11 months old

We adore our daughter. We have a friend who started a blog entry with "I desperately love my son" and I have been waiting for the day when I knew my daughter well enough to say the same thing. Don't read this the wrong way - we have loved Natalie before we even saw her picture, heard her voice, or held her. That love has grown over the last two months and we have completely fallen in love with our daughter. She just makes us happy. When she smiles, her whole face smiles. Her laugh is so Natalie - it is infectious, cute, and totally unique. Natalie sleeps on her belly with her butt in the air, her favorite stuff dog under her arm. She likes to be rocked to sleep - all cuddled in against you. When she is very excited or happy, she squeals and kicks her arms and legs. It cracks me up because that is so Natalie - on the move. She is a do-er and mover. When she sees something that looks interesting, she dives right in to try it out, or touch it or eat it, or whatever she can do with it. As a result, the cats have learned to move quickly when they see her coming. She thinks they are great but they are still getting used to her enthusiasm. She is walking more and more, even without our coaching. She loves it when we clap and cheer her on too - her face just fills with a smile. Natalie loves to eat (we think she must be going through a growth spurt because she has been eating non-stop all weekend). She is known to hang out in her high chair eating dinner for 30 minutes. She has recently decided that using a spoon is a fun thing, so she wants to hold the spoon now instead of us. She also thinks that if anyone else is eating, she should be eating too. In the last two months, Natalie has gained almost 2 lbs, has started walking, has decided baby food and baby toys are not interesting, has popped out two more teeth (and one or two more look close), she has started day care, and has brought a lot of joy to our family. She can be stubborn and opinionated, but she is also cuddly and so sweet. We are amazed that she has been home for two months already and can't believe that today she is 11 months old. Wow.

Memere and Pepere, Yvonne's parents, came to visit this weekend. We had a fun Halloween together, Memere gave Natalie her first hair cut, and lots of pictures were taken. Here are some of our favorites.