Christmas Day

They Never Let Her Play Any Reindeer Games

That could be because she's been kinda cranky today. Not sure why, but she is also all stuffy too and not wanting to eat any solids, just nurse.

She was disturbed from her normal routine last night because we took her to church. It was the first time we ever took her to church, which is mainy because the church we choose to go to has a Sunday evening mass - which was great pre-child, but now it puts her schedule off by an hour. She did pretty well there. There were other babies and when they would cry she would just look at them as if to say, "Why are you crying?" I think what is nice is that the music at our church is lively, so she hears me singing to it (she likes my singing) and we can bounce/dance to it in the pew, which she likes too.

Pedal to the Metal

The Leapfrog Driver was one of the toys Sanat brought her. He also brought her the Leapfrog Hoops, but she's not quite into that yet. She just wants to chew on the ball and watch us put it through the hoop and watch the screen talk & light up.

I'm Thinking About Becoming a Professional Present Unwrapper

She has gotten pretty good at unwrapping, and she will have more to unwrap this weekend when we go visit mommy's family.

This child has gotten very spoiled with toys. Some of them we will put aside until she has an interest in them or it the right age for them, although most are age appropriate.

Christmas Eve Day

Opening Presents

We decided to open presents this morning. What fun is it to open up stuff right before you go to bed; you don't get a chance to play with your toys that way.

Her Favorite Part

Eating Paper.

Here you see her in one of her Christmas outfit that mommy bought for her.

Score.

She would play with this kind of toy at ECFE class. You push the top and it spins these balls around inside. She likes it. Daddy picked this out.

Other Presents

From mommy & daddy she got that spinner toy, a panda bear puppet, that box with the alphabet is filled with small board books - one for each letter of the alphabet, 4 other books, and this dangly thing that rattles and has lots of nice ribbons that she can grab (that's still wrapped in this picture.)

Mommy got a new digital camera for Christmas, so we'll see some pictures from that soon.

BTW - we named her fat stuffed cat Lulu.

More Pictures from Today

Christmas @ Grandma's House

Christmas at grandma and grandpa's house was nice. Daddy is actually still out with the family as they were going to a Wild Hockey game tonight. Isabel needs her sleep, so she & mommy came home. Anyways, I think one of her favorite toys of the day was this very fat stuffed B&W cat. The coloring was like Lucy and the fatness was like Larry. It is perfect. She got that from her Uncle Tony & Aunt Carol. She received several other stuffed toys, some musical toys of various kinds, pajamas (other than those below), a print about her name, a blanket, some books, and a handmade tote that her great-grandma Mary made. I think that is everything. If I forgot something I am sorry, I don't have them here as they are in the trunk of daddy's car and I am trying to go from memory.

I like books.

Here she is playing with some toys that grandma has at her house. The dress she is wearing s one that grandma bought for her. Mommy likes to make sure that is grandma buys her an outfit she gets to see her actually in it. Guess she'll have to babysit at night if she wants to see the pajamas she bought her.

Tomorrow (Christmas Eve) we will open presents to each other, just the three of us. And then we are going to try to go to church that evening (we'll see how the baby is doing and is we think she can handle the disruption in her routine.) The Christmas Day I am cooking a meal for the three of us (well, just daddy & I will eat it.) Nothing too fancy, although I did buy a ham. And on Christmas Day morning we will open presents from Santa. At our house, Santa bring presents for everyone's stockings and then has a big present for Isabel and a present for the family (something we do together -- like watch a movie together or play a game together, etc. -- this is something that Santa always brought for mommy's family too).

Christmas Pajamas

Daddy & I had decided that a tradition we wanted to do is to always get new pajamas for Christmas that we can we then & continuing on. So, this morning the 3 of us opened our gift pajamas. These are Isabel's. They are from Carter's & Are 12 months. The short & bottoms are actually nice & long & they are meant to be snug fit. I put a long sleeve onesie on underneath because the top is short sleeve. I always put a onesie on underneath her pajamas during the winter so she has that extra layer to keep her warm.

There will definitly be more pictures the next 2 days, as mommy bought some other Christmas outfits that I told you about previously.

31 Weeks Old

Giddy Up Eyore.

She's not sure about the rocking yet, but she loves the back hair on Eyore's mane and she loves pulling on his tail too and sticking that in her mouth. She's almost too big for it already since she is so tall.

