Would you let this...

Into your house if it were beating at your door?


And then would you let it travel up your stairs leaving muddy little footprints in its carelessly ambling wake?


And if you did, would you require it to take a bath?


Take a bath in a place where you, of course, have a mirror so that your muddy little bundle of energy can grin at her dirty-birdie self.


And then, because your child must be for your entertainment purposes, would you mold her soft baby hair into horns on her head -- much to her delight?


I know I would.

Isabelle is such a fun baby. She makes me smile and laugh and appreciate so many things that I never saw before. Every day her personality becomes a little more her own. She knows what limits she can try to stretch with Mama and how those are different from her limits with Daddy. She falls down and gets up and rarely cries. She loves to take caps off of everything. I mean everything. And when it's a twist cap, that she just hasn't mastered yet, she gets mad and yells and throws down whatever item has offended her. She has started to point to new pictures in her books. She tries to avoid bedtime (I am the one who puts her to bed at night), telling you "no" when you ask if she is ready to go to sleep and tries to lure you into any new activity that is around. She has started to cuddle -- which melts my heart like nothing else. When she is tired she will snuggle into you, holding Llama in one hand and sucking her thumb on the other -- with her small round, warm little body nestled into yours. She is rough and tumble and likes to "get" people by bouncing on them or thwapping them with her little arms or whatever she is holding in her hands (I was beaten last night with a kitty fishing pole and maracas -- she laughed a belly laugh with every shriek I made). She has learned how to pinch and eagerly awaits the accompanying reaction. She gets mad when you tell her she has to wait or that she cannot do something. She also tests and has started to risk the consequence to undertake the action. She wants to eat whatever you are eating, even if she didn't want to eat it two minutes ago when it was offered to her on her plate. She tries hard to enunciate words and remember what things are called. She loves to be tickled on the sides and thighs. She really loves to watch the Baby in the mirror. She squeals and runs to the door when I come home. And she sneakily eats the hard catfood whenever she can. She loves water, the bath, the sink, puddles and pools.

I wish I could mention all of the things that Isabelle says and does now. There are so many new actions and reactions. But one thing remains constant. She never ceases to amaze me and fill my heart with completeness.