Sniffles and a big chicken.

It appears Isabelle has a cold. You wouldn't know it by her actions. She continues to be silly and generally full of energy, but her little nose is dripping like a sieve. She also is very sneezey and has a dry cough, which causes her to wake up at night and cry. Last night she woke up at about 9:30 p.m. and I went into her room to comfort her. She kept rubbing her poor little nose and rooting around on me while I rocked her. She wouldn't fall back to sleep despite repeatedly yawning and having eyelids that wavered at half mast.

After 45 minutes or so I was getting tired myself, but couldn't stand to walk out of the room when she would stand up in her crib crying, saying "mama" with her sad little upside down face. So I decided to simply get into her crib with her. Although I was slightly worried that being almost five times her body weight might cause a horrific crash--I was more worried about my very clingy and sad baby.

You know I have been waiting for her to get to the age when she snuggles. She does it sometimes now when she is sleepy or watching TV before bed. But that night in her crib, with her drippy nose and tired eyes, she snuggled in like a bearcub in her mother's den in the dead of winter. Close. Warm. Soft. I know she didn't feel good, but as I lie there rubbing her little back and running my fingers through her silky hair as she rested her head on my arm, I felt utterly at peace. I don't know that I have felt so serene before--my heart was completely full. It's amazing how a baby can change your core being.

And now for the big chicken part of this post. No, it doesn't revolve around Isabelle's carnivorous dining habits--this part of the blog is dedicated to her new found sense of scare. About two months ago she started being afraid of things. A loud noise, a dragon on TV, she would make a little whining sound and run to me or Paul. The thing that seems to scare her the most, however, is a cartoon chimpanzee on her Little Einstein's show. It's not a scary chimp, its actually cute. And its a good chimp, it helps the team. But anytime that episode comes on she starts sobbing. Sobbing. I am forced to look away and laugh while I cuddle her and tell her it's alright.

The chimp seems to genuinely scare her. Other things scare her, but not in a real way. She seems to like to be scared--you know--how its fun to be scared at a haunted house. Namely she has these noisy balls that sound rattly when they roll across the hardwood floor. Isabelle loves to throw one of the balls and then run into our arms screaming with glee. it's very silly. And it happens over and over again before she tires of the game.

She also continues to think she is immensely funny when she tells you that random animals, like a dog or lion say "bock bock." That is my favorite baby-joke so far.

In other new news she has started intentionally avoiding bedtime. When i tell her its time to say goodnight she will go and pick up any nearby toy and try to engage you with it. She also will go to Paul and want Daddy (mind you, when I come home from work it is ALL MAMA until bedtime). I can't help but appreciate her little efforts to avoid going to bed and her creativity in dodging the issue.