Sitting Longer and Longer

Isabelle has been working hard on her sitting! If she's looking or playing with something right in front of her, she's good to go for quite awhile. However, if something interesting happens that off to one side.....TIMBER! She doesn't seem to mind all that much, though, especially since mom is usually there to slow her tumble. Isabelle and Magnum have also been bonding more and more. It's amazing to watch. Now that Isabelle can 'pet' (well sort of) Magnum, he seems to think she's worthy of his attention. BOTH are goofballs. Izzy has also been doing more voice exploration this week. This time, it's the screeching register. Not as funny to mom as the growling register, but a blast to Isabelle all the same. She'll look at me, smile, and force air out so it sounds like she's whisper-screaming and keep pouring on the velocity until she emits a screeeeeeeeeeeech. Oh what fun! :) Actually it's pretty funny, but when she gets to be about 18 months old, I doubt it will be funny any more. ;)

Some shots from the week:

Our little star enjoying her musical mirror

Yum!!

Huh? I swear officer, I have not been drinking.

I'm not sure I would wish this fate on my daughter...

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Well, as you can probably guess, Isabelle can now roll from her tummy to her back, as well as from her back to her stomach. Today, the sitter informed me that Izzy LOVES the other kids, especially now that she is starting to interact more. She said she put Isabelle down in the living room with the other kids, and when she came back into the room, Izzy had rolled across the room to get closer to the toys and the other kids that were playing there!!! She still scoots backwards, but she's starting to push her butt up in the air, I don't think crawling is too far away. She's also working on sitting these days. She seems to have some pretty good core muscles and can sit by herself for a few moments before either sliding to the side, or leaning way forward and grabbing her toes. (Her toes are still one of the best things around!)

The other morning Isabelle woke up early, about a half hour. So I took a peek to see what was up. She had worked herself around in her crib so that she was on her belly, and her legs were sticking all the way out of her crib! She was stuck....and not very happy about it!

She's getting the hang of eating with a spoon, some feedings are better than others. Staying true to her veggie roots, she loves sweet peas! Tonight I tried giving her a sip of water from a cup....she knew what to do with the cup as far as bringing the rim to her mouth, but when the water came close, she just wanted to lick it. We'll try it again another day.

Lastly, she's really been opening up and playing WITH me for short bouts. She'll look at me, take her hands and put them on either side of my face or neck and then pull me to her and butt foreheads...all the while talking or "growling" and grinning. She's quite the little goofball. She now also wants whatever she sees you are doing. Talking on a cell phone? Taking a drink out of a glass? Typing on the computer? She would LOVE to try all of these things...if only mom would let her!

Some shots from this week:

Concentrating on sitting...

Bliss in the exersaucer (no teeth yet!)

Push-up time!

Like my outfit? These are my first REAL pants with a snap and a zipper! (they are TWELVE MONTH pants!!! Someone should tell her she'd only 5.5 months old!)

Playing before bed in our jammies (also 12 month! We've got a tall girl on our hands!)

Isabelle and the.....Plastic Sacks?!?

Well, this morning dawned gloomy and rainy, but we ventured out anyway for the all-too-important diaper, wipes, and formula run. It was a slightly rocky trip since Mz. Iz decided to cut her nap to 15 min, but we survived with the help of a new toy (Thanks, Jen!) and some silly faces. At home again, we were putting our goodies away, Isabelle at my hip. Once the bags were empty, I scrunched them up like normal and headed to put them away. As I was crunching the sacks, Isabelle started cracking up! Who needs toys when mom will scrunch plastic sacks? Looks like I'll be heading to our toy box for the texture toys!

Solids, Scooting and a Swing, oh my!

It seems there's never a dull week in Isabelle's world! It's so amazing to watch her learn and grow! Over the last week and a half or so we've had a little cold, but she seems to be pretty much her good natured self, which is making us wonder if a tooth may be on the way. Those gums are still pretty and pink yet, although she loves chewing on anything she can get her hands on....and that includes mom's arm! If anyone ever told me that I would willing let another person slobber and gum all over my arm before I had Isabelle, I would have told them they were crazy!

She continues to do well with solids. I am impressed that she seems to be more of a vegetables girl than a fruit girl so far. Carrots are her favorite....which reminds me...I have GOT to find some plastic-backed bibs somewhere! OY!

Other achievements, besides making mom and dad's days better when we have bad ones at work, include rolling from back to tummy BOTH directions now, not just to the left, being TOTALLY in love with her feet, sucking on her big toe, and now since being on her tummy isn't so bad anymore, she's realized that she can scoot......backwards. True, it's only a half inch or an inch at a time, and she can't see where she's going...but if left to her own devices she can get off the 'landing area' that you make for her in any room. A friend of Dan's told him once his son started scooting, that he started crawling a few weeks later....!! Good heavens! I'm not ready for THAT yet!

One other thing, she's given herself her very first bruise on the noggin. It was very small, but it injured her pride none the less. It was after bath time and we were finished and all dressed. Deciding to be smart, she rolled to her belly to get a closer look at the counter (with my hands making sure she wasn't going to roll off)....and BONK she put her head down quickly on the counter as she does when she's on the floor in the living room. NOT a good idea. I think it surprised her more than anything, and I don't think she appreciated that mom was chuckling.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Isabelle waiting for more carrots! Hurry up mom!

