Say "Cheese"...

14 months already?!?!

Natasha loves strawberries picked fresh from the vine...

... she loves them so much that we rarely get a bite

First Baseball Game:

Yay, Angels!

Thank you Baylee for the Angels dress!

Dinner with friends:

Jake had a little too much fun playing in the fountain...

... and so did Natasha

Playing with Kyra (BFFs)

Chasing Kyra

... CHEESE! Natasha added the word "cheese" to her vocabulary this week and it is so cute to hear her say it. She also turned 14 months this week and obviously has no intentions of slowing down for her parents. Besides saying cheese, she can say ball, dog, dada, mama, water (sounds like waa-waa) and hat. And she is learning new signs all the time. Natasha can sign milk, more, hat, cracker and Thank You (so cute). She is pretty close to signing bicycle and car. It's so amazing to see her grow everyday and watch her communicate with Zac and I.

Last weekend was a busy one for us and we are paying for it this week with Natasha's first cold (and a cold for mommy too). Up until yesterday, Natasha was playing, eating and sleeping well despite being congested and having a terrible cough. Then she had a slight fever and she did not sleep very well on Thursday night, so off to the doctor we went on Friday. Her lungs were clear, throat looked good and no sign of an ear infection... phew. Our doctor said it was a common cold and it would last 7 to 10 days. She slept most of the day on yesterday and seems to be doing better today. So hopefully we are (both) on the way to recovery. But we did have a good time last weekend celebrating or friend, Amanda's 30th birthday with dinner at Buca di Beppo on Saturday. It was so much fun having five toddlers sitting at the dinner table with us. And as you can see the kids had fun after dinner running around outside by the fountain. Natasha attended her first baseball game on Sunday. We decided not to stay for the whole game because it would interrupt her nap schedule. She clapped with the fans and even though she did not try a hot dog or sausage, she sure loved the ice cream sundae. I see many more games in Natasha's future... daddy's little sports fan!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial day weekend... we will be resting!

Beginning of May

Wow, we are already done with half of May... where did the time go! Well, here are some photos (quite a bit actually) of Natasha from this month so far. Enjoy!

Park Days:

Pool Days:

Yes, she loves the pool, but still not bath time.

However, she doesn't mind the shower.

I love this photo... it looks like she is about to do a cartwheel.

Warms Days:

Check out those tan legs! Yup, definitely got mama's skin tones!

Kisses!

Bike Days:

So far, just one bike ride (Mother's Day).

She liked it only half the time!

Garden Days:

She loves helping daddy in the garden (especially playing in the dirt)!

"Can I help water?"

"Look at me help!"

"I even have my own watering can"

Yup, those are bare feet walking on the gravel and the bark...

she has some extra padding on those chunky feet!

The outcome...

Fresh cucumbers and green beans (much more veggies and fruits to come)!

Zoo Day:

Checking out the gorillas

Natasha loved the ducks and the other birds!

The birds protecting their nests and possible babies...

Pink Flamingos

Daddy's going to get you...

Fun with daddy!

Life with a Toddler (so far)

Easter Egg Hunt at Stroller Strides:

Just some of the eggs

"Look, I got an egg"

Isabel and Natasha

Noelani and Natasha

"My eggs"

Big Day- Easter Sunday and 13 Months: Yogurt face...

... and yogurt hair!
(Great! Right before getting ready for church.)

First time at church

Uncle Matt and Tasha

At Grandma Lou's house

Cooper and Natasha

Sharing with Cooper... more like teasing.

Supposed to say "13 months"...

... There we go. Our little smiley toddler!

Life with a toddler has kept us on our toes. Natasha is 13 months and she is officially a walker. We love her little waddle and what she has accomplished in just 2 weeks. Not only is she walking, but she can bend down and pick up objects and she can carry her ball around and then throw or bounce it to us. She is also standing up (from a sitting position) without assistance! It is so much fun taking her to the park now and watching her walk around and climb the jungle gym. She still likes to be held, but only on her terms. Natasha has added the word "ball" to her vocabulary and still babbles to us every day. She is learning how to make different sounds with her mouth and gives us open mouth kisses... so sweet! Some not-so-fun toddler-like behavior that she exhibits now is fighting me when I change her diaper. I have to come up with new ways to keep her occupied just to get the job done. Most of the time I just let her run around nude for a bit before putting on the clean diaper, but I can't do that when we are out of the house. It would be fine if all she did was try to roll away, but she screams (almost like throwing a bit of a tantrum). Also, she is now afraid of bath time... great! So my little toddler who loves the dirt and sand (and apparently is content in a dirty diaper), now hates water. Every time I try to put her in the bath, she cries and tries to climb out. According to BabyCenter.com, it is one of three most common fears that toddlers have. The two others are fear of dogs (not Natasha, she loves dogs, especially Cooper) and fear of haircuts (well, it will be awhile before we find out if Natasha is afraid of that). So, for now it is sponge baths and occasional showers with mama. I sure hope this passes soon because the warm days are upon us and the pool is calling my name. Other than that we have a happy, smiley and lovable toddler on our hands and can't wait to see what she learns next!