I seem to be afflicted with some sort of blogging-block. It’s not that there’s nothing to tell or that I don’t have time, I just seem to be lazy. Maybe it’s the fact that I get up when it’s dark and go home from work when it’s dark. Maybe it’s because I type all the time at work and I am just tired of it. Maybe I am just a huge slacker… It certainly isn’t because Isabelle has been static over the last month. Despite being afflicted from some hack-you-little-ribs-out-I-only-show-up-at-night cough for FIVE WEEKS and a weekend with a fever of 102, she has been quite the busy little bee.
Emmy came to visit us in October. Isabelle is currently in love with Emmy and thinks she is the cats meow, therefore she was extremely happy to visit with Emmy. They played soccer (“socc-ah!” as Isabelle says), decorated cookies, and generally had a fun time. Isabelle is so fortunate to have Emmy and her other, older cousins who simply dote on her. Such the little princess.
It seems like Isabelle’s vocabulary and dare devilishness increase on a daily basis. She not uses three word phrases and remembers new words with an amazing aptitude. She also remembers connections between things, which seems like a little miracle every time it happens, even though it is so fundamental in so many ways. She knows her capital letters by sight (although sometime T and L and E and F get confused), she is learning the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle, and she can count to 10 all by her little self. When did my baby become a little girl?
She also started getting her upper canines (“fangs” as we call them) about 3 weeks ago and is now getting her lower canines. She does a good job brushing her teeth when I remember to give her the toothbrush and still loves “paste.” In fact, Paul and I have had to start baby proofing our toothpaste because her grubby little hands can now reach into our top drawer and secret away the paste. She eats it you know. Like a snack. And when you ask her how it tastes she will tell you “nummy” with a grin and twinkle in her eye.
In other news she has started to jump from the ottoman to the recliner – always landing on her face and belly, stands up without hands on her zebra and bounces, tries to do the same on her springhorse, and can stand without help on Paul’s wobble board. The child has amazing balance. She also can dribble the socc-ah ball with amazing skill. I foresee many weekends standing in the freezing rain, huddled under a gold umbrella and clutching hot cocoa in my future.
In less fun and frivolous news Isabelle is almost two. And with the dawning of this age, my sweet angel is getting a rusty halo. Oh, its not that she has become a bad child, don’t get me wrong. If you stack Isabelle up against almost any other toddler she is sweeter and more well behaved than 99.9% of them (for instance she knows how to share and take turns and is getting quite good with please “pease” and thank you “tank-ew’). But she certainly has started to test us. She wants to see what she can push and just how far she can push it. Her current items of push include throwing food while she is eating, stuffing things in her maw that are no-no’s (i.e., coins, buttons and her colored bath pellets), and spilling/spitting water from her cup. Sigh…
The food throwing and spilling/spitting are the most irritating. She will be happily eating a meal and then all of the sudden she will stick her little arm straight out, holding her fist at the end, and very deliberately unclench her fist and drop her food on the floor. Alternatively she will madly grasp at whatever is in front of her and wing it with the force of a catapult.
Asking her not to throw her food simply had no impact. Well, other than leading her to scramble for something lese to throw like her fork, knife, bowl etc. So we tell her not to throw, explain its not good manners and Mama doesn’t like it because then she has to clean it up, and then feed her like a baby – one bite at a time. Oh, yes, she will howl to “hold it” – but we remind her she can’t hold it because she threw her food. Usually, she will howl a few more times, fake cry, and then go along merrily taking bites of food until she is full.
The same basic game plan applies to her spilling water. What is it with Isabelle and water?
Sometimes I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day only it deals with a toddler and not a girlfriend. It’s more like Groundhog Day meets the Omen. I mean really, how many times do you need to tell a little person not to throw her food or spill her water. Apparently more than I have. And what is it about the human brain that requires this interaction to cause said little person to develop? Ah well, I know I am not along in my Omen Day feature – every other parent in the world goes through it too. As Kristine so wisely tells me “get used to it.”
