Purrfect Pals

Natalie and Scarlet have become good little friends and I love watching them together! Charlie has steered very clear of Natalie ever since her hospital bracelet days. He really never wanted anything to do with her once he learned how ear piercingly loud her newborn screams could get. But Scarlet has slowly adjusted to all of Natalie's stages and I think she might be enjoying this one the best.

One of Natalie's favorite things to do is pull up her shirt and go scoop up Scarlet. She says she loves how Scarlet's fur "tickows my behwhee". Scarlet tolerates it long enough for it to actually seem like Natalie's idea to end this tickle torture. Natalie always says, "I just wuv my Scarwet" and then grabs a cuddle. And after Natalie builds one of her many houses, Scarlet is usually her first tenant. It will be fun watching the two of them grow up together.

The cuddling. I know it looks like Scarlet wanted to be elsewhere...and she did by the time I grabbed the camera.

Napping in a Natalie house.

She's met her match!

Natalie has developed an insatiable need to be talked to. Not by other humans, mind you, but instead by inanimate objects that she feels compelled to have a conversation with. She'll bring me a toy and say, "I want this fill in the blank to tawk." There's no request, there's no "please", there are no niceties of any kind, just an order that whatever she's holding must now converse with her. Now, you might think this means she's anxious to find out what her dolls or stuffed animals have on their minds...I wish it were that predictable. But the speechless items don't necessarily have mouths, or faces for that matter. She's asked me to "talk" for my flip flops, her fork, her food, my hand, the remote control, her hair bows, the shampoo bottle and scribbles on post-it notes...just to name a few. If I ignore the first demand, she asks again. If I ignore the second demand, she then just starts talking to the chosen item so I feel way to guilty to keep ignoring her and begin to talk for the object of the hour. I know ignoring her initial "requests" sounds harsh but this happens one hundred times per day!!! And even I have my talking limit!

But tonight, Natalie met her match. She has an Elmo Live but the batteries had ceased to power the crazy little creature, so he no longer sang or danced or told stories. I'm not one to rush to refill batteries in loud little toys so he sat still and silent collecting dust for a couple of months. Well, I decided it was time that Elmo became aLive again to help me out. One trip to the grocery store for double As, a little Elmo surgery, and I sat back as Natalie talked to a toy that actually talked back...on it's own. It was beautiful!

But the problem with Elmo Live is he doesn't really ever STOP talking so Natalie kept trying to interject... "scooze me, Elmo"..."but, Elmo...I..."..."STOP TAWKING, Elmo!"..."Mommy, Elmo won't stop tawking. I want to talk now!" I had to laugh. I know that sounds a little wicked, but only to those of you who are not currently living with a talkative tot. Elmo's batteries will never go unreplaced again.

Nana and Papa

Nana and Papa came to town last week and had a nice, toasty stay. What grandparently love to brave Phoenix in July! Luckily, the desert was a gracious host and it didn't boast it's 115 degree high until the day after they left.

Natalie, of course, loved having them here and so did we. We scouted air conditioned points of interest by day and swam by night. I'm not sure they'd ever spent that much time inside in July (neither have we, for that matter) so hopefully they'll come back in January to see why people really live here!

Nana & Princess Natalie

Princess Natalie reading Arizona Golf Magazine with Papa Franc. Love it

(p.s. the princess dress will have a blog post of it's very own coming soon!)

We made these flip flops for Nana as a belated Mother's Day gift and Natalie wore them the entire time to break them in. How sweet of her. She has some her very own size but that's no fun.

Cooling off.

Thanks so much for visiting, Nana and Papa, and we'll see you soon! We love you!

I wanna wrive!

In typical toddler fashion, Natalie is eager to do everything she's not quite ready to do (scoop the catbox, vacuum, pay the bills) and has NO interest in the tasks that I'd love for her to help with (cleaning up her toys, cleaning up her toys, cleaning up her toys). Case in point: driving the car. Natalie expresses excited interest every day in "wriving da caw". If she can get away from me after she's been released from her car seat she quickly hops in the front seat and grabs the wheel.

We (finally) purchased a new car a few months ago and that further peaked her interest in driving. I keep trying to tell her...with the rate her father and I replace (or not) cars, she'll more than likely actually drive THIS very car someday!