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!

This is Austin . . . .

We've just returned from a little sojourn in Austin. Unlike the last time we were there, this time was just for fun.We stayed in South Austin, in a little rented bungalow. The house had a full kitchen (gas stove, no less!), and enough bedrooms for most of us. That is to say, Mike and I slept in the bed, and we set up Natalie's Pack n' Play in the large walk-in closet (we left the door open and the fan running for proper ventilation).The house was also superbly well-located. We were three blocks from a lovely outdoor coffeehouse (made for a lovely morning stroll) and one block from a lot where the yummy food trucks parked (yes, the one with the cupcakes is still there. And still delicious!). Also, three blocks from an ice cream store, and two blocks from a yarn store. I guess we know where I'd live if we moved to Austin!Our neighborhood was nice, but we did manage to get out and do stuff. On our first full day there, we ventured to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The big spring bloom had come and gone, but there were still plenty of flowers to be found. The Center also had a few short trails that allowed one to go out and walk on the prairie. Since we were there on a weekday, we had the whole place to ourselves. It was lovely!On our second full day there, we went to see the move "Babies". I'd found a theater that baby-and-parent shows - and also really delicious food. The theater was packed with babies and their entourages. It was totally cute, and it made me sad that there's nothing like that here in Fort Worth. I was hoping that Natalie would view the movie as a compelling dramatization of one of her favorite books, but no dice. Perhaps she didn't like the darkness? She didn't cry the whole time, but she definitely wasn't happy. Luckily, Mike was there to take her out so I didn't have to miss a minute of the movie!

On our third day, we made the requisite pilgrimage to Title Nine, REI, and Book People (I think they call that the yuppie trifecta, no?). That evening, we drove out to Lake Travis and had a lovely dinner with and old friend of Mike's (and the friend's lovely family).And, the morning before we left, we stopped for a little walk around the grounds of the statehouse. Did you know Texas has the largest capital building of any state? Of course you did!But I bet you didn't know just how big the bugs in Texas are . . . .