I measured her head circumference today and it is 17 3/8", which is a half inch bigger than last month. And it makes sense too because the pink Winnie the Pooh winter hat she had is now too small and I just went to the Salvation Army and found a decent purple one for her for 50 cents.

Playing with Daddy.

Daddy was having fun stacking the blocks and then Isabel was having fun knocking them down.

She'll be wearing something different a little later. Instead if the yellow sweater she will be wearing a dress to grandma and grandpa's house for our Christmas celebration with all of daddy's family. I didn't want her to get breakfast or lunch on her dress, so I just put the sweater on for now and after lunch the dress wil go on.

Today I packed up her Baby Einstein play mat. She's just not that interested in it anymore. She would ratehr sit up and play. And now she is too tall to sit next to that and grab at the dangly things. Her head it right at the top and she would have to lean over to see anything at all. Our little girl is growing up.

The last couple of days she has done much better at sleeping during the night, which makes mom happy. She might be sleeping through the night after 10/11, but I wake her up around 3/4 to nurse because since I am still taking antibiotics for the mastitis and have had several plugged ducts recently, I just want to make sure everyting keep feeling ok.

We think she should hit a plateau right now in her growth spurt. When I look at growing trends of babies and how she falls in that, she should have a month here where she doesn't grow much. Last time that happened that was also the month she slept through the night. So, I don't want those teeth coming in anymore - at least for a month - I want some sleep!

7 Month Pictures

So, this afternoon, after work, I took Isabel in to get 7 month pictures done. Both mommy & daddy had these pictures taken, so we can compare again.

I am not sure if it is this photographer or just photograhers in general, but she gets so easily upset. You would not realize she is as happy as a baby as she is during the half hour we spend getting pictures taken. I must say, she does better when she can see me, rather than having me sitting next to her. The photographer was trying hard to get her to smile, but for some reason Isabel hates it when this lady makes kissing noises at her. We did get a few smiles out of her by singing, she really likes being sung to.

Teh daycare lady gave her another present for Christmas. Her first present was a really nice dress set I told you about and now she gave her some Fisher Price Stacking Rings. It was on Isabel's Christmas list and I don't know if anyone else had bought her that or not. Oh well. She can always have one upstairs and one downstairs if need be. The daycare lady bought both babies a set of rings and they were playing with them today. Isabel likes taking them off and sticking them in her mouth and then throwing them. She's really into throwing toys.

Now she is home with me (or wherever we go for the holidays) for the next 10 days. The next day she goes back to daycare will be January 2nd.

She fed herself some puffs again tonight, so she is getting better at that.

New Charts

Weight Chart

She weighed 19 pounds 8.5 ounces yesterday and that puts her at 91st percentile.

I talked to the nurse at the Family Clinic about my starting to feeling jealous about friends with babys close in age to her crawling already or about to crawl. She told me that generally boys start crawling earlier and are working on their gross motor skills while girls are working on their communication and social interaction skills and generally say their first word before boys. Wel, she is definitly been working on that. Some of her babble start are starting to sound like actual English words. Plus she's been working on her fine motor skills and is working on that pinher grasp, which she is getting better and better at every day. The nurse also said they only work on one skill at a time, so if one week they are working on speech then they won't be working on the fine or gross motor skills. Makes sense I guess. I feel better now. But she did talk to me about how I can help encourage her to develop her gross motor skills more.

Length Chart

And the length of 29.25 inches is still off the charts.

We've been brushing her gums since she was about a month old - yes, it is STILL gums. And I have a little song I sing when we brush her teeth;
Brush the bottoms, brush the bottoms
Then the top, then the top
Brush the bottoms, brush the bottoms,
Now the top, now the top
Well, anyways, the last week or so we've also been giving her the toothbrush to try it herself (she likes getting her gums brushed) and last night she actually did it the way the songs states and switched the toothbrush around to do the top when I sang that, then the bottoms again when I sang that, and again back to the top. It could have been a fluke, but I was amazed. She does a good job at her brushing too and doesn't like to stop. Up to this point she just watched in the mirror as we brushed her teeth. She also watches as we brush her hair, but she isn't brushing her own hair yet, she wants that to go in the mouth to.

I have been working with her on some sign language. She hasn't done any of them herself, but she seems to know the sign & words we say before we pick her up, as well as taking a bath, and seems to know the sign for more (when talking about her banana puffs) and is starting to seem like she knows the sign for milk. But I will be really impressed when she does one of the signs herself.

