Seven months!

Well, okay, actually that was Saturday. And while I can't say that much was keeping me from getting to this post before now, here it is Tuesday and I'm just sitting down to write. But, we did have a few technical difficulties in taking the above pictures....After the excitement that was six months (plus the added excitement of the recent snowstorm), milestones have been a little harder to come by this month. First, on the topic of the snowstorm, here's Natalie with some snow:Natalie is now a little rolling machine; we can barely remember how she used to hate tummy time so much. Now, we put her down on her back, and the first thing she does is flip to her stomach. Her major strength has come in pushing herself up from her stomach. Instead of resting on her forearms, she now sometimes extends her arms all the way and rests on her palms. No crawling yet, but some wiggling and scooting and schooching.I've actually gone back to my old job, although now I'm working as a contractor, 100% from home with a part-time schedule. It's a good deal! Natalie used to rest on a blanket on the floor beside me while I worked (although mostly I work during her naps and in the evenings). But now she is getting so roll-y that we just bought a second pack n' play off craigslist to put up in the office. Baby jail, here we come!

We've been helping her drink from a cup - she always looks a little shocked when she actually manages to get water into her mouth. Natalie is also still eating (and sometimes resisting) the same things: applesauce, squash, cereal, carrots, green beans, and pears. Her smile can still light up a room.

She hasn't quite mastered sitting, although her trunk muscles are getting stronger, and she now holds herself upright for a little longer before she topples over.

She loves stories, cuddles, and songs.
And we love her!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's our "official" Valentine's Day picture:And here are some of the classic failed attempts:For those with an unlimited appetite for similarity, the whole set is here.

Texas, baby!

While the East Coast was hammered by storms, Texas had its own little blizzard. We saw nothing like the 46 inches they've gotten, but we did break records with our own 11.5 inches! Snow started falling around 3am on Thursday morning and didn't stop until sometime early Friday morning.

This is totally not the vision of Texas I had when I moved here. Don't get me wrong (or get me started!) - many things are pretty much as I would expect. But this, this is different. And great! Mike's work was canceled both Thursday and Friday, so we're setting up for a very snuggly Valentine's Day weekend.

Here are some pictures (again, this is nothing like Alaska, Wyoming, Michigan, New York or, you know, Washington D.C., but, hey, I'm loving what I've got!):What to do? Well, we made our first fire in the fireplace:And we cuddled up with our little lovebug....

All quiet on the Western Front

Not much new to report here. Natalie continues to amaze and wow us, of course. She's tried a few more foods - spinach and potatoes, carrots, and bananas. She's started making raspberries - although not in response to us, more like when she randomly realizes she can. She's also sitting up a little; she still can't support herself all the way, but if you sort of tripod her arms out in front of her, she'll sit there for a few seconds until she slowly tips over.

We also went to the pediatrician on Tuesday, and Natalie is now 16 pounds and 27.5 inches long. Such a big baby!

Here are a few recent cute pictures:

The B-Hatch

A few weeks ago, my old friend B-Hatch came to Fort Worth to visit us and meet Natalie. We all had a very good time. B-Hatch and I played several rounds of Nexus Ops, we made not one but two visits to the Paris Coffee Shop, and B-Hatch attended one of my lectures, where I was tempted to introduce him as my private Shatnez Tester. Also, B-Hatch read Natalie one of his favorite stories:

Six months old!

(yesterday, but whatever - I did take the picture yesterday, so I think it counts)

I'm not one of those people who go around saying "time flies" or "it feels like just yesterday," or any other cliche. And, truthfully, I don't feel that way about the last six months. It is amazing to me that we've had Natalie for six months, that she's our six month-old baby and we're her six month-old parents. But I remember all of those difficult first feedings and challenging nights and screaming car trips and baths full of yelling. Those were loooong, dude. But I also remember the first smile and the first laugh and the first peaceful bath and all the morning snuggles. So six months feels about right, I guess.And it is so right.
Natalie is really developing into a little person. An adorable little person, of course. This month brought rolling over. It also brought food beyond baby cereal: delicata squash and zucchini. Surprisingly, Natalie liked both of those; I tasted the steamed, pureed zucchini, and I did not think we'd have success there.Natalie is also starting to express preferences in other areas. She'll cry/fuss if she's bored, wants a new activity, or wants something she can't reach. So I guess this will only last for the next 18 years. Or something. Along with our growing understanding of Natalie's preferences comes, perhaps, some projection on our part about what is her "favorite" rattle/song/book/etc. I don't know that the rattle below is her true favorite (whatever that means for a six month-old, anyway) but she does enjoy kitten-tonguing it. And if you hold it out to her she really just shoots her arm right out and takes it from you, just like a real, coordinated person!Another major innovation is this month is that Natalie has started spending nights and naps in her own room! This took some work - and some support from our good friends - but we're really making progress in this area. I don't have a picture to illustrate this (dear readers, I love you, but not that much!). However, one thing that has really, really made this process easier on us has been the video baby monitor. I understand there was a time before video baby monitors, and even before baby monitors at all, but, heck, I don't want to live in that time! It is so reassuring it is to be able to see her when she cries in order to determine if something is a sleep noise or the start of a problem noise. The first night she slept in her room, she slept fine, but I spent the night squinting at the little TV screen every 25 minutes. That behavior on my part has since passed.(reading a story in the rocking chair in her room)

Natalie's other big milestone this month has been her teeth. She's getting her two front bottom teeth. And they are SHARP! They haven't seemed to bother her that much, although they are definitely bothering me during nursing. I spent a few days wondering if she was a vampire, a wolverine, or a chupacabra. One tearful call to the hospital lactation consultant later, I now have a few new strategies and things are going a bit better.(you'll have to imagine the fangs. I tried to get a picture, but the model was uncooperative. You know how tempermental the talent can be)

Last, this month marked the end of Mike's lovely, long paternity leave (coincidentally, and thankfully, also the near-total recovery of my arm). On the two days he doesn't teach, he usually stays until Natalie goes down for her first nap (around 8:15am, after a wake-up at 6am); and on the days he does teach, he's usually home by 4pm. So we're still getting plenty of Daddy time!

Photo Frame

Since we've been taking a lot more pictures lately, I've been thinking more about pictures and how to display them. This led me to investigate digital photo frames. I'm totally in love with them! And although we don't have one yet, I did coordinate a group gift of one for my grandmother.
This particular frame came to my grandmother pre-loaded with pictures that our family all contributed. For those who care (and that may not be much of our readership!), the entire 331 photos on the frame can also be found in the following album:


There are some super-old pictures in there! I also apologize in advance if the album seems heavy on Natalie pictures or pictures from my stash - I used almost everything everyone sent me, and then just used my pictures to round out the rest!

Roly-Poly Baby!

Natalie has started rolling over! At first, she would just tip over if you put her on her stomach with her arms propped out in front of her. But this week, the hips started coming at the same time.Rolling from her back to her stomach was the harder one. It seemed like her arm was always getting in the way of developing good momentum. However, this week she managed to get enough strength to sort of push through and over.Here's a video of a full-on roll!