A Christmas Tale

"Where are those humans? I want to open my presents!!!"

Oh. They are feeding the littlest human. I guess I will try to be patient.

She's done! Time to open stockings.
Playing with the Gymini, a gift from Aunt Pam and co.

After opening Santa's gifts, we went to Pillar Point to go surfing. The waves were killer!

Ok, we have no idea what killer waves look like, but we did see lots of surfers while we were hiking. :-)

Then we had a Christmas picnic.
It was a fun day!
Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Geoff drove down from Seattle and arrived at about 6 p.m. on Christmas Day, in time for beef tenderloin and twice-baked potatoes.

Grandma Kathy feeding Natalie the day after Christmas

Nautical Baby, wearing a bodysuit which she received for Christmas. If you go to Gap/Banana Republic, you'll see that nautical is very in for spring - true story. Little Miss Natalie is right on trend.

In Healdsburg with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Geoff.

Grandfather John (a.k.a. Bubba) and Gramma Nance arrived 12/27. Here is Natalie enjoying lap time with Bubba!

And lap time with Gramma Nance.

Worn out after all the fun with the Carroll and Gibbs grandparents...

We're Rollin' (sometimes)!

Natalie has rolled over from her tummy to her back several times, though not in the last few days... she seems to have forgotten the skill quickly... but we have a (very dark) video to prove that she did do it!

Then, yesterday morning she was playing on the floor in her room... we walked out for thirty seconds, and when we walked back in, she'd rolled over onto her tummy! Since she hates "tummy time", Tyler and I share the feeling that this achievement won't be repeated anytime soon.

She is also mildly obsessed with blowing raspberries right now. It's highly entertaining, as you can see. Ignore the spit flying wildly from her mouth; as she's only four months old, she hasn't learned her manners yet.

Holiday Parties

Today Natalie and I went to a little holiday get-together with our mom and baby friends. We had such a great time! All the babies dressed up in their holiday best.

Mom ate lots of chocolate, and Natalie enjoyed playing with the Gymini.

And here's the moment you've been waiting for! Baby Lineup!
Olen, Sadie, Sophie, Charlotte, Maya, Natalie and Henry.

Seventeen Weeks

Half-Smile or Grimace? You decide.
Getting ready for Christmas


Today Natalie met Santa Claus. We expected her to cry, but to our surprise, she didn't even make a peep! She just sat there staring at us, wondering why we were dancing around trying to make her smile.

There's the smile!

Screamin' Along at Sixteen Weeks

Here is Natalie, picking out her first Christmas tree with Daddy!

Wearing a cute outfit selected by her cousin Emma.
I like my Bumbo!
I've been drooling a lot lately.
A view of our back yard, along with our gorgeous new grill (in the midst of assembly)!
Natalie is still testing the limits of her voice... she loves to make herself heard! She got her second set of immunizations on Monday, and showed off her true lung capacity. I'm sure that such screaming has been heard before at the doctor's office, but I'll be honest - her dad and I were pretty shocked that such little lungs could scream so loud! Afterwards she was fine though.

We've been very busy setting up day care lately. This week we were excited to find a great nanny for our little one! Natalie will be staying at home during the days, playing with her friend Kai who will be sharing the nanny with her. Kai is four days older than Natalie, and it's fun to see the two little babies learning and growing together. Unfortunately for the nanny, when Kai cries Natalie quickly follows suit - and vice versa. Infectious Crying Baby Disease at its worst!

Fourteen Weeks + Thanksgiving

A few pictures from Thanskgiving. We were *crazy* and drove to Seattle. Driving North, we broke up the drive over two days - thank goodness we came to our senses and did it all in one day coming home. It was much more manageable for us (meaning manageable for JULIE, who has a hard time sitting still for two days). We were amazed that Natalie was surprisingly genial for most of the time in the car, and didn't develop a hatred for her car seat!

