Almost 1!

Izzy had been a mover and a shaker this week! How is that different than any other week, though? Today we walked around outside with her under her own power for the first time....holding onto only ONE of mom's hands, of course. We were lucky enough to find a wood chip and a stick to explore. From there, we spent some time in the baby swing and I told her all about the wondrous equipment that we'd explore in the park once it finally warmed up. She looked at me with the setting sun reflecting in her blue, blue eyes and grinned a sparkly grin at me....like she was actually picking up on what I was saying. ... Then she turned to the tree, pointed, and gave the tree a very serious speech. I can only assume that the tree now knows Isabelle's life's ambition while mom is left wondering what she said and puzzled as to why the tree warranted such a speech.

In other news, Izzy is down to 2 bottles a day, one right away in the morning (which won't be hard to drop because she really doesn't seem too attached to it) and one right before bed. THAT'S the one that's going to be tough on all of us to get rid of for various reasons.

Isabelle's new thing is taking buckets with toys in them or cups filled with water in the bathtub and upending them over her upturned face, where she's waiting for whatever the contents to spill down on her...open faced...and open mouthed. I believe if I would have let her, she may have drank the entire contents of her bath last night.

Wednesday, Izzy and I were having lunch and Dad came home to get one of the motorcycles to take to the shop. As Dan came in the door, both he and I could have sworn Isabelle said "Hi Dada." Later that same day, I could have sworn she said 'puppy.' I know she understands more than she can say, I can just SEE it....especially when she 'talks' and points to what she's talking about or wants.

I still can't believe my little "baby" will be ONE on Tuesday. ONE! With all the stress at work the last year...THAT time seems to be going SO slowly. However, the time with Isabelle seems to have flown. Didn't she just start crawling a little bit ago?

Here are some pictures from the week:

Isabelle (and Magnum) helping Mom on Wednesday..."hrm...I wonder what THIS button does?"

"hee hee hee.......I don't THINK I'm supposed to be messing around right nere...

Izzy taking advantage of snack time on Mom's lap. (That's me in the Iowa State sweatshirt)

Now you can see what I mean by 'taking advantage' of snack time in mom's lap. Not content to sit up in mom's lap, she must lay down, work her head between my arm and my body so her head is on the arm rest, my arm is around her, and stretch out to cross her ankles on the desk. She seems to think, "THERE! Now mom can't do ANYTHING else but pay attention to ME!" It's hard work being a momma's girl.

Here she is pouring out the contents of an old formula can. At least this time there was no liquid or sputtering involved.

And lastly (but not leastly) here's a picture of our often not mentioned, often climbed upon, always good natured, and once in awhile in-trouble for food surfing fur baby. He's quite the buddy for Isabelle.

Crawling is No Longer COOL Enough

All weekend Isabelle has been walking around the house with mom...but only holding onto ONE of my hands. I lost count yesterday how many times we've gone from the living room, down the hallway, to her room, to the patio door and back again. Sure, she can get places herself by crawling or cruising, but this mode of transport no longer seems to be COOL enough to suit our little stinker. It was just last week that she wasn't so sure about only holding on to ONE hand of mom or dad. Additionally, just before her nap she made up her mind and walked from the couch to a diaper box we happened to be playing with at the time...about 4 steps..all by herself! I believe she's realizing that she just might be able to do this thing without a wall or a helping hand from mom or dad.

Thursday, Dan and I also noticed that she can say 'baby'...and she says it often! So that was kind of cool to hear another recognizable word. She's starting to watch speech very closely and will sometimes try to imitate. Sometimes she will also try to imitate the inflection. My favorite is when she tries to whisper something.

Another development of the last few days is the advent of the pouting cry. By listening, you (or at least Dan and I) can immediately tell that it's fake...and that for whatever reason, something hasn't gone the way she wants, and she's bellyaching/pouting about it. This could be anything from wanting to get down from her high chair and it isn't time yet to being denied access to mom or dad's BlackBerry. This is just the newest chapter in the 'you can't always get what you want' lesson.

It's been awhile...

It seems like it's been awhile since I've posted on here, but as I look it's only been about 10 days. It seems like so much longer....it's been a long 10 days.