Amber Alerts to Your Cell Phone

I heard a radio advertisement for this yesterday and just signed up for it - Wireless Amber Alerts. It say that they will not sell your phone number to any third parties - good!

It has you enter in 5 zip codes that it will send you notification if an Amber Alert has been issued for that area. You can always change it or unsubscribe if you want. But I think it's a good thing to know and you could be help ful to other parents who just had their child abducted. That has to be the most awful feeling in the world.

7 Months Old Today

I Like Frog Eyes.

Our child has exotic tastes I guess.

This afternoon after I am finished with work we will go to the Cty. Family Clinic and get a weight on her. I measured her length this weekend and she is 29 1/4" long, which put her over the 100th percentile. She's a long baby. It looks like on the growth curve that her length will slow down to about a 1/2 inch a month. I didn't measure her head yet.

I am Feeling Blue, So I Don't Want to Smile

She went to bed better last night than she has the past couple days, but she still needed to be rocked for quite a while whenever she woke, which was 3 times. Plus, I had to use the booger sucker (that's what we call it) in the middle of the night. She screams as if I am torturing her. Silly girl, I am only trying to help her breathe better so she can nurse more efficiently.

We have figured out that she has an allergy to ibuprofen like mom has and pretty much has the same reaction as I do - throwing it up within a few minutes of ingestion. I suspected it last time she was sick and puked a few times during the course of her illness, always after having ibuprofen. The thing that was nice about ibuprofen is that it lasts longer - twice as long as acetominophen. Well, now we know and she'll only get acetominophen.

You can tell looking at this picture that she is all stuffy and miserable.

What are you doing?

So, last night was her party at daycare. The babies exchanged presents and Luis bought her some pajamas from Old Navy and a Care Bear. Imagine getting your first gift of pajamas from a boy at 7 months old. Luis is going to be crawling any day........he almost has it. Isabel doesn't seem so interested in crawling. Maybe she will be one that will go straight to walking. It was kinda funny though, he was trying to crawl and was on all fours rocking back & forth (he just can't figure out the moving arms & legs at the same time part) and Isabel grabs for him and knocks him over. She was just trying to touch him, but it was funny in my mind because she could have been thinking "Hey, knock that off, you're making me look bad" and then pushed him down.

Let Me Tell You a Story in Pictures....

Hi, I'm Isabel and This is Santa

Santa came to the daycare Christmas party this afternoon/early evening. Isabel does not seem at all phased by Santa, especially this time. But I suppose it's because he's some place she feels safe, plus she likes red.

What I Really Want for Christmas is...

My two bottom teeth.

Hey Luis, Just Pull On It! Like This!

All Luis can think is "Who is this big white guy?"

Santa was very tolerant of these two babies. Isabel seemed to do much of the pulling. Poor Santa.

This Here is My Boyfriend Luis.....

Luis thinks -- "Seriously, who is this big white guy?"

Both of them are such flirts. You should seem them together -- they can't keep their hands off of each other. They are always grabbing each other and holding hands and sticking their hands in each other's mouths and kissing each other. Daddy told her no boyfriends until she's 30, but do you think she would listen? It's no wonder that both of them have a cold. Aren't the kiddies so cute all dressed up like Santa themselves.

I'm Serious Luis, He Doesn't Mind if You Pull....

Luis Ponders, "Is anyone ever gonna tell me who this big white guy is?"

My daughter is such a troublemaker already.

Christmas Outfits

I'm A Good Girl

I may not have slept through the night, but I did let mom have 2 full sections of 4 hours of sleep. She's happy with me.

Last night she was working on her pincher grasp with he banana puffs and trying to feed herself and up until last night she had not been successful. She has now fed herself for the first time.

We did go bowling with daddy's family (well, mommy & Isabel didn't bowl, we played). She did a great job and played nicely. The bowling alley was loud, but kinda that white noise loud, so I don't think it bothered her really. And since we were on an end and had our own little corner to set up in, she didn't seem as bothered by all the people like she has at other places.

I Like Red.

Gramps asked us the other day what her favorite color is and we have to say red. She just seems drawn to it. Whenever daddy when his red shirt or his red & white sleeping pants she just can't take her eyes off of him. She that way with this orange shirt he has too, but it's orange in the same brightness as the reds. She likes the bright Baby Einstein blocks, but they are a little hard to put in her mouth. She got a little freaked out by her Lily frog today. I'm not sure I ever really gave it to get to play with before. When she went to eat it's head and was pushed against her body it turned on and said, "Hi, I'm Lily." Kinda freaked her out a bit. She has not really been that interested in toys that makes sounds or vibrate. She likes lights though.

