Natalie's Top Ten

Natalie's Top Ten Favorite Things:

1. Butah our cat. She loves him so much. She has been following him around the house trying to pet him. So far he's been pretty ok about it, but I monitor closely so he doesn't scratch her.
2. Playing in the kids cup drawer. She does this several times a day. It's a real lifesaver when we are trying to get dinner made.
3. Anything that Ryland is playing with. Natalie loves Ryland and wants to be with her at all times.
4. Little things she can put in her mouth. Anything tiny that has been left on the floor will be found...by Natalie. It will then go straight into her mouth for inspection.
5. Markers. Whenever Ryland gets out the markers to color, Natalie crawls right to them. She has been pretty good about not putting them in her mouth. She has even done some coloring herself.
6. Outlets. Ours have protectors in them thankfully. Natalie loves to grab at the outlet in the hall and shake her head as if to say "no, no, no".
7. Books. Natalie loves playing with books. Opening them and turning the pages is one of her many talents. I'm assuming this love for books has come from us reading to Ryland nightly since the day Natalie was born.
8. Bathroom. Natalie is obsessed with the bathroom. We keep the door shut for this very reason. If not, I would be carrying her out of the bathroom every 2 minutes all day long.
9. Toy babies. Natalie seems to really love babies. She hugs them, pokes them in the eyes, holds them. She loves when Ryland leaves the drawer open with all her babies it in.
10. The IPad. Natalie can hear the IPad from a mile away, and once it's heard, she has to get to it. Whenever Ryland plays with it, Natalie insists on touching the screen and closing the cover. We usually resort to playing with it when Natalie has some other distraction to keep her occupied.

Almost One

Natalie is changing by the minute. Everyday there is something new with her, and before I tell you anything else, let me say that she is amazing. Before I had her, I couldn't understand that there could be anyone I loved as equally as I love Ryland. I didn't know there could be anyone as sweet, beautiful, and amazing. But, sure enough, Natalie was born and it turns out that her and Ryland balance out the scale.

Over the past few weeks Natalie has been standing up, trying to cruise around furniture, testing out new sounds she can make with her mouth, grinding her teeth, getting new teeth (she now has 6), and much much more. Yesterday we took the girls to have frozen yogurt, and this time Natalie even got to try some. She definitely enjoyed it, but it seems she enjoyed playing with my spoon even more. This little one's birthday is only a short time away. I love her so.

Nightgowns, Sun and Shopping!

Ryland showing off her new nightgown. She refuses to sleep in pants, so these are her favorite. Look at that sweet face...I sure do love her.

Last week we had a few really nice sunny days. We ventured out into the backyard and let the girls play. Ryland ran around the yard playing with all the outdoor toys she could find, while Natalie watched her and became seemingly jealous that Ryland could get to all the fun toys. Natalie is a very determined child. When she sees something she wants, she will find a way to it. The grass, however, slowed down her crawling, and she was not to happy about it.

Grocery shopping is now a ton of fun that the girls can sit together in the cart. Ryland kisses and hugs Natalie the majority of the time, while Natalie smiles and kicks her feet. Who knew grocery shopping could be so fun?

Dr. Suess's Birthday!

Yesterday I took the girls to the learning palace to celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday! We ate cake, played games, did crafts, and even listened to story time. Ryland had a lot of fun, and Natalie enjoyed crawling and grabbing things off of shelves in the store. Let's just say it was a workout for me!












On a side note, Natalie has been pulling herself up to standing more and more lately. It's a pretty cute site to see.

Fits and slides

Natalie seems to be growing by leaps and bounds the past few weeks. She has learned to crawl, stand (while holding on of course), and she even throws little fits when you stop her from doing something she wants to do. This girl has determination, she wants what she wants when she wants it. I have learned to be careful picking her up because she has already learned the "I'm gonna straighten my arms and arch my back so you can't pick me up" move. Ryland never really tried out that move, so it's a whole new thing for us. Natalie also loves food. She will even try eating things that aren't food. Yum! It's hard to believe that in just one week, she will be turning 11 months old. I have no doubt that she will be walking by her first birthday. We love this little girl so very much.

Ryland has also been a busy girl. We took her to a play place called Dizzy Castle yesterday, and she spent a good hour and a half venturing down every slide in the place (and she usually isn't a fan of slides). I think it's safe to say that she is now a huge fan! On the way home she told us how she was so proud of herself, and couldn't wait to go back. I'm proud of her too. She amazes me everyday!

Moving!

Well folks, we bought a house! Our plan was to move last Saturday, but weather decided to change those plans. The forecast called for snow, so we got right on it and moved, fast! It's been a wild few days, and we were snowed in at our new house all week (which gave us time to unpack). Trying to find snow clothes amidst all the boxes was almost impossible, but we did it. Life has not had much normalcy the last month, but slowly and surely it's getting there. Natalie and Ryland have done well with the big change. Natalie is pretty much crawling and getting into everything. She is even pulling herself up on whatever she can find. Ryland is loving the new backyard and constantly wants to go outside. We are loving our new place and can't wait to get everything put away in it's place.

Updates!

In the past few weeks, life has been full of new adventures for both of the Cook girls. Ryland recently started a one day a week co-op preschool that she absolutely loves. Champ and I are actually allowed to go with her and help out, which works nicely for all. Ryland gets to do crafts, circle time, open play, worksheets, etc. She seems to really enjoy being in a classroom with other friends and kids her age. She also really seems to love the teacher. Her first day there she told Champ to go help/play with the other kids, because she was busy talking and playing with her teacher. She is doing really well there, and has even opened up to the idea of her going by herself one day.

This is not artwork she did in school, but I thought i'd share it. She spent a lot of time coloring today, as I'm sure you can tell.



Natalie has also had a few adventures herself. A couple weeks ago she made it through her first car ride to Seattle. She slept most of the way, and luckily we didn't even have to stop once. I was so glad that she did well. She has not always been the happiest riding in the car, but seems to be getting much better as she gets older. While in Seattle we visited friends and family. The girls got to visit with their great grandma, who was very happy to see them. It was a busy but very fun trip.

Luckily the last few days have been pretty nice days, so we were able to enjoy a walk to the park. Natalie was all smiles, and I could see Ryland just wishing Spring would arrive soon.