Rollin' Over...

Natalie has started rolling over. She first rolled over on Thursday but we thought it might be a fluke. She has now rolled over several times so we feel comfortable reporting that she can roll over from stomach to back. Perfect, just in time for daycare.

Natalie's new favorite toy...

Natalie discovered a new toy this weekend, or better put, Kaija and Josh finally pulled out another toy for Natalie to play with. Check out the picture or video on the side for a description. She absolutely loves kicking at the cushioned footpads and loves even more when dad dances to the music that plays once she does.

We mentioned the fact that Kaija goes back to work on Oct 1. Well, that time is now. We refused to talk about it at home but now, after trying to make sure we have everything we need, it is very real. Kaija is sad and doesn't know how she will react tomorrow as she drops Natalie off. For those that do not have kids it is hard to understand the nervousness but for those that do, we are in your shoes. Natalie slept 9.5 straight hours last night so we are hoping this is an omen to the upcoming work week.

Grandpa J is feeling much better now and may go home from the hospital today. He has not had any solid foods in over a week. Natalie says, suck it up G'Pa...I have only had liquids my whole life. She followed that up with smile :^)

Thinking of Grandpa J...

While Grandpa J is recovering from his colon cancer operation Josh decided to introduce Grandpa J's favorite sport to Natalie. She seemed interested, however, she loves watching the TV so only time will tell if golf is in her future. Golf is a real expensive sport so Josh is hoping to leave golf for TV and push soccer or swimming onto Natalie. Its safe to say, if Grandpa J was feeling better he most definitely would be taking in the Presidents Cup Golf Tourney. Grandpa J, we're thinking of you!!!!!

3 months old...

Today Natalie turned 3 months old. And to celebrate, we went to our daycare (LINK: Ashburn Village Country Day School) to sit-in for an hour or so before the dreaded 1-Oct. Everything went fairly well and Natalie seemed content. It is just hard knowing that Natalie will not get the same attention she receives at home. Who knows, maybe Kaija has a change of heart in a couple of weeks. But until then...this is our plan.

Back to Natalie. We weighed in today and, unofficially, Natalie weighs a little over 14 pounds. Pretty big for a 3 month old. Tonight we are heading over to Baby's-R-Us to purchase the Bumbo chair. Natalie has good, albeit not great, control over her neck and loves to sit up and look around.

Grand's D returned to NY today. The weather is absolutely perfect so hopefully they have a safe trip home. Natalie loved smiling for G'Pa D and loved being marched around by G'Ma D.

Wedding Crashers...

This past weekend we spent time in Cape May, NJ for a good friends wedding. We were a little nervous considering this was Natalie's first road trip. Kaija and Josh are now convinced that Natalie is, simply put, a party animal. Natalie was, to say the least, an angel. She enjoyed getting her feet dipped into the ocean, she enjoyed being passed back and forth between our friends and she enjoyed staying up late and partying while we caught up with some friends. Hard to believe but during our 3 days away from home she did not fuss one time. Instead she sat on people's laps and smiled and cooed the whole time. To add icing to the cake Natalie slept the entire ride home.

Speaking of the wedding, Cape May is beautiful. Josh has always claimed NJ to be the armpit of America. However, after our couple of days in Cape May, he is rethinking that claim.

Grandpa J had his surgery on Thursday to remove a pollup from his colon. The surgery went very well and Grandpa J will not have to go through Radiation. He is having a hard time with the after-surgery but should be back to normal sometime soon. We are all looking forward to seeing him soon.

Josh is in Aurora, CO for the week for work. Grandma and Grandpa D are in town to help Kaija and to hangout before Kaija has to return to work next Monday.

To Infinity and Beyond...

Natalie is going on her first road trip this weekend. Destination: Cape May, NJ. Josh's good friend, Brian Duff is getting married and we will be there to help them celebrate. It is going to be interesting to see how Natalie does for the 4.5 hour car ride.

Josh and Kaija celebrated their 3rd anniversary this week. Next door neighbor, Crysta and Carl Stukis baby sat while Josh and Kaija went to a nice restaurant down the road. Josh had a business trip scheduled for this week and in order to be home to celebrate the anniversary Josh had to make a two day trip in one day. 3000 miles in one day. Josh was very tired upon his return.

Fall is upon us so Kaija is going to go on a winter shopping spree before she heads back to work, Oct 1.

We will post another blog on Sun or Mon with details of Natalie's first big trip...

Who does number 2 work for...

Tonight we decided to bump Natalie up to the next size diapers. She is now sporting size two diapers or, as we like to call them, big girl diapers. The new diapers coincidentally have Big Bird on them which reminds us of Natalie with her long legs. Natalie is getting to the point that she no longer likes to lay on her back when she is awake. Instead she enjoys sitting on our laps while scanning whichever room she is in. We have definitely noticed a huge difference in Natalie's fussiness in the past few days. Natalie seems to have one fussy bout a day but other than that she is pretty happy.

Not too much on tap for this weekend. Kaija is planning on meeting good friend Maggie for a girls dinner on Saturday and then joining up with a few friends in Maryland for a brunch on Sunday. Stay tuned, the following weekend we have our first big outing with Natalie...a wedding in New Jersey.

The weekend...

On Saturday Kaija went to a friends wedding shower. No problem, right? Well, this particular shower was in Richmond, a 2 hour drive each way. Again, no problem, right? We decided to leave Natalie home with Josh for the day. No problem, right? To answer all three questions, we didn't have a single problem. If anything it was a great bonding experience for Josh and Natalie. Plus Josh was able to teach Natalie about audibles and other aspects of football.

Sunday was another busy day. In the morning we went to see Sydney Ivey get baptized - considering she is not a big fan of baths she did so well!! Natalie also did great through the 2 hour service - she napped for the first half and then sat on Josh's knee for the second half. Afterwards, we went over to the Ivey's house for lunch and to socialize. A little overwhelming as now the kids outnumber the adults. Later in the afternoon Kaija attended another wedding shower and Natalie and Josh went home and played while watching the Panthers football game.

Natalie is now able to sit up without any neck support. She loves to sit in our laps while we hold her waist as she looks around. She coos and smiles the whole time. We also have started putting Natalie in her infant bathtub without the sling. She absolutely loves it!! The only time she gets fussy is when we don't splash her with water. Josh is already looking into swimming lessons.