So, Am I a Present or What?

Mommy scored some good deal on NWT Christmas outfits on eBay. This one I suppose could be a for a boy or girl, but we added a nice bow on top and you can't mistake she's a girl. The other outfits are dresses. All nice 3-piece outfits & all 12-month size. This on is a shirt, vest, & pants. Although the pants are a little long and we had to roll them up (but they still creep up when she sits). We should be able to wear the pants with other tops for a while. It's a very comfy outfit.
The dresses are a romper dress and come with a shirt and tights. Well be seeing those soon - I think I have those for actual Christmas days.

30 Weeks Old

Isabel Had a Little Lamb

Well, both mommy & baby are exhausted today. Mommy went to Urgent Care last night to find out that she had mastitis (which is what I figured) and now have antibiotics that I am supposed to take 4 times a day and drinks plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest. But will Isabel let me sleep last night? Noooooooo! This was one of the worst nights in a while. She did not want me to put her down in her crib. Every time I tried she woke up and cried. And these cries aren't just little cries or whimpers. She did let me sleep for a 4 hours stretch at one point, but honestly, that was about it.

I just have mastitis in one breast and it's the same breast I have been struggling with plugged ducts for 2 weeks. So, hopefully this acn all get fixed and my boob won't hurt anymore. Last night I was getting these shooting pains that were unbearable, which I why I finally went to Urgent Care. I tried to go on Monday because I couldn't get an appt. with my Ob-Gyn or my Family doc for a week (or I could get put on a cancellation list) or I could wait a day and see some other doc. Well, anyways, the wait @ UC was over an hour long and it was all these sick hacking people. I decided to wait a day and see the different family doc and then went home and proceeded to do what I was supposed to do -- apply warm wash clothes and massage it and keep breastfeeding frequently. Well, by the next day it was starting to feel better and that duct got unplugged and there were not masses in there, the redness was going away and the swelling was giong down. And things seemed to continue to get better the next 2 days. But then yesterday the shooting pains started and well, you know the rest. There are still some shooting pains, but not as frequent as last night.

We're supposed to go bowling today with dad's family and daddy will go, but baby & I are going to play it by ear. If she's napping, I am not waking her (because she needs the sleep and hopefully I will be sleeping as well.) I know people want to see her and will be disapointed if we don't go, but I have to take care of us first and foremost. Yesterday, daddy's family in Spain arrived and are here for 2 weeks and that is the occasion for the get together (but there will be others these next 2 weeks as well.)

Cute Hair

I thought her hair looked cute. It's fine for when she is playing, but when she nurses she likes to play with her hair and then pulled them out & I have to take them from her right away because they are small and could be a choking hazard. Plus, they would have been in the way when she nursed on the other side. I like making her look all girly-girly, but clothes and hair pieces are as far as it will go. We decided she won't get her ears pierced until she is old enough to want it and take care of it. I just don't understand the people that pierce the ears of little babies. That can't feel good for them, especially when they sleep with their head to the side (on their ears). I remember when I got my ears pierced and that hurt for a couple days as it healed and I had to kerep putting that solution on it to make it feel better. She needs to be old enough to do that herself.

It's Friday!

Again! Looks Can Be Deceiving

The angel outfit - maybe it should have been the spawn of satan outfit. It was a rough night for mommy because she got me up 3 times and kept me up about a half hour each time. But she was in a great mood this morning - playing & talking.

Do You Think I Can Fit The WHOLE Thing in My Mouth?

I bought some hairpieces from her off of eBay. This woman makes them and sells them. They stretch nicely and Isabel doesn't seem bothered by them.

I know this outfit was one of her Halloween outfits, but it's so soft & comfy that I didn't think it ONLY had to be for Halloween. The downside though is that to change her you have to take it all off because there are only buttons in the back and not in the crotch. I am sure the dayacre lady will love me for this.

Last Night

Looks Can Be Deceiving

You might look at this pictures and think it looks like a sleepy baby. Well, I thought so too. Then we started nursing and she wouldn't stop talking and sputtering. And ell, you can't nurse very well if you are talking and sputtering.

What is Larry Doing?

