Natalie: Nine Months

Vital Stats
Natalie is 19.5 pounds and 28.75 inches long. She still is in 9-12 month clothing, although she has worn 18-month on occasion!


Milestones This Month
Natalie is the queen of cruising. She will walk around furniture like nobody’s business. In the last week she has started trying to walk. Her record so far is seven steps. She thinks it’s funny to collide into people when she falls down while trying to walk. And of course she loves the applause she gets! So far Mommy hasn't been able to get a video, because Natalie seems to think it's funny to sit and stare at the camera instead of walking to Mommy.


Sleeping
Natalie sleeps later at home, where it’s darker, than she does when we’re visiting family. We had a couple earlier mornings last weekend while she had a little cold, but we are back to normal now. She still sleeps about the same; naps are maybe slightly shorter. Teddy is still Natalie’s favorite lovey. Mommy tried to sub another animal the other night while teddy was drying after being washed, but she would have none of it!



Eating
Natalie still loves, loves, loves finger foods. She gets very excited when she sees Cheerios. She has a Cheerio snack time book (to play with Cheerios while eating) and sometimes tries to grab the pictures of the Cheerios on the book. She tried yogurt the other day and it was a big hit. She also likes her “cheesy poofs” (essentially baby puffy Cheetos). Natalie has started begging Mommy and Daddy when they are eating.

Natalie has mastered drinking out of a straw sippy cup, but is still working on regular sippy cups. She doesn’t understand that she has to tip the cup back.


Communication
Natalie is better at understanding Mommy and Daddy. Phrases she can comprehend are “Come to Mommy/Daddy,” “Mommy/Daddy is going to get you,” “Where’s Teddy?” “No,” “Do you want some milk?” and “It’s bath time.” Mommy can’t tell if she understands “outside” yet, but she sure loves to go out there!


Play Time
Natalie still likes to read her books. She loves to just sit and turn the pages. She pays attention pretty well when Mommy or Daddy is reading to her.

Natalie’s new favorite game is a chasing game. She LOVES when Mommy or Daddy chase her around and tickle her. Sometimes she will chase Mommy or Daddy. She also loves to walk with her walking toys.

Another favorite of Natalie’s is to pull all of her clothes out of the drawer. She enjoys it when Mommy leaves her drawers open. She also likes to pull the folded laundry off the couch before it’s put away. Destroying Mommy’s neat piles is fun!

busy

I can tell it's summer. Life is crazy. Crazy busy.

My calendar looks like three different colored pens threw up on it. Every single day has something written on it. My mind goes berserk trying to remember every minute detail.

It's nice to be busy. I can't stand to be bored. I couldn't even tell you the last time I was bored. Definitely not since Natalie has been born. Between her, work, Darren's crazy schedule, and my various commitments, we are one busy, busy family.

I think it would be awesome to have a week off, just to myself. I'm pretty sure I could occupy myself 100% of the time with all the things I want to get done.

Why I Love...

...Amazon Prime.

1. I'm impatient. Two-day shipping? Yes, please.
2. I'm cheap. FREE two-day shipping? Where do I sign up?
3. I love movies. Instant access to hundreds of movies, available to stream at no cost to me? Wow, this is a great deal.
4. I love books. One free book to borrow from the amazon electronic library a month = me saving the cost of gas and waste of time it takes to drive to the public library.

Because, yeah, I think about things like that.

Amazon Prime is $79 per year, with your first month free. So far, since signing up, I have placed four orders on Amazon (yes, in like two weeks). I have saved myself almost $30 in shipping. BUT WAIT, you say, I never pay shipping anyway, because I always order the $25 limit which qualifies me for free shipping.

Well, my friend, that was me, too. That was me. But how many items did I spend money on just to reach that magical $25 limit? Too many, dear, too many.

Amazon Prime. Give it a try. It's free for 30 days.

did you know?

You can view sheet music on an iPad?

A couple weeks ago in church I noticed something. Something so crazy I almost didn't believe it at first.

SHEET MUSIC. ON AN iPAD.

Unheard of. At least by me.

What happened to turning the pages yourself? And trying to make the book stay open to the appropriate page? And the memorization required and the beginning and end of every page, as you needed all your concentration to turn the page without missing notes? And the not-always-imperceptible slowing of the music as you reached that precarious moment, where your left hand suspended in mid air, while your right carried on the tune?

Am I the only one who suffered terribly with this? Now, with the merest touch of the screen, your iPad will turn the page for you.

Musicians have it so easy these days.

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

I couldn't even tell you for sure where this recipe came from. I don't remember.

What I do know is that these muffins are very, very delicious.

