My best friend's wedding

(okay, I have several best friends, I just really, really wanted to use that post title)

On Thursday afternoon we flew east to Baltimore for Miso and Peso's wedding (also known as Marianne and Brian). Marianne is one of my oldest friends from college. I guess this means that I've known her almost fifteen years. Whoa - talk about making me feel old. I seem to operate in a perpetual time-warp where high school is always just ten years ago.

Anyway, the wedding was lovely. The groom was happy. The bride was happy. Together, they were lovely and radiant and delightful. And there's something so wonderful about seeing the people you love so happy. Perhaps true happiness really is the delight in the joy of others? (As an aside, I knew that Mike was getting serious about me way back in grad school when he started to ask about Brian; it touched me that he cared enough about my friend to want the very best for her).

Our arrival into Baltimore was a little rocky - delayed by major storms, we sat on the runway for quite some time prior to take-off. When we finally met Grandma Pat, picked up the rental car, and made it to the hotel, it was after 11pm. The girl did okay through all of this; she was pretty tired, but as long as the car was moving, she slept.

The next morning, Natalie stayed with Daddy while the ladies went for pedicures.That afternoon we were lucky enough to join the happy couple for lunch at a local wine bar. And that evening, we did the Maryland thing and ate some crabs.
The wedding was the next morning. The ceremony was held at the family home overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, underneath a big tree on a grassy hill that gently sloped down to the water. It was lovely and tranquil and idyllic.Natalie made it through most of the ceremony, but toward the end, Mike retreated to the house with her. She also did okay at the reception, taking a long nap (supervised generously by Grandma Pat) just as the food was served.

Annnnd now, the part you've all been waiting for:For those who can't get enough, the whole set is here (and note that these were taken with our bad camera, since I didn't have the energy to haul all Natalie's stuff, plus the good big camera).

Natalie was so exhausted from her whirlwind weekend (and the early wake-up call for the flight) that she slept most of the way back to DFW.

Holiday Weekend

We actually didn't really do anything special on our holiday weekend. Saturday morning was the last swimming class (although we might resume in September, we're taking a breather for a few months). On Sunday we just sort of hung out. And on Monday my cousin Jesse came to visit.

Here's the weekend in photos:

Ten months old!

Natalie is ten months old now.
(And just so you don't think these pictures are easy, here are a few out-takes from the sign photos)She's got two teeth on the bottom, and three teeth (in various stages) working their way in on the top.She goes to bed around 6:30pm and gets up about 12 hours later (notice that I said "gets up" - she has been known to wake up in the night, scream [or laugh] loudly, and then fall soundly back asleep, leaving Mike and me wide awake with pounding hearts from being awakened so suddenly. What a good trick!).She eats almost everything. While she's not particularly fond of peaches, apricots, or pears, she does eat applesauce, blueberries, yams, rice and lentils, squash, carrots, yogurt, etc. Here's a video of her eating some yogurt for the first time.

She also loves her puffs (dissolving Cheerios-like things). Recently, I've even started giving her small pieces of soft food, like strawberries.(And, yes, I did feed her strawberries while she was in her [white] clothes. That was a learning experience . . . .)
She's mostly a water drinker, although I've been trying to get her to drink whole milk since we've been dropping the nursing to only mornings and evenings. I wouldn't say Natalie is a milk-lover, but hopefully it will grow on her.She doesn't have any words yet. She's definitely made the sounds for "mama" and "dada", but I don't think she's conclusively put them together with their meanings. Although, she did do a pretty convincing job of repeating "dada" after Mike while looking at him the other morning, so who knows? There's no "dada" in the video below, but this is a good view of many other Natalie noises.

She's definitely communicating, though. For example, she definitely lets us know when she's M-A-D about things - you can really see these little flashes of temper, but she's pretty quickly and easily distracted. I know that won't always be the case. She's also catching on when you take something away from her - she look to where you put it and then keep looking for the object. Such a smart and silly girl!She's also started to pull herself to standing. She hasn't really figured out how to move her feet once she's standing, though - so no cruising yet.

She still loves her Brown Bear, Brown Bear book; her Totorro stuffed animal (also: when daddy says its name); and the eensy-weensy spider song. Most days walks are okay, but sometimes they're not (also, sometimes it's just too hot these days). Baths are still good. Riding in the car is generally okay, but much, much better with someone sitting beside her to entertain her during the ride.
She plays in her area of the living room ("baby jail").In addition to her swimming lessons (which will take a summer hiatus after the class next week), we've been trying to get out a little more. Here are some pictures of Natalie out to eat - just like a big person! And she was really, really good!