Climbing the Walls.

Well, not literally. Not yet! But Natalie is getting more confident climbing, and she's getting stronger and more capable as well.

She likes the little board books I keep on the top shelf - mostly because they're almost out of reach I'm sure.

She can now get onto the couch by herself with the help of a little footstool my aunt gave us, so that adds to her independence as well.

And she's very recently began to be able to climb up on the kitchen chairs by herself. She is getting very quick at it, and loves to do things at the table. But she's tricky. I turned around for a minute the other day, and turned back when I heard my camera beeping. Natalie was sitting, cross-legged, in the middle of the dining room table, playing with my camera. I had put it just out of reach (so I'd thought), and it was apparently too hard to resist.

I'm going to have to keep my eye on that one!

Back to Baby

Okay, so I know I have some catching up to do. I promise I'll take care of it this coming week, and I'll even go into next week if that's what it takes to get you up to speed on cute Natalie pictures!

So here are some pictures I took when we were hanging out in the front yard. It was perfect. Pretty flowers. Pretty outfit. Pretty girl. But Natalie didn't really feel like cooperating.

She was playing with a flower from the Butterfly bush. So cute. So I told her to smell it. Here's her "smelling face".

She kept smelling it.

Then tried to eat it.

Then got bored with it.

And subsequently, got bored with me as well.

Oh well. Maybe next time.

So anyway, stay tuned for some more pictures from the last couple weeks. I'll post a new post every weekday at noon.

IBOL

Iraqi Bundles Of Love! What a great idea. What it is? Sending raw materials, old craft supplies, fabric and notions to Iraqis so they can clothe themselves and their children, or maybe even make some money selling hand crafted items.

The catch is that the bundle needs to be in the mail by September 7th! I'm going to have to stop at the post office today. I'll post a picture of my bundle when I get it ready.

If you want to help, but don't have a huge stash of stuff (like I do), check out Sew Mama Sew, an online craft store, which is selling and shipping premade bundles for $15.

I'll post baby pictures soon... I have been taking them, I've also just been so caught up in Shantibird during naptimes that I haven't had much other computer time!

Smile!

Usually my darling girl walks around with a nice big smile on her face! People turn and look at her and smile in return. She's just so cute!

But getting her to smile for the camera is becoming increasingly more difficult.

She flees. She turns. She ducks.

And recently, if I can get her to look at the camera, when I say "smile", I get this in return:

This is also the face she's giving to friendly strangers who say hi to her. She refuses to respond and just drops that little eyebrow and shows off this very concerned look.

But she will happily smile and wave and say "Bye-ee" to anyone we ask her to! I guess that's something.

The Jedi Arts

We broke out the finger paints the other day. First things first we covered the kid up in an old shirt of mine, (I can't get rid of anything - sentimental value you know!)

Doesn't she look like a little Jawa in this!? Can you say "Halloween Costume?!"

But it needed a belt to hold it together.

And belted it was way more Jedi Knight than Jawa, so she really needed a weapon.

Yes. Much better.

And yes, we did eventually get around to finger painting. Nat's dad joined her... her are my two little artistes at work.

And Natalie getting into the scribbling.

It was fun while it lasted, but when she's done, she's done.

Now our kitchen is freshly decorated with a couple of masterpieces!

Just another week in the Summer

Nothing particular to write about. We've been spending a lot of time on Shantibird. Check it out and pass it on to your yoga teacher! :)

Here's what Natalie does in the car.

There was a cold day and it was perfect for some Pho!

And then there were some really hot days - perfect for a play date with Aanya at the splash park!

Of course, the girls found the only muddy spot at the park, and spent most of their time there!

Aanya has learned to hold hands with her friends.... pretty cute, isn't it!

Here she is out garage sale'ing with us in front of a nicely landscaped yard!

One morning Natalie looked in the fridge and insisted on a Peperonchino pepper from the bottom shelf. Not my choice for breakfast, but who am I to judge?!

And here we are at the Neighborhood night out. Natalie got to check out a police car up close. Inside it she was only interested in the computer that was there. Our little button pusher.
And with all the excitement that night and the playground and sandbox so close, she just kept going back to the row of chairs lined up. Decisions decisions.
And here she is with her new morning toy. Playdoh! Why does it say ages 3 and up?! It's a new favorite!

That's it for now! I posted a whole months of pictures on Picasa! Check 'em out. And have a great weekend.