Easter in Danville...

Easter Weekend was spent with Grandma and Grandpa J in Danville. Josh was really dreading the drive since A) the drive stinks and B) we had another addition that will probably require several stops. After driving back and forth we can safely say that while the drive did indeed stink, Natalie was an angel. In fact, she slept the entire 4 hour drive down and all but 15 minutes the way back.

Easter morning started out with Grandma J outfitting Natalie with an Easter Egg headband. Luckily, Natalie didn't seem to mind and stayed still for the photo opportunity. Next Kaija thought it would be a good idea for Natalie to wake up Josh with a "Happy Easter". Unfortunately, when she put Natalie on the bed, Natalie proceeded to throw up all over the place - Good Morning Daddy! Anyway, that canceled our church plans, but we were still able to put Natalie in her beautiful Easter dress and open Easter baskets. Natalie enjoyed pulling every item out, including books, CD's, stuffed animals and bubbles! Eventually she got down to her favorite item in the whole basket...the plastic green grass. We literally had to pry it out of her hands, which of course, made her cry. Danville provided a lot of R&R which was just what Josh and Kaija needed. Enjoy the pictures of Natalie in her Easter dress.
Upon our return home, we realized that it was finally time to upgrade Natalie to her big girl car seat. She seems to be enjoying them so far and Kaija and Josh are enjoying not having to lug around the baby carrier anymore. Now we are just counting down the time to her first birthday so she can face forward!

Another tooth also poked through this weekend. Now she has two bottom teeth, so hopefully the ones on the top will come through soon. Unfortunately, this has not increased her interest in eating table food, but she still loves her baby food. We've eaten through most fruits and vegetables and have now introduced yogurt and strained meats (doesn't that sound tasty?).

Trip to New York and a Toothie!

We delayed the inevitable as long as possible..okay 9 months, but whose counting? Anyway, on Thursday evening we embarked on the journey to Rochester to visit Kaija's family. 7 1/2 hours later at midnight we pulled into the driveway unscathed. Natalie did amazing on the trip - made it through a traffic jam, ate dinner in her car seat and only required one stop for a diaper change/feeding before falling asleep for the last 3 hours of the trip. Friday we spent a lazy day around the house before going out to dinner to celebrate Uncle Cole's 25th birthday and then back home for Grandma D's amazing homemade chocolate cake. Saturday morning we got quite the surprise while playing with Natalie..she was laughing when Josh caught sight of something. After prying her lip down, it was confirmed, Natalie's lower center tooth had broken through! A little later, while looking at the first tooth, we noticed a second tooth had slightly broken through although not as noticeable as the first. Later that afternoon the entire Dinse clan came over to meet Natalie. Of course, she loved being the center of attention as usual and especially loves her new Laugh N Learn Purse from her cousin Izzy. Sunday morning we packed up again after too short of a visit and made it back to Ashburn in a record 6 hours. See you in April Grandpa and Grandma D! However, no rest for the weary as we plan on heading to Danville Easter weekend.

You have to crawl before you can walk

Its about that time. Natalie is on the verge of crawling. This is going to be a bitter sweet triumph for mom and dad. On one hand, she'll be crawling and be more independent. On the other hand our days and evenings are going to be a lot busier...but we digress. The scenario, from a seating position, Natalie will go onto her knees and rock back and forth a little. She has not fully grasped moving both her hands and knees simultaneously. However, we are certain it is just a matter of time. Check out her new video on the right of her near feat.

A Smile and a Hi...

Banging blocks and clapping doesn't seem to get the same reaction from mom and dad anymore. So, Natalie has learned to wave and occasionally say, Hi. Its not phonetically perfect but she is definitely saying Hi. Mom and dad are back to giving the 'something new' and 'its so cute' smiles. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa J were in town to hear the start of Natalie's new found talent. Natalie's favorite thing to wave to...Hokie Cat. Fortunately Hokie generally turns his back and walks into another room and Natalie will start waving to mom and dad. Her favorite time to wave is after a nap. We don't have pictures of Natalie waving but we'll post some video sometime soon.

Hand and Eye Coordination...

Last week we blogged about Natalie banging blocks together. Well, we are happy to post that she has now dropped the blocks and learned to clap her hands. Natalies hand eye coordination is amazing. Josh likes to think his days of playing Nintendo and Sega Genesis had something to do with that. Anyway, she claps when she's happy, she claps when she eats, she claps when she plays, she claps when she gets her diaper changed. Quite frankly, she is a clapping machine. Its very cute and she seems to enjoy herself as she claps. Here is a picture of Natalie with Grandma J as they stroll around the kitchen...Grandma singing and Natalie clapping.

Musically inclined...

Maybe, maybe not. If being musically inclined is genetic, than no chance. Natalie has, however, learned how to pick up blocks and bang them together. Maybe she'll grow up to play drums in High School like her mom. Yes, Kaija was in the band in High School...Josh thinks that is hilarious. Hopefully this 'block-banging' will come in handy for music class at Gymboree starting in a couple of weeks. Speaking of the blocks, we have purchased tons of toys both expensive and inexpensive. Natalie's favorite...cheap plastic blocks.

Valentines Day...

Thanks to everyone who sent Valentines Day cards. Natalie will get a big kick out of them in a couple of years when she has a better understanding for Valentines Day. Natalie still enjoys the scrumpious cardboard. After exchanging our Valentines Day cards we all ate dinner together and then hung out as a family playing with Leonardo (Hallmark cat) before bedtime.

...Central Park in the fall-

Ok, so this is neither Central Park nor Fall, however, it was a very beautiful day outside. So, Natalie took in some swing action on this warm Sunday afternoon. She seems to enjoy the back and forth motion of the swing without mom and dads help. Needless to say, this hurts mom and dads feelings. Oh well, here are a few pictures of her day including her big pony ride and her sliding down the slide.

Booty scootin' boogie...

Natalie is starting to scoot around now. However, her current method is very unconventional. As she sits up she will thrust her upper body back and forth while lifting up on her legs. This is allowing her to move forward. She may be moving at a snails pace, but, she is getting around. While Grandma and Grandpa J were here she scooted back and forth on her blanket several times one evening. Watching her go back and forth is hilarious and the best part...no need to child proof the house just yet. We will post a video of Natalie in scootin' action sometime soon. Until then, here are some more pics of Natalie. The first picture is of Natalie waiting at the top of the stairs while mom and dad check to see if Santa came and the other picture is dad and Natalie practicing the back stroke.

Everyone has those outfits...

Remember looking back at some of the clothes you wore as a toddler and thinking to yourself, "what were you guys thinking." Well, in 18 years or so, Natalie may look back at this outfit with the same reaction. Nah, just kidding, she'll love it just as much as mom and dad...yeah right-

Caught in the act...

While we are still waiting to post about Natalie's first Christmas experiance we figured we would show some pictures of Natalie preparing the milk and cookies for the jolly ole man. As you can see, she could hardly contain her excitement...for the cookies.

A New Point of View...

Natalie has a new favorite thing to do with her dad...sitting on his shoulders. She loves to look at herself in the mirror while riding high in the air. For those faint of heart Josh always has his arms around Natalie's back.

In other news, Natalie had her first (and probably not last), ear infection along with a runny nose, cough and chest congestion. After a couple of trips to the doctor's and a prescription for Amoxicillin she is on the road to recovery. We were supposed to make our first trip to Danville this weekend, but since Natalie is still not feeling 100%Grandma and Grandpa J are making the trek to our house again. Hopefully there will be lots of time to rest and catch up on sleep!