A Peek at the Poulsens

It's Austin's birthday! Hooray! After a delightful sleep, thanks to Natalie only waking up to eat once and just a couple re-binkings, this is what we woke up to: SNOW DAYYYY! Most of my school responsibilities were cancelled, so we took the liberty of cancelling the rest and are spending the day at home...the best! It has been a marriage-long struggle to perfect the art of the fried egg, and I suspect it will continue for years to come. Unfortunately, this morning my dreams of a beautiful fluffy intact egg for my birthday husband were dashed when the egg stuck to the pan, the yolk popped, and instead of a creamy white it was more like a smoking brown. He was grateful and enjoyed it anyway, bless his heart. (I'm too embarrassed to post a picture...plus he ate it too fast.) spending the morning playing with Natalie and watching Monk, his faves Austin is notorious for guessing his gifts...it is almost impossible to surprise him. So, he opened his presents from me ...

Babies have a sleeping code that is almost impossible to crack, at least for most of the parents I have talked to. Sometimes they sleep great, sometimes they sleep through the night for two weeks and then wake up every hour for the next two weeks, sometimes they like swaddling, sometimes they get too hot, sometimes they won't sleep unless they are on their tummy but you are afraid you'll be a bad mom since everyone is screaming at you about SIDS and risk factors, and sometimes (or often) you just wake your husband up and let him have a turn. I would say Natalie is average in the sleep category. When she was first born, everyone told us that she would just sleep all the time. Nope. From day one our baby has been alert and wanting to be a part of life, which we love! We just rearranged our sleep expectations and cheered for a 30-minute nap. Now she will take longer naps, but she still often fights it because she wants to play.  or, in the case of her five-day-old self,...

One day, all we really wanted was a grapefruit. So, we walked to the store and got one. Natalie was pretty possessive. I NEVER go to the store and leave with only one thing - I'm a distracted shopper ("Oh look tortillas and canned cherries are on sale...guess I better get 5!) - so this was pretty monumental. We were determined. (And we both forgot our wallets, so we were only working with what we could find in the car before we got the stroller out and headed for the store. Can't take too much credit, after all.) "Is that all for you?" "Well....yeah, actually." Austin decided to use our change to get a 25 cent soda to share (our favorite is the atrociously sweet Peach), but this time he wanted rootbeer...good choice, because TWO came out! Can't beat two for one, especially when one is only 25 cents! (So I guess we did leave with more than one thing after all.) the cheesy happy face We went home and feasted on our grapefruit and...

Who knew that Natalie's favorite toy would be kleenex boxes? It is HYSTERICAL watching her go at one - that's the best way to describe what happens, because it's like a boxing match between baby and box. She whacks herself with it, crams it into her mouth and gnaws on the corners, flails it all around madly, and cackles wildly at the fun of it all. We got a video but I don't know how to post it on here from my phone, so pictures/memories will just have to do it justice. (...with a kleenex on her head, of course.)  hahahahaha! this captures it completely     check out that CHEEK!    

Themes for this month: playing, grabbing, sleeping?, shrieking, rolling, sitting, Daddy time, I like my tummy.  She is SUCH a joy! Ah! As with everything else, it seems, one day Natalie just decided to make a change and grab things intentionally instead of us just cheering when we put a toy in her hand. No telling what that trigger is, but we aren't complaining because it is SO. MUCH. FUN now that she can actually play with us! She laughs all the time, loves having something in her hands (and, consequently, her mouth), kicks her legs when she gets excited, and sometimes just shrieks for no reason other than she is happy about life. I never shush her (unless she's having an unnecessary freakout: "Natalie Jane. Are those happy noises or nasty noises? Thank you.") because I think it is fabulous that she likes to babble - it's her way of communicating right now and I say the more the merrier. No surprises that MY daughter would like to talk! :) Aust...