I think these pictures speak to the emotional roller coaster that is The Life of Natalie.  I like it when I manage to capture what the kids are going through.  I think these shots sum her up pretty well.

Most days, I try to have a little casual time where Natalie and I work on her letters and numbers. Occasionally I see that some of it is sinking in, which is encouraging and makes me think that maybe we really could home school our kids (that’s the plan for now).

The other day I asked Natalie to write her name, and this is what she came up with all on her own:

Okay, so it may not look like much, but– the first letter is “N” (she really likes to write N’s but gets carried away sometimes), the second letter is “t” (obviously) and the third is “0”, which makes sense to Natalie because she pronounces her own name “Na-toe-lie” and routinely insists that there is an “o” in her name.

I asked her to do it again and she improved a bit on the N:

I know I’m just an overly excited parent, but I was really happy to see her little thought process playing out here. I’m sure sure she will be writing “Nata” (or maybe “Nato”?) before we know it.

She also likes to “i” and “w”, as seen here, along with more “t”. She has no interest in “a” for some reason.

PS- I promise there will be a Ben post soon, since he did have a birthday and all!

Well, this is a picture of how Natalie spent her first ballet recital.  She got a little nervous and didn’t want to go on stage, but it’s okay (though I think she regretted it later when her class came on and she knew the dance!).  Natalie has learned a lot of ballet steps since beginning the class though, and gave us a personal recital afterwards.  Perhaps there will be more performances in her future.

Natalie had her birthday on March 1, after months of anticipation.  Check out that straight-out-of-bed hair she is sporting on her birthday morning!  Her special request was a donut for breakfast.

After breakfast we let her come out to the patio and find her gift, a playhouse.  She and Ben love it and play very nicely together inside!

Three year olds are so much fun!  Natalie has an amazing imagination.  In this picture she is completely in her own world.  That stick is actually a fishing pole and she is going to “catch a whopper” with it.

She is also becoming a great helper, happy to assist in any chore.  The other day she climbed up on the counter and peeled two whole heads of garlic for me all on her own, which was actually extremely helpful to me through the following week!

Natalie started ballet classes back in January and is learning so much!  It has been wonderful to see how well she listens to the teacher and participates in the class.  As soon as she puts that outfit on, she is completely in character!  Her first recital is coming up, so that should be quite entertaining!

I hope this gives you a little peek at what Natalie is like right now… she is so very lovable and we are looking forward to everything her next year holds!