She is still not eating the way she should. She will not eat vegetables. She will not eat any meat, except chicken nuggets, hot dogs, bacon & sausage. She will eat spaghetti or fish on occasion, but very rarely. She used to LOVE hamburgers and will not touch one now. She likes junk food, but I rarely give her junk food, because I know she NEEDS to LEARN to eat other foods. She will eat yogurt, apples, bananas, & grapes, so I know she is getting SOME nutrition. She used to eat strawberries & now refuses to even touch one! I know some of you are probably thinking...well quit fixing her that stuff & she won't eat it, but see that's the thing. I don't fix her anything special. The only time I fix her something different is if I know it's something spicy or something I just know for a fact she does not like, then I may fix her a grilled cheese or hot dog, but that's a rare occasion. If we go to someone else's house to eat (any of the grandparents, aunts, or anyone like that) I will not let them fix her something special either. I will fix her a plate of whatever is cooked and set it in front of her. She will eat the bread (roll, cornbread or toast) off of her plate & gets angry if her fork/spoon has touch something else. For example, the other night we had fried round steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, black eyed peas & garlic toast. She got mad and said her fork was dirty because it touched the potatoes. She ate about 2 bites off the toast & said she doesn't like it, which I know is a lie, because she eats it all the time. I did start buying the fruitables drinks & she seems to like the apple carrot ones so at least she is getting some veggies in some form. I just don't know what to do anymore! If any of you have any suggestions, please feel free to share!
Natalee is trying to potty train. Every afternoon for the past week or two, she has put her big girl panties on when we get home. She had a few accidents the first day and only one or two since then. She is trying to learn but she will not tell me when she has to go. I have to ask her & she always says no, then I tell her to go try & as soon as she sits down, she does her business. I'm not sure if she just doesn't know yet what it feels like when she has to go or just doesn't want to. However, she is the one that asked to wear her big girl panties so I'm not pushing it. She will be trained when she is ready.
Natalee can say her ABC's, count to 12 in English and to 10 in Spanish. She knows her colors & shapes. She knows all of her animals & what each says. She can sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" & "Jesus Loves Me" word for word. She loves to sing "Old McDonald" too. Natalee knows her bedtime prayer word for word except for one line, but we are working on it. She has a Dora sleepover book downloaded on my nook & she can read it almost word for word. I'm not sure if she has memorized what's on each page or if she just "think" she knows what it says, because I know she can't actually read!
She loves to brush her teeth & take a bath. She loves to be outside. She loves her dog, Belle. She loves to swing & slide. She loves to go around naked. There are many things Natalee loves to do. Her favorite song is "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus, her favorite store is "Dirt Cheap" and her favorite thing to do is play ball. Every night at bedtime, we have to watch "Cars" or "Despicable Me". She loves those two movies!
Speaking of bedtime, Natalee has actually been sleeping in her big girl bed. We had a toddler bed set up in her room & she refused to sleep in it. If she fell asleep in the living room or in our bed, as soon as her bed hit the pillow on her bed, she was wide awake & cranky. Well, a few months ago, we decided to set up a full size bed. Terry got it set up while I was at work and when I got home, we headed out to Grenada. We went to Wal-Mart & we let Natalee pick out her own bedding. She picked out a very cute pink set with flowers. We got her the comforter, sheets, & curtains, along with two new pillows. Now, every night, Terry or I will go in there & lay down with her, put a movie on the TV & usually within 15/20 minutes, she is out! If she gets up, it's usually around 3, then she will come get in the bed with us, but about 80% of the time, she sleeps all night!
This past Sunday, June 26, we were getting ready for church. Granny didn't have a vehicle at the time, so Natalee & I were taking her to Calvary for their homecoming. I was in the kitchen making Natalee some strawberry milk and Terry was sitting on the couch. All of a sudden, Natalee started SCREAMING. I have never heard this child scream as loud as she was. I ran in there to see what happened & her eye was already swelling up & bruising! She had tripped & fallen on our fireplace! Luckily, we don't have square bricks or it would have probably been worse than it was. Needless to say, she has her first black eye. The swelling has gone down, but the bruise looks like it is getting bigger. She cried for a good 30 minutes or so but was fine after that. I gave her some Ibuprofen & we went on our merry way. She has been doing fine ever since & it hasn't seemed to bother her so I think all is good!
I'll leave you with some pictures from the last couple of weeks!!