Larry is by far her favorite of her pets. But do you blame her, who could resist that huge ball of white fur. He's getting more comfortable with her as well. He's been coming in to visit while we take a bath at night, which gets her all excited and she starts flapping her arms as is she could fly over to him. And he's started sleeping in the trndle (filled with sheets and blankets) underneath her crib. So, he is getting close enough for her to want to play with him, but not really close enough for her to atually play with him. It might be him that gets her crawling. Although she doesn't seem to have much interest in crawling yet, but she does like to have help walking to things.

Mommy, How Come This Santa Looks Different than the Other One?

Since she wouldn't fall asleep and was wide awake I thought we would go to our town's ECFE Holiday party. We had registered to go to it on the off chance that she might be awake. So, we went and saw Santa. She didn't much care about him but was more interested in all the kids that were there. And there were a lot of kids.

She should get to see 3 different Santas this year. That could be confusing in a couple years. Anyways, her Christmas party at daycare is next Tuesday evening and Santa will be showing up there as well. And the kids are excahnging gifts, the two babies are exchanging with each other.

Happy Thursday! ( I Know I Used that Title Before)

Such a Pretty, Drooly Baby

No teeth yet. I've decided that they are just not coming in. So, now I am not waiting for them to come and if they do come - well - good for her.

Her onesie today says "If You Think I'm Pretty, You Should See My Mom!" Darn right!

She's worn everything here before, except the socks - they are new. Her feet are finally growing a bit where we need to stop wearing the 0-6 month socks and can move onto 6-12 month socks, although those are a little big too.

Poster Child for Early Reading

I saw a picture of Geri Halliwell and her 7 month old baby in a magazine and she has chubby cheeks just like Isabel. Same all over chubbiness that Isabel has. Her baby's name is Bluebell Madonna. I am not sure about the name Bluebell.

At work I have the kids making scrapbooks about themselves and I sometimes like to do the things with them (but a step ahead) so they can see what I am talking about. So, I am making a scrapbook about Isabel and her first 6 months and using all the double pictures I had for myself at work. I neer really did the scrapbooking thing, but I think this is nice. Some of the kids seem to be enjoying it too.

While I was pregnant, I started a journal of letters to her. That slowed down after I gave birth to her and really slowed down after I went back to work. Although I have been keeping up very nicely in her baby book and in her "Baby's First Year" calendar (both were gifts.) But, those things sometimes miss the little things, so this scrapbook will have some of that. It's just a homemade thing out of construction paper, but it does the job. Not sure if I will ever really get into scrapbooking though.

Upside-down baby!

Another video --

She loves "upside-down baby!" I think she's camera shy, because she's a little reserved in all of our vids, but you get the picture.

Er, video.

Is She Ever Going to Get Any Teeth?

Daddy!

Where did my arm go?

It's kinda a freaky picture now that I look at it. Yikes. She's got the high pitched screams cooking again and is chewing on everything. She's not sucking on the pacifier - but chewing on it. We though we would try it and seemed ok chewing on it.

Can't You Tell How Sleepy I Am?

You can only imagine if baby looks this sleepy -- then how sleepy does mommy look. She took an hour nap right after this.

Where's Daddy?

Today we played a fun game of peek-a-boo. She wasn't quite as into it as she usually is, but we caught it on video.

Enjoy!

Let's Play Jeopardy!

Answer: 29

Question: How many weeks & years are the two pictured?

Isabel is 29 weeks old today and her mommy is 29 years old. Isabel loves giving kisses. We are a kissy household.

Answer: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Question: Who is Isabel dressed like today?

Daddy says she's dressed like she's from the 70's (there are flower prints down the side of the legs of her tights) and she is wearing a dress by Healthtex. It is warm & comfy on her. I can see this being an outfit she wears to daycare too.

Tonight our neighbor's niece Brittany is coming over to babysit. Not sure exactly where we'll go, probably to get some food and maybe to Javalive afterword to listen to some musicians. She is coming over after Isabel goes to bed, so it should be a pretty easy time babysitting.

Last night, mommy's friend Carrie came over to play with Isabel. We haven't seen her in a few months. She came bearing a gift for Isabel. She gave her the Lamaze Emily doll. I thought Isabel would like the wrapping paper more, but she loves this doll. It rattles & crinkles and is easy to hold and has nice bright colors. She has had a great time playing with it so far. Thanks Carrie!

