Cool Things Natalie Has Been Up To

• Natalie has been working on putting her shoes on herself for a few days. I put all of her shoes in a little basket. She likes to take a pair out (usually matching) and move them around. The last couple days, she has tried to put them on her feet. She also likes to put them on her hands. She does this with my slippers, too.
  
• For a while, Natalie was singing the "C C C" part of "A Sailor Went to Sea," if we paused for her.
  
• Last night, Natalie moved her whole set of blocks from a beach bucket to a box and back around about twenty times. She loved how we clapped and cheered for her, so she kept doing it and looked up with a big smile each time she finished.
  
• She puts the ball from her basketball hoop through the hoop. She has to raise her hand up over her head and push it over the rim.
  
• Natalie likes standing in things. She will climb into the toy box, laundry baskets, or even the recycling bin at the library. Or, she will try to set into super small things like the lids of shoe boxes.
  
• She knows more body parts including her teeth, cheeks, tummy, and neck. She says nose and teeth.
  
• She rubs her hands together when they are dirty to show that they need to be washed. Or, she'll do it when we talk about washing or shampoo. When I wash her hands after she eats, she very cooperatively gives me one hand then the other.
  
• She knows the remote works to the TV. She has asked a couple times to have DVDs played, but I'm not sure she totally gets that the movie is on the DVD. When the TV is turned on, she runs to her pillow to sit down to watch, even if she doesn't stay sitting there for the show. She says TV to ask for it to be turned on. She doesn't get upset if you say we'll watch later. Natalie seems to be bothered by some things she sees on TV, especially anything remotely violent.
  
• She enjoys coloring and has a favorite crayon. When I draw her a picture of a kitty, she says kitty.
  
• Some days she is very interested in having many books read to her, and others almost none. She isn't pointing and labeling pictures much right now, though she was a couple weeks ago.
  
• Natalie has learned to stomp her feet, and sometimes will do it when you ask or if you ask her dance. She will dance if she gets really excited.
  
• Natalie says no all the time. Often she doesn't mean it, but sometimes she does. She will say no and point at something we've told her not to touch or do. She will say no if something doesn't go her way or she thinks is wrong, for example a couple times another child has pushed her or taken her toy away. More than once, she's yelled no out in her sleep!
  
• If you offer her two things, she will make a choice. For example, two books, two DVDs, or two flavors of something. But, she needs to see and hold them both to choose.
  
• She is getting better at hitting the hidden buttons in her stuffed toys to make them play music.
• She will brush her hair, my hair, or her doll's hair.
• In general, she is more interested in hugging her toys.
• She plays peekaboo behind our living room curtains.
• Natalie tries to blow on food that she thinks might be hot. For example, she was blowing when Mike sat her in chair last night and she saw her plate of food, even though she was still two feet away.
• She says Moo and Ba for a cow and sheep, but sometimes need a little help with the pronounceation.
• She can pull a shirt off over her head on her own once her arms are out.
• She can make a tower of three blocks pretty consistently.