7 mo. old, Christmas and Teeth

Natalie is 7 months old today! She now weighs 17 lbs. 4 oz. (she was at the pediatrician's yesterday to check out her ears). And she has 2 teeth and 2 more on their way. I'm surprised I didn't mention it in the last post because her first two teeth (bottom front teeth) broke through on December 13. Now, the next two (top front) are starting to make their way out -- they haven't broke through yet but hopefully will soon and Natalie will get back to sleep well again! It's exciting to see her little teeth and her new smile but I have to admit I miss her gummy grin :)

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Both sides of our families came to North Carolina for Natalie's first Christmas. We had guests for 10 days. My parents, sister and nephew came out on the Sunday before Christmas. Emile's parents arrived on Tuesday night. Due to snow in Chicago, my brother didn't arrive until very early on Christmas Eve morning. It was great having both our families here! I loved having a big family get together for the holidays. Natalie loved seeing everyone. She's not used to having a lot of people around and so it took a little while for her to get used to everyone. She took to my brother though right away without crying at all. It was the first time my brother had met her and been to our house. The last of our guests (Emile's parents) left this evening.

Banging Blocks

This past Sunday, Emile taught Natalie how to bang her blocks together. She's gotten pretty good at it since then. One of her new favorite past times.

Natalie hanging out in her play yard.

Posing with Mommy and Papa:

6 month appointment

Natalie had her 6 month appointment yesterday with Dr. Parkerson. She now weighs 16 lb. 8.5 oz. (60th percentile) and is 25.5" long (40th percentile). Her noggin is in the 90th percentile!! Must be to hold all her smarts :). Dr. Parkerson said she's doing great and has no concerns. Natalie did end up getting a bit of a fever today from the shots she got yesterday but it's dropped again and she's doing better.

We also decided to cut remaining "mohawk" dark hair that she still had from birth on down the center of her head. It's amazing how much her blond hair shines through now after cutting her "mohawk" shorter which got rid of a lot of the dark brown hair she had at birth. Plus, it's not hanging in her eyes anymore. I had been holding out cutting it because it was her baby hair -- I didn't want it to be gone yet but I guess it was time. These photos were taken after trimming her bangs.

First Sint Nicolaas Dag

Friday, December 5, was Sint Nicolaas Dag (Saint Nicholas Day). In Dutch tradition, we put Natalie's shoe by the front door that night for Sinterklaas to bring her gifts. We were also supposed to leave a carrot for Sinterklaas' horse but we didn't have any so we left him a tangerine. Her shoe looked so cute sitting there. Picus was curious as to what was going on.


Natalie's Oma and Opa sent some items to leave her from Sinterklaas. There were two bibs for her and lots of good Dutch cookies and candies for us!



Yesterday, we went to a tree farm to pick out Natalie's first Christmas tree. Our friends, Stephanie, Jason and their son, Dylan, joined us.

Papa set up the tree with Natalie.

Today, Natalie and I put on lights and decorated.
Another cute photo of Natalie and Papa.

6 months old and visit with Santa

It's Natalie's Half-Birthday today! Our baby girl is 6 months old! She's getting so big! To celebrate, we took her to see Santa today. She did such a great job. We thought she would cry when she sat on Santa's lap but she was all smiles. I think she was contemplating how to grab his beard. She looked so cute. She's wearing the outfit my parents got us last Christmas when we told them we were having a girl.

We also opened up the Leap Frog Activity Table that Emile's cousin, Astrid, got Natalie for her birth. She's now old enough to enjoy it. She loved it. It was great watching her figure out how things work on the table.

She also went to her first birthday party today. My friend's (Stephanie's) son Dylan had his 1st birthday party today. Natalie and I got there just in time to see him dig into his cake. She seemed to enjoy looking around at all the little kids.

Yesterday, Natalie finally got to meet my friend Jimmie and her daughter, Elena, who is now 16 months old. This was my first time meeting Elena also. It was great to see them. Natalie enjoyed trying to grab (common theme!) and eat her hair. Elena was very cute when she went to hold Natalie's hand and give her kisses. Jimmie's husband, Mick, and Emile joined us for lunch also.

Natalie is now a pro at sitting in her bebepod.

We're trying to get her to practice rolling from her back to her belly. She hasn't been so into it the last couple of days but has a few times. Here are a few photos of her trying.

Natalie is also very interested in textures lately. She's rubbing her hands and nails over everything she can get her hands on.