Of Stomach Flu and Smoky Sunsets

This week has been the week of Natalie's first true flu bug - and we're not talking the common cold. We started off on Monday with a tiny bit of sickness and thought it was a fluke, but it escalated yesterday into full-blown stomach flu. We will kindly spare you the details.

It was awful to see our little one in such dire straits! She had two full days of TLC with mommy (involving spoon-feeding pedialyte for several hours yesterday - let's just say she was not thrilled to spend so long in her high chair, and mommy's workplace was probably not pleased with her last-minute absence), two mornings & nights of daddy providing good humor and helping hands, and one doctor visit today in which Natalie was pronounced both "on the mend" and "well-nourished". So that's good news, especially considering that she is already 1 oz under her last documented weight from a few weeks ago. We hope her stomach calms down and her appetite revs up soon.

On a different note, it's been an interesting week here in San Francisco in other ways as well. We live in such a damp, foggy area, and earthquakes are so often on our minds (hello, tsunami evacuation route right outside our door) that I forget that fire is one of the biggest dangers here in California. This week has seen fires all around us, even as close as Brisbane, eight miles away. Each morning the air has smelled of smoke, and the sunsets and sunrises have been a deep red because of all the gunk in the air. It's been a really interesting, if frightening, reminder of the dry years we've had lately. Luckily I don't think we're in much danger of a fire here near the ocean. It's more likely that our house will rust away than burn away. But we feel for all of the people around us who have had to evacuate!

Long Lost!

Finally a picture of Natalie's first time in the pool (as our camera was delivered to us this week by Mr. Hertz - THANK YOU, Mr. Hertz!) - note the utter displeasure on her face. She hated her first time in the water. Since then, Natalie and I went to Sacramento [last weekend, June 13-14] and spent more time in the pool with Jack Damrell - and that time was a bigger hit.
This picture was from June 2 in Michigan.
With Kai, back in SF... note that he is single-minded in his quest to grab Reese's tail!

Here is a little video of Natalie's latest crawling style. She likes to keep one foot out for balance - quite a speedy method! She has also graduated to pulling up on furniture and cruising a fair bit.

Her latest trick is a little unbelievable to me, but probably not very exciting to others. Some background: she has always been captivated by the world, and peoples' movements in it - she likes to be held facing outward to the world around her (as opposed to facing inward looking at whoever is holding her). Starting at about 2-3 weeks old, she was so focused on the world that she pretty much stopped napping for a while there! Whenever we hug or kiss her, she pushes away because *what is making that noise*! Or *who is moving there, out of the corner of my eye?* She is constantly looking for the next new thing to investigate.

So now you can see why it's amazing to me that her latest trick is simply crawling into my lap!

She has a whole house in which to crawl, and plenty of toys to look at... but this week instead of investigating the whole wide world she has been choosing to find mommy, and to climb over my legs and into my lap so she can snuggle against me while we play.

It's one of the most beautiful moments of parenting so far. A whole world out there for her, but at this moment in time she kind of just wants to lean back against mommy (or daddy for that matter, but it's mommy who's writing) so we can look out at the world together.

More highlights:

• She loves reading books (generally upside-down)...
• She laughs really hard at videos of herself when we play them on the computer!
• Natalie has graduated into her big-girl car seat and hated it for a few weeks but is fine with it now (yes, we got the cow print).
• She loves Winnie the Pooh (?) - we have a Pooh book which we read before bed, and she laughs every time she sees him!
• Last night she stayed with her first (non-family) babysitter ever. My friend Kathy was kind enough to come over to watch her while Tyler and I went to a wedding.

Things are pretty wonderful here!

Updates

Here is a little picture from Olen's first birthday party, sent to us by Sarah. Natalie wore her party outfit and was admired by all.

Today we had our nine month checkup for Natalie (a little late, as you can tell). We were pleased because she got *no shots* at this appointment! Yay! Here is an update on her percentiles:

• 52% for weight (19 lbs 7 oz)


• 85% for height (29 inches)


• 96% for head circumference! Oh my gosh, that girl has a noggin!

Also, we are super happy to report that our camera WAS in fact misplaced - BY US!!! The car rental company located it, safe and sound, in our Mazda 6 from our trip to Michigan. I have mixed feelings because I had already ordered a new, fancier one from amazon.com, but oh well. That money will be put to good use on something else fun - like college tuition for Natalie 18 years from now.

Missing: Camera!

We very much apologize for the lack of posts lately. Sadly, when we went to Michigan last week, we misplaced or camera - or, possibly, someone so kindly "misplaced it for us", if you know what I mean. I just hope whoever has the camera will put it to good use and will enjoy the glorious pictures on there. It's probably on ebay though (sigh).

Here's the rundown:

• Saturday May 31st: Natalie takes her fifth flight and is an angel. We get to see the Carroll grandparents, as well as Aunt Amy and Matthew, in Michigan.
• Sunday June 1st: We see Aunt Pam, Uncle Bill, and the cousins! Aunt Pam does very well.
• Monday June 2nd: Natalie's first time in the swimming pool with Daddy and cousin Nathan, while cousins Emma and Katie have swim practice. Tears ensue. It was not a hit. But, we got some cute pictures of her in her swimsuit! Sadly, then the camera disappeared. Oh well. Red Wings lose.
• Tuesday June 3rd: Aunt Pam continues to do well. We pack up a huge box of clothes and toys for which Emma, Katie, and Nathan are too old to ship to California. There are tons of benefits to having older cousins! One key benefit is that I get to reap the benefits of all the cute Baby Gap clothes I bought for Emma and Katie over the years - now Natalie gets to wear them.
• Wednesday June 4th: We fly home to California. Natalie is not pleased. Reese the cat is super-happy to see us. Red Wings Win!

And that was our trip to Michigan!

This weekend we went to Olen's first birthday party. I simply can't believe that the babies from my mom's group are now turning one. We still have two and a half more months to go (Natalie is by far the youngest), but believe me, I am already storing up good ideas for Natalie's 1st.