Archive for February, 2008
14 Months Old!
Natalie is 14 months old this month! She wants to walk all the time and refuses to hold our hands, which makes walking anywhere near cars or streets (pretty much everywhere) difficult. If I pick her up, she arches her back, raises her arms and kicks her feet in an attempt to get down. I used to think they were cruel and stupid, but now I totally understand why someone invented leashes for kids. I may break down and get one, but in the meantime, I’m trying to teach her to stay on the sidewalk.
Natalie is always happy to go for walks:
She gets very excited when the wind blows:
Five of the six teeth she’s been working on since she was 11 months old have popped, so she now has 13 teeth, including her first two bottom molars. She seems to be teething again still, so she may get even more teeth soon. According to this chart, Natalie’s teeth are coming in way ahead of schedule. With 13 out of 20 teeth popped already, maybe there’s hope that she’ll be finished with teething sooner rather than later.
One of the things we love about Natalie is her sense of humor and infectious laughter. We never know what is going to cause her dissolve into hysterics. Lately, she’s laughed hardest over unexpected things like dirty water pouring out of an outdoor planter, watching Daddy spinning a basketball on his finger, me trying to balance a giant exercise ball on my head, or kicking a rock on the ground as we walk. Since Natalie’s laughing fits take us by surprise, we never have the camera ready. By the time we try to recreate the situation for the camera, the joke is old and Natalie doesn’t laugh.
This month Natalie became very adamant about using utensils to feed herself. Since she’s no longer content to pick up food with her fingers, mealtime has become very messy and long (it takes forever for her to get things onto spoons and forks). We started by giving her sticky foods (like yogurt and guacamole) so she could practice with the spoon and have some success before having to learn the actual scooping motion. She never liked yogurt before because she didn’t tolerate being spoon-fed, but now that she’s doing it herself, she’s a big fan. Now she’s practicing stabbing food with a fork.
Getting yogurt all over her face:
Enjoying guacamole:
Eating pasta with a fork like a big girl:
Our favorite hang-out
Natalie loves visiting the animals at Terhune Orchards (plus they have a farm store with produce!) so it’s become our favorite weekly outing. Pictures from yesterday:
Re-entering the work force…
That’s right! This Mama is returning to the world of full-time paid work. Although my plan all along had been to go back to Womanspace full-time at some point, it was still a difficult decision. In early January I approached my boss about coming back full-time in June when Natalie turned 18-months-old. She agreed, then came back to me a couple of weeks later and said there was an immediate opening for a full-time counselor. There might be another position in 6 months, but no guarantees. My initial reaction to think, “Oh, no! I can’t possibly ABANDON my BABY this soon!!!” Just a bit irrational, I know. After much thought and debate, I feel confident that this is the right choice for our family. And ever since we made the decision, I’m finding that I can’t wait until March 3 when I start.
Part of what made us feel better about the decision was finding the right day care. After doing much research and a few site-visits, we settled on The Goddard School in Hamilton. We liked the center, the directors, the teachers in the infant room, and the school’s policies. It feels like a community, whereas other day cares we visited felt like institutions. We know the adjustment period may be hard on Natalie, but we’re confident that once she gets used to the routine, she’ll love going to school. We’ve been the school twice now, and both times Natalie was eager to explore the classrooms, point out all the animals on the hallway mural, and interact with the other children. Natalie’s grandmothers have generously agreed to continue spending 1 day a week with her, so she’ll only go to Goddard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
We’ll keep you posted on how the transition goes.