With all the pushing boundaries and stating and restraining the “rules” I must say its fun to see Miss Isabelle’s little personality develop. She is quite obviously smart, tries to behave and do the right thing, but will do her own thing when she wants to – regardless of the consequence. I think that all makes her a pretty neat and sturdy little person.
Emmy came to visit us in October. Isabelle is currently in love with Emmy and thinks she is the cats meow, therefore she was extremely happy to visit with Emmy. They played soccer (“socc-ah!” as Isabelle says), decorated cookies, and generally had a fun time. Isabelle is so fortunate to have Emmy and her other, older cousins who simply dote on her. Such the little princess.
It seems like Isabelle’s vocabulary and dare devilishness increase on a daily basis. She not uses three word phrases and remembers new words with an amazing aptitude. She also remembers connections between things, which seems like a little miracle every time it happens, even though it is so fundamental in so many ways. She knows her capital letters by sight (although sometime T and L and E and F get confused), she is learning the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle, and she can count to 10 all by her little self. When did my baby become a little girl?
She also started getting her upper canines (“fangs” as we call them) about 3 weeks ago and is now getting her lower canines. She does a good job brushing her teeth when I remember to give her the toothbrush and still loves “paste.” In fact, Paul and I have had to start baby proofing our toothpaste because her grubby little hands can now reach into our top drawer and secret away the paste. She eats it you know. Like a snack. And when you ask her how it tastes she will tell you “nummy” with a grin and twinkle in her eye.
In other news she has started to jump from the ottoman to the recliner – always landing on her face and belly, stands up without hands on her zebra and bounces, tries to do the same on her springhorse, and can stand without help on Paul’s wobble board. The child has amazing balance. She also can dribble the socc-ah ball with amazing skill. I foresee many weekends standing in the freezing rain, huddled under a gold umbrella and clutching hot cocoa in my future.
In less fun and frivolous news Isabelle is almost two. And with the dawning of this age, my sweet angel is getting a rusty halo. Oh, its not that she has become a bad child, don’t get me wrong. If you stack Isabelle up against almost any other toddler she is sweeter and more well behaved than 99.9% of them (for instance she knows how to share and take turns and is getting quite good with please “pease” and thank you “tank-ew’). But she certainly has started to test us. She wants to see what she can push and just how far she can push it. Her current items of push include throwing food while she is eating, stuffing things in her maw that are no-no’s (i.e., coins, buttons and her colored bath pellets), and spilling/spitting water from her cup. Sigh…
The food throwing and spilling/spitting are the most irritating. She will be happily eating a meal and then all of the sudden she will stick her little arm straight out, holding her fist at the end, and very deliberately unclench her fist and drop her food on the floor. Alternatively she will madly grasp at whatever is in front of her and wing it with the force of a catapult.
Asking her not to throw her food simply had no impact. Well, other than leading her to scramble for something lese to throw like her fork, knife, bowl etc. So we tell her not to throw, explain its not good manners and Mama doesn’t like it because then she has to clean it up, and then feed her like a baby – one bite at a time. Oh, yes, she will howl to “hold it” – but we remind her she can’t hold it because she threw her food. Usually, she will howl a few more times, fake cry, and then go along merrily taking bites of food until she is full.
The same basic game plan applies to her spilling water. What is it with Isabelle and water?
Sometimes I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day only it deals with a toddler and not a girlfriend. It’s more like Groundhog Day meets the Omen. I mean really, how many times do you need to tell a little person not to throw her food or spill her water. Apparently more than I have. And what is it about the human brain that requires this interaction to cause said little person to develop? Ah well, I know I am not along in my Omen Day feature – every other parent in the world goes through it too. As Kristine so wisely tells me “get used to it.”
With all the pushing boundaries and stating and restraining the “rules” I must say its fun to see Miss Isabelle’s little personality develop. She is quite obviously smart, tries to behave and do the right thing, but will do her own thing when she wants to – regardless of the consequence. I think that all makes her a pretty neat and sturdy little person.
