6-Month Stats

Natalie's appointment with the pediatrician went well yesterday. She's continuing to grow and hit all the milestones. He was especially impressed by her ability to sit up on her own. Here are her latest stats:

Height - 26.5 inches
Weight - 18.0 lbs
Head Circumference - 16.5 inches

We'll go back again in 3 months. I can't wait to see how big she is then!

Six Months Old

Natalie is 6 months old today! Where has the time gone?! She is really into everything these days, grabbing at whatever she can reach. Allen and I learned just how far her reach extends the other day when we sat her in the Bumbo so we could eat our breakfast. A moment later, I turned around and thought, "How did she get into coffee grounds?" Allen was as confused as I was, thinking, "How did she get pepper all over herself?" As it turns out, she was a wee bit too close to a potted plant and had grabbed a handful of potting soil. Luckily only a little bit made it into her mouth. But I'll tell ya, it brought a whole new meaning to the term "dirty" diaper.

In addition to perfecting the art of grabbing everything in sight, Natalie is now rolling in both directions, passing objects from one hand to another, and sitting up by herself for short periods of time. She doesn't seem too interested in learning to crawl quite yet, but I'm sure she'll surprise me one day by just deciding that she's ready and going for it.

Tomorrow we have her 6-month checkup with the pediatrician and I'll report back with her latest stats. I'm pretty sure the pediatrican is going to tell us that she's ginormous - - but in a good way. Also, stay tuned for Natalie's first experience with cereal on Saturday!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

A friend of mine gave Natalie this adorable bunting. It is super-soft and, best of all, it has ears. I'm not sure what it is about putting little animal ears on a baby's head, but it just makes them even cuter. Natalie will surely stay warm and cozy on our winter walks and errands.

My, what adorable ears you have!

All the better to hear you with, Mommy. Until I turn two and stop listening.

Our First Real Christmas Tree

Let's just say that in the past, I have not been really big on decorating for Christmas. Between Allen traveling, neither one of us taking vacation days around the holidays, and never hosting any of the family get-togethers, for the past several years I was only motivated enough to hang a wreath on the front door and call it a day. And that was just to avoid having people think that we were a couple of Scrooges. This year, however, we'll be spending a lot more time at home and we have much more of a reason to celebrate! So, after years of putting it off, we finally got our first real Christmas tree! I think it looks beautiful and I love coming downstairs and catching a whiff of that Christmas smell. Most of all I think Allen and I are looking forward to setting it on fire after New Years :) Outside, of course!

You know it's time to put the bouncy seat away when...

It quickly goes from sitting peacefully in the bouncy seat with a toy:

To accidentally dropping the toy on the floor:

To performing acrobatics to retrieve the toy that would make Cirque du Soleil proud:

Natalie's First Swing at the Park

Natalie and I stopped by Brook Run park yesterday. Since she has been sitting up so well, I figured that she is probably ready to try out the bucket swings. I got a pretty lukewarm reaction from her...she didn't seem to love it, but she didn't seem to hate it either. Hey, that's a success in my book! We'll try again soon when the weather is nice, but next time I won't wait so close to nap time and maybe I'll get a better reaction out of her.

Too high, mom! I don't know about this!!

OK, that's better. I can see how this might be fun.

Fine, I'll give you ONE smile for the camera.

Sitting Pretty

Natalie is now starting to sit up on her own for short stretches. It's amazing how quickly her balance has improved. Just a week ago she would topple right over! I shot this video this morning; feel free to mute my commentary - I don't realize how annoying I sound until I play the video back ;)