15 months!

Time just keeps marching on and now Natalie is well into toddlerhood. She's a busy little girl who is always on the go - we have to keep a close eye on her because if you turn around for one second, she'll be sticking her hand in the toilet or trying to climb out the doggie door. We love watching her try new things, and there always seem to be something new going on. As you've seen on the blog, our little bear loves the water. We were at the YMCA water park with some friends a few weekends ago and Natalie was fearless as she splashed around among the bigger kids. Grandma was here for a few days last week while Natalie's school was closed for teacher training and she was certainly busy. She and Natalie took trips to the mall, the grocery store and the aquarium. She also bought Natalie her first chair and she is loving it, though we have to watch her because she'll try to climb on it in ways it was not intended for! This past Friday, we took Natalie up to a bar/restaurant where our friend Jenny works in Ybor City. Our friends Ryan and Megan met us up there with their daughter, Anna, and Jenny's daughter Scout was there as well. It was so cute to see the little girls racing around together. Grandma took Natalie home around 8:30 p.m. - she was wiped out from all the fun! On Sunday we had lots of errands to run. We took Natalie back to her favorite place, Ikea, for lunch. She's trying to master the art of using utensils and it's a pretty messy process, but she's doing well and manages to get some of the food into her mouth. Then we took her to the mall for her first haircut because her hair has been getting kinda wild and I feared it would start looking like a mullet if we didn't do something about it. The salon we took her to caters to kids and you'll see the cool "Barbie Jeep" chair she sat in while she was getting her haircut. She was such a trooper - no tears at all, not like the little boy nearby who was screaming bloody murder the entire time his hair was being cut. We've got such a brave girl! She even got a certificate commemorating the occasion. Our last stop was Lowe's, where Natalie wanted to run all over and touch everything. It used to be that she wanted us to hold her when we were out doing errands and now she squeals for us to put her down. She's so independent! Today she was back at school and tomorrow is the official "first day" when the new kids start. I got her a cute little dress to wear because I can't pass up shopping for these kind of events. She'll be a pro and I'm sure she'll be showing the new kids the ropes. I'm glad to say that she really seems to be loving her school and the teachers are so caring. It's nice to know she's in a good place while we're at work.
And a quick congrats to our good friends Kristin and Rick, who are now parents to a baby girl who will, I'm sure, become a close pal to Natalie someday.