Happy To You!

This morning, we had a visit from Santa. See, he said that although he knows we are going to Massachusetts this year for Christmas, he knows that airlines are charging crazy fees for extra bags (or bags that are overweight) so he thought he would go easy on us this year and deliver our goodies early. So when we got up this morning, he had been here. There were only presents for Natalie (I guess Todd and I weren't good this year). Later in the day, after opening presents, I told Natalie it was Jesus' birthday on the 25th and we should sing happy birthday to Him. So I sang the song, and afterwards, she walked around most of the day singing, "Happy To You! Happy To You! Happy To You!"

A visit with Santa

We took a little visit to the mall a couple of weekends ago to visit with the Big Man himself. SC. Santa Claus. Kris Kringle. Old Saint Nick. He was working at Pentagon Mall (you know, he makes toys during the week and works the malls as a weekend gig). We tried our best to prepare Natalie for her visit with Santa, but it didn't do much good. Todd took her to see him and to watch the other kids get on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. She got very excited, and kept pointing at him and saying, "Santa!" But of course, when it came time to sit on his lap, she didn't really like that idea at all. You can see by the pictures above, it went from "Cautious Natalie" to "Freaked Out Natalie" in about 5 seconds. Thankfully they snapped quickly (must be something they teach those elves at the North Pole!). Afterwards, we wandered around the big tree in the mall. Natalie looked so pretty in her Christmas dress. It made me a bit melancholy, thinking about how she looks so much older with every month that goes by. (Not that I didn't expect that to happen!). Now we anxiously await Santa's visit to Grami and Grampy's house, where we will be in Massachusetts for Christmas!

Thanksgiving Fun

 Despite the fact that Natalie and I both got sick over Thanksgiving break with a nasty cold (and mommy got a bladder infection and had to go to the ER on Thanksgiving evening), we had a great time on our trip to Florida!

 

  

The weather was amazing, and we had a good time with Nana, Pop Pop, Uncle CoCo, and Brianna. Thanksgiving dinner was AMAZING. Natalie LOVED Nana's noodles (also known as Memo, my grandmother's noodles). Brianna made an awesome sweet potato casserole that was delicious. Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Dave, and Dave's sister Susie and niece Lisa joined us for the best Thanksgiving dinner of my life. Even Natalie ate a lot. We walked the 5K Turkey Trot in Clearwater in the morning, so it was okay that we ate as much as we did. Other than stuffing ourselves, Todd and I also got to go out and finally celebrate our 3 year anniversary (Nov. 12). We went to Alfano's, which is where we had our rehearsal dinner. Then after a bottle of wine, we went to see "Role Models." It was SO funny, especially after all of that wine! My mom also got Natalie some bubbles, which we enjoyed outside almost every day. She loved them! Note to self...

 

 

Sam's 3rd birthday party

 

The day before we left for Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, we went to the soft play room at Lee District Rec Center for Sam's 3rd birthday party. He's one of Natalie's favorite kids at daycare. Natalie had a blast playing with the bigger kids. She especially enjoyed the ball pit. So much, she was quite content to just lay there and relax. She had a good time running around (well, running is a strong word for Natalie... more like walking like Frankenstein). Even when she fell, it didn't bother her. This all came about a half hour after she tripped on her shoes and smacked her forehead (pretty hard) on the coffee table. Poor kid!

 

 

Catching Up

November was a very busy month for us! In mid November, Natalie and I went to Atlanta for my friend Kristin's baby shower. She is having a baby girl (Renna) in January. Natalie slept through the whole shower, so that was a plus. We also got to see our friends Staci and Peter, and their kids, Kara, Gavin, and Owen (in the picture above with Natalie). (Staci and I were sorority sisters at Auburn). Natalie took her first major steps at the Cullinan house! Staci and I were holding our breath as she walked from the couch to the big chair and from the coffee table to the big chair in their family room. She finally started walking at almost 17 months, after almost a year of physical therapy. Yay Natalie!

 

Halloween picture

Here is a picture of Natalie dressed up for Halloween as an angel (or as I called her, "My Holy Terror!") We had lots of fun at Barbie's daycare Halloween party on Thursday (where we had a mini cupcake) and at the Fairlington Halloween party (where we had pizza) on Friday. Thankfully it was pretty warm this year (with temps nearing 70!) so she got to go out in her costume without a sweater on. Hooray for global warming! (Ha ha, just kidding!)

Vocabulary News

  Natalie continues to amaze us every day with her vocabulary. She always yells (yes, yells) CHURCH in the car whenever we pass a church. Not only does she know the word church, but she knows how to properly identify churches! (Okay, okay... sometimes she sees this one building on Little River Turnpike that has a spire on top of it that looks like a steeple and she yells, "CHURCH" but hey, she's pretty close!) A couple of nights ago, I put Natalie in her crib to go to sleep, and I kid you not- the kid goes, "I want some milk!" At 16 months old!!! For those who have no idea how many words a 16-month-old should have (and seriously, I had to look this up because I didn't even know), babycenter.com says, "Your 16-month-old may be able to say as many as 7 words..." and "A typical 2-year-old has a vocabulary of about 50 words (although some many more)" I just asked Todd how many words he thought Natalie had and he responded, "112." Thanks honey :-) It's definitely over 100, the kid even says sentences! She strings together 2-3 words frequently (Bye Bye Bus, Bye Bye Patrick, I love you, Hi Daddy, and more). Of course, she says most of these when prompted, but she definitely says them. She also has many unprompted sentences, including: "What's this? It's raining, All done. All gone. I got you. Come on" and more. She can identify planes, trucks, buses, and helicopters ("copter"). She doesn't always get these right though. If she is in a "boo bus" (or "school bus") kind of mood, most everything that is large and on the road will be a boo bus. But when she sees yellow school buses, she always yells, "BOO BUS!" She can even identify a plane by the sound it makes (even if she can't see it, she'll still say, "Airplane!" It sounds like, "Oh plane!") So anyway, she's a pretty smart cookie and we are VERY proud parents! How could you not be proud of a face like this one????

Swings and slides

 

 

Natalie really likes swinging in the bucket swing at daycare. In fact, most of the time, if I come to pick her up when she's in the swing, she will have a fit when I try to take her out. So of course, I punished myself and took her to the tot lot in our neighborhood today. It was a really pretty fall day today with temps in the upper 50s and LOTS of sun, so we made the most of it. Daddy was up in Massachusetts visiting his family. Mommy has training tomorrow in Tysons, so she and Natalie stayed behind. We had a nice girls day - we went to lunch at Luna Grill and enjoyed some time on the playground, where Natalie enjoyed the swing and the slide. And no, those pants aren't just too short for her (they're 12-18 months, well within the range!). They're little capris! (Thanks Mom, isn't she cute?). And I pulled her socks way up, just like daddy would do if he was here!

 

 

 

O-MAMA!

Natalie and Todd were playing on the couch today. CNN was on and they were showing a speech by Barak Obama. Natalie pointed at the TV and said, "Wassis?" (What's this?). Todd said, "It's Barak Obama."Natalie paused for moment, looked at him, looked back at the TV and exclaimed, "O Mama!"

Bless You!

This morning, Natalie was climbing up the stairs from her bedroom to the main floor. I was behind her making sure she didn't fall, and Todd was behind me as we slowly made our way up the stairway. Then Todd let out a massive sneeze, to which Natalie paused, turned around, and said, "Bless you!"

YAY, I'm raising a polite kid!