Mmmmmmm!

Here comes the plane! Buzzzzzzzzzzz

Izzy outside in her swing, she's finally big enough to enjoy it! I think she SO looks like Daddy in this picture! What a cutie!

Magnum making sure all is ok with his sister.

Can we do this EVERY DAY, Mom?

5 Month Pictures

Well, it's official this month. I am out of ideas at the moment for pictures, the blanket deal isn't working anymore....my girl has outgrown it. *sob* (ok, not really, but she IS growing up!) Next month for the big six-er, I think I'm going to try taking her somewhere to get her picture taken. We'll see if that develops....October is shaping up to be a busy month already. Anyway: here are some pictures from her 5 month "anniversary"....

Hey! Where's the party?

Is it over there by Dad?

I wonder what I can get with this grin....

This tummy stuff isn't so bad!

I wonder....just let me see.....YEP! It tastes JUST like I thought it would!

What a weekend!

It was a very eventful weekend for our little family unit this past Labor Day. We decided to try to make the first trek to Iowa. So, for the trip out, that meant a 5.5 hour car ride to my dad's place, and a ~4 hour car ride on the way back from Dan's parents' place. Daunting....but we attempted it anyway. Isabelle handled the car ride great. After a few hours and when she was hungry, things were a little dicey, but other than that I thought she handled it really well, especially with Magnum in the backseat with her checking on her from time to time.

First stop was Grandpa R's place. Here, we were able to get up close and personal with a horse...if only momentarily and Isabelle got her first ride on the Gator! By the end of the ride, Magnum was pooped from running/playing along side of us and got to have his first ride as well. Both enjoyed the ride/run and scenery! Also new for this stop...we got to break out the Pack-N-Play for the first time...it worked great the whole weekend.

Friday night we got to meet one of our peers, and hopefully a life-long friend. My friend Jen from college brought her little girl, Kaitlyn to meet Isabelle, and for us to do a little catching up. Kaitlyn is SO cute and seems to be a very happy little gal as well. I'm not sure if Isabelle realized she was meeting someone her own age (they are only 2 weeks apart!), but she and I both hope for many more fun times to come!

Also on Friday night, we tried a bath in Grandpa's kitchen sink. What a cluster that was. Dad had a hold on her and was washing and mom was trying to wash at the same time. Looks like it's time to start thinking about what to do for bath time since we are outgrowing our blue tub!

Next stop was Aunt Traci's house for our Labor Day gathering. With all this going on, all these sights to see, and people to talk to, who wants to nap?!? Isabelle FINALLY succumbed to a nap after quite a fight. When I checked on her after she was finally quiet, I found her fast asleep......ON HER BELLY! She slept like that for almost 2 hours! I'm glad that she's finally becoming more comfortable in that position....it means that a truly mobile baby is becoming a not-to-distant event. I am both looking forward to, and somewhat dreading this event....I feel as though we are not ready yet, but who can say they were ready?

Third up was Aunt Sharon's house for my husband's family gathering. Here we had another group of fun and interesting people to talk to and to charm, plus we got to see kitties and calves for the first time! If mom would have been a little more adventurous, Izzy would have gotten to see chickens too, but with the guys shooting trap on the other side of the yard, I didn't think it was a good idea to rile up the birds more than they already were. Again, the napping was done on our tummy, however not for long!

Finally, we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa S. Here was another totally new locale with new sights and sounds. On Labor Day we headed out to the campgrounds where Aunt Jean and Uncle Dan were camping. Izzy witnessed her first camping cook out! She took it all in stride, and was mesmerized by the campfire as she had her bedtime bottle. We put her to bed in Jean's camper (with no fuss....how did we luck out there?) and were able to stay awhile longer for a little adult conversation...always a plus.

On Monday we visited my brother-in-law where he and a friend are building their own plane. Again, Isabelle just seemed to take it all in.

For all the new sights, sounds, people and situations we put Isabelle in this weekend, she was remarkably great natured! Nine times out of 10 she had a smile on her face and a story to tell.

New things for this last week:

• Really getting into the feet - chewing on toes at times
• Sleeping on her BELLY!!!
• More and more giggles. I heard Isabelle giggle more this last weekend than I have her whole life to date! Chalk that up to all the aunts, uncles and cousins that were doing the great entertaining.
• When on her belly, Izzy will scoot forward if you place your hands behind her feet (Jen showed us this trick!)
• She is now pretty proficient with rolling from her back to her tummy
• She doesn't really seem to like applesauce
  

Now on to some pics from the weekend:

Izzy chillin' at Grandpa R's house

Isabelle and Kaitlyn

After the first gator ride - don't worry, Dad wasn't holding AND driving, mom is taking the picture.

"Can I borrow the keys?"

Cashed out after the gathering at Traci's

Isabelle chillin' at Grandma and Grandpa S' house.
"Are you taking ANOTHER picture?"