For this Christmas and New Year's, we've decided to buy a mini-tree instead of putting up our huge regular one we used for the past couple of years. The main reason being is Natasha, of course. She's at an age where she gets into everything, pulls on everything, and wants to touch everything. And I know that she needs to learn the word "no" and understand its meaning, but we just couldn't risk her pulling the tree over her head. We've made our apartment more-or-less baby-proof so that she can run around without being supervised 24/7, but with a huge floor-to-ceiling tree, this would not have been possible.

So we left our tree with its blue-and-silver ornaments and decorations in our locker room downstairs, and instead bought a pixie-dust 2.5 ft mini-tree. It came with lights already attached, and we went for a red-and-gold theme for this one. Natasha is really curious about it and keeps poiting at the lights and going, "this!".

Up until now, Natasha has been acting like a little princess in the feeding department. We've been feeding her from a spoon or a fork ever since she was 4 months old, but around her 1st birthday we've attempted to teach her to self-feed. It didn't work. And I don't think that she didn't "get it", but rather that she preferred to sit and be fed. Easier, right? But a few days ago, we put out a few Gerber puffs on her highchair tray, and surprisingly enough she started shoving them in her mouth. It was really funny, almost like she changed her might overnight. Silly girl. Now she can sit and feed herself puffs, but she still needs lots of practice as quite a few of them end up on the floor.

I sometimes see videos of babies her age feeding themselves pasta with tomato sauce and I can't help but cringe. The sight of the messy pasta and tomato sauce all over the highchair, the baby's face, hair, and clothes, and even on the floor really disgusts me. I don't understand why parents would go through this mess on a daily basis which would also require giving the baby a full bath afterwards. I would rather use a fork and feed her myself - nice and clean. I could see her feeding herself drier foods that would require me to wash her face and hands, but the whole messiness is simply not for me.

Here's a little video we recorded last night of Natasha eating Gerber puffs:

I've posted before about Natasha being the ultimate Daddy's Girl. And initially Matthew kind of enjoyed that she's needing to spend so much time with him, but I think it's starting to get a bit overwhelming for him as well. I can understand why she clings to him so much, considering he's very hands-on with her and pays a lot of attention to her; on top, she only sees him for about 2 hours each day on weekdays which is not a lot. She misses him and his attention during the days. But poor Matthew literally cannot sit down and rest for one minute without Natasha walking over to him and pulling on his hand, indicating she wants him to walk with her. This was really cute a few months ago when she couldn't walk by herself, but now that she can, it makes a lot less sense. She would start this fake-sounding cry, very loud, and carry on until he gives in and walks with her. I feel slightly bad for him because he cannot even relax after work and has to walk with Natasha or play with her until her bedtime. It's both funny and frustrating at the same time. This is what it looks like:

Natasha realized Matthew was sitting and relaxing. No, this cannot happen!
The fake cry begins, and she is trying hard to reach for his hand and grab it.

Matthew picks her up (which is not what she wanted), and sits her next to him instead....

Close-up... the misery continues...

Matthew washing dishes. Natasha stood next to him the entire time.

Matthew was eating chicken on ths sofa. 
Natasha stood beside him the entire time, and only remained calm 
when he placed pieces of chicken in her mouth.

I am 22 weeks today, officially making me 5 months pregnant. It's funny because with my last pregnancy I wasn't showing nor wearing any maternity wear until exactly five months, yet this time I have been wearing mat clothes for three months already. Things are speeding along way faster this time. The baby is quite the kicker and kicks at least three times every 24 hours. It's not flatters any longer but little determined kicks. May winter jacket is getting really snug so I may need to look into something bigger for the following few months.

Natasha, at this age, is completely oblivious to this pregnancy and it's going to be quite the adjustment for her. But hopefully, since she's still so young, she won't remember what it was like being an only child and will adapt to her new little sibling. We'll have to carefully divide out attention between the two of them without Natasha feeling neglected as she's quite the little princess right now. But I am sure in the long run it will work out and they'll be able to eventually play together and keep each other company. Only four months left!