Archive for January, 2008
What on earth is she talking about?
Lately Natalie has been babbling with much more complicated combinations of syllables. Sometimes she babbles so urgently, like she’s trying to communicate something very important—but we can’t figure out what she’s trying to say. If you have any ideas about what the following phrases mean, please clue us in!
da-doo
ah-eee
na-nuu
ba-dub ba-dub ba-dub
we-o we-o we-o
ma-num ma-num ma-num
She’s also been experimenting with making her voice extremely nasal. Nasal like Fran Drescher with a bad cold. When she sounds nasal, she makes funny faces, like this:
Natalie sure keeps us laughing!
Happy 1st Birthday, David!
Or “Day-day,” as Natalie calls him…David looks very happy to be turning 1, doesn’t he? What a cutie!
“Read!”
“Read” is Natalie’s latest word, so I thought it would be a good time to list her favorite books. She’s loved books ever since we started reading to her, around 8 weeks old (why didn’t we start sooner?!?). So, here are Natalie’s favorites, in no particular order:
1. Anything by Sandra Boynton, especially Barnyard Dance, Moo Baa La La La, and But Not the Hippopotamus.
2. Books about animals. Natalie loves to make animal noises and also enjoys pointing out the animals and having her parents make the sounds. Some stand-outs are First 100 Animals, Touch and Learn Baby Animals, and Who Says Quack?
4. I Love My Mommy Because and I Love My Daddy Because. These two are a bit gendered in what Mommy does compared to what Daddy does, but not so much that it bothers me. Each page has a different parent/baby animal pair, which Natalie really likes. Grandma reads Natalie the spanish versions.
5. Owen and Mzee, the true story of a baby hippo who befriended an old, giant tortoise.
6. Jamberry. Natalie got this book as a gift when she was first born, but just started really liking it recently.
10. Time for Bed. More parent/baby animal pairs…
11. Who is…Peekaboo! Adorable cloth book by Jelly Kitten that doesn’t seem to be available anymore. I bought it at Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred, a local toy store that doesn’t appear to have a website. Imagine!
12. Baby Cakes. Very rhythmic.
There are probably some we forgot…We’re excited to introduce Natalie to some of our childhood favorites (many of which we have tattered copies of!) as she gets older. It will be fun to see if she likes the same books as we do!
Natalie’s Namesake
I realized that we never did a post explaining how Natalie got her first name. I’ve been thinking about it lately because Natalie is named after my late father, Nathaniel Weintraub, who died 18 years ago this month. Even after all these years, it’s still a difficult time of year for my family. Natalie is aptly named, as she embodies much of my Dad’s sweet and funny spirit. I’m sad she’ll never get to meet her namesake, but I’ll be sure to show her pictures and tell her stories about her Grandpa.
Here’s a picture of me with my Dad and David. It looks like I’m around the age Natalie is now:
Latest Growth Statistics
We took Natalie for her 1 year check-up a month late…between her birthday and the holidays and her being sick, it got pushed back. She had her blood drawn for a blood count and a lead level. We haven’t heard from the doctor’s office, which means she’s fine. Whew—all the reports about lead in toys had us a little worried, even though Natalie didn’t have any of the recalled toys. Here are Natalie’s latest growth statistics (I’m not sure why the statistics are less precise):
Weight: 21 pounds (between 25 and 50%)
Height: 31 inches (between 75 and 90%)
I just looked back and realized that Natalie has only grown by 1 pound and 1 inch since her 9 month visit. I think she actually may have gained weight around Christmas—she was all of a sudden feeling really heavy. Then she may have lost weight due to her illness-induced low appetite and her learning to walk. It’s also strange that she’s only grown 1 inch, because she seems so much taller than she did at 9 months. But again, maybe that’s due to walking and standing up straighter. Funny how she seems so much bigger than she did 4 months ago, but in reality this is the least amount of growth between doctor visits yet. I also just noticed that she’s tripled her birth weight and grown 10 inches in 1 year!
Here’s a picture of Natalie doing one of her favorite new activities—picking up rocks from our driveway! A future geologist, perhaps? Wouldn’t Aunt Katy be proud!!
