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I'd be all set to hike the ball... if only I could stand up on my own!

Go Pack!  Beat Vikings!

Natalie has been preparing for this game for 2 days – practicing throwing the football, doing stretches, and working on her strength by doing planks.  We hope the Pack is just as prepared!

At the line of scrimmage.... Ready, Set, Go!

Our little Bug-a-Boo is 10 months old!  Natalie is much more like a little girl than a baby.  Some highlights…

What - Uncle Rob's birthday is today too! How lucky for him that he gets to share his bday with my 10-mo bday!

Words: Natalie can say “mama,” “dada,” “nana” (for banana) “nigh, nigh” (for good night).  I’ve only heard the last two once, but I know that she was referring to the actual things.  The banana b/c I was eating it in front of her and not sharing – what a mean Mom!  

Mama, Dada, look at the camera instead of me! Geez!

Foods: Natalie loves bananas, perhaps b/c I eat one everyday, so she gets it in utero and through milk today!  She can also eat bagels, bread, cheddar cheese, yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, rasberries, applesauce, squash, sweet potatoes, O’s (her fav!) and other snacks from my lunch and dinner.

Gross Motor Skills: She can stand up by holding onto things, but cannot get back down.  She can rollover from front to back both ways, and the other night, when squirming on me, she did her first back to belly. 

Did you know that my Nana is my Dada's mom? Who would have thought?

Favorite Activities: Hanging out with… other kids, grandparents, Rachel, Mom and Dad (so basically, everyone!)  Going to the park.  Reading Brown Bear.  Playing with technology, esp. cell phones.  Standing and walking with assistance.  Saying “hi” to her Cat in the Hat “welcome” sign (an oldie, but a goodie) and the Grinch, which is above her changing table.  Taking baths.  Playing with Mr. Penguin (who has edged out Blue the Whale, in terms of fav bath toys), Eve, and Yot. Getting a shoulder ride on Daddy.  Dancing.  Snorting/sniffing through her nose.  Dropping things.

Jack, you are really fun - esp. for a 6-mo old! You can sit, smile, and drool with the best of them!

On Saturday, we took a family trip to the Lincoln Park Farm Zoo to feed the ducks and geese. 

One (piece of bread) for you, One for me

I like that we can still experience a little bit of country life, even though we live in the 3rd most populated city!  It reminded me of the Wildlife Sanctuary that we went to growing up – and that we’ll take Natalie and RJ to next summer!

I'm such a big girl!

When we were in Green Bay for Becky’s baby shower, I took Jordan and Natalie to the park by my elementary school.  Natalie would clearly be a GREAT MacArthur Eagle.  We used to get our pics taken in front of the school…. nearly 25 years later, I think I took my best pic yet!

Mom, where's my backpack?

Mom, since I'm only 9 mo old and there's no one else around, its okay that you are hugging me so tightly. Promise that you won't make such a fuss when I'm 5 though. That would be embarrassing!

Natalie and I also sing the MacArthur Elementary song a lot….

MacArthur
Elementary
We’re especially
Extraordinary
We work so very hard to be the best that we can be.
We work all together
We work as a a team
Our good grades we display
We have lots of fun
We’re NUMBER ONE!
And we keep on improving day by day….

**Thanks Leah for the correction on the 2nd and 3rd to last lines of the song.  I don’t feel bad – she is a more recent grad of MacArthur (1997, instead of 1992, I think)

Jordan’s not a fan.  He thinks its prideful or nauseating or something like that.  I think he’s jealous that he’s not a MacArthur Eagle.

Natalie likes to make this face – and loves when someone makes it back at her.  Its coupled with a deep breathing through the nose.  Nana calls it her snoot face. I’m not sure it makes for polite table manners, but the imitation game is fun!

Oh yeah, well what about this?

We had a wonderful visit with Nana… Natalie loves to dance with Nana and make silly faces.  We had a great trip to Navy Pier (pics to come).  Nana also went to the grocery store 3 times, cooked 2 dinners and did many other helpful things around the house.  Funny and helpful Nana – everyone should be so lucky!  We decided that Pop needs to come next time too… he really missed out on a fun weekend!

So fun to be in Mommy's and Daddy's BIG bed!

I posed this pic last night, but I’m re-posting to share that Natalie has added another word to her repertoire: Night, Night.  If there’s other people around, Natalie and I always go around to say “night night” and give kisses.  Tonight, it was just the two of us, and I finished reading “Brown Bear” (a fav)!  Then, I started another book, but she got fussy, so I put her down to strap on the breast friend (yep, still using it!) and she looked at me, saying “Night Night”.  Clearly, this little girl was tired after a very full day of the grocery store, Oz Park, Farm Zoo (inc. feeding the ducks – which she loved) and Jonquil Park.  Three cheers for Columbus Day – and having the day off of work, esp. since I have to travel this week. 🙁  Say prayers for us!  I’m going to miss Natalie so much and am worried that she is going to miss me too much too, even though she has a lot of fun days ahead of her.

