It seems I've taken a couple month hiatus from blogging and in that time, a lot has happened, including Natalie's 1st birthday. Her first year flew by, even faster than Olivia's first year it seems. It's already hard to remember her seeming like a baby. She started army crawling at four months and speed crawling by six months. Just a few months later, at ten months old, she started walking. She has always seemed more interested in Olivia's toys than her own "baby toys." Just recently, she has begun seeming even more toddler-like - showing us her funny sense of humor and communicating with us more. Here are some things she is doing these days:
- Fake coughing when she's thirsty - this happens when she sees anyone else drinking something and decides she also wants something to drink or, if she sees me undressed and wants to nurse. :)
-Vigorously making the "more" sign when she is hungry or sees someone eating something she wants.
-Using the sign "all done" when she's done eating.
-Climbing EVERYTHING, all the time! She is such a monkey and is so proud of herself after she reaches the top of whatever she's just climbed. Anything that can be climbed, she climbs it. I honestly think she probably has better climbing skills than other kids her age.
-Throwing temper tantrums if she is mad. This means slowly lowering herself to the ground until she is flat on her back and then kicking her legs a bit and making pouty lips. At this point, it's pretty funny and cute.
-Giving kisses - both the puckery-lipped kind and the "blowing" kind.
-Putting her finger to her lips and saying, "shhh!"
-Tucking things (pretty much any small random thing) under her chin and walking around like that just to be funny.
-Loving (hugging and kissing) baby dolls.
-Tackling/climbing on Olivia whenever Olivia is laying on the ground.
-Dancing to music in the car. Both kids love "Moves Like Jagger."
-Sometimes she will let Olivia hold her hand, but sometimes, just like her big sister, she wants to "do it herself" and won't let anyone hold her hand.
-She looks up to Olivia so much, but also gets jealous of her and if she sees me or anyone else holding or snuggling Olivia, she wants to get in on it too.
-She can hold her own and sometimes even picks on Olivia, pinching her or trying to push her out of the way.
-Pretending to be going somewhere and waving goodbye and blowing kisses before she goes.
-Loving books. She will bring you a book and plunk down in your lap, but rarely sits still long enough to hear a whole book.