23 Months

 Our littlest lady is getting so big and is 23 months old now! A defining characteristic of Natalie is her constant chatter and singing. She loves to go around mimicking words, phrases, and sentences that she hears others say as well as singing to herself or giving us her opinions on everything which is often "not. . . ." (insert anything that someone else just said). Natalie loves to read and often brings me or Austin books to read to her. Her current favorites are The Mitten, A Good Day, and All the World which are all board books that live in her bed so she can "read" them to her stuffed animals at nap or bedtime. Natalie has a whole menagerie of stuffed animals that need to be in her bed for her to settle down and be content there. Her favorites are Mr. Fox (a fox that Austin took pains to get her to love), Snow Puppy (a puppy that Trevor got for Christmas and named, but Natalie someone has adopted him and won't give him back) and Dookie Ookie (a rhino that Natalie got for Christmas and I try my best to get her to love the best. She named him that- she just loves to say things like dookie-ookie-pookie over and over again) She also has a doll, a few rabbits, a koala, and some other puppies that she likes along with a little decorative pillow that my grandma had made for Leif as a baby, but Natalie refuses to sleep without it under her head. I've tried a couple times to clear out her bed a few times just so that its not so busy in there, but she notices and makes me put everyone back in before she'll settle down for bed. Natalie has not yet discovered that she can climb out of her crib and seems pretty content with the routine of taking nap by herself, but having Heidi in the room to chat with before bedtime. Sometimes Heidi gets in her crib with her in the morning before I come to get them up (they tend to be late sleepers), but thankfully Natalie hasn't yet tried to climb in and out like her big sister- because we are in a world of trouble when she figures that out! 

Natalie can be quite strong willed, but she is very fun to be around and watching her grow and develop is a joy for everyone in the family. She is often very content with her role as the baby of the family, but sometimes pushes and wants to be big like everyone else. Here are some photos of her with her two favorite guys: Mr. Fox and Snow Puppy.

New Year's Eve

We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve, as usual. Asher and especially Leif have been looking forward to this day since last year when we let them stay up until midnight. We were all pretty un-energetic though, so it wasn't as much fun as last year. 

Natalie started of the night having a little party with her stuffed animals.

I bought an Italian cake called a Pandoro and we saved it for New Years. Here Asher is shaking it in a bag to coat it in powdered sugar.

He was very excited to get to cut it and Leif got out the left over Minecraft plates from his birthday.

We got some games out and played a little bit before we put the younger three to bed. Heidi and Trevor were quite resistant, but we finally got them all to sleep.

 Afterward, Austin and I played an Italian game called Scopa with Asher and Leif, but we were both pretty tired, so after a few rounds, we let the kids start Star Wars and stay up until midnight on their own. They loved it and said that they went to bed about 12:30. Heidi and Trevor can't wait until they are old enough to stay up so late- personally I'd rather just get to bed ;)