It seems like just yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital! I can still remember my labor with her and how exhausted I was after THREE hours of pushing!!! She is the one that first made us parents! What a blessing she has been!
Natalie has always been our "easy" child! I looked up the personality traits of a first born and they are right on the money for Natalie:
Reliable
Conscientious
Structured
Cautious
Controlling
Achievers
Firstborns bask in their parents' presence, which may explain why they sometimes act like mini-adults. Firstborns are diligent and want to be the best at everything they do. They excel at winning the hearts of their elders.
Natalie is all of the above! She gets her feelings hurt very easily if she gets in trouble, but is always the one that we can rely on to get toys/room picked up. She does great at her preschool by choosing challenging work at work time, makes friends easily, prefers the controlled/structure of her day, and enjoys pleasing her teachers or us with her work. She is also our clumsy one (takes after her dad). She does not like to wake up in the morning and would prefer to sleep in until 9am most days. I am not looking forward to waking her up and getting her to school by 8/8:15a come August for Kindergarten.
She is a great helper with her brother and has even helped change diapers and feed him bottles! She loves being a big sister! Aubrey and Natalie are the best of friends (most of the time) and love to play together.
She is for the most part very independent. She almost gives herself a shower with just some reminders of where to wash and gets herself dressed, but still needs occasional reminders of putting her shoes on the right feet and help with zippers. She can buckle herself in the car and can use the bathroom on her own in public places, and prefers to be in the stall by herself. She no longer uses pull-ups at night and was doing awesome keeping her bed dry, but now we are back to lots of wet beds in the morning, but changes her own sheets and puts them into the washer. We told her that 5 year olds don't pee the bed, but I don't think that's really going to matter and I anticipate more bedwetting in our future...ugh! (She kept her bed dry this morning!!!)
Although, she is typically our compliant child, we have lately been having issues with her attitude...slamming doors and yelling. I'm not sure what exactly sparked the change, but man oh man does it wear a person out! We have threatened many times lately to cancel her birthday party, which will be in Plainfield at an indoor waterpark. She wanted to go to the Great Wolf Lodge hotel, but more people will be able to come and participate, so it will be the best of both worlds for her. It will also be easier on me than my usual themed parties, but we'll still have Paw Patrol plates/napkins and cake per her request.
Natalie is super smart and learns a ton at her preschool. She can tell me names of artists, as well as the names of their famous paintings. She knows the planets and continents and is getting pretty good at simple math. She still has work to do on her reading, which she tends to want to read from right to left, so I'm hoping that corrects itself with practice and isn't a sign of dyslexia. I cannot wait to see how she does in Kindergarten! I think she will excel with a structured day, five days a week.
She is really enjoying playing soccer and wants to play t-ball in the Spring.
Natalie is very opinionated when it comes to her clothes and refuses to wear certain clothing items, such as jeans...she despises jeans! I convinced her to wear jeans for a quick 5 year old photo shoot, but only if she was able to pick out her own outfit for the first round of pictures.
Her outfit choice vs. my outfit choice :)
She must be wishing it was summer with her shoe choice! I can't say I blame her!
This was her pose of choice...LOL!
Natalie insisted we take pictures of her favorite characters!
...somehow Lambie fits into this picture too?!
Photo courtesy of Natalie
Photo courtesy of Aubrey
Annual Questions for Natalie:
What is your favorite food?: Chocolate
What is your favorite sport to play?: Soccer
What is the best show on TV?: Paw Patrol
Who is the coolest person on Earth?: Landon and Lucy
What is your favorite thing to learn about in school?: God
What are you best at doing?: Chocolate work at school ("but it's not real chocolate, it's all kinds of shapes" I'm guessing she is referring to the plastic heart-shaped puzzle that is like a box of chocolates)
If you could go anywhere on Earth, where would you go?: Bouncin' Barn
What is your favorite color?: Blue...pink, blue, and purple
When I grow up, I want to...: play at the park
What is your favorite song right now?: Jingle Bells
What is your favorite book?: Room on the Broom
What is your favorite season of the year?: Spring
What is the best thing about camping?: because of Kyle and Cadence
What is your favorite snack?: chocolate and cookies
Which food do you dislike the most?: salad (even though she was eating salad as I asked her these questions)
Who is your best friend?: Landon
Who is your favorite princess?: Belle
"I like to play with scissors"
"I like syrup"
"I like to play with paint"
I love listening to her and her stories and answers!
We have soccer practice tonight and she has chosen to eat her special birthday dinner at McDonalds (LOL) and pick out a cupcake from a local bakery, however, that may change to ice cream. We'll have to wait and see! She also requested to eat lunch with her friends at school today and took a Lunchable (which is a special treat for her), as well as Frozen fruit snacks. Bobby and I would have taken her to lunch today, but I think it's super cute that she wants to spend it with her friends! She also took mini cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and apple juice to share with her class!
So far, she has opened her birthday gift from Aubrey which was a gem/rock dig kit that Aubrey especially picked out for her! She'll also be getting a new, bigger bike later today from all of us! My plan is also to take her to get a manicure and pedicure, probably this weekend since we won't have time tonight with soccer practice. I hope it's a special day for her and she has lots of fun!
This birthday of Natalie's is a win for Aubrey too because she is now the proud owner of the Frozen bicycle!
Natalie picked out a yummy chocolate covered cherry cupcake from Ashlee's Cakes in town...yummy!
She picked out a banana split cupcake for Aubrey, a Inside Out Peanut Butter Cup for Bobby (even though he's not a fan of peanut butter) and I got a Snickers one to share with Bobby. They were all super yummy!
Happy Birthday to our sweet, kind, energetic baby girl! We LOVE you so much and can't wait to see what this year has in store for you!
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