Reflections

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of my own words and actions reflected in Natalie. It is sometimes quite eerie, how she copies my behaviors.

Mostly, it's little sayings I didn't even know I used until I hear them repeated. The other day, I was insisting that she wore socks and then shoes, not shoes and then socks, and she was mad at me. All why crying very loudly, she kept saying "No, Mommy, No. That is not acceptable!" I was trying not to smile too much, because 1) it sounded really cute, especially how she pronounced ap-cip-table, and 2) she was trying to show independence, and 3) at least she wasn't repeating any swear-words...

Other sayings she's quite fond of include "We will see", which I recently realized I use when I don't quite want to promise her something but there is a good chance it will happen (like when she's telling me on the way home in the car that she wants chocolate milk for dinner).

She also likes "That could be", which is one of my standard responses when she tells me something important, like where the airplane we just saw in the sky was flying to (sidebar: It usually flies to Grandma's).

Then, there are things I just hope she's copying me on, like when she says ""thank you" and "you're welcome", etc. And the other night, she told me that her "baby" (doll) was scared, and she put her blankies on her shoulder and held the baby tight, cuddling it on her shoulder and saying "shh, shh". I was so proud of her, and her compassion and ability to comfort. I hope just a tiny bit of that is a reflection of me, too.

Slushy

The other morning, the weather was really ucky around here. On the way to daycare, Karsten was telling Natalie that it wasn't quite rain and it wasn't quite snow, it was kinda slush. Natalie apparently had a hard time with that word. So when they got to daycare and got out of the car, she told Karsten "It's raining snow!"

What a perfect explanation!

Snack time

The other day when we came home from daycare Natalie was really hungry. She really wanted the bananapuffs she saw on the kitchen counter. I gave her the box and went to take my jacket off, etc., planning to get her situated in her chair with the snack as soon as I had my hands free. When I came back in the kitchen, here's what I found: Natalie sitting so nicely, eating like such a big girl.

And the box even came with a built in plate (the lid)!

Behold the mighty Baby-Daddy

Natalie has three dolls and since the are small like babies she has named them Baby-Mommy, Baby-Natalie and Baby-Daddy.

One evening she was dressing up Baby-Daddy. For some reason he needed to use Natalie's clothes: a shiny belt, socks and Natalie's new shoes, which were big enough to hold him standing upright.

On this picture it looks like he is ready to take over the world one footprint at a time.

Behold my mighty (stinky) feet.

Although with the shiny belt maybe he is a pop-star.

Jacko is retiring - behold the next big icon - Baby-Daddy

The bike!

A few weekends ago, Natalie got a new "bike" (a trike)! She was so good at helping Daddy put it together: Hmm, I wonder where this one goes...?

The wheels on the bike goes round and round...

Here, Daddy, I'll hold this one for you.

Off we go!

A biking pro!

She's still learning, she doesn't quite have the whole stearing and pedaling thing down yet, but she still seems to like it. Of course, it will be for outside use only, she only got to try it inside because it was all new.

The Easter Egg Hunt

On Sunday, we decided to have an easter egg hunt with Natalie. I filled the easter eggs (all twenty of them) with small prizes that I found around the house, like pretties for her hair, stickers, a bead necklace, etc. It was a beautiful day, and Natalie had so much fun walking around the back yard finding all the eastereggs: There was an easter egg in the (empty) flower pot!

" And I would like to thank..."

And of course, a few of the eggs had candy inside!

Happy Birthday, Baby Natalie

No, it's not Natalie's birthday! Here's the explanation:

Last weekend, we decided to give Natalie an extra special evening. We picked her up a little early from daycare and pretended that her doll - whom she calls Baby Natalie - had a birthday! We had a little birthday party complete with cake with a candle in it and birthday presents for Baby Natalie. Baby Natalie got a bag full of accessories, like baby bottles, pretend food jars, a sippy cut, and many other useful items.

One of the items was a foam duckie. Now, Natalie being who she is, doesn't connect foam duckies with bathtime as you might expect, but rather with artwork and foam painting. So Baby Natalie was going to do artwork. She got two other pieces of foam from the artbox to choose from, and all the baby bottles etc. had different colors so they became different colors of paint. And Baby Natalie even got to borrow Natalie's chair: