My apologies to everyone. It’s been WAY too long since I last posted an entry. Natalie is growing up so quickly that there is a lot to talk about.

Natalie is eating much better now and we can feed her pretty much anything she can handle without teeth. She has also mastered drinking from a straw, which is very cute to watch.

Christina surprised me with a trip to Washington State for my birthday. We visited the Pike Place market in Seattle, and stayed overnight in Bellevue. At the market we went to the very first Starbucks, and found a great cheese shop. We took Natalie swimming in the hotel pool, and out for dinner at Maggiano’s Italian restaurant.

For Easter (and my birthday), we drove up to Susan & Jame’s cabin at 70 Mile House. We spent Easter weekend there with Susan, James & Gillian, and Karen and Michael. Everyone had a great time, and ate way too much. Natalie really enjoyed all the attention she got, as she always had someone to play with.

Natalie has recently given up her inchworm-style crawling for the more traditional variety. She still switches back every once and a while, but pretty much crawls normally all the time now. She’s fast too! She has also gotten very good at climbing everything. She can pull herself up on pretty much anything. There was a bad week where she kept falling down, but she is a lot better now… and the bruises are gone too! She has also discovered that she can climb stairs forcing us to put up another baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. We’re also getting very proficient at climbing over baby gates.

Natalie continues to enjoy swimming lessons. She has finished her classes at Bonsor (she passed!), and has now started lessons at Eileen Daily. She is a natural and loves to kick and splash around. She even blew some bubbles last time.

I took two days off work and we went out to Kelowna for an extended weekend trip to visit Christina’s family. Amy flew out from Calgary so the whole family was there. Natalie had a blast in Kelowna, and was the center of attention as usual. I’m told Leo’s wouldn’t have it any other way.

Natalie has begun to say Dada all the time now, and more often than not it is directed at me! It is very cute. She has also discovered that she likes to give raspberries to Christina on her belly. She started doing it on her own last week while we were all lying in bed and she is very proud of herself when she does!