You definitely need to have fresh blueberries. These were fresh once, last summer. I love to buy blueberries in the summer when they taste better. And are cheaper. I have two full containers of frozen blueberries in my freezer, just waiting to be used in muffins, pancakes, or a pie.

You will also need flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, oil, milk, an egg, butter, and cinnamon.

Start by combining the following:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder



In a one-cup measuring cup, place 1/3 cup oil. (This will make sense in a moment.)

Crack an egg in the oil. Fill the remainder of the cup with milk.

Mix the egg/milk/oil mixture into the flour mixture, mixing just until blended. Gently fold in the blueberries. Unless you like purple muffins. Then just beat the stink out of them.

Grease or line a muffin tin with paper cups.

Can I just take a moment to give a shout-out to the person who invented paper muffin cups? GENIUS.

Fill them about 2/3 full. This recipe will make 12 muffins.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for...drumroll...the CRUMB TOPPING.

It's what makes the muffin, people.

In a small bowl, mix:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup softened butter

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Note: I have found that halving this amount provides more than enough topping. But if you're wild and crazy and you love your crumb topping, go ahead and make the whole thing.

If you're like me, you love cinnamon so much you never measure it, and instead just generously sprinkle it into whatever recipe you're making. You also make your daughter a play on apple crisp by mixing cinnamon into her baby apples and oatmeal.

She's not a huge fan. Yet. So you finish it off yourself.

That may or may not have happened in this household.

Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into everything else, until it's nice and crumbly.

Or, if you're too lazy to open the drawer and dig out the pastry blender, a fork works just as well.

 Sprinkle the cinnamon deliciousness onto the muffins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool a while, then remove from pan.

Definition of "a while:" as long as you can stand smelling the blueberry-cinnamon wonder without tasting it. OR, five minutes.

Enjoy!

Natalie: Eight Months

Vital Stats
Natalie is 18.8 pounds and 28 inches long. She wears 9- or 12-month clothing. And she has a ton of it!

Milestones This Month

Natalie still crawls like crazy. She crawls especially fast when she’s excited about something or wants to get into something she’s not allowed. She will walk around furniture and behind her push toys. She has stood by herself more, but still has some trouble with balance.

Sleeping

She sleeps less than she did a month ago. Typically Natalie sleeps 11-11.5 hours a night, with about 2.5 hours of naps during the day, down about 1-1.5 hours since this time one month ago. The sunlight wakes her up around 7am each morning. She still loves Teddy, and still does really well going to sleep without crying.

Eating

Natalie still eats solids at three meals a day, plus a bottle before bed. She has grown a little bit on peas and green beans, and will eat them with hardly any faces at all. She LOVES her finger foods; puffs are still a favorite, but she also likes Cheerios, cheese chunks, and mixed veggies. Natalie tried Daddy’s pot roast with carrots and potatoes last week. Pot roast is hard to eat, but potatoes and carrots are yummy. Natalie tried a piece of French fry for the first time over the weekend. It was…different. And salty.

She drinks about 4oz of water out of her sippy cup every day. Natalie has tried drinking out of a regular cup like a big girl, but it’s a little difficult still. She has tried prune juice and apple juice. Neither was a huge hit, but maybe Mommy diluted them too much. Natalie enjoys water just fine.

Communication

Natalie understands the word “no,” and will get mad when she doesn’t get her own way. She’s fairly dramatic about it, in Mommy’s opinion. Her least favorite thing is putting on pajamas after bath time, and she makes no secret about it. She acts like Mommy and Daddy are killing her every night.

Recently she has started to think Mommy and Daddy are there to entertain her and occupy her 24/7. She is very good at whining to get their attention.

Play Time

In the last week Natalie has enjoyed reading books more, and has tried to eat them less. “Touch-and-feel” books are a lot of fun.

Natalie has a ball popper which she is warming up to. It was a little frightening at first, but the balls are fun to chase around. She loves anything that plays music, and likes to “dance” (bobs up and down, like mini-squats). There is a little piano she likes to play. It also has a spot to turn the music pages, which is one of her favorite things to do. She has rediscovered her jumparoo, and will jump for a while if someone is sitting there with her.

Mommy and Daddy packed up the swing last week, as it was no longer a favorite; it’s way more fun to MOVE!

Sandra Boynton

Some of my favorite books to read to Natalie are Sandra Boynton books. We only have two, but my mom also has a couple, so we've read several.

My favorite, though, is Moo, Baa, La La La! I'm pretty sure I could recite the whole thing right now, we've read it so much. It's a cute book.

We also have The Going to Bed Book which we read a lot before Natalie goes to bed (imagine that). I also have this one memorized. The stories are short enough to keep Natalie's attention, and the pictures are simple and colorful enough for her to enjoy looking at. Sandra Boynton is quickly becoming one of my favorite children's authors.