Isabel & Larry

Good Baby, Good Kitty

Here she was petting Larry nicely. He is starting to get more tolerant of her hair pulls. She absolutly loves the animals. She was jealous this morning that Andy had Larry on his lap because she wanted the cat.

I'm Going to Eat You!

And here she was trying to eat Larry. I suppose we should tell her he might be able to eat here. Although right now they weigh about the same, just over 18 pounds. Yes, I know he's a fat cat.

Feel Better Soon Gramps!

I'm Hooked on You!

Gramps is having surgery today, so we want to wish him well. We hope everything goes smoothly and quickly in surgery and that your healing process goes well too. She'll be ready at Christmas time for Gramps to hold her hands and walk her around. She's recently figured out that she controls moving her legs for walking and is doing just that when she sees an item of interest (with help of course.) We sent Gramps some fruit, because we've read you are supposed to eat lots of fiber, fruits & veggies to help with your healing and make "things" smoother. So, enjoy the box of oranges, grapefruit, & tangerines we had sent from Florida.

Her outfit today is some TH overalls she's worn before, but not she has to use the "other" buttons to make them longer and a new Gymboree onesie and some new TCP socks (mommy bought these in FL at the outlet there when they took a trip there last winter while she was pregnant.)

Getting Ready for Bathtime

That Nurse Gave Me a Boo-boo

On her left leg she has a bruise from one of her shots. She moved while she was getting it and it ended up bruising her. She bruised instantly.

I Had Carrots for Supper

Check out my orange stained mouth & cheeks. She loves her carrots. She eats a lot at supper time.

Right now she has naked baby playtime and daddy is playing with her. I like to let her play naked for a while so that her butt will air and help prevent any diaper rash. Air is good. And she likes being naked - so it works. Although sometimes she pees and then I have to change the sheet in her crib. Oops!

Baby Sign Language

There is a lot of research out there to support teaching a baby sign language so that they can more easily communicate with you. Around 7 months is when you should start is what I have read. I put a couple of links on the side bars that have a chart you can print off and some video clips.

This website is a great overall site to give you ideas of fun things that you can do with your child ages 0-3. They have a section on baby sign language with pictures and videos. Very neat. They have a nice library of free printables, you just have to sign up for their ezine, but it looks like the website has some issues with the index.

I've also requested some books & a video from the library. This isn't something I need to buy to keep for a long time, because once we learn them we should keep doing them often enough that we do them.

Here is a video dictiontary of signs. And another video of baby sign lanuage.
Here are some other things/charts to print off:
First Signs
Individual Words

See, there are lots of free resources out there to learn baby sign language.

Clicker!

Who Me?

Yes you!

She was Chatty Cathy last night. Talking up a storm in the middle of the night to no one but herself. She was also practicing clicking. She was very good at it this morning when she was nrsing. Just cliking that tongue away.

Haircut?

The hair is starting to get in her eyes if it is combed forward, but I am not sure I want to cut bangs. If I part the long stuff to the side it stays there or I can put it in a barrette or hairtie. You can see the bottom layer of her bangs is shorter, so she does have some bangs. I like that it is long enough that I can put stuff in it, so I think I am not going to worry about cutting it. When the bottom stuff gets long enough then I will decide if we'll comb that to the side too (or secure it out of the way) or cut in bangs then. She sure does look cute with hair pieces in her hair.

Her bald spot in the back is now finally starting to grow in. It has a light layer of stubbly blond hair on it.

New Isabel Song

The song is actually Kookaburra, but I replaced Kookaburra with Isabel. I learned this song in grad school, although I only remember learning the first 2 verses.

I did change some of the words, so here it my Isabel version.

Isabel sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry queen of the bush is she
Laugh, Isabel! Laugh, Isabel!
Fun your life must be.

Isabel sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops she can see
Stop, Isabel! Stop, Isabel!
Leave some there for me!

I sing it to her while she eats. I sing a lot of songs to her while she eats. I also sing Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain, The Wheels on the Bus, Hickory Dockory Dock, Hey Diddle Diddle, On Top of Spaghetti, Jack & Jill, & Skip to my Lou. Those are the songs I sing on a daily basis, there are others that I occasionally throw in and I have been starting to add in Christmas songs.

