MIA

Shame on me...no blog posts for two weeks! Things have been a little hectic in the Bray household. In case you hadn't heard, I decided to take a contract position with my old employer and I started back working on the 15th. It's really a great opportunity though because I can work part-time from home with a completely flexible schedule. I've been working about an hour during the day during one of Natalie's naps and then for a few hours in the evening after she goes to bed. But, sadly, it doesn't leave much time for blogging. However, I promise I will squeeze in some blog time since I've been admonished by a few of you lately for my lack of updates!

Here is a photo that I took with my phone when we visited Grandgirl yesterday. It was a beautiful afternoon and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Grandgirl looked great and was in good spirits! Natalie had fun entertaining everyone and even found the horn button on Grandgirl's chair.

Rocking the Faux Hawk

Natalie was rocking a pretty rad faux hawk after her bath this evening. I can't wait until it's long enough to put in a little pony tail on top like Pebbles!

Climbing The Stairs

As if she hasn't already discovered enough ways to get in trouble, now Natalie has figured out how to climb stairs. Don't worry, the baby gates have been ordered and will be installed A.S.A.P. In the meantime, we're not letting that little stinker out of our sight!

Escape Artist

I'm sad to report that it is the end of an era....the Bumbo is finally being retired. Yesterday I put Natalie in the Bumbo on the kitchen floor and a moment later Allen said, "Did you take here out of there?" "No," I replied, and I look over to see Natalie crawling across the kitchen floor. So we put her back in the Bumbo and grabbed the video camera. See for yourself.

Fun With Chimes

Allen attached chimes to Natalie's hands the other morning to keep her entertained. But she ended up having more fun looking at and "kissing" the baby in the reflection of the stove.

Self-Feeding Gone Wrong

Dinner has become quite the messy battle these days. Natalie has started trying to assert her independence by batting the spoon away. This would be all well and fine if she could feed herself, but she's not quite to that point yet. The other night she had already made such a mess fighting me over broccoli and carrots, that I just dumped the purees on her high chair tray and let her go at it. I figured she couldn't really get much messier at that point. Boy was I wrong. Here's the video of the aftermath. She likes to squeeze the food in her hand and if you look closely you can see her doing a funny tensing/shaking thing when she squeezes the food.

Soaking up the Sun

Yesterday was such a beautiful day in Atlanta! Even though the temperature only reached the 50s, it was a much-needed relief from the unseasonably cold and generally crappy weather we've been having lately. After running some errands in the afternoon, we spread a blanket in the grass in our front yard and enjoyed some sunshine. Natalie seemed to enjoy it, although I think she was just content to gnaw on our bottles of water.

Showing off her bottom teeth.

And her top ones too!

Chillaxin with Daddy.

Swinging with Mommy.

Pulling Up is Fun!

Shortly after learning how to crawl, Natalie figured out how to get up onto her knees to play. That satisfied her for, oh, a day or two before she figured out how to pull up to a stand on some low objects around the house. Now she pulls up on EVERYTHING! The couch, the side of the bed, the stairs. Yikes. Mainly she likes to pull up on me though. I'm like a human jungle gym. I didn't know that was part of the Mommy job description.

At the cost of a few tear-filled tumbles, resulting in some bumps and bruises, Natalie is finally rather skilled at staying on her feet. At first she wouldn't let go with either of her hands, but now she can use one hand to play and the other to keep her balance.

This pulling up thing is a piece of cake:



Standing and playing with my new favorite toy:

Crawling Skillz - She Has Them

Natalie's crawling skills have come a long way in just a few short weeks. In these video clips, she looks less like a clumsy baby and more like a predator huting down its prey. Or in this case, the shiny camcorder. Baxter makes a lovely cameo in the second clip.

The sprint:




The marathon:

Barley Teething Biscuits...Surprisingly Delicious!

Over the lasts few weeks, I have been trying to introduce Natalie to finger foods and start her down the incredibly messy road to self-feeding. She is finally beginning to show a little interest and has managed to pick up a few small pieces of food with her index finger and thumb (pincer grasp) and get them into her mouth. Yesterday I bought a box of Earth's Best Barley Teething Biscuits at Whole Foods and gave one to Natalie while I was heating up her dinner. She was pretty fascinated with it for all of five minutes and managed to gnaw off a little bit of one end. But pretty soon she lost interest and dropped it on the floor no less than 5 times, breaking it into more and more pieces with each successive toss from the high chair. Not being one to let overpriced organic food go to waste, I ate the rest of it for her. It tasted like a "healthy" graham cracker. Not bad!

This thing is shaped like a remote control. That must mean that it goes in my mouth.

Tastier than the remote, but still not impressed.