Thanksgiving and Great Grandma...

Thanksgiving went well. Grandma and Grandpa J came into town along with Great Grandma Mauser making this Thanksgiving especially nice since Natalie and GG Mauser had yet to meet. GG Mauser, a young 81, enjoyed watching Natalie's theatrics and Natalie enjoyed all of the attention. So much so, she decided not to nap all Thanksgiving day even after repeated efforts.

Josh signed Natalie up for swimming lessons on Tuesday. She is very young but Josh wants to get her acclimated as soon as possible, especially since we will be traveling to Key Largo, FL in Feb. Plus, this provides Josh an opportunity to have an activity for just the two of them.

Natalie continues to enjoy playing in her Exersaucer and playing with her toys when she is in her Bumbo or on her playmat. She has started drinking water during her bath time. She will grab the bowl, pull it towards her mouth and stick her tongue out as water splashes down. Occasionally she gets a mouth full but does not seem to mind.

Keep the cards coming, they're scrumptous...

Usually when we receive cards we will sit down with Natalie and read them to her. The past couple of days when we have received cards we have decided to give them to Natalie to well, um, read. To the side is a picture and video of Natalie enjoying the latest card.

This past weekend we went to a good friends Baptism in Maryland. Young Jack Golub was baptised Catholic at 3 months. He seemed to enjoy the experience and both he and Natalie enjoyed the after-party.

Josh is heading to Aurora again for the week leaving Kaija and Natalie to have a little girl time together.

Not too much going on this weekend. We will probably hit up Wegmans to start our Thanksgiving Holiday shopping spree. We are also getting with friends on Saturday to watch the VT/Miami and possibly getting with more friends on Sunday for a pre-holiday dinner.

tongue wagging...

We noticed something different about Natalie over the weekend. She is starting to stick her tongue out...all of the time. Maybe its because she is in the beginning stages of teething (daycare guess) or maybe she just loves the sound her mouth makes when she blows (Josh's guess). Either way, she loves sticking her tongue out. Luckily she does not have any teeth yet- Here are some more photos of Natalie on her Exersaucer. There are two videos on the right of Natalie demonstrating her new found tongue wagging hobby.

The weekend and the exersaucer...

We had a very uneventful weekend for the most part. One goal we had was to completely file away all of our important documents from the past year that have hibernated on the computer desk in the loft. We were 90% effective in our goal. We did drive into Arlington on Saturday night to hangout with a few friends. Natalie had a great time being passed back and forth. She definitely loves attention. We ended up staying out much too late for both baby and parents. We did have a great time catching up with some good friends though.

What is the exersaucer? Only the single best toy ever!! Josh spent an hour putting together Natalie's newest toy...the exersaucer. We were a little hesitant at first but now we have seen how much joy this new contraption brings to Natalie. There are a few 'high-tech' gadgets on the toy however Natalie seems to prefer the battery-less toys that she can pull towards her mouth.

Halloween...

I think all parents expect their first Halloween to be a joyous and eventful experience. However, for the most part, Natalie's first Halloween was, somewhat, uneventful. We started the day going to daycare in her mermaid costume since the daycare had a parade for all of the kids (actually it was more for the parents). Anyway, upon fitting Natalie into her costume we realized that she has grown so much she could not straighten her legs in the mermaids tail since she has become so tall. She managed to endure the parade without throwing a fit and letting mom and dad snap a few photos. Later that evening we had great expectations that we would sit outside with Natalie in costume and hand out candy to all of the kids. However, Natalie quickly reminded us how uncomfortable that outfit was so we abandoned our plans. Next year should be a little more enjoyable as she will be able to walk around in her outfit.