The Thumb!

Natalie seems more attached to her thumb than ever. What's interesting is she only sucks it when she is feeling something soft in her other hand. She loves to touch hair (hers or ours) but soft things made of yarn are by far her favorite! This sweater was made by Aunt Karen and when Natalie wears it she sucks her thumb most of the time. As you can see, her other hand never lets go of it......pretty cute.

Brave Turkeys!

There is a very large family of wild turkeys that roam our neighborhood streets and today they visited us! I guess they figure the major turkey eating holiday is over for the weekend so it's safe to go for a walk!

Thanksgiving in Michigan

We just returned from a week in Michigan for Thanksgiving. It was a great trip....Natalie was able to expand her fan club to include Uncle John, Uncle Merrill and Aunt Linda, and "Grandpa and Grandma" Don and Sheila and friends Tom and Kathy. She also got to hang out with Uncle Keith and Aunt Edie again and our friends Jason, Becky and Tristen......and then there was Aunt Amber.....who scooped her up and snuggled her at every opportunity. Natalie charmed them all and we had such a great visit with everyone!

Natalie discovered stairs.....she doesn't really know how to climb up them yet but a favorite pastime was to sit on the top stair and "jump" toward Corey who caught her as she giggled....great! She also pulled herself up to a stand on the dishwasher to retrieve a set of measuring spoons that she eyed as I was unloading the dishes. She was very proud of herself...and I was proud of myself for getting to the camera in time!

 In Daddy's old high chair!

Totally pooped!



Thanks for a great trip Grandma Betty and Grandpa Franc!

She Really IS My Daughter!

When we went to the doctor for Natalie's 9 month appointment this week we found out that she is 20 lbs. 11 ounces and a whopping 29.5" tall! This means she's in the 97th percentile for height! A child with some of my genes is in the 97th percentile for height?......hard to believe......until today that is when I saw her juggling two phones and smiling the whole time. Now it's confirmed....she's not all Corey....she's getting more like her mommy everyday.....just taller!

Shake it Baby!

Natalie has fallen in love with anything that rattles when she shakes it.....and the louder it is the better. Her two new favorites are a rattle that Corey brought back from Guatemala last year and a water bottle filled with dried beans! Last night Natalie woke up after being asleep for a couple of hours (It was because I was bragging about what a great sleeper she is earlier that day on the phone with Aimee) and all she wanted to do was play. We brought her out into the dark living room hoping she'd see how boring life is after she goes to bed and lose all interest in being awake at 10pm. Well, she found her rattles.....and there she sat in a dark living room shaking and shaking and squealing in delight as her exhausted parents tried to stay awake! So much for the boring, dark living room!

Little Ham!

Natalie no longer loves the changing table like she once did....unless we make it a little more fun...like, for instance, letting her wear her shirt on her head for a few minutes before the jammies go on! And if there is a camera involved....all the better! Grandma Betty shot these photos last week and I forgot to post them. Yes, Natalie really does prefer an audience....no matter what she's doing!

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9 Months Today!

It's unbelievable to me that Natalie is already 9 months old! And what a nine month birthday she had.....she sat up on her own for the first time. I came into the living room today to find her sitting up (after leaving her lying down). After she did it once she was a pro in no time. She now loves to army crawl over to the back door, sit herself up and look out......oh, and as you can see by the wet spot, she likes to lick the door while she's admiring the view!

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