Natalie's first "word"

She's been hinting at it for the past few days, but tonight she said it, clear as day. DaDa. And DaDa himself was here to hear it. Natalie certainly doesn't know that DaDa means anything but it was so cute to hear her say it. She's most talkative when she has something in her mouth, be it a spoon, her fingers or a toy or blanket. We'll try to catch it on the camera but she usually clams up when we try to take her picture. She seems very suspicious of the camera, as if she fears we're going to someday trot out embarrassing photos of her when she brings home a date (of course we will).
In other Natalie news, we've had a nice week together. The weather has been beautiful so we've been outside as much as possible. Today Natalie attended her first birthday party. Her pal Sophie turned one and her parents, our friends Rob and Rachel, had a very nice party for her. Natalie slept through most of it but woke up in time to try out some of Sophie's gifts. Happy Birthday Sophie, and congrats to Rob and Rachel!
Natalie seems to be enjoying her first holiday season. We took her to a house in our neighborhood that has an insane amount of lights and decorations. She looked slightly interested. I guess she'll find it more fascinating next year. We set up our tree and she likes to look at it and grab at the lights. Check out the adorable ornament I got at the holiday gift market. These pictures are in reverse order and I don't have time to fix them.
And I've gotta say this: congrats to the Gators for an amazing win over a very talented Alabama team. Gooooo Gators!!!!