Isabelle likes to open mom's drawer in the bathroom and pull out the things she finds in my make-up bag. I've gone through it so that the things she can pull out are ok to play with...or so I thought. The other day, she was at the drawer merrily pulling things out and strewing them across the floor. Then there was quiet....which I didn't notice for a minute or two. When I finally heard the absense of babbling I look over to see that Izzy had a tube of lipstick....open, and had started to sample the goods. Needless to say she was VERY pretty. I got her cleaned up, or so I thought, at least until she finished her bottle and left a tell-tale lipstick ring around the nipple. I wish I would have gotten a picture, but I did not have the camera handy at the time.

Well, I have learned with that last statement to be careful with what you wish for! This morning, again I noticed the absence of talking a bit too late. This time the victim was mom's new moisturizer. It was a new 'toy' in the drawer that MUST be explored! The thing that I seem to be noticing as a theme here is that she's much more adept at getting things OPEN than I think she should be! THIS time....I got a picture. I HAD to. Not before she'd wiped some of it off, but at least I got a shot in. Today, she will be well moisturized, and hey, she did it herself instead of mom having to fight with her to get lotion on her cheeks!

Here are some other things Isabelle has been up to:

• She likes to nibble and take bites of whole snacks and foods on her own, like graham crackers, home made fries, and Nutri-Grain bars)...she seems to think small pieces are for babies. (Can we say Mz. Independent?)
• Drinking well from sippies...valved and non-valved. This will become more important as her 1st birthday draws closer. She seems to prefer the real cups with the sippie lids as opposed to the cups with handles.
  
• Not walking yet, but she COULD. She's able - we've seen it, she just can't seem to gain the confidence yet to let go with both hands and try it for more than a step.
  
• Convinced mom needs to pick her up all the time in the evenings and whines and cries when this does not happen....does not do this to dad. Mom will be thrilled when this stage is over.
  
• Clapping and banging everything together. I just showed her last night how to use pot lids as cymbals...she's thrilled with the results.
• We've started wearing shoes when we go places, just to get used to the feel of them. When we start really walking, we want to be able to play outside and be able to walk places! We'll need to be used to how shoes feel. The first time I put shoes on her and tried to stand her up, she did NOT want to stand on them. Picture trying to put a little one down in grass that does NOT like it.... lol. It was funny, but we've since gotten over that.
• She's starting to be able to feed herself with a spoon. Mom has to load it up for her, but she's getting the idea...another Mz. Independant streak.
  
• She points at EVERYTHING. What she wants, what she wants you to describe, where she wants to go, where she wants you to take her....and sometimes when she's denied you would think the world is ending. I guess life's lessons of not always being able to get what you want start early, eh?
  
• "Dada" and "DaDee" are favorite words. (fair, isn't it?) :P No 'mama' of 'mommy' yet...she says something that sounds vaguely like it when she's starting to hum/whine and get upset. I've threatened to teach her how to say 'TanDee' since I know she can already make those sounds. Dan, so far, has restrained me from teaching her this.

Here are a few pictures from this week:

Here's the mug shot of the lead thug from this morning's moisturizer mayhem. Although it doesn't look like it in the picture, she is absolutely thrilled with this.

Here we are later this afternoon playing with blocks. Note the dewy and fresh complexion that comes with being properly moisturized!

Just hanging out

And now a series of shots. Here we see Izzy playing along...sidling up to mom for SOMETHING...who knows what at this point.

And now the sneaky look she gives as she's trying to do something 'under the radar.'And lastly, I give you Izzy, version 1.0. "Mission accomplished, I've managed to get something I'm not supposed to have....AND get it into my mouth! Score one for MEEEEEEEEEE!" Such a stinker.

Growing up...little by little.

Most of us know that kids live by routines, however loose or tight they are. It helps them gain a sense of confidence and security. This week, Dan and I decided to change a bit of Izzy's routine that is part of her beginning to grow into a full-blown toddler. We normally have a bottle after we get home and before supper around 5:30-ish. Wednesday this week instead of offering her a bottle at 5:30, we offered her formula in a sippy cup. She wasn't too sure that she liked this idea of not drinking from a bottle when that's what's supposed to happen....at least until she realized she was still on mom's lap and mom was still joking around with her and snuggling her. The second day was tougher, and the yesterday wasn't too bad. We'll just replace this one bottle with lots of snuggles for now, and then move to another as it becomes old hat. That has got to be a fairly unsettling thing when something you've been getting your liquid meals through all your life changes!

