• About 22.5 pounds and 33 inches (at her 18 month checkup). Tall and skinny!
• My favorite word that she says now: “Happy!”
• She’s all around a playful kid!  I can’t figure out if she is an introvert or an extrovert.

• She loves to pick her outfits.  She will also compliment other people on their clothes, or hair (“oooh… preetty!”) or fish for compliments by showing people her own clothes.
• She is a stargazer.  She loves to look at the “moom” (moon) and “ky” (sky) at night.  One night she was devastated because it was too cloudy to see the moon.  Fortunately our neighbors up the hill have a round window that looks like the moon… we let her believe that was it.
• She loves to watch “shoooo” (shows) that we have recorded for her, Little Einsteins and Backyardigans.  We try to limit but they come in really handy if mommy isn’t feeling well…
• She loves to play dress-up now, apparently.  She got a hand-me-down fairy princess costume from her cousin and asks to wear it daily!

• Despite her petite size she is a great little eater, not picky at all.  All day long she asks for “nom nom nommy”s (snacks).
• She still has amazing curly hair… still never been cut! (If I had a boy with hair like this, I’d let it stay curly, too.)

• She doesn’t have a clue about the baby in my tummy, but she is very sweet and gentle with animals, other kids, baby dolls, stuffed animals… I think she will be a natural big sister and am not worried about it at all.
• She loves to sing songs with hand motions… you know… Itsy Bitsy Spider, Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes, Patty Cake. I have to be careful when I bring it up or she will ask for me to sing them all day.
• She is sooo much fun!

(singing those little songs with her cousins)

(Prepare for a picture overload!)

Life is pretty good for our 13-month-old girl. She is really enjoying life and learning so much! Her favorite thing to do is play outside. I say, “Natalie, do you want to go outside?” and she gets a huge grin, throws her arms up and says, “buh-bye?”

Other words she is saying are Mama, Dada, Nata, hi, hello, all done, and dog. A few times she has said something that sounds like “outside”. I think she is working on that one.

There she is hanging out in the our backyard. We spend a lot of time back there these days. Note: The hat she is wearing is like a newsboy cap that is too big for her, NOT a bonnet (someone thought it was… Laura I think) . Notice she isn’t looking at the camera in any of these pictures? She’s way too busy to stop for the camera… most of the time. Occasionally she’s really into posing…

An acquaintance who works for Disney sent Natalie a huge bag of Disney merchandise, including these sparkly shoes and pink princess purse. You can tell Natalie feels SO special in them!

Shopping and texting? Just like mama. She also pretends to talk on the phone.

I call Natalie my “little mommy” because she is so sweet and loving to her stuffed animals. She loves to hug and kiss and pat their backs.

Again, she’s SO THRILLED to be OUTSIDE! The arms over the head is another new thing

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In that last picture she is waiting impatiently for Andy to get home for work. She gets so excited when I tell her that he’s on his way home. Like my makeshift baby gate? Our screen door finally broke for good. If you have opened or closed our screen door in the last 6 months you know what I am talking about, haha.
We took a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo for Natalie’s 1st birthday, a McLaughlin family tradition. She loved it! Her favorite was the anteater. She kept exclaiming “Dah, dah!” (dog). She loves animals.

Another big “first” was her first trip to the beach! It was kind of cold and windy, but she enjoyed it.

Hopefully that has caught you up with what Natalie has been doing since her first birthday! She is a very busy little girl who keeps her parents constantly entertained.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some pictures from Natalie’s First Birthday Party! She loved playing with her friends and relatives, eating her cake, and was especially delighted to hear everyone sing Happy Birthday to her!