Natalie’s Blog

I came home from work last Thursday to see Natalie on her way to the park with Meema and Pop Pop. She was carrying a bag containing a pumpkin she’d picked out at Terhune’s earlier that day. Even though the weight of the pumpkin was preventing her from walking a straight line, she insisted that no one help her, saying, “Nannie carry it!” She also protested when I tried to adjust her hat so she could see better. Every time I tried, she pulled it down further until it was covering her eyes and she had to tilt her head back to see.

Once we got to the park, Natalie had fun on the swing and imitating an alligator:

(This one is one of my favorite pictures of Natalie!)

Auntie Jodi is our babywearing guru…here she is carrying Natalie at the mall in her ring sling:

In a whole series of pictures, there was not one in which Natalie had her hands out of her mouth. Maybe the final 4 teeth are on their way?

While most people in the area stayed indoors during Tropical Storm Hanna, we went to visit friends in Brooklyn. The drive there and back was fine, but we naively decided to walk three blocks to a coffee shop when the rain didn’t seem too heavy. We forgot that walking anywhere with Natalie means stopping every few feet to examine cracks in the sidewalk, manhole covers, leaves, or anything else that makes her stop and say, “Yook a Dis!!!!” (look at this). We also forgot that Natalie wouldn’t want to be carried, but would rather walk and hold her “own” umbrella. Lately that’s what Natalie says whenever I decline to give her something she wants by explaining that “it’s mommy’s.” She looks very inquisitive, then points to herself and knowingly says, “own” as if she’s very proud of herself for solving the problem.

Needless to say, we got soaked from head to toe:

We actually went to this carnival back on June 20, but only recently got the pictures because we were using a friend’s camera. Natalie had lots of fun looking at all the flashing lights, going on her first solo carnival ride, and riding the carrousel with Chris.

We were lucky to have sunny weather almost the whole time we were camping. On the one day it rained, we took the opportunity to visit the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, MA. When we arrived, it was pouring rain and we got all wet. We left the galleries to discover the sun had returned. Natalie enjoyed looking at all the art, and was only frustrated at times when she couldn’t touch it. She and I took a nap on a big bean-bag chair in a Jenny Holzer exhibit.

As parents, we don’t want our personal dislikes to limit the things that Natalie experiences. So, parenting has really encouraged Chris and I to do things outside of our comfort zones. On our camping trip, Chris took Natalie swimming in the cool lake water—something he normally hates to do. And I played with Natalie in the sand, the texture of which kind of disgusts me.

As you can see from these picture, Natalie loved spending time at the lake while we were camping, even with the cool water and gritty sand!

Natalie and David are at an age that makes picture taking pretty difficult. For most of the trip, they were much too busy running around the camp site to capture a photo of them together. But on the last day, I caught some of them coloring together in this amazing light.

And I couldn’t resist pulling out these pictures of the “driving cousins” from last summer for comparison’s sake!

Look how much they’ve grown and changed in a year’s time:

Natalie is a natural camper! We had a wonderful time enjoying the great outdoors at the DAR State Forest in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. We had great weather and Natalie had a blast being outside all the time. Some photo highlights…
Natalie relaxing in her very own camp chair:

Generally being cute:

Eating a whole tomato like an apple:

Sleeping in Daddy’s arms:

Playing with hammocks:

Making funny faces in the woods:

Hanging out with Aunt Katy:

Saying “Good Morning Newts!” every day:

Chris & Katy enjoyed organizing the camp kitchen:

And Natalie loved standing on tree trunks pretending the be The Lorax:

We took Natalie to the Blueberry Festival at Terhune Orchards, where she enjoyed her first puppet show. I wasn’t sure how much she would like it, considering we were pretty far from the outdoor stage. Despite all the possible distractions, Natalie was mesmerized by the show! She especially liked the cow puppet, as you can see in this video:

Natalie’s First Puppet Show from nataliecaroline on Vimeo.