Sunday, May 31, 2009
Another Video- Eating Cereal!
This is a clip from yesterday and today. She ate pretty thinned out cereal yesterday and today it was considerably thicker. Her reactions to both still make me laugh.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
First cereal!!
Wow, today was a cool day! After all the drama with the doctors, not to mention other people's (daycare) opinions about when to start Natalie on cereal, the stars were aligned to make today the day! Natalie went from burping midway through her bottle, to recently getting angry during midway burping, as she didn't want to stop eating, to getting angry after the whole bottle was finished, so we realized the bottle wasn't quite enough to fill her.
We were both excited for this milestone. Nickie got out her space saver high chair and we christened it with our first solid food experience. Well, kind of. Nickie was conservative and only added a small amount of rice cereal to the milk. Natalie's expression during and after that first bite was so awesome. I'm glad we got it on videotape! I will try to get some more videos posted to the blog soon, but for now, enjoy these photos! As I was typing this, we hit another little milestone! Nickie told me that Nattie is turning herself in the exer-saucer all by herself! Today's a big day for our li'l angel!!!!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
An Update
It has been awhile since I have given a general update for our little girl. Natalie continues to grow and warm our hearts daily. In the past week, Natalie has been grabbing at things more. She seems to favor fabrics over plastic toys. She currently loves this stuffed bunny that is attached to a little security blanket.
I am also proud of the fact that in the past two days she has actually moved the rolling ball on her exosaucer by herself too. It is so cute to see her little hand deliberately opening and closing to move the ball.
She is still really close to rolling over. She can get completely on her side but then gets stuck. If we give her just the slightest push, she can do it. We are watching closely to catch that first official roll.
A funny event- We have discovered that Natalie loves to watch Gunsmoke and Bonanza on TVLand on the weekends. She will noticeably watch these two programs more than any other. She was actually really fussy before church on Sunday, so I turned her toward Bonanza and she immediately calmed down! At this rate, we may need to have a western themed first birthday party! Who would have guessed!?
Natalie has also been using her stomach muscles more. When I put her in her car seat, she actually will keep herself sitting up instead of laying back completely in the seat for several minutes- crazy abs!
Natalie is also sleeping through the night consistently now. And even within the past two days she has cut out her last night feeding so she is now going almost 12 hours between her last and first feedings and sleeping for 10 hours at a time at night. I feel very blessed to have uninterrupted sleep again.
I did finally get Natalie an appointment with a new doctor. That will be on Thursday, so I am looking forward to a second opinion on how Natalie is doing.
I am sure that I will update the blog again after Natalie's appointment.
I am also proud of the fact that in the past two days she has actually moved the rolling ball on her exosaucer by herself too. It is so cute to see her little hand deliberately opening and closing to move the ball.
She is still really close to rolling over. She can get completely on her side but then gets stuck. If we give her just the slightest push, she can do it. We are watching closely to catch that first official roll.
A funny event- We have discovered that Natalie loves to watch Gunsmoke and Bonanza on TVLand on the weekends. She will noticeably watch these two programs more than any other. She was actually really fussy before church on Sunday, so I turned her toward Bonanza and she immediately calmed down! At this rate, we may need to have a western themed first birthday party! Who would have guessed!?
Natalie has also been using her stomach muscles more. When I put her in her car seat, she actually will keep herself sitting up instead of laying back completely in the seat for several minutes- crazy abs!
Natalie is also sleeping through the night consistently now. And even within the past two days she has cut out her last night feeding so she is now going almost 12 hours between her last and first feedings and sleeping for 10 hours at a time at night. I feel very blessed to have uninterrupted sleep again.
I did finally get Natalie an appointment with a new doctor. That will be on Thursday, so I am looking forward to a second opinion on how Natalie is doing.
I am sure that I will update the blog again after Natalie's appointment.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Thoughts and some photos
Natalie continues to be the light of our lives. Nickie recently posted on Facebook that she wonders how her heart is able to expand to accommodate the ever-growing love she has for Natalie (I'm paraphrasing here), and I completely feel the same way. Each new little noise or new development just makes me so proud of her and brings me closer to her. I knew people said having kids was a life-changer, but I didn't know it would be so profound or so wonderful.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
First Mother's Day!
I am so blessed to have celebrated my first Mother's Day with Natalie, Joel, my parents, and brother. We also had Natalie's dedication at church. I had a bit of fun choosing our outfits so we would match. We went up in front of the congregation to state that we would raise Natalie in a loving Christian home and the congregation stated that they would support us and pray for us along the journey. We were blessed to experience this with the Lanter family who had Elliot who was born 2.5 weeks after Natalie. As you see from the pictures, there may be love in the air already...or at least a great friendship for years to come.
We had a great time at my parents. Natalie talked their ears off and even gave some giggles, which we of course loved. I also got some of my favorite cake from my mommy.
Natalie got me a beautiful necklace and earrings for mother's day. I wear them both proudly. They are little tokens that are only a small representation of the huge amount of love and pride I have for being a mother. I love her with every ounce of my being and feel so blessed to be her mother.
Happy Mother's Day!!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Stinkin Milestones
Well, Joel said that he would leave the doctor story to me. So I am going to give the short version (mainly because I am tired of thinking about it)
Natalie had her 4 month dr appt on Monday. I was very excited to hear how she was doing and to get feedback from the doctor. I had no idea that I was only going to get criticism and negative comments! Natalie weighs 16 pounds even. Yes, she is a big girl, yes, I know she is on the chunky side. Yes, I know that puts her at the 95% for her weight. However, I do not need to be told to stop feeding my daughter, that at this rate she is going to be obese, and be critical over the fact that she started off in the 5% and is now in the 95%.
