Laughing Girl

Ok, so we've been trying to get Natalie to laugh for some time now but she just never seemed to cross the threshold - we got alot of smiles and an occasional squeal but not a belly laugh. Well that has changed! This afternoon we were just hanging out in the office and Matt and I were making faces and just being silly. I'm not sure why, but today she started cracking up at Matt making noises with his mouth. Check out the video and pictures.

HAPPY GIRL!!! (It's gotta be tha shoes)

Yesterday I was buying groceries at our lovely Mr. Wal's market and I stopped in the baby-stuff isles. I bought Nat a cute pair of pink sneakers that caught my eye because they looked just like a mini-version of Erica's running shoes. Later, I thought to myself "Natalie will probably hate these because they're heavy and clunky compared to her other shoes" (I know - it's not like she's putting any mileage on any of her shoes yet). But, Erica keeps ensuring me that decoration is important.

Anyway, I dressed her in her little hot-pink hoodie this morning and laced those puppies up, AND SHE LOVED IT !!!! Check her out!! Am I raising a Yoga instructor or track star (or maybe a little DJ or Emcee). I don't know why she got so happy but she sure is cute!

Natalie says "MA-MA" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We finally got video proof of Erica's claim that Nat can say "MA-MA". She says it almost right-off-the-bat at the start of the video, but Erica doesn't realize it an keeps asking her to say it. Erica claims that "MA-MA" was her first word, but she says it soooooo quietly and sweetly here that you'd think it was her first time...hmmmmmmm... :) I am very proud to say, however, that she still says "DA-DA" alot. Yes, now she usually yells out "DA-DA-DA-DA!!!" at the top of her lungs whenever she is fussy, grumpy, gassy, mad, frustrated, or otherwise ticked-off! Lucky me?

SUPER-ULTRA YOGA NAT !!!!

Okay, in the past few weeks I mentioned that I'm afraid I'm raising a little actress / spokes model. Well, no more!!! Now I'm afraid that I'm raising a champion athlete / yoga instructor / martial arts master!

If you've been reading this thing, you know that Natalie has been up on her knees for more than a month now trying to figure out crawling. It now seems that she got frustrated because she wasn't moving forward and decided to started Yoga-posing instead! I have no idea where she is getting this from, but Erica and I find it shockingly impressive and hilarious. Enjoy our not-quite-6-month-old baby doing "Downward Dog and The Plank"!

Beautiful Aunt Debbie and Big Uncle Jim visit

My Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jim from Ohio got a chance to drop in this past week and meet little Natalie in person! She was tired in these pictures, but we took her out to eat at La Hacienda Ranch and she woke right up! She was excited by the new people and the new surroundings and wanted to eat enough to keep up with the adults (she even tried to eat the tablecloth!) We had a wonderful visit and a very enjoyable "family night out" adventure. We hope to see them again really soon.

P.S. - Natalie says "Thank you for the clothes and goodies!!!!!!"

Sit up for syrup!

Erica made pancakes for breakfast this morning , so there I was just hangin' out with my girls in the office and pigging out. Erica was playing with Natalie and trying to make her sit up (she's been doing great at sitting over the past few days). Well, little miss curious locked eyes with the syrup bottle and sat up straight as an arrow! She was staring at it so hard that I was forced to give in and hand it over. Cuteness ensued.....





Natalie cracks me up - she is becoming a camera show-off! Check out this second video. After she licks up the syrup, she gets a sugar rush maybe (?) and then does a happy little "wiggle dance" thing where she rocks back and forth. Then, when I tell her I'm proud of her, she smiles
right on cue.

As if being a new daddy wasn't freaking me out enough, now I'm beginning to suspect I may be raising an aspiring actress. Or syrup spokesmodel. Hey Mrs Butterworth - step off!!! Natalie Zook's in da house!

"Stuck" under the coffee table

my dear sweet little daughter is learning how to get around on the floor... one night i put her down next to the couch and got up to get some dinner. when i came back, she had managed to roll herself underneath the coffee table. looks like we're gonna have trouble :-0

DA-DA??

You be the judge.....is she saying da-da? we think so. I am happy to say that these were not her first words, only her first words caught on camera. What was her first word? - Mama (of course!!) :-)