous about it.  The worksheet she brought home to practice with made her pretty anxious. She did half the subtraction problems as addition ones - and got them right, if they really were additions.  When we talked through what the minus sign meant, though, she knew and I gave her a way to handle the problems that seemed to help.  She said she did fine on the test; I am sure she did.

I sure don't remember doing this much math in kindergarten - I think all we did was counting.

Kissing

If you ask Natalie for a kiss, she leans her head down. She seems to think that touching foreheads is kissing. :)

She continues to be a chatter box and every once in a while, we can understand clearly what she is talking about. She still doesn't say her own name that I can tell

Lexi reciting poetry

A "dress rehearsal" for this afternoon's poetry performance by the after school care gang at school

19 months old

She was obviously a little upset at having her photo taken this month.

Teeth!

I think Natalie's 4 canine teeth are coming in all at once! One has definitely poked through.

Stay tuned!

Such a Smart Girl!

Natalie continues to just soak in things and it is so fun to see what she picks up one.

She knows when we go to Lexi's school to pick her up in the afternoon that we have to push a button to get the door to open.  She trots up to the button with her arm up in the air..still a little short to reach it on her own, but boy, is she ready to.

Natalie knows how to ring the doorbell at daycare so that someone will come and let us in.

She follows instructions at home - when she wants to. :)

Lexi had a very good report card for the 3rd quarter of kindergarten.  They say she is reading at a 1st grade (mid year) level.  It's amazing how easily she has picked up new words.  She enjoys reading every night before bed.

Lexi is also learning a lot at her dance class and feeling more confident there.  When that class ends, we have signed her up for piano. More our idea than hers but I am hoping that she won't protest too much.  The lessons are at a home in our neighborhood.

Lexi's spring break

For Lexi's spring break, we are having a staycation. I am staying home with her the entire week.  Makes me glad that I work full time.

We went to the zoo because it was a lovely day to spend outside. All Lexi wanted was to buy something -some toy. She didn't seem to care what animals we say and just wanted to look in every gift shop we passed.  I have no idea where she gets this desire to buy things. I completely do not understand it; the activity for her is nothing, buying something is the important part.

And she still has lice. AAAAHHH!  We went to get her hair cut again - and the stylist found a another bug ( a juvenile, not an adult).  So no hair cut again.  Her bangs are driving me nuts. I might have to cut them myself.  She absolutely does not want me to comb through her hair.

Hopefully, Tuesday will contain more joy and less annoyances.

More on Natalie

I took Natalie today to the doctor for her 18 month check up.  She weighs 29 lbs, 2 oz! No wonder she is so heavy. That is the 97.71% percentile. She is 34.75 inches tall (99.51%) which has less meaning for me except that she is able to reach things on the table quite easily. 

She also said what I consider to be her first sentence yesterday - I want more.  Not that clearly but I feel pretty confident that is what she was saying.  She is definitely getting more articulate.

So grown up at 18 months!

Our baby is a year and a half already! She is making great strides physically and cognitively.

Today is Easter, and we had an Easter egg hunt with the girls in the living room, dining room and kitchen of the house. Yesterday, Sarah had taken the girls to another egg hunt at a park near our house, and Natalie was more interested in eating her snack than finding eggs. But today she understood what she had to do and was delighted to find a lot of eggs (with Daddy's help). In one of the eggs Sarah and I had put a couple of clothing items for a very small plastic doll of Lexi's. This was the best prize for Natalie. She squealed with delight several times. The simple pleasures of a child. That's what is making Natalie a delight at this age.

Lice!

On my way into the office on Friday, the school called. Lexi has head lice and I needed to come get her.  So I got on the train going the other way while I tried to remember who would be in early at the office so I could call and cancel my 8:15 phone meeting with Myanmar.

When I picked Lexi up, I could see a bug crawling in her hair.  The nurse gave me some literature and said that I had to show the receipt that I purchased the treatment to get her back into school.

We headed off to CVS and were soon home washing her hair with the special shampoo.  There were definitely lots of adult louse in her head. Yuck! We spent a fair amount of time combing it out of her head. 

I then proceeded to wash everyone's bedding, all Lexi's clothes and Natalie's,too, all the blankets and several pillows. Luckily, the daycare checked Natalie's head and said she didn't have them so I could leave her there while all this was going on.  Stephen, lucky guy, was in MSP for a board meeting. He missed most of the fun.

I also vacuumed and sprayed the furniture.  It made for a long day.

I think I washed Lexi's hair 3 times total on Friday and then twice on Saturday.  I decided I hadn't used as much of the treatment shampoo as I should have so did repeat that.  Even though I couldn't see my own head, I decided I had better wash it as well as it had been itching for a while.  I only found a few bugs in my head.

I re-washed Lexi's bedding and ours on Saturday morning as well as today.  I feel itchy all over!

Natalie is actually speaking to us

We learned recently, thanks to some help from Stephen's mother, who was here for a week in early February to watch both girls while we went on a cruise, that Natalie actually knows and is speaking some words. Granted, they are still baby talk, but we are actually starting to communicate with her and understand each other.

The words she says:

ha = hat
ba = bottle
ma = milk
ma/mama = Mommy
da = Daddy

Words/sentences she understands (she can identify or do these things when we say them to her):

hat
bottle
milk
nose (can point to her nose and other people's noses)
Get your jacket on.
Take your jacket off.
Get your hat.
Put your shoes on.
Take your shoes off.
Let's brush your teeth.
Take your food to the table.
Take this to the garbage.
What does the doggy say? "Woo, woo."

She can do the hand signs for "more" when she wants more food.

She is also nodding her head fairly frequently these days, and sometimes it means the right thing, but just as often she is saying "no" when we think she really means "yes."

Growin' in 2013

We forgot to post a photo of Natalie last month on her monthly birthday, so today, for no extra charge, you get two photos of her.

January 29, 2013 - 16 months

February 28, 2013 - 17 months

Thanks in part to Baba, Stephen's mother, who came and spent a week with the girls while Mommy and Daddy went on a cruise, we discovered that Natalie is understanding a lot of words and saying some things too, even though they are not real words - still just baby talk.

Moving on up!

Natalie moved up to the 2nd floor at day care today with the older kids. I am not sure what age of kids these encompass but she is big enough that she doesn't look out of place.  Her friend Bobby did not also move upstairs. He is 2 days older than she is; I think I understood that he didn't move because he isn't a good eater.

Both girls are happy to have us home.  Lexi has been a really good helper and continues to say the funniest things. This girl certainly has a dramatic streak and an amazing imagination.

Updates

No time, no time. No time to write so a quick update.

Stephen turns 40 a week from today so he and I are leaving on a cruise on Sunday to celebrate. His mom, plus an aunt plus a friend, will be here to watch the girls.  We are looking forward to it and hope the girls will have fun as well.

Unfortunately, Natalie is sick.  She threw up 4 times on Friday and while she hasn't thrown up today, she has only eaten a little and seems to just want to sleep. She definitely isn't her usual active self.  I am going to feel bad leaving her if she is not well.  I hope by Sunday midday she is at least acting a little more lively.

Lexi had a math test this week and it sounds like it went well. They are working on measurement.  She really seems to be picking up reading and enjoys reading a different book that they send home from school everyday.  She can get a bit frustrated when she doesn't know the word.