Izzy continues to love to eat anything we do. Last week when we were over to a friend's place, she ate 2 pieces of home made pizza...herself! Right now she really seems to love fruit, graham crackers, pasta, chips, steamed veggies....oh...and I gave her a taste of girl scout cookies this week. She was ok with the shortbread piece...but REALLY seemed to enjoy the little piece of Thin Mint that I gave her. Smart girl!

She seems to want to walk so badly. She CAN do it...we've seen her, but she doesn't seem to believe she can yet. This morning she's been walking around to her toys, holding my keys in one hand and holding onto my hand with the other. She's building her confidence, I guess. That's the other rage right now...mom's keys. So much so that after we get home at night they are never far from her (mom has to remove the car keys and fob so she doesn't set the alarm off, start the car, or cause some other unforeseen calamity.) However, since it doesn't hurt anything, I try and go with it and reserve the 'no's' for times when it's really needed.....like reaching for Dad's coffee on the end table!

This morning, too, we awoke with a 102 fever. She's playing and eating/drinking normally and is just a slight touch more clingy than usual, but other than that, it seems to be 'game on.' (See the case of her walking around holding onto only 1 hand above.) She must not feel THAT badly because I'm still hearing her giggle this morning. So, we're sporting some lighter clothes in the house for comfort and taking Tylenol, but other than that we're having a good Saturday.

11 months old today

Today, my goal was to get a picture of Isabelle with her April Beanie Bear from great grandma. I took a picture of her religiously every month with this bear for the first 5 months of her life....and then...well, I'm not sure how it happened, but we stopped doing it. Now, here she is, 11 months old and hardly sitting still enough to get a picture of...let alone with a bear...at least without tasting it!

Didn't I just have her? Wasn't she just a young baby a little while ago? Last weekend I held and rocked a friends' new 6 week old son...what a precious peanut he was! It made me realize just how fast they change in this first year.

Two things I forgot to mention in my last post; Isabelle LOVES to clap, that's one of her new talents...and she does it a LOT; the other...she and Dad play 'tent' with the blankets in the living room and other various items....the game is a big hit!

I can't believe she will be a year old in a month! I think it will take me this entire month to get used to the idea...

Izzy and Magnum playing this morning

Somehow, Magnum knows to take it easy

Thank you for playing with me, Izzy!

Here we are with our bear. Quite a bit different than the previous pictures with Mr. April!Did I mention that he's wearing a tasty hat? Some things have not changed...lol.

Look out world...she's feeling better!

Now that we are finally on the mend from all the bugs floating around (I'm knocking on every piece of wood, laminate, or ceramic I see to keep it going that way...) Izzy had become pretty much herself again, and I have missed her!

She has been a bottomless pit the last few days! You name it, she wants to eat it, and I don't know where she puts it all! Making up for the past 2 weeks of not eating hardly anything, I'll wager. When we went to the doc to get checked over last week, she was back down to 21 lbs, so a little making up is in order!

This week, we've decided to tackle the stairs. Thursday, Izzy decided that she wanted to try climbing up the stairs herself as we were heading that way. So, I let her. I was close behind for spotting, as she has no fear of falling. Her climb was a raging success...so much so that we had to do it again!

She's also a big fan of her little xylophone piano and radio, which were recent craigslist finds. Any toy that can interact with her now is a hit. She's still working on her F's and now sometimes she really seems to try hard to copy what you're saying. Sometimes she's closer than others, it's great to hear her trying, and hey...this girl has a LOT to say!

I can also tell that she understands more than you think she might. Every morning, at 6:55, a school bus drives by our house. When I see the bus turn onto our street I tell her that the bus is coming and she will turn to watch and keep watching it until it disappears. Relating to the bottomless pit thing, we had a Nutrigrain bar as a snack the other day...and she polished off the whole bar! (a rare occurrence usually) and as I crumpled up the wrapper and announced 'all gone!' a melt-down ensued. We were still hungry. She also seems to know when she's doing something she shouldn't....you guys ALL know what I'm talking about. The raised eyebrows, the half smile...the what if?

She's also a big fan of being upside down right now....I don't know why...I just go with it. Another hit...she likes me to chase her while she's crawling. As I get down on all fours, she squeals and takes off. As I catch her, I grab an ankle, stopping her in her tracks. She thinks this is hilarious...along with the word 'bonk' for whatever reason. Another recent game...anytime Mom has anything on her head, be it a hat, a pillow, a toy, or anything else for that matter...it's GOT to come off....it just doesn't belong there. It's a relief just hearing her giggle, squeal and laugh again. I can't wait to introduce her to the park this spring!

