Natalie & Olivia

Our friends Rachel and Olivia came over for lunch today and it was pretty cute watching Nalalie and Olivia interact. Natalie is totally intrigued by Olivia. She pats and pets her as if Olivia were a kitty, however, so I'm not sure what Olivia thinks about that. Olivia kept putting her arm around Natalie and touching her hair....how sweet. It all changes by the second, though. One minute they're in a picture perfect pose sitting side by side and the next minute Natalie shoved Olivia, resulting in a baby somersault that sent her at least a foot away and a little dizzy, shocked and offended. We need to learn some playtime manners around here apparently.

Training Plants

Natalie was kind enough to help Corey plant flowers today. He'd get them positioned in the pot and she would promptly re-arrange them or.....just walk off with them. And poor kid, we thought it was so cute that I ran inside to get the camera to get a few pictures and then as soon as we had some blog worthy shots it was "only one finger"..."please use only one finger, Natalie"...."please don't run off with the flowers"...."flowers in pots are really only to enjoy with our eyes".....growing up is so hard....I have a feeling it's going to be a big challenge for this year's flowers, too!







So, after the flowers were officially planted, we determined a flower-less pot was the best option for our little gardener in training. As you can see, she was a little insulted!

Baby and Blooms

Our yard is starting to blossom and it's looking so beautiful. This is just one giant azalea.....it's the only one that is in full bloom....the others are just minutes away, though.

Natalie is fascinated by blossoms of all kinds. She's gentle and respectful at first and then either helps herself to a fistful of color or just starts slapping them silly. Hmmmm...she has the hat for a proper garden club membership but it may be a while before she perfects her garden manners.

Grandparents Rock!

Grandma and Grandpa C are in town this weekend and spoiling Natalie, as usual. She loves the additional audience and attention! They bought her this cute little antique rocking chair yesterday and she took a seat immediately, as if to say, "it's about time I get a chair of my own around here....thanks!" Last night when it was time for bed, she dragged her new chair into her bedroom with her. We think she felt she would sleep better knowing it was in her room waiting for her.

Tip Toe Through The Tulips

We went to the Biltmore Estate yesterday to see all the tulips in bloom....what a sight!! Of course, Natalie doesn't really "tip toe"....so it was more like a "trample and tromp" through, around, over and on the tulips! At one point she sat her little fanny down on one...that's when we opted to take her out of the flower bed and tried to persuade her to view them from the pathway.

 

Flower Power

Some of these pictures turned out blurry...but I had to post them anyway. Natalie loves being outside so much and she let us put this flower behind her ear last night and snap a few photos! She's usually fairly cooperative as long as she knows she's the center of attention.

Have a Seat

Natalie is always so pleased when she can find something the perfect size for her to sit on. This stool in her bedroom is perfect. She steps up one step and takes a seat on the next step. It's so darn cute. I commented to Corey how frustrating it would be to live in a house where none of the furniture was the right size for you....he said, "yeah, I know the feeling!" I want to get her a little chair of her very own.....maybe I need to get a really tall chair for Corey, too....won't that make a charming living room....the story of the 3 bears is coming to mind....

Ball Game

Natalie loves this giant green ball lately(a gift to her from Owen Langdon...signed with a love note and everything!). She's become such an expert little walker that she can toddle around the house clutching this enormous ball and manage to keep her balance. The funniest part is when she bumps into an obstacle that she can't see (a table, a chair, the wall, her mother, etc)...going full speed, of course... and the ball bounces her backwards quite abruptly and she lands on her fanny. She's startled at first but soon picks herself up, grabs her ball and off she goes!

Oh, the last picture is a funny pouty shot we took tonight while she ate dinner. She gets very offended when I put hot food on her tray. I tell her it's "hot, hot, hot", I blow on it, and I even touch it with my finger and pull it away in a dramatic gesture to warn her that she might want to wait a second or two. Well, she touches it and then shoots me this dirty look when it's warm (it's not really ever HOT) to the touch. Tonight Corey put a few warm noodles on her tray, she touched them and still gave ME the dirty look when they were too warm! Good grief!