Happy 6 Months, Natalie!

I cannot believe our little Natalie is 6 months old!  (Actually, she “turned” 6 mo last Sun, June 19 – Father’s Day!)  This has been the best 1/2 year ever.  What has this cute little girl been up to?

Oh (Hoosier) daddy... you're such a riot! Happy Father's Day to me too!

Weight / Height. At her 6 mo appt (which was actually 1.5 weeks early), Natalie measured 25 inches (33rd percentile) and 19 lbs, 5 oz (97th+ percentile).  Yes, it seems that the doctor’s office doesn’t differentiate after 97th percentile… needless to say, this little girl is a bit out of proportion.  Her propensity for extreme chub comes from her Daddy… (For comparison, at 6 months, I was 17 lbs, 11.5 oz and 25.75 inches.  Jordan was 21.5 lbs and 27 inches.  In pounds per inch, Jordan takes the cake, with 0.796 lbs per inch, whereas Natalie is a “light” 0.77 lbs/inch.) The doctor said that starting to eat other foods might help her slim down a bit.  Rice cereal, anyone?!?

My Pop calls me Chubby Lumpkins. Is it because of my four fat rolls on my arms? I like to call it accessorizing - these are bracelets!

Developmental Milestones: Natalie still cannot roll over, which the doctor said is likely due to her “Buddha Belly”.   However, she is very good at sitting and can do so for minutes at a time.    She can pass a toy from one hand to the next.  She can inch along on her tummy, though progress here as been slow since she recently doesn’t like spending much time on her belly – I think b/c she’s frustrated.  We just started trying food.  We started with rice cereal, which I cooked wrong, so no wonder she didn’t like it.  Today we tried sweet potatoes, which was much more popular, though still resulted in a face that says “this is sour”.  We noticed teething on Monday and two little buds are popping up.

Mom, is rice cereal supposed to be crunchy? My friends tell me its supposed to be creamy.

This spoon tastes A LOT better than that cereal. (and, feels awfully nice on my teething gums!)

She is starting to be more aware of being around strangers – or, at the very least, really wanting her mom or dad around.  Tonight, my parents had her outside and she would check out the tree and then look at me to make sure I was still there.  “Tree, mom, tree, mom, tree, mom.”   So sweet!  She also does the cutest little shimmy shake when something exciting happens.  That can be seeing someone she likes, hearing the song that her octopus plays, or….just waking up!  And, she loves playing with her tongue (I know my sister Becky is going to LOVE this photo….)

Look at my cool new trick! Can you curl your tongue up too?

Favorite Activities: 1) Standing, especially Standing and Dancing.  2) The Sophie, Be Quiet Game with Dad.  3) Singing silly songs (especially Pumpkin, Pumpkin).  4) Putting anything and everything in her mouth.  5) Drooling.  6) Watching other people, particularly older kids.  7) Playing in her bouncy gym.  8) Listening to music on the Octopus.  9) Playing “near, far” which means someone goes far away, says “far” and runs up to say “near”.  (Then, repeat 30 times.)  10) Doing “exercises” with mommy, like having her belly on my shins when I do crunches.

This is a love kiss - I promise. Its only polite to let those you love know how much you love them by chewing on them.

Favorite Places to Go: 1) Mass at Sheil.  Natalie is quite the church flirt.  She loves smiling at all people and especially loves the constant flow of new faces in the communion line.  The other day at mass, she looked at three brothers, between the ages of 3 and 8, for honestly, 10 min.  Her daddy told her that she would need to learn to be a little more coy when she was older.  2) Raymond Park, across the street from our house.  With a swing, slide and many friends to watch, what’s not to love?!?  3) Library.  Once again, a great place to watch other kids!  As for the enjoying cuddling and reading, we’re still working on that.  She hasn’t been very into it this past month.  4) Any of our friends’ houses.  We love to see our friends’ toys and see how they play with them.

Hey Luke, if I let you play with my block, can I come over and swim in your pool? sounds like a fair trade to me!