Playing 'come find me!' amidst the table and chairs.

Isabelle is telling mom about her day.

And having a talk with the refrigerator magnets....note the confident stance.

Izzy reaching for mom's cap. Tip-toes are another current favorite.

We're happy to be feeling better...

Viruses, Ear Infection, Scrathy Throat.....and FOUR STEPS, Oh My!

It has been one of those weeks here. Kind of a rough one to follow up last week's rough one, but it happens. It started Sunday. I didn't feel right in the afternoon, and Izzy didn't seem herself. By the end of the night we were both throwing up. I don't relish the sight, sound or smell of anyone having an upset stomach like that, but seeing Izzy like that and her not understanding what's going on is much worse. We thought that was over Monday, but Monday night and the Tuesday night and then here Thursday morning she still got sick...just once each day. That coupled with her not eating and the cough she's had for awhile (and a call to my sister) led me to take Iz to the doc today just to make sure there wasn't something we were missing. Well, we are now on our first batch of anti-biotics for an ear infection and hopefully they will also stop anything brewing in her irritated throat.

SO. With all this icky feeling and not eating and fussing....you'd think she's be relatively inactive, right? WELL! She sure showed us last night! She may not be playing as much as she usually does and require more hugs and snuggling, but last night she did a major first!

As we were playing with her, she walked from me to Dan. FOUR STEPS! 1,2,3 and 4...just like she'd been doing it for months. I don't think she quite believed what she did...and hasn't done it since yet, but she hasn't been feeling the best either.

Today she walked with me the whole length of the couch only holding onto one of my hands....she looked like such a grown-up! At lunch today, Izzy made SURE to tell me that she wanted some of what I was having...which hasn't happened in at least a week. When that was gone, we moved on to Cheerios. She must be feeling a little better.....but I'm a little leary....I really DON'T want to see everything she ate today again.

OH! Another thing that was happening while all this was going on? Another TOOTH. We're up to 6!

I'll post some pictures when I get the chance...

Sloppy Kisses!

Ah...this week has been an interesting one. This week, my work dropped a magnificent bomb on our family...but....this blog isn't about me. Isabelle, for her part, has helped me to remember what is truly important.

Isabelle now gives the standard kisses of a toddler-to-be...the full face, open mouthed, face plant. It's hilarious. I don't know where she picked this up yet, unless she just took Dan and I giving her kisses and adapted it to her own method. She also gives hugs of her own accord, but doesn't know their name yet. She continues to be quite snuggly and is working on knowing who mom and dad are by speech. This seems to be challenging, but I can tell that she's trying so hard to imitate us. As far as other speech goes, this week she's working on her F's FFFFFFFFFFFFfff... Aside from that, now when she babbles, sometimes it sounds like she's speaking her own little foreign language, complete with inflection.

She still has a cough at night and in the mornings, but it doesn't really seem to be bothering her too much. She's still backed off the formula, but she continues to eat well on solids, so we're not worried. Tonight Dan grilled steaks, and she helped me eat mine with great gusto along with corn and some tater tots.

Here are some recent pics:

Izzy "helping" mom with the dishes.

Izzy loves her books....right now more for emptying the shelves than for reading. The books rarely look this orderly

Izzy, clad in only her diaper, vaulting over Magnum after having a bath. Aren't baths supposed to relax children?? lol ;) (And yes, that IS American Idol in the background, we try to catch it every week. Izzy's current favorite is the gal with pink tipped hair. We stop and turn every time she sings...)I KNOW Mom is behind this stinkin' camera SOMEWHERE! Come 'ere! I want to give you a kiss!
Finally! I was able to get a picture of Izzy smiling that shows all of her emerging teeth.

Teeth, A Cold, and Activity Galore

Izzy usually has surprises for us...but I didn't think I'd miss something like this. I have been SO focused on that front tooth popping through that I was COMPLETELY surprised this week when I saw one of her next top teeth already in! So, now we are sporting FIVE teeth....unless there are MORE in there that I haven't seen.

Still battling a cold with marvelous amounts of liquid booger, Izzy was at least in a pretty good mood for Grandma and Grandpa S' visit this weekend. She had a great time charming the both of them!

