Monday, February 21, 2011

Break Dancing in Moonlight

Natali has become quite the little trickster. Her latest trick is to pretend to be super sleepy. We place her in bed and she closes her eyes and pushes her head to the side as though she is going straight to sleep. Once we leave the room though...the party starts.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rNefcq7DL0

Hold that pose!

Natali is still sick. Wheezing at night....and small coughing fits. Last night I tried saline up the nose (she is finally used to it and doesn't cry), baby rub on chest and humidifier. Mildly worked. I spent 40 minutes around 2AM rocking her as she got frustrated by all the coughing. I know it will pass.

Last night she finally held a crawling position. She didn't crawl. She knew she wanted to, but just kinda hung out. In the past she would collapse right away.

[nggallery id=26]

The "Da Da" sounds are non-stop now. Loving it.

She has started to eat those dissolving kiddie treats that have zero nutrtional value. She can pick them up and aim them toward her mouth....but she misses most of the time. When she does have one in her mouth she likes them.

Natali still despises rolling over. She will roll to one side....and stop. I guess she feels it's beneath her. She loves to stand up and makes and effort to walk. Who knows if she will blow off rolling over and crawling and go straight to walking. From one month old she liked to stand up. Who knows.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Her first word?

For about two weeks Natali has been saying, "Da Da" a lot. I'm sure she is calling me and not just making random sounds. She says it most while she is standing, thus I shot a short video of her standing up (holding my hand) and randomly saying Da Da.

For higher quality, after clicking play, click on the number to the right of the scrolling bar. It should be available in at least 480P if not 720P.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTPhNbnwn1U

Thursday, February 17, 2011

6 month visit

I brought Natali in for her 6 month visit. The stats:

Weight : 17.6 pounds

Height: 27 inches

Head Circumference: 44.45 cms or 17.5 inches

The visit went kinda okay. The office was busy. Before we went to the office we stopped by my allergist. Natali was her normal happy and exploring self.

I gave her a bottle right before the office visit. She had about 2 ounces.

The Doctor isn't very talkative. He examined her then said the nurse would be in for her shots. Then we waited. Natali was getting sleepy and cranky. I walked around and sang to her. I bounced her around. I then ignored the sign saying to not feed your child and fed her the other 2 ounces of her bottle. Finally 20 minutes later the nurse arrived.

I've read several articles about shots and immunizations. The number of shots Natali gets at each visit is mind blowing. I would be pissy if I go that many shots at once. The reason they cluster them up is because MOST parents won't bring their kids in every 2 weeks or so for the shots. Doctors "have" to cluster them up.

Natali was a different person after her 4 month visit for about a day. This 6 month visit would be worse.

The nurse came in and held Natalis' legs down. One oral medicine and then three shots (including a flu shot). Natali was screaming. I was able to quickly calm her down. She left somber.

For the rest of the day she was just off. Much crankier than normal. It didn't help that she had her first tooth start to come in this same morning.

On top of that she is sick again. Something about that day care. So shots + first tooth + being sick = long night.

Natali coughed all night. After two hours I brought her to our bed. I initially thought there was something in her room making her cough. She never coughed anywhere else in the house previously. Each morning she sleeps in our bed between 5AM and 8AM....and never coughs.

I put some baby rub (baby version of Vicks vapor rub) on her chest and laid her next to me. She fell asleep quickly.

Through the night she was mostly okay. Woke up a few times when her pacifier came out.

I am very cautious with her in the bed. I sleep on my right side and have Natali in front of me. I sleep on the right side of the bed so I am her cushion in case she suddenly decides to roll. Natali hates to roll over so not a big concern.

This morning she is still cranky. On the next visit I am going to ask to spread out the vaccinations/shots. We live 2 miles from the Doctors office and I typically have weekdays off so I can take her whenever.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

There's an App for that

Several years ago Fry's Electronics sold a brand of network video camera called Airlink. They were cheap, but reliable.

The current Airlink cameras have been watching over us (literally) for at three years non stop. They just work.

Fry's has since stopped selling the brand. Booo as I want more!

Anyways I moved the pan and tilt camera from the front to above Natali. Why? Well I rarely moved the camera. At least in her room it can move around when she gets to the age of playing around more.

Viewing the cameras was easy enough via a laptop or Ipad. The Ipad would never save the password...which is a bit annoying. So I got to searching. Sure enough Airlink released a iOs app! Now we have one click access to the camera. Super convenient.



The app allows us to move the camera via the four arrows. We can also listen in via the speaker icon on the left and we can talk through the camera (once I install a small speaker in the room) via the ear icon on the right.

Tomorrow is Natali's six month check up. Tomorrow night her grandmother is coming in town. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Dress and Jacket

I (Darren) bought Natali a new jacket (with matching hat!) and two dresses last week. Kelli is not very girly. I've only seen her in a dress at weddings and funerals. Same goes for makeup. Thankfully Kelli is naturally beautiful and doesn't need makeup. A dress or two wouldn't hurt though. Anyways I have a feeling all girly clothes will be purchased by me and not Kelli.

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

6 Months Old!

Natali turned 6 months old today. Kelli and I are truly lucky to have such a healthy, beautiful and funny child. It was a long bumpy road on the way to meeting her. Several detours along the way. I never thought it would happen. Looking back it was all worth it. I can't imagine my life without her in it. The only thing I regret is that my own mother isn't here to see her, although I know she is watching her from a far.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXDJhmM0FVg