Smiling with Daddy
Great-Grandma Freda
On Thanksgiving, in her dinner outfit.
Going for a walk with Daddy and Mommy the day after Thanksgiving - trying to work off all the delicious food Tyler's parents cooked for us!

Week fourteen brought on quite a bit of noise. Natalie has discovered her voice in a BIIIIG way, and now she loves to make herself heard. It doesn't always work for her though - we know the difference between her real cries and her fake ones! Reese has yet to figure out the difference, though. Today Natalie was practicing holding her head up while lying on her tummy (which she hates). She was screaming so loud that Reese deigned to get off the couch to check that she was ok! Reese kept looking at me, then sniffing Natalie, then looking at me again. I can't decide if she was thinking "why doesn't the tall one make the short one shut up?" or "is the short one ok, tall one??"

Three Months!

Natalie gave us a big gift for her three-month birthday. On Friday night, she only woke up once... and last night she slept through the entire night! We couldn't believe it, and are sure that she will never repeat such an amazing feat. Of course, Tyler and I couldn't stop checking on her to make sure she was still breathing... so we didn't get any more sleep than we normally do. But still! It was incredible!


We decided to post a little video of Natalie which Tyler took last week. Disclaimer: it's a video only her parents could really love, because she still doesn't do much except make noises, chew on her fingers, and grab toys (and then she's not quite sure what to do with them). But we thought people who haven't met her in person might like to see what she looks like in 3D as opposed to just in photographs.

Thirteen Weeks, and Tyler's Birthday!

Here's Natalie at four weeks, for the UM-Notre Dame game.

And here's Natalie at thirteen weeks for the UM-OSU game!

Quite a difference...

It's kind of good that the football season is mostly over for Michigan (aside from a bowl game)... It's been a struggle to fit Natalie into that bodysuit for the last two weeks. If we had any more games in the season, we were going to need to upgrade to a bigger size!

We settled in around here for a long day of watching football in honor of the birthday boy. Our friends Adam and Cheryl came over to spend the day with us, and we ate all sorts of food and sat around on the couch. Pretty much the perfect birthday.

Please note that Natalie's shirt says "My heart belongs to Daddy"!

Look, Mommy, no hands!

Twelve Weeks

Natalie will be twelve weeks tomorrow. The big news is, she let out her first little giggles last weekend! Grandma Kathy elicited them and we could hardly even believe it. A whole week of relative quiet later, and she finally giggled for me today. It gave me such an indescribable feeling - pride and awe and disbelief all mixed up... and, of course, when a baby giggles one can't help but follow suit!

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Geoff came to visit last weekend, and were incredible helps to us! They were indispensable during our move, they helped clean and improve the house we're renting, and they even babysat Natalie for us so Tyler and I could enjoy our friends' wedding. They were great company too. We miss them already and are looking forward to seeing them over Thanksgiving - and also are hoping they schedule another visit here soon!

We love our new abode, even though it still needs a lot of work. It's certainly quieter than the old apartment, and we really appreciate having a garage and storage space! Reese particularly loves looking out the windows. The crows in our yard are as big as she is, but of course she still wants to hunt them. I don't have the heart to tell her that she wouldn't win in a fight. Luckily she's an indoor cat so we will never find out.

Here's a picture of Natalie from this morning, wearing a top given to us by our friends Jenn and Chris. One thing's for sure - Natalie's mommy and daddy fall more in love with her every day!

Happy Halloween!

We've had a whirlwind Halloween, and the day is just beginning.

First, we went to Taylor's in the Ferry Building with our friends Sarah and Olen. Then we dropped by Daddy's work! Poor dad was very busy so we only got a few minutes with him...

Then we stopped by Mommy's work to see her co-workers!

Next up? Grandma Kathy is on her way over RIGHT NOW! We can't wait.

Ten Weeks

Natalie says "Don't worry, even though this Bumbo seat is on the bed instead of on the floor like it should be, Mommy never left my side even for a second!"
Our girl is all of ten weeks, 3 days old. She's learned to do quite a few new things this week - from blowing raspberries, to shrieking, to arching her back off the floor. Today we were playing on the floor on a blanket, and she managed to turn herself ninety degrees during the course of the hour. It was pretty amazing (to me at least)!