Today we went out for Brunch with Isabel and she did a great job. We had some food along for her and she ate pureed apples&pears while we had our breakfasts foods. She did a really good job there. We first had gone to a pancake breakfast as someone gave us some free tickets they bought, but we stood in line for 15 minutes and we were only *maybe* a third the way through. She was getting overwhelmed by all the people and seemed a little scared, so we left and went to a restaurant instead and she was much more at ease.

Not too many plans this week. Friday after work, mommy's friend Carrie is going to come over to play. She hasn't seen Isabel in quite a while when she would babysit Isabel and try to get her to take a bottle. So, it should be fun to see Isabel with Carrie now because Isabel is so much more fun. And then on Saturday we have a sitter lined up, but no plans. We'll figure out something to go do. Last time we had sitters lined up Isabel got sick and we had to cancel them. So, I hope we have better luck this time.

In less than 2 weeks she will get to meet some other family that are coming to visit from Spain. Daddy's oldest brother & his wife & son (one of Isabel's 2 cousins) will be in Minnesota.

I gave her prunes today. She seemed to like them. There really hasn't been anything she hasn't liked, which I suppose it good. I always hoped I wasn't going to have a picky eater. I see the frustration some of my friends have with their picky eaters.

Isabel does like the Christmas tree. At first she was just really into grabbing the tree (it's artificial). She likes trees. She always liked when we took her outside and she could stare at the trees or look out the windows at the trees. And like most kids she like sparkly lights. She did grab at the white xmas balls; they are kind covered in silk strands and are kinda slippery to hold and she couldn't really grab them or hold them.

28 Weeks Old

Isabel's Stocking

I just finished making this today. All the trim was handstiched on, so it was kinda a pain. I hope as she grows older she appreciates it and likes what I chose. Both mommy & daddy have handmade stockings, so I thought she shuold get a handmade one too.

Standing by a Chair

She has a peculiar expression on her face.

Butterfly Antennas are Tasty.

She was having fun going to town on these antennas. This is a toy grandma bought for her. It makes an annoying giggling sound, but Isabel loves to chew on it so we go with it. Although, I could see it getting hurled into the snow - never to be found again. Just kidding.

To be honest - I cannot remember where this outfit came from. It was NWT and I am not sure if it was a shower gift or I bought it. It is from Carter's and seems very comfy. Sorry, if you got this and I didn't remember, but please let me know. I don't remember it as a shower gift. But I don't remember buying it either.

I'm This Many.

Just kidding. I'm not.

This evening daddy & mommy put up the Christmas tree. Isabel will get to see it tomorrow. I also put up some lights in the other front windows. I think that may be all the light decoratnig I get to this year. Next weekend the plan is to make some Christmas cookies and candy.

Some Firsts.....

Perfecting the Use of Her Monkey Toes

Ever since she was born we said she had monkey toes. She was always flexing them and grabbing our fingers with them and sticking them out to make it difficult to get socks on and her feet into things. Mommy has pretty agile toes as well, but I can't stick out those pinky toes like she does. Well, sometimes when she is playing in her crib with this vintage Fisher Price crib toy (she just loves it!) she will lean back and use her feet to move those things at the bottom (she almost never uses her hands to move those things) and to spin the yellow/blue tube at the side (that she spins with her hands all the time) and to kick the green push button. Such a funny girl.

My Hands Are Busy, So I Use My Feet

She's always so proud when she uses her feet to play. Her outfit today is a Dior one-piece she's worn before and this may be the last. Notice the pant legs creep up, althouhg they do go down to her ankles. The part that is almost too small is through her torso. And the short is an Old Navy turtleneck. I think we will get a lot of use out of that shirt. A plain white turtlenek is always a good thing to have and can be used with many outfits.

Oh What Fun it is to Play....

I wish you could have seen her expression from the front, but even from the side you can tell she is having a blast.

As for the firsts - well, Friday afternoon was the first time she had "solid" solids. I gave her small pieces of bananas and broken up pieces of Clifford Crunch, it's like an organic kiddie version of Cheerios.

The other first was for mommy and it was a painful plugged milk duct. I think I had minor ones before that I easily massgaed out and carried on with everything, but this one stuck with me Thursday night and into Friday, but Friday afternoon she got on the breast (the one with the plugged duct) and went to work and got that sucker unplugged. Its all still a little tender, but mcuh better. It really sucked going through work and feeling like I would just like to rip off my left breast. I was trying to do everything I was supposed to do, but that pump was just no match for my baby. I also didn't like that I was having to pump more often and I certinaly didn't like the pain.