The Great Trip to Phoenix!

Natalia took her first plane flight (out of the womb, that is) to Phoenix. The trip out went very smoothly-only a little crying in the car after arrival in Phoenix. Natalia had a great time with Tia Gloria, Tio Amado, and her cousin Melinda. There was so much social time she sometimes had trouble calming down, but she had a great time. Her eyes were constantly busy, seeing all kinds of new things, including a swimming pool, actual warm sunshine, a pack of little dogs, and all kinds of kids. She was constantly smiling being passed around-only crying when she had to go to bed.

Meeting cousins and other friends in Phoenix!

Natalia got the chance to see her cousins Silvia, Mikayla, Anaya, and Jaelin in Phoenix. She also made another new friend, Brianna. She was fascinated by them (and their ability to move!) We really started to notice her trying to start moving this week, swimming on land. It was so nice to spend time with the cousins-we got to see a lot of them while we were there.

Back to Milwaukee.....

After taking a few pictures together, we said good-bye and got on the plane back to Milwaukee. It will be hard to be away from the sun! Natalia had a much harder time on the plane on the way back-she didn't cry, instead she was "talking" in a loud voice for at least an hour on the plane back from Phoenix to Minneapolis. Back in Milwaukee, Mike was nice enough to collect us at the airport. After crying the whole car ride home like a baby being given a pink belly, Natalia showed her better side and performed a few giggles.

A visit to Eric, Ana, Marysa, and Josh

This afternoon, we got in the car and drove out to Cedarburg to visit Eric, Ana, Marysa, and Josh. Natalia was mostly in good spirits through all the activities, which included a delicious chicken salad lunch, Miriam and Holt trying their hands at "Rock Band", and a card game of Sorry. Natalia even managed to soil the two outfits we had in two shots-that's quite a hitting percentage for a little leaguer! So, she got to go home in the buff, which turned out to be quite pleasing.

Three months old ( and you know what that means...)

Story time

We have been trying to make Natalia's bedtime more structured-this has included a bath that would make most spa-goers green with envy and a story. Natalia is generally very intent on her "touch and feel" books.

Brian and Laura see Natalia

The baby handling was a bit tense at first, but Brian and Laura quickly warmed up to Natalia when they realized she wasn't going to burst into tears the moment they touched her.

Baby meets baby

We had a visitor, Andrea who brought her baby Ashlyn to see us. She is technically a little over a month younger than Natalia. Natalia was VERY curious about Ashlyn. She gave both of us long looks as we held this new visitor, perhaps to say, "Hey, wait a minute..." or perhaps just to say "What's this?" Natalia also grabbed Ashlyn's hand for a few seconds.