I miss my baby

Natali is no longer a baby....she's a full grown...toddler.

It kind of upset me the other day. I miss having a baby. Being able to hold her in my arms whenever I wanted. She resist being held like a baby now. She walks, talks and thinks for her own.

Every now and then though she plays the baby role.

Yesterday she woke up a bit early from her nap and was upset. I was a bit tired myself. I picked her up and she put her head on my shoulder. I then sat down in the recliner in her room, stretched out and we both relaxed. She half napped, I just closed my eyes. It was nice to hold her close in a quiet room.

She also plays the baby role when she sleeps. This morning I went to wake her up (it was an hour past her normal wakeup time) and she squirmed around and tried to ignore me as I rubbed her back. Seeing her curled up in a ball squirming around reminded me of how she looked just a year ago.

We are both a bit sick (Natali coughed a lot overnight, so I let her sleep a little extra as I don't think she slept well) so after the nap we went to have ice cream. I got her a small bowl for herself. She did a decent job eating without me helping. Toward the end of the bowl she got distracted by other people/kids in the shop and let the ice cream drip down on her shirt.

In a few months Natali will be two years old. That's normally when parents switch toddlers from a crib to a bed. Natali might not make it till two.

She has started to attempt to climb out. Every time we have intervened and stopped her. Don't know how many more times we will get lucky.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrqdaDeqTEI

Each time she is simply trying to get something she dropped...normally her pacifier (she only has it too sleep) but sometimes it's her socks.

Natali is definitely a smart kiddo. She's learning the alphabet fairly well. She has about 8 letters down solid.

For a few weeks Natali has been TRYING to play the "mommy/daddy" game. When I won't let her get her way she will call, "mommy! mommy! mommy!" even if Kelli isn't home. When Kelli is home and she won't give Natali her way Natali will call, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!". We don't give in though and the tantrums have gotten much shorter due to our standing firm.

Oh and don't take my missing Natali being a baby as a statement that I want another kid. I'm still standing by my "one and done" motto.

Finally....Kelli and I have now been married for 7 years. Seven years. If someone told me seven years ago that I'd be an airline pilot and the father of a toddler I would have laughed at them...and gone back to my cubicle.

Amazing how time flies....and situations change.