I also got mixed messages about when to start her on solids (I was told by the other doctor to wait as long as I could til 6 months), this doctor at first said that I should be starting now. That is until she tried this neck muscle test that apparently Natalie failed.
When Natalie failed the neck muscle test, the doctor began throwing around the idea of her needing physical therapy and she wanted me to fill out a longer survey to see how behind she is in other areas.
So in one visit, I leave hearing that my daughter is on her way to being obese, stop feeding her, and she may need physical therapy. So with that, I am trying to get with a new doctor. (if only they would return my phone calls!)
Related to that, I am currently hating all of these stinkin milestones that Natalie should be reaching. I understand the need for them, but lately, I feel like they are taking all of the enjoyment out of being with her. I constantly have this nagging thought of working on one of the several milestones that she hasn't completed yet....I should have her on her tummy to strengthen her neck, I should be forcing toys into her hand to encourage her to hold objects...I should be waving things out of her reach trying to get her to reach out for things....I should be giving her a light push when she is on her side to encourage her to roll over....All of these on top of knowing that I should be talking to her, reading to her, letting her experience as many things as she can....so instead of enjoying these moments, I just feel stressed out.
Before this doctor appt, I was def. enjoying things more....I can't wait until we get another perspective from another doctor that hopefully will put my mind at ease a bit.
Natalie had her 4 month dr appt on Monday. I was very excited to hear how she was doing and to get feedback from the doctor. I had no idea that I was only going to get criticism and negative comments! Natalie weighs 16 pounds even. Yes, she is a big girl, yes, I know she is on the chunky side. Yes, I know that puts her at the 95% for her weight. However, I do not need to be told to stop feeding my daughter, that at this rate she is going to be obese, and be critical over the fact that she started off in the 5% and is now in the 95%.
I also got mixed messages about when to start her on solids (I was told by the other doctor to wait as long as I could til 6 months), this doctor at first said that I should be starting now. That is until she tried this neck muscle test that apparently Natalie failed.
When Natalie failed the neck muscle test, the doctor began throwing around the idea of her needing physical therapy and she wanted me to fill out a longer survey to see how behind she is in other areas.
So in one visit, I leave hearing that my daughter is on her way to being obese, stop feeding her, and she may need physical therapy. So with that, I am trying to get with a new doctor. (if only they would return my phone calls!)
Related to that, I am currently hating all of these stinkin milestones that Natalie should be reaching. I understand the need for them, but lately, I feel like they are taking all of the enjoyment out of being with her. I constantly have this nagging thought of working on one of the several milestones that she hasn't completed yet....I should have her on her tummy to strengthen her neck, I should be forcing toys into her hand to encourage her to hold objects...I should be waving things out of her reach trying to get her to reach out for things....I should be giving her a light push when she is on her side to encourage her to roll over....All of these on top of knowing that I should be talking to her, reading to her, letting her experience as many things as she can....so instead of enjoying these moments, I just feel stressed out.
Before this doctor appt, I was def. enjoying things more....I can't wait until we get another perspective from another doctor that hopefully will put my mind at ease a bit.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Four Months Old!
Well, Natalie and Mommy had a rough day, which is another story best suited for Nickie to tell; but the bottom line is that we're changing pediatricians because of today's visit with our current one.
Anyway, our little girl is growing every day and she just becomes more and more precious to me every single day. To hear her laughing is one of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. Her smiles are contagious and she just melts my heart at the very thought of her. She's what gets me through my rough times at work. When I feel frustrated or angry, I just look at her photo and all the negativity runs out of me like a flood, because it's literally impossible for me to look at her photo and not smile. So, thank you, Natalie, for bringing such joy to my life. I only pray I return that joy to you in your life, for the next four months and for the rest of our time together!
But enough of the sappy stuff, here's what the folks came to see...! (Click to enlarge)
Anyway, our little girl is growing every day and she just becomes more and more precious to me every single day. To hear her laughing is one of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. Her smiles are contagious and she just melts my heart at the very thought of her. She's what gets me through my rough times at work. When I feel frustrated or angry, I just look at her photo and all the negativity runs out of me like a flood, because it's literally impossible for me to look at her photo and not smile. So, thank you, Natalie, for bringing such joy to my life. I only pray I return that joy to you in your life, for the next four months and for the rest of our time together!
But enough of the sappy stuff, here's what the folks came to see...! (Click to enlarge)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Knowing My Little Girl
A few minutes ago, Natalie started fussing. I went and got her pacifier and rocked her a little bit in her vibrating chair. Within moments she was asleep. This moment caused me to stop and have such a moment of pride because I know my little girl. Over the past four months I have developed the deepest, most meaningful relationship one can have. No one knows Natalie like Joel and I do. I have learned the little cries that mean she is hungry, tired, in pain, or just frustrated. I have learned the little looks that she makes when she is trying to process something new or just trying to process gas. I know the books that she likes to look at the most and I know the books that haven't really interested her yet. I know the games that make her laugh and smile the most and which games make her just look at you like you are crazy. I know how she likes her bath and that the first few moments out of the bath are never fun. I know how to get her shirts on with the least amount of fussiness and I know the particular shirts that will make her mad every time. I know how to hold her when she is needing cuddle time and how to hold her when she just wants to see the world from a different view. I know how to zumba with her in her carrier til she laughs like crazy and I know when she is sick of being carried like a parachute jumper. I know how to cut her fingernails and suction her nose right to the point of almost frustration. I know my love for her will continue to grow every moment of every day and that no one can ever take my knowledge and my love of Natalie Lynai away from me. I know and love my little girl.
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