So Silly

Natalia has some new favorites.

When crying: "Oh Buggy"

(One of her nicknames is Buggy. Don't ask me why. The phrase is accompanied with a shaking of the head and is generally only used when she is have a temper tantrum (or winding down from one). But the crying, referring to herself in the third person, and the pitiful sound of her voice is just precious.)

When she has hurt herself: "Ice . . . Whale Ice."

(We have reusable plastic ice cubes in different shapes that she likes to put on her ouchie. Favorites are the whale shaped one and the bunch of bananas one. Hence, whale ice)

At something surprising: "Oh Gosh" and "How Bout That"

(Papa would be so proud)

Upon picking up my purse (or anything resembling a purse) and putting it on her shoulder: "Have Fun! See you soon."
Then she'll walk out the door to whatever room we are in, close the door, turn around and knock:
"Hello . . . Who's there?"
Open the door, come back in, and say "Hi . . . Good bye. Have fun! See you soon."
(This game is repeated at least 5 times.)

In reaction to anything Nana does: "Silly Nana . . . so silly Nana."
(Again, this is generally accompanied with a shake of the head and a smile.)

Once Upon A Time . . .

Once upon a time there was sunshine, and blue sky, and days at the park with Ava.

We spent the afternoon climbing

And sliding

And playing with Mommy's camera.

And it was wonderful!!!

How Do You Hide Vegetables?

Natalia has not been the best eater in the world. She LOVED to nurse, but food - not so much. (Seriously, are we sure this is my daughter?) The child lives on fruit, chicken and cheese. Not the most well rounded diet in the world.

I decided to try and "hide" vegetables in food that she may or may not eat. Let's be realistic here. She will likely not eat it. In fact, she will most likely take one look and then spit out her tongue, shake her head (she loves to feel her hair whip across her face) and start chanting "NO." So this whole "hiding vegetables in food so Natalia will have a well rounded diet" is really nothing more than a way for me to mush up food, make fun colored pasta, and try and get myself to eat more vegetables.

But I digress.

As I was saying, I was trying to get Natalia to eat more vegetables. I had made some spinach-carrot brownies earlier in the day (quite good) and had some beet puree left over beet puree from something or other. So I decided to make beet-spinach gnocchi.

Natalia really wanted to help.

Please, Mamma, please can I help

So she got to help.

And what a helper she was. After asking for a "tiny spoon" she decided to fill an empty ice cube tray with the gnocchi mixture. I think that she got at least half of the tray full.

Thirty minutes later we all sat down for dinner. I dished her up her regular tray of pears, cheese, and chicken but added a little gnocchi this time. Did she eat any of it?

Are you kidding me!?!? Of course not!!! (But it sure was fun to feed to Odin.)

Does she like to eat Play-doh that is the same color? But of course!!!

How about quarters, plastic eggs or Odin's toys. Yum yum.

What about pink gnocchi? Yuck, don't make me puke!!!!

Oh well. At least I got my vegetables for the day.

New Landscaping

Odin has long helped us landscape our front yard. It now has some lovely water features (aka water filled holes he dug) and some nice areas of soil reclamation (piles of dirt from the holes he dug).

Natalia loves to be outside. She loves to help. So what could be better than helping us garden? Nana bought Natalia a little hoe and spade and now they work in the front yard together.

Didn't they make a nice trench?

Right Side Up

Natalia has really started talking. My favorite new word of hers is

"up-a-si-down"

Last night was spent turning books, baby dolls, Mickey, Elmo, teddy bears, etc. upside down. Always accompanied by "up-a-si-down". The little extra "a" is what gets me.

Round One Goes To . . .

I don't think there is anything cuter in the world than children who dress themselves. This probably stems from the fact that my mom let us choose our outfits when we were little, and really, who don't look at childhood photos of themselves and think that they were adorable. (I don't mean the glasses and braces photos - those are just painful. I mean the photo of the 3 year old with blue cords, a green velour dress, a striped t-shirt, and shoes on the wrong feet. The priceless ones.)

Well Natalia decided to follow in her mothers footsteps. In the past couple of weeks she has started to have very strong opinions about what she wants to wear. I am no longer allowed to just pick out her outfit. In fact, the first thing that I pick out is generally UNACCEPTABLE!!! Getting dressed was turning into a round of an Ultimate Fighting Competition. So I decided to let the child have some say. I mean really, so long as she is covered, I see nothing wrong with her going out in her princess dress if she wants. (Which, by the way, is how we went to the supermarket yesterday.)

And that is how we ended up wearing blue camo pants, pink sandals, and a brown spotted shirt. With "Cookie . . . Back" and "Big Bird . . . Here"

I must say I'm pretty impressed. She got her shoes on the right feet.

Mama Rock

Natalia has a thing for Paul Simon. She has known how to ask for Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes since she could say "A-wa . . . a-wa"

But recently, she has become obsessed with Love Me Like A Rock. She will now come up to me when I'm sitting at the computer and say "Mama . . . Rock"

Always, "Mama . . . Rock."

It is, in fact, what we are listening to right now.

My First Valentine's Day Party

My Mom's Group decided to have a Valentine's Day party for our little ones. We all gathered at Lisa's house for a delicious brunch and a fun Valentine exchange. Lisa created these cute personalized "mailboxes" for all the kids so that they could exchange Valentines.

Natalia got to put Play-Dough in the mailboxes which made a very gratifying "thump" each time she dropped a little tub in.

She and Ava took their mailboxes and emptied them out together. She especially loved the sticker Valentines she got from her friends.

Mommy loves them too.

I am still finding big stickers all over her cloths (she decorated herself once we got home). She also seemed to be in the Valentine's Day spirit the entire weekend and helped spread love throughout the house. Every day brings one more special find - a little piece of sticker stuck to the floor, legs of chairs, her car seat, a book, or Odin the dog.

Mas Yo-yo Por Favor

Natalia has missed her Opa. He was away all weekend at a seminar in Vegas and didn't appear until this morning. She immediately perched herself on his knee (yoga style no less).


She didn't budge from her perch until he got out a yo-yo and started showing her how to use it.


They then spent much of the morning winding up the yo-yo and doing tricks. Every time Opa thought he was finished Natalia would say,

"Mas . . . Mas."

"Po ta bo" (we were having a Spanish morning)

He would look at her for about two seconds, consider the other things he should be doing (like putting on his shoes), and then say,

"Okay. One more time."

She probably got 15 "one more times" before they wandered off. That little girl has Opa wrapped around her pinkie so tight I think her finger might be losing circulation.

What A Little Stinker

Natalia is not even two years old and the child that "a bite" is a very subjective kind of thing.



When told that she needed to take "one more bite" of her chicken before she got her gummy vitamins (which is genius by the way - what kid doesn't want to have to eat gummy bears every day?) she took a teeny tiny bite of chicken that was

this big

When she was later told that she could have "one bite" of ice cream, she shoved the entire cone in her mouth and took a bite that was

this big

It's not even like she has an older sibling to learn these things from. (Unless you count Opa - which maybe I should.)

Rain Rain Go Away

Or don't.

I kind of like my raincoat.

My Little Beanstalk

What a difference a year and a half makes. Unbelievable.