She seems to like reading books. She scans the pages fervently when I hold them up for her. The current house favorite is Go, Dog. Go! although our favorites change quite frequently... Reese often joins in during reading time.

Today her new trick was trying to roll over. She can only get as far as her side - that is just fine by me. Now I am frantically trying to get her to do "tummy time" more to improve her neck strength, in case she decides she wants to practice in her crib when she's supposed to be sleeping.

We begin the move process on Thursday. Thankfully Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Geoff are coming to help out. They also will be our very first babysitters, as Tyler and I are attending a wedding of some close friends on Saturday night! I know Natalie will be in very good hands, though I know I will miss her incredibly. She's never been away from Tyler or I for more than fifteen minutes!

And, tomorrow is Halloween so check back for some pictures of our little bunny!!!

Two Months!

Our girl is now two months old. What a ride it's been! She's gone from sleeping all day and night, to sleeping really well at night and poorly during the day, to sleeping passably during the day and poorly at night. Once we move into our ultra-quiet new house, we're hoping for better sleeping patterns. In the meantime we're using the white noise machine liberally, and shooting dirty looks out the window at all the loud trucks and cars. However, I've found that the dirty looks don't really do much...

As you can see, she loves her hands - so much so that she gets incredibly frustrated when her whole fist won't fit into her mouth! I've always loved her adorable, scrunchy little fingers and toes, so I'm glad she is starting to feel the same.

In growth news, she is now too long for most of her 0-3 month clothes! It's so fun to pull out her 3-6 month outfits - but at the same time, I'm sad to have to put her her stylish newborn duds into storage.

Her favorite place besides home? Starbucks, of course (just like Mommy and Daddy). Whenever we walk in, she gets extremely quiet and alert. I don't know if it's the people, or the lighting, or the music... but she just loves it.

Quite a few people have asked how Reese is doing with this whole thing. We seem to have good weeks and bad weeks... somehow we had hoped that the cat would wake us up less at night, since we'd already be up with Natalie, but this has not proven to be the case. If Natalie gets up at 3 a.m., Reese chooses 3:45 (after we've fallen back asleep) as her time to run around meowing. Fun. She sulks sometimes, as shown, but I think she's really starting to come to grips with our new little one.

We're so happy with our little family! It's really fun to see Natalie grow and change. We can't wait to see what this upcoming month has in store.

Pictures

Eight Weeks

What a week we've had!

On Tuesday, Natalie and I enjoyed "Picture Day" at our Mom-and-Baby group. All of the babies are so adorable! Since Natalie is the littlest, she had to sit in the corner so she had extra support sitting up, although she is learning how to hold up her head really well these days.

Then on Saturday, we went to visit our friends the Damrells in Sacramento. We went to a place called Apple Hill, where we got donuts, cider, apple pie, caramel apples... you name it, we bought it. What a way to celebrate fall! We were also really excited to see Jack Damrell for the first time. He's far too wonderful and handsome for words.

And... here is our other big news!

Reese is moving! Well, her humans are moving too... Natalie's wish is being granted and she's getting a backyard of her own. We are moving out near the ocean and couldn't be more excited. We'll have a garage, and a backyard, and Natalie will have a whole room to herself (instead of a glorified closet). Best of all, the house is on a very quiet street, which will help all of the Gibbs family members sleep better. Yay! We move at the end of the month, but have already started packing up everything we can.

In other Natalie news, Tyler and I noticed that she has really been practicing batting at things and trying to grab them this weekend. The look of concentration on her face is so adorable! She gets frustrated after a while, though, and very tired. We can just imagine how hard it must be to learn how to do these things! Tyler and I are conflicted - while we are so excited to see her develop and grow, we know that with each passing day she will be grabbing more and more, and it will be harder and harder to keep her out of things she shouldn't touch. It's a catch-22!