Loving baby

Bridger is turning into a major mamas boy lately. If he hears my voice or sees me and then walk away he will cry with that sad little face and it melts my heart.

He gives the best hugs I've ever had. He'll grab hair, or the neck or face or whatever he can get his little hands around and pull you close. Don't underestimate this boy's strength! He gives great slobbery french kisses. My favorite is when holding him and walking around he really holds on. I guess this becomes a learned behavior when Mom is lugging other kids around too.

He loves to laugh. He loves to be tickled. He even laughs if he anticipates a tickle. It reminds me of my little brother who used to laugh if you even looked at his neck.

Last but not least, Bridger is learning how to move forward. Not crawling, but he has moved about 12" at a time.

I LOVE THIS BOY!!

Scary Neighbors

No, no, we really do have great neighbors but there's a certain little girl that doesn't seem to know what a neighbor is. Let me explain...

Being in a town house we are bound to hear little bumps in the night and Natalynn will open her eyes wide, look side to side and say, "I hear something!" Once she assumed it was a monster. We clarified by saying, "It's the neighbor."

Tonight while getting her ready for bed the sun was shining through her curtains and black sheets that were draped over the curtains to block the light. It did look a little creepy and the air conditioning was blowing on them, causing them to sway. She looked at this with her scared face and said "Scary neighbors!"

Other cute imaginings: she's been holding her fist out to us saying "It's Kenna" or It's a wolf" and the latest, "It's a monster." We play along by talking to Kenna, or the wolf, or the monster.

She also loves monsters. If I use a low voice she always gets excited saying "Be a monster Mommy!"

Speaking Clingon

I guess I've never posted anything about Natalynn's very own language. Here are some examples:
Shanang Shanang
Shwoday Doe Dake
Nang Nang
GayDake
DayGate
OK Dake!

She repeatedly says these at random times. I've tried to figure out if they are names or objects but am unable to translate. Is this spooky or is it just very late?

She came up with her own name of Chinni and she believes a bird says "la lurr la lurr..." when she was younger she insisted that a frog says "wee o wee o"

Olives are a favorite at our house, for obvious reasons, but here they are so well loved that we have them for dessert. If Chinni eats all her food, she gets 10 olives! Low carb diet anyone?

oops!

March 22 is the pathetic date of my last blog. Oops. Lets start with Bridger. On May 30, Brigham's birthday Bridger had his first food- rice. (Check back later for pictures) He needed no teaching or practice to learn how to eat. He loved it. About a week ago he tried mashed bananas but doesn't seem to like them much.

Every time I brag about how well he's sleeping he has a horrible night. So I won't. But you get the idea.

We are trying a reward system for Natalynn where she earns tickets and redeems them for prizes. It is going very well but more importantly it teaches Mom how to look for the positive and show her how proud I am of her. She went to her cousin's house for a while today and we heard that she was very good at sharing! It's so great to see progress and feel like you're a half-decent parent part of the time.

Yesterday at my doctor's office we were waiting in the lobby for 15 minutes or so. She was quite the chatter box. She greeted the front desk women, then we were called back 30 seconds later and said "Hi" again but with more detail this time- "I have a poopy diaper." As if the whole office needed to know. She was as patient as she could be with an irritating mess in her pants but soon resorted to lying on the floor, spinning in circles and calling out "Change my diaper, I'm poopy!..." Wow, I think my face was bright red, but what can you do when they don't even have a changing table?

Bridger is still a smiley, laughter loving cutie pie. He is a love magnet! He is great at rolling but is usually a bit lazy about it unless he really wants to reach that cool toy. He's trying to sit. He has a great vocabulary of roars and grunts, and both girly and manly giggles. The thing I love lately are the sounds he makes just before falling to sleep. He has a high little "ahhh" and is then out like a light.

Oh yes, last thing is how much Natalynn loves bedtime (can you believe it?). This is due to one little treasure: "The Mouse About the House" The only time she gets to read this book is just before bedtime and sometime she even wants to skip dinner to go read it.

Driving Lessons