Monday, September 17, 2007

Natalie Makes Me Laugh

Post by Dan.

With Natalie around, I laugh a lot more than I used to. Here are two very funny (IMHO) things she said this weekend:

(1) Pretending.
Natalie loves to pretend. She pretends we're going to the beach, to the park, to the grocery store, but most of all, she loves to pretend that one person is bad (a ghost or a monster, perhaps), and the other person is good (a prince, or a nice wolf, or whatever). She is almost invariably a princess who needs to flee from the bad person and be saved by the good person. Of course, this raises a few concerns about her view of the role of women, but that's another story.

On Saturday, Natalie and I were playing in the living room. She was a princess, and was warning me that a bad witch was coming and was going to turn her into "a stinky mess." You could see the gears turning in her head as she said "and I'm the princess and you're the prince and there's a witch and Mommy is the stinky mess witch." Then she ran around the house for 15 minutes screaming warnings about Danielle's every movement. ("Oh no, the stinky mess witch is coming!" "Run from the stinky mess witch!" "Save me from the stinky mess witch!")

Danielle did not find this nearly as amusing as I did.

(2) The chocolate fountain
On Sunday, Danielle and I were taking Natalie to a family game night organized by her moms group. We were asked to bring bananas for holding under the chocolate fountain that the hostess was going to provide.

I wanted Natalie to be excited about going to the party, so I decided to tell her about the chocolate fountain a couple of hours before it was time to go. We happened to be outside at the time I told her, and that's probably a good thing, because otherwise my hearing might have been damaged. As I explained what a chocolate fountain was, Natalie's eyes grew bigger and her jaw dropped. In a matter of seconds, she was bouncing up an down, and when I finished, all the energy her little three-year-old body could muster exploded in cheers as she sprinted around the yard, waving her hands in the air and shouting "The most beautiful, wonderful, happy, terrific, greatest, beautiful, wonderful, yummy, happy thing! A CHOCOLATE fountain!"

Saturday, September 8, 2007

August 29th through September 11th














We have been pretty busy these last couple of weeks. Friday the 31st, was mine and Dan's 5 year anniversary (though we've been together for 12). We didn't make any extravagant plans, but thanks to Mom-Mom keeping Natalie overnight, were able to enjoy a nice dinner at Windows On The Bay (the restaurant where our reception was held), a movie, and then the next day we took in the Renn Fest. Oh, and of course we had our traditional anniversary cake from Sugar Bakers! Our plans were somewhat threatened when I broke my toe on Thursday. It looked pretty bad, but all is well now!
Dan and his mom worked on more of our household projects on Sunday and Monday while Natalie and I hung out. On Monday Natalie and I went to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's for a last minute Labor Day cookout. My grandfather, who recently lost his wife, was here and the friends that my mom and dad grew up with were able to join us. That was really nice, and funny to hear all of their childhood stories. My grandfather had a blast, and I was happy to see him with a big smile on his face, or laughing at the boys.
Tuesday, September 4th, I took Natalie to Clark's Elioak Farm. It's a a petting zoo/play area that is only about 25 minutes away. We were able to feed goats, ride a pony, and take a hayride. It was a fun time for everyone. The next day we met some friends for lunch and Natalie got to burn off some energy at the "germ pit" (our term of endearment for the play area at the mall). Thursday we took a little break, but Friday heated up again. We went to the Extreme Bounce Zone again for story time. It really is a good deal...they have about 20 minutes of story time for the kids, then time to bounce on everything, and they provide a small snack and craft project. I was impressed that Natalie and I made it there, early no less, since it starts at 9:30!!!! It really was a lot of fun, so I think we'll try to make that a regular trip! After the bounce zone we picked up Mom-mom to go shopping for a bit, and then off to Natalie's first Ballet Class. She LOVED taking the ballet lessons. There are only three little girls in her class. One of them is the daughter of a friend of mine from high school. The parents do not stay in the room with the class, so I was a little nervous, but there is a huge window where we can look in on the instruction. I was very proud of Natalie for listening to the teacher, and trying out everything the teacher asked (Natalie gets easily frustrated if something doesn't go right the first time, or she thinks she can't do something). I couldn't hear what exactly was being said in the class, but a few times I caught Natalies typical excitement as she shouted "Sure" or "Yes!" I have to say she was just too cute. She came running out of there, and said "Mommy, I did a great job!" I hadn't officially registered her for the class, because I wanted to find out if she would like to continue. I asked her afterwards if she wanted to come back, and she was very excited. She wanted to go right back in for another class! I had to tell her we needed to wait until next week! So, I registered her, and provided that she keeps an interest, she will most likely be in a recital in June.
On Sunday, Dan and Natalie went on Uncle Casey and Aunt Connie's boat with them along with Alex and Chloe, and Grammy and Grand-Dad. I drove over the bridge to Kentmorr Crab House to meet everyone for lunch (I wasn't really up for a few hour boat ride). Lunch was great, and Dan said that Natalie was having a great time on the boat. We are always talking about safety issues with Natalie, and there is a little cartoon short on the Disney Channel ("Lou and Lou Safety Patrol") that discusses safety as well. She is very quick to point out "safety violations." In fact, one day Uncle Jeremy was leaving on his motorcycle. He came back to the house saying something about needing his helmet. Natalie said, "That's right Uncle Jeremy. Because that would be a safety violation." Anyhow, it makes it easy on us since we don't really have to fuss about seatbelts and stuff. So, we went over the "rules" for the boat, and the fact that she would have to wear a life jacket. Dan said when he was handing her down on the boat, she became slightly apprehensive and said, "But, I need my life jacket!" She LOVED the boat ride. Evidently she squealed each time the boat bumped over a wave. Alex, Chloe, and Natalie also fished that day. Natalie caught a few fish, and the kids giggled each time they reeled in a fish and touched its' side.
Today we finally had another doctor's appointment. I received the paperwork to go in for the glucose test, and the doctor gave me a prescription for a higher dose of Zantac since my heartburn is just about unbearable. The doctor said that everything looks fine, but that I do have to go back for another ultrasound. Evidently the last one showed that I have a "Borderline Partial Placenta Previa." A placenta previa is when the placenta implants itself directly over the cervix. = no exit for the baby, along with other potentially serious complications. A partial placenta previa means simply that it's only partially covering the cervix. My doctor also stated mine was borderline, so I don't know for sure that mine is covering any part of my cervix or just really close to it. The doctor noticed the look of shock and fear on my face, and told me that she wasn't concerned at all. She said that most of the time the placenta will move (it doesn't actually move on its' own, but as the uterus grows it sort of migrates with it), and that it looks promising for me since I have had no bleeding or other symptoms. So, we'll see when I go back for the next ultrasound if it did indeed move. I am hoping so, because I would really rather not have a c-section. Plus, one of the major complications of placenta previas is significant blood loss. I'd rather not go through that again. So, I am a little nervous, but am also extremely positive about the next ultrasound showing no problems.
I think that is all for now. I am posting some pictures (including Natalie playing her computer game. She has become quite good at using the computer and I am amazed how well she does with some of the games), and will update everyone again soon! Hope you are all doing well!

Here are a couple of links to videos from the fishing trip Sunday:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2794575437020964493&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4110842059871477340


Some links to more pics!

http://picasaweb.google.com/too.many.dan.smiths/FamilyFishingTrip


http://picasaweb.google.com/open.mynds/NatalieSFirstDanceLesson

http://picasaweb.google.com/open.mynds/LaborDayParty