Can you tell by the second post that I have been waiting almost an hour at the doc’s office? (Why is this one of the only times I didn’t bring my laptop?)
This book about Chicago is fascinating!
Natalie made this set up herself. I especially like how she pulled the little stool over, just like I have near the rocker in her room. Her greater interest in independent play is fun to watch and listen in on.
On MLK day, the coldest day of the year, Natalie and I went to see Bella the Baby beluga whale at the Shedd with her friend from preschool. We spent nearly an hour with Bella, who Natalie “knows” from her ZooBorns book about baby zoo animals (written by the husband of a business school friend).
Natalie took this pic!
Look Mom! I can turn like Bella!
Happy to share this moment with such a good friend!
Whoa. Penguins have it tough. This slide is slippery!
See a video of Natalie and 2 classmates singing/performing “I’m a little tea pot” to the rest of the class!
http://www.tadpoles.com/m/v/0d35edaf-d2c5-43a5-b2b4-94b903107eac
Friday was hat day at Natalie’s preschool! She’s wearing a homemade hat from Nana. Aren’t her arms around her preschool friends just the cutest?
Zackary and Misha... SMILE!
I got this email from Jordan while at work today:
PS: After Natalie said bye-bye to you today and you closed the door, she looks at me and real sweetly, nodding, says, “I love Mama.”
I said, “Me too! Tell her that when she picks you up today!” So cute.
🙂 Having a very verbal 2-year-old is awesome! She continues to show off her smarts. Two examples, just between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. tonight:
When I picked up Natalie at school and mentioned we were having grilled cheese for dinner (which we had for lunch with Grandpa and Grandma yesterday), Natalie asked if Grandma and Grandpa would be there. When I reminded her that they needed to go to their home, she said “Green Bay”.
When I asked Natalie if it was okay if we read books in Mama’s room tonight, she said “yes, Mama’s back hurts in Natalie’s room”. We’ve explained to her a couple times that reading on the floor in Natalie’s room hurts my back. What a good memory!
And, her love for Pinto keeps growing… today, she shared her milk with Pinto. How kind.
Sorry, I don’t have any new cute pictures easily accessible. While my parents were here this weekend, I spent at least 24 hours in seclusion, since I got sick on Sat morning. Although I was really wishing we had family in town two weekends ago, when Jordan was at the ND game and Natalie and I had colds, I was pretty glad to have 3 adults on hand when I had the stomach bug. (Though, let’s be honest… even 1 adult would have worked, just much harder for them. Thank goodness I didn’t get the stomach bug when there were no adults around!) I am tempted to sequester our entire family in the house until the end of March to avoid all these germs….
…Is having your 2 year old say “I love you, Mommy” when you tuck her in at night. It definitely made up for the 515 am wake up this morning.
That being said, this sick Mama and recovering 2 year old are definitely ready for Daddy to return from his man-cation in Miami for the National Championship game, which as I type, isn’t going so well.
Daddy, we’re saving this cookie for you!
Natalie and I attempted our first round of homemade Christmas Tree ornaments. She was a little young for all stages of the project, so I recommend it for 2.5 years and up. It was still a lot of fun though and she was eager to give her ornaments as gifts this year.
First Stage. Make dough by using 1/2 salt, 1/2 flour combo. Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes. (It was very confusing to Natalie why this dough didn’t taste very good!) Bake for 3+ hours at 100 degrees to dry out.
Dots! Ornaments will look great with extra dots in them!
Yay! I did it!
Second Stage. Paint with acrylic paint and let dry. (Acrylic paint is key – the Crayola washable paint did not work well because the surface is porous).
Third Stage. Decorate with glitter!
Mom, glue is fun. We should use it more often. Btw, why is there a beach towel on the floor?
Word of Caution: These are not highly durable ornaments. If your 2-year-old drops them on a wood floor (whoops – sorry, Aunt Jira and Uncle Alex) or jumps on them while jumping on the bed (whoops – sorry, Cousins Matt & Jacob), your snowman will likely be decapitated or your candy cane split into 3 sections. Nothing a little super glue cannot fix though!
More complete instructions:
http://www.theimaginationtree.
http://www.theimaginationtree.
Happy Crafting!
Natalie is showing many signs of being ready to be a big sister.
1. Her favorite book is:
2. She has missed her babies and asked about them while we were in Florida. When we got home from 6 days away, she spent at least 30 min taking care of Baby Ellie and Baby Kathy:
Her deep care for where her babies are continued today. Ellie came to church with us and both babies were included in story time. The 5.5 of us took up almost our entire king-sized bed. I could barely see Jordan, as he and I were the bookends.
3. She knows Pinto is inside Mommy’s tummy and has requested “Pinto come out!” Since that has happened yet, she instead tickles and pats Pinto. (More tickles than pats.). And offers the occasional “nigh nigh”.
Since Natalie is very much a Mama’s girl, I don’t anticipate a very smooth transition when Pinto actually arrives in March, but Jordan and I are doing what we can to encourage Natalie’s natural nurturing side. And we know grandparents will be very helpful when it comes to doing special things with Natalie and watching Pinto so that we can have one-on-one time with Natalie too.
Before Natalie’s birthday, Grandma and Grandpa came down for an early celebration. You caught a glimpse of the excitement in the actual 2 yr update…. GaGa (Grandma) got Natalie a tea set. She was absolutely thrilled. I have never seen her that excited to open a gift. The deluxe kitchen was also a hit too… And i am cautiously optimistic it will provide hours of entertainment when I am caught up with feeding Pinto come March. Natalie was even willing to trade her smaller cupcake kitchen. We also….
Opened Christmas presents by our 3-ft tree
Made Birthday Cupcakes
GaGa- these Dora toothpicks are so fancy!
Waited in line for the carousel at ZooLights!
The anticipation is overwhelming!
Natalie chose PU panda and GaGa got zebra
Natalie had a stupendous visit with my parents. I wish I could remember more cute stories but I am having trouble remembering 2 weeks back. We also appreciated a night out with friends too. We are lucky to have family who visit Chicago a lot!
Merry (belated) Christmas. I don’t have the pictures on my phone to go through the last week, so I’ll just focus on some fun we had today! As we’re receiving cute winter pictures of our cousin Trevor in Wisconsin sledding….
How do I get this thing to go?
and friend Molly in Pittsburgh playing with snow-covered statues, Natalie is living
up the Christmas holiday Florida-style. Although its been a little chilly (low 60’s today), Natalie insists on wearing short sleeves for most of the time. The sandbox that Nana and Pop installed in their backyard has been a big hit (under-statement of the week).
Okay, now that I smiled for this picture, Uncle Al, will you make me another sand castle to destroy? Right here... to the left of the chair Pop made for me, please
Double handprint! See, Mom...this is so educational. You really should think about installing a sandbox in our 3rd floor condo in Chicago
After probably an hour of playing in the sand, Natalie took many “naps” in the sand. (She takes after her Aunt Leah, who always liked to pretend “sleep” as well – luckily, Natalie isn’t as good of a faker as her aunt, so it hasn’t gotten her into trouble at school.)
If I close my eyes extra tight, this really makes it look like I'm sleeping, right?
Of course, a girl has gotta help out around the house too… Natalie was more than happy to lend a hand gardening:
Okay, one quick pic, Mom, but then I have got to get this watering done!
Finally, thanks to Uncle Alex and Aunt Jira who gave Natalie (and me) a little dash of Wisconsin….
Hi ya! I love this sweatshirt. Can I pre-order in 4T, 5T and 6T too?
Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas vacation week!
