Four years later

Four years have now gone by....four years!



Time really has flown by. Natali has brought more happiness and joy to our lives than we ever thought possible. Just a quick post. As always hopefully we will post more often.

First sleepover

Natali is almost 4. Four.

It seems the older she gets, the less we update this blog. I'd  (Darren) like to really stop that trend. This is a journal that is recording her life. I know I would love to read a journal chronicling my life.

Natali had her first official sleepover last night. Our friends Jason and Jackie volunteered to keep Natali so Kelli and I could go to a wedding. Natali has met them several times. I'd venture to say she's met them almost monthly since she was born.

They have a daughter who is almost exactly one year younger than Natali. They get along great.

Every now and then Natali can have separation anxiety. She get's really upset. We were worried...but she did fine. Almost to well as she just waved and said "Good bye Mommy and Daddy."

We picked her up the next morning and reports were she did very well. She had a little crying fit in the middle of the night. Understandable being in a new place.

Beyond that she's growing up faster than I would like. She is having a late spat of the "terrible twos". When she doesn't get her way she starts crying and screams. We haven't given in. The countdown from 5 method normally works. If not she goes into time out which works every time. We know we have it easy and are thankful for it.

Cruise Control

Natali will be 3 1/2 years old tomorrow. Crazy eh?

Every now and then I just sit back and watch her. This little girl who 3 years ago wasn't even crawling is able to feed herself, use the potty, ride a bike (with training wheels of course), use an ipad and of course say thousands of words.

Kelli and I are on cruise control. We are of course parenting....but Natali is pretty self sufficient.

It's only February but Natali has been on 4 flights.

We spent a week in Orlando, Florida with family at Disney World in January. The following weekend we spent an extended weekend in Sacramento. Natali had a lot of fun with her cousins.



Beyond that things are good. She started in a new classroom at daycare...she is now in Preschool. Her first real school is under construction....just 70 yards from our front door.

Hopefully we will continue posting and updating more this year.



 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55a_AGkpEWc

First real Christmas

It's been a while since I've blogged. No real excuse.

Natali is full on toddler. She hasn't had a single accident since being potty trained. She went from no interest to full on "I got this". It's nice...and strange. We still use overnight diapers, but about 75% of the time she wakes up with a dry diaper anyway.

Her shyness is slowly going away. In the past week she's come out of her shell quite a bit.

While at a grocery store the cashier handed Natali a roll of stickers. Normally Natali turns her head and hides. This time she took the stickers and said ,"thank you," to a total stranger.

Then the following weekend we went to visit friends and their house. Natali has seen the kids and parents many times...but has NEVER spoken to the parents. Natali walked in and was totally relaxed. She spoke to anyone who spoke to her and even initiated conversation.

This is technically Natalis 4th Christmas. This is the first one though that she appears to "get it".

Natali sat on Santas lap for the first time AND told him what she wanted for Christmas.....a bike.

Beyond those tidbits she has found a new cartoon to be interested in....Dora the Explorer. This is so much better than Calliou...though  I do miss Doc McStuffins.



 

Trained!

I can finally say Natali is potty trained. The cruise where she saw her cousins potty trained seemed to really put the spark inside of her to just do it.

For over a week she's been wearing underwear during the daytime and a diaper overnight. She only had one accident at school where she had a #2 while sleeping at nap time.

I still have a problem getting her to go to the bathroom. I think it's just the "being told what to do" that's the issue. Every now and then she will tell us she has to go and for the most part she goes.

Natali appears to have my (Darren) iron bladder as she can hold it forever. Mine comes from flying around the country and not being able to go whenever I want (say while landing a plane or preparing for takeoff.....or just not wanting to walk all the way back on a short 40 minute flight).

She has really come into her own lately. Natali is talking more and, for the first time ever, will talk to people on the phone and in a video chat. In the past Natali would giggle or remain silent while on the phone. For video chats she would just stare. Recently she has talked to me and her Grandma Richmond.

In other exciting news....Natali has learned her full name. Since I was "blessed" with two middle names we gave her two middle names, Amelia and Winnell. Amelia because Kelli and thought it was pretty and the whole flying thing. Winnell is for my late mother.

 

 

Getting closer

Natali is almost potty trained. Almost.

The cruise really seemed to get her going. She is very influenced by her peers.

When Marin came over about a month ago Natali noticed Marin was potty trained (of course as Marin is more than twice her age). Natali went to the potty and took off her pants and diaper in an attempt to use the potty.

During the cruise she noticed her cousin Renee was potty trained. That really pushed Natali to at least pee on the potty.

Since we've been back Natali has been in just underwear most of the time. We've had only a few accidents, but many more happy moments. Natali is doing very well with #1....not so good with #2.

She appears to have her fathers iron bladder as she appears to "hold it" for a long time sometimes.

Yesterday Natali and I (Darren) took a trip to the zoo. I put her in just underwear from the time she woke up. We stopped and used the potty a few times...or  tried to. She never went, but more importantly didn't fight it and had no accidents.

As far as Natali telling us she has to go.....it happens....but not very often. More often is that we bring her to the potty and she goes. Still progress.

We're getting closer.

Three years old

Natali is 3 years old. Hard to believe eh?



To celebrate her 3rd birthday we took a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. Seriously. It was a planned family vacation with her Cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. Fun week.

Natali still isn't fully potty trained.

We did have some success while on the cruise. Natali's cousin Renee is 4 years old and fully potty trained. Natali picked up on this and actually ASKED and USED the potty a few times. She had a dry diaper all day at least 2 days.

Things were looking up. Then we got home...and she quickly reverted.

Work continues.

She did get to ride in First Class for the first time. Natali had enough real airline miles from real tickets and purchased a First Class seat for her return flight from Newark. She didn't know any different from coach...which is good as she can't non-rev in First Class until she is 6 years old.

I hope to update this blog more often. We head to the Doctor tomorrow for her yearly checkup. Stats will be posted.

Here's a few vacation photos.