I wasn't planning on doing a blog entry, but it turned out there were too many little "Isabelle-isms" we didn't want to forget about.
Words cannot describe how special it is for Joe and I to see her learn and grow and become her own little person. From day one, Isabelle has been determined to do whatever she puts her mind to; she is feisty and head strong (and as Joe would say to me, "Pot. Kettle."). But with that, she is also full of so much joy, smiles, love and sweetness.
Many days, she does test my mental energy and patience as a parent, and I struggle with what the best way to parent her is. But when we look at how much she is growing and learning, it makes those hard days and doubts go away.
Here are some photos from Jan/Feb, and our list of "Isabelle-isms":
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| Playing out front in the garden. Modeling her little poncho I knit for her. |
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| Always wanting to help/see what's going on in the kitchen. We got her a set of her own knives. They are made of plastic, but are still able to cut soft things. |
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| Chasing bubbles with Lily. |
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| Isabelle's first time at the Zoo. We went to the Santa Barbara Zoo. |
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| Walking around the Zoo with Daddy. |
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| Checking out the sheep and goats. |
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| Elephants |
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| Giraffes |
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| Play date with Lily and Maris! |
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| The other two girls loved sitting in the wagon. Isabelle sat in there for about 30 seconds and immediately wanted to get out to continue running around. |
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| At the park in Solvang, CA |
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| Playing in the garden again |
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| Playing with water and bubbles out front |
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| Trip to Avila Barn |
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| Feeding goats, looking at pigs, horses and sheep at Avila Barn! |
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| Isabelle's new "Learning Tower". She wants to be involved and learn about everything we're doing. This has been a life-saver from having to carry her! |
It's a LONG list, but here are all the special things we want to remember about Isabelle at this stage:
- 32" and 22 pounds
- Obsessed with her belly button. We watch her on the video monitor during naps and bedtime, and she will just pull up her shirt and stare at it and poke it for 15 minutes straight. She also always wants to show it to us and remind us she knows where her belly button is.
- Has her own language and mumbles sentence upon sentence with it to us. Voice inflections and all :) We just nod our heads, smile, and say "Yeah!"
- Knows where her head, hair, nose, eyes, and toes are.
- Also knows what hats, shoes and socks are. Will bring us those items if we ask her to bring them to us.
- Learning different animals and the sounds they make. Her favorites: Kitten, dog, elephant, bear.
- Her favorite stuffed animals are "Mr. Snuggles" the Teddy Bear from Grandma Carole in North Carolina, and "Mr. Wiggles" the Penguin from her Aunt Jenny in Colorado. She sleeps with those every night and for nap times in her crib. She also talks to, sings, and hugs them before she falls asleep/when she wakes up. (We love our video monitor and have so much fun watching her entertain herself!)
- She also LOVES her baby doll from PopPop and GG in Colorado. We think Isabelle has named her "Diego", because that's what she says every time she holds her.
- Things she wants= "Dada" (and also uses that word for Joe)
- Things she is done with/doesn't want= "HOT". She understands what "hot" means, but has turned it into a word she uses when she doesn't want any more food.
- Favorite sign language signs: "more", "bird", "all done"
- "Shay shay" or "gee jew" = "Thank you"
- "OOOO, Zee Zay!" = "OOOO, Pretty!" (to necklaces, earrings, bracelets, etc.)
- Kisses "Mmm-AH!"
- Gives hugs and kisses to Finnegan and baby doll Diego (and us of course!).
- Hugs: If we are sitting on the ground , she will just randomly walk up to us and put her arms around us, turn her head to lay up against us and say "awwww" while patting our back with her hand . (Every time she gives hugs, she says "awww").
- Loves bubbles and baths. "BUBBA!!"= Bubbles. Other than bathtime, one of her favorite activities is when we fill up the kitchen sink or a bucket outside with water, bubbles and toys.
- Still loves the outdoors, playing outside, and digging her hands in dirt and throwing it :-)
- Also loves dancing to music and singing. And we can't get enough of it!! I play music a lot at home during the day and in the car. I love it when she hears a song she likes, she will stop whatever she's doing and start dancing. Her dancing includes bobbing up and down to the beat, running in place, and either clapping her hands together, or waiving her hands up and down in the air.
- When we are working on different skills (wooden puzzles, stacking/nesting blocks) and she gets it right, she starts clapping for herself :-)
- She loves helping us in any way and wants to be involved in whatever we are doing and contribute...
- Puts objects back (in their EXACT spots!) after taking them out of cabinets and drawers, if we ask her "can you put it back?"
- If we give her something to throw in the trash and ask her "can you put it in the trash?", she puts it in the trash in the kitchen.
- She knows her dirty diaper bags go outside in the big trash and loves to help us take them out. She throws it in the big outside trash if we lift her up to throw it in. She gets really upset if we try to throw the bag in the trash ourselves.
- Will wipe down surfaces if we give her a paper towel and ask her to wipe/clean it.