Jordan took this pic on their way to Connor’s house last Monday morning….

Beat boxing at the park - Again

He posted it on FB with that comment – and got 18 likes and 4 comments:

One of the best parts about living in the City is being able to see friends more easily.  Around 3:45 p.m., I texted two college friends, Megan and Kate, to see if they could meet up at the park.  Within an hour, 8 of us were at Oz Park (3 McGlinn Girls, 3 daughters, 1 dad and 1 grandma). 

Oh my gosh. Two girlfriends. I'm so glad we live in the City!

Taylor, who is about 4 mo old, is on the left and being held by Molly’s grandma.  Molly is on the right. 

Natalie loves hanging out with bigger kids and 13-mo-old Molly is always a fav.  Natalie kept on scooching over to give her a hug and showing her excited, mouth open wide, face.  Beware, Taylor, those hugs are coming your way, once you’re big enough to sit up on your own!

So good to see you, Molly! Look over here - why aren't you paying attention to me? 🙂

Molly is usually too busy looking around for the next big thing to pay much attention, but Natalie doesn’t seem to mind, and the girls did exchange puffs for O’s. 

Natalie also taught Taylor that she’s old enough to swing too….

Did you just call me pretty? I can smile to that! Wee!

Aren't my ears adorable?

We all got a swing - SCORE!

Later that day, we had our friends Aubrey and Brad over for dinner too.  It was great to see them.  No pics of that night – adults eating dinner together just isn’t as picture worthy as kids on a playground!

Natalie hit the 9-mo mark nearly 2 weeks ago, but we just had our 9-mo doc visit on Wed.

Weight: 22 lbs, 10 oz (95th percentile – believe it or not, this is a slimmed down version… she’s back on the charts again!)
Height: 28.25 inches (70th percentile – up from around 33rd percentile at 6 months)

Favorite Activities:  Moving around.  She loves to wiggle, squiggle and squirm around everywhere.  She loves to go to the park – and always makes friends.  Sometimes with the kids, other times she likes to win over her parents.  She still loves anyone who is not white or has a beard!  She loves to stare.  She likes to sit at the stoop in front our house and likes to go to church, if its crowded.  She does not like going to Target.  She tolerates the grocery store.  She loves music and dancing.  My fav is when Jordan holds her and sings, and I jump and dance all around.  Her body just shakes in excitement.  She likes to talk a lot too.  She loves bath time and has figured out how to fill Blue, Mr. Penguin and Curly with water. Her favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

Hey, do you like this mini fort my Dad made me?

Milestones: By the end of the month, Natalie has started waving.  Its very vigorous and usually includes both hands – and in fact, the full arm.  She can say dada and mama.  Not always necessarily directed at us.  She likes to give open mouth kisses, which are so precious!!!  She can drink out of a sippy cup, though sometimes she is lazy and wants help.  She still can only rollover from tummy to back.  However, just today, we had two moves over the right shoulder, not just the left.  Now, that’s progress!  Her teeth are also coming in like crazy – 4 on top are breaking.  We tried to capture it today – at the very least, you can see some great double chin action here.

(Between giggles...) Mom, am I upside down again so that you can look at me teeth?

Wanna play catch?

Foods: Natalie usually eats 3 meals a day.  Her biggest is in the morning.  The other day, Rachel said she ate 4 Tablespoons of cereal and 7/8 of a banana.  However, she is a pokey eater – I’m typing this as Grandma is feeding her and she just said, “Come on, let’s eat some bananas.  They are turning brown!”  In terms of real food, she eates grapes (sans skin), O’s, puffs, bananas, avocado, string cheese, wheat bread, bagels, lunch meat, sweet potatoes, and soup. 

Daddy! My Elmo PJs are just for bedtime. I was so embarrassed on Fri that you kept my Elmo shirt on ALL day. I tried to tell Rachel that I was wearing a PJ shirt, but she didn't know to take it off. Hmm... Daddys are so silly.

Highlights:  We’ve seen Grandma 3 weekends in a row!  Grandma and Grandpa came down to baby-sit while Rachel was in Montana.  Natalie showed them the new ‘hood – they spent a lot of time at the park.  I’m sorry I don’t have any pics to upload right now – they are on the good camera, which is Jordan’s job.  Natalie also loved going to her friend Molly’s 1-year-old birthday party – so many big kids to look at.