Things she's been doing this week:

• Practicing her H's....(think "Don't I have wonderful breath??? HHHHHHHAAAA HAAAAA HHHHHAAA!)
• Starting to wave hello and bye-bye
• When she knows something is off-limits, she'll head towards it or reaches out for it while watching you....JUST to see if the limit is still there. She wants EVERYTHING that she can't have, and it suitably crushed when she finds out that not being able to have those things hasn't changed.
• She isn't drinking her formula all that well recently. We don't know if she's backing herself off it in favor of solids or if it's a having-a-cold thing.
• Isabelle LOVES, loves eating at the table with us and having what we're having. She hasn't had baby food all weekend. I have since put the valve back in the sippy cup and put the formula in there that she hasn't eaten from her last bottle, however, she seems to like water in it better. Probably tastes better with the food and it's easier to get through the valve too.
  
• Izzy continues to get more brave with her upright expeditions. Most recently she will still launch herself at the furniture, but will misjudge her distance and fall. Reaction to this depends on mood, what was in the way, if anything caught her, and of course your reaction to seeing her fall.
• Isabelle WILL take a single step herself....between things. She's learning how to balance well and can stand unassisted for quite awhile.
  
• She will launch herself off of anything she can with no fear....I have seen this happen with the couch. I turned to put something up to safety, and by the time I'd turned around again she had endo-ed off the couch head first. Since then we've been working on the correct way to get down....FEET first.
  
• Our little climber continues to climb over and through ANYTHING. Parents or other bodies on the floor (like the dog or visitors) are only one more welcome obstacle in her course. (aren't BOYS supposed to be more physically active??)

Isabelle and Magnum the jungle gym (you can see he's real concerned...ha!)

Izzy using Dad's legs as her fort...where she hiding out with the TV remote

Here, she's extolling the virtues of Dad's cool watch after having pulled it off her own wrist. (Note that she's standing unassisted as she's giving her speech)

Pausing to lay on Dad for only a moment. It's tiring being this busy!

Here we have our little explorer, suitably crushed that Dad is putting his watch back on....note the finger in the mouth trying to push on those darned teeth.

Ten Months Tomorrow!

Where does the time go? I was talking with my friend Jen who has a daughter 2 weeks younger than Izzy. Neither of us can believe that we have kids that are this close to being a year old. Didn't we just HAVE these little gals???

Not a week after the stomach ick, and the household came down with a cold. It is continuing to work it's way through the 3 of us. For the most part, though, it really isn't too bad. I'd SO MUCH rather be dealing with the boogers and runny noses. So, Izzy has had kind of a raspy voice this week. It's given her a sound of maturity as she's babbling that's sort of amusing once you get past the fact that she can't feel the greatest to sound that way. Her cold really doesn't seem to slow her down much though.

That darn top tooth! Supposedly it was through the skin when we went to the doctor for her 9 month appointment....here it is...10 months tomorrow and still not through! I can feel EXACTLY where the tooth is at, there is a bump where it will be, but it will just not give up and break through! I'm frustrated for Izzy, because it can't feel good...but again, it doesn't seem to bug her that often.

Isabelle has figured out that she can crawl holding onto some things. This results in weird noises as she traverses the house. She gets excited about things and squeals...then takes off like a bat out of you know where on all fours. I swear she gets quicker every day. She also loves it if you play a game with her by sneaking up and crawling after her, it thrills her to show you her world. I am also certain that she's gotten taller this month. This isn't because I've measured her, but because the speakers on the entertainment center and things on the back of the couch seat cushions are no longer safe. She seems to enjoy this....especially when she scores mom or dad's Blackberry or if she can happen to touch the lap top. ANYTHING mom or dad has is better, cooler, or more interesting.

And now the biggest event of late....tonight as Izzy and I were having a girls' night, we were on the floor playing. She picked up her noisy hammer off the floor........and stood up. Not holding onto anything, not pulling herself up with anything....she picked the hammer up, got up onto her hands and feet, bend her knees and stood up! I think she surprised herself by the look on her face. That look of surprise turned into one of glee, after which she let herself lose balance and dive into my outstretched arms. I am blessed to have been watching her face at that moment. I wish I would have caught it on tape...but then I wouldn't have been there to catch HER.

Here are a couple of pictures from the week. Honestly, she's getting harder and harder to CATCH! Getting pictures is becoming a challenge!

Mom's cap is endlessly fascinating....

Just playin'

Playing with her 'secret' toys.