What to Write?

I feel like I should write because I haven't done so in a while, but at the same time, I don't feel there is too much to tell.

Life has been carrying on at a pretty steady pace the last week or so. We had a big leap in her achievements where she learned to put objects into a container and peg through a circle and she learned to walk, but since then, things are plugging on steadily again.

Having a walking Natalie thus far hasn't been a change like all the parents I run into warn it will be. Maybe I'll be eating my words later, but things haven't been that different. Before, she crawled off into every room of the house and pulled up on the furniture. Now, she just walks there. I really don't see her learning to walk as the problem, but more that she is going to start understanding me and choosing not to listen. For example, right now when I ask her to come here, she doesn't understand what I'm asking, so she can't comply. If I don't want to carry her or hold her hand, I have to trick her into following me where I want her to go by making her chase me or holding something she wants. As she gets older, that isn't going to work.

Anyway, I've been enjoying seeing her walking around. It took Mike longer to get used to it than me, and still every once and while, I'm surprised at the sight of her. This afternoon after our walk, I took Natalie into the backyard with me. Mike saw the empty stroller and joined us. I sat in the grass and he sat on the deck steps. Natalie then walked over to him, climbed the steps, turned around and tried to go down the steps, then walked back to me. She did this like ten times. She loved the game and we loved it, too.

I used to feel like I had a silent partner to my days, but not anymore. Not only is Natalie constantly babbling (or jargoning as the book calls it), but she makes her wants and opinions known much more now. She yells when she isn't being fed as much as she wants, which is a big issue recently. (Of course this brings up all my worries about feeding. Is my supply dropping off and she is more hungry for solids? Does she not know when she isn't hungry and just likes eating?) She comes over to me to snuggle much more. And she said Dada and snuggled with Mike more today than she has in the past. Come to think of it, that is probably because he took her to the store without me and they got some bonding time alone. She's been saying "tada" in the right situation and "hi" into toys she holds up to her ear. She laughs when you make a new funny face or sound, or when she gets a toys she's been pointing at. She's been handing us things when we ask for them and smiles big when we say thank you. And, when she is ready to nurse, she will walk into the bed room, stand beside the bed, and suck her thumb, waiting for me to come join her. (We wonder if when she walks out to her chair in the kitchen she is also saying she wants food, but she does this so often, I don't think it can be the case).

Basically, she isn't just a cute little somebody hanging out with me. She's starting to show more of herself. Its like she is blossoming, and I love it. Its to nice to get a snuggle and know its because she loves me. Or to make her smile or laugh because I figured out her needs correctly.

Mike's currently waiting for me to come watch a movie, so I have to end, but two more notes first. 1). The weather has started to turn to fall. I'm loving it so much. It is nice enough to go for a walk almost every day. Its comfortable for sleeping. Natalie got to wear one of her new outfits for the first time. I'm dying for a glimps of the changing leaves. 2). I childhood friend of mine just had her baby. I am thinking of her often and reminsing intensely about Natalie's first days and weeks. I wish so much that I had written then. I know that I could have had time during those 2am walks around the house with Natalie in the baby sling, but I didn't have a venue then. I wonder if it is just this friend having her baby that is bringing about the intense nestalogia or it coupled with Natalie's swiftly approaching birthday